Amit

The Dark Knight - Latest Trailer

2008-05-26T15:41:00.002+01:00

Had to post it up. Looking forward to this film SO much.

*Job Opportunity

2008-05-22T13:31:00.002+01:00

Found a job for and Internet Campaign designer on Monster today. Funny thing is, I explored the possibilities of online web campaigns for my personal research project so I feel that I have quite a sound understanding of how to make a successful campaign online. The drawback is that the job is in Corby which is in Northamptonshire. My dad's worked in Corby a few times and I guess it's "not too far" but its definitely a position which I am considering.

Internet Campaign Designer / Web Designer – Photoshop, CSS, XML, Flash, HTML, PHP

Location:	Corby, Northamptonshire
Job Category:	IT/Software Development
Status:	Full Time, Permanent
Salary:	20,000.00 - 25,000.00 GBP per year

An opportunity has arisen for an Internet Campaign Designer / Web Designer to join our client, a global leader in B2B distribution.

Applying your talent for design, as an Internet Campaign Designer / Web Designer you will be responsible for designing, writing and building interactive website campaigns to help acquire, develop and retain the customer base.

Your role will involve:

- implementing the ongoing development of the company’s websites including day to day web page maintenance
- ensuring consistent style standards are developed
- designing UK email campaigns and developing and updating templates
- tracking responses for email and online campaigns
- providing adhoc creative support for the UK business – flash demos, dealing with web queries

To succeed as an Internet Campaign Designer / Web Designer you’ll need experience of designing for the web or online media, along with excellent creative skills and the ability to translate marketing briefs.

You must also have the following skill set:

- Photoshop, CSS, XML, Flash, HTML, PHP
- Understanding of interface design
- Front-end Flash animation and development skills for banners, websites
- Strong understanding of web navigation and internet technology

Additionally, as the Internet Campaign Designer / Web Designer you must be educated to A level standard (or equivalent), possess great communication skills, and have the proven ability to prioritise your work.

Interactive Business Card

2008-05-21T14:35:00.004+01:00

I've just made an interactive business card on Flash. I'm not entirely happy with it but I wanted to submit something specifically for The Hub as well as other work.

Basically, it's just a teaser for my online portfolio and just lets the user know where to find me and how to contact me. There's no examples of specific work because I would prefer the user to browse them full-size on my portfolio.

*Job

2008-05-21T13:44:00.001+01:00

Been looking for loads of jobs recently and managed to find this one on the Leicester Mercury newspaper website. It's in Wigston which is where I live but they're saying that they need a candidate who has either a HND or degree in Graphic Design. I'd still like to apply for this position.

Graphic Designer

Job Type: Permanent
Location: Wigston, Leicester
Start Date: ASAP
Salary: Negotiable

A Market Leading Brand has an opportunity within their Creative Department for a dynamic individual who is looking to progress their career.

Educated to HND or Degree level in graphic design, with commercial experience and a flair for new ideas, the potential candidate must be highly skilled in MAC and
retouching, and possess excellent print knowledge.

Attention to detail, the ability to work under pressure in a busy office and manage work flow to ensure that deadlines are met, are all essential parts of this role.

Photography and web skills are an advantage.

*Job Opportunity

2008-05-20T17:18:00.000+01:00

Just got an email from Jan about a job vacancy as a multimedia practitioner working for the NHS in Leicester! Quite a good opportunity as I'm primarily Leicester based anyway. Here's a quick look at the job:

Multimedia Designer/Developer, Band 4, 37.5 hours per week

Employer: University Hospitals of Leicester
Area of Work: Education Support Unit
Department: Clinical Education
Job Type: Fixed Term Temporary
Location: Leicester, Leicestershire
Closing Date: 02/06/2008
Salary: £16,853 to £20,261

Do you have the skills to join our growing team in the new Education Support Unit in the Directorate of Clinical Education? This new Unit has been formed to develop and launch cost effective online training to meet the corporate and clinical training needs of all UHL staff. If you enjoy being in at the beginning of a new project, then this is for you.

We are looking for a Multi-media designer/developer who could convert learning materials from a classroom environment to an online e-learning platform. Can you develop content for e-learning modules, assist in the maintenance of web based material and create new web sites as required? Could you assist in video production from concept to completion? If the answer is yes – then maybe you could be the person we need.

You will be educated to diploma level in multimedia with an in-depth working knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite. You will have the skills to juggle and prioritise multiple strands of work and the ability to work autonomously giving attention to detail at all times. Your communication and negotiation skills will be used regularly when liaising with colleagues and clients both from across the Trust and externally.

This is a brand new post where you will develop both your own skills and demonstrate your wide ranging abilities. The post is initially offered on a one year fixed term contract.

*Job Hunting

2008-05-14T13:53:00.005+01:00

As I have been job junting recently, not only for the SPP3 module, but actually trying to get my foot in the door of a company in the creative industries, I stumbled across an advertisement for a Creative Web Designer in the Leicester area.

Creative Web Designer / Photoshop / Illustrator / HTML / Leicester
Job Type: Permanent
Location: Leicester, Leicestershire
Start Date: ASAP
Salary: £23k - 27k + benefits
Web Designer with excellent web design skills in Photoshop, Dreamweaver, illustrator and HTML is required by a blue chip organisation. The role sits within the Ecommerce team therefore you will be working with the latest technology and be creatively challenged constantly.

The main criterion is that you have extensive web design and creative experience with Photoshop, Dreamweaver, illustrator and HTML. Some Flash and ActionScript would also be a bonus. You must have a creative eye, have a strong online portfolio and have a proven ability to come up with conceptual ideas.

My client is a leading online organisation. This is a creative web designer position that design concepts to enhance my clients brand and online feel. . You will come up design concepts for e-mails, banners and web pages.

I'm considering putting in an application for this position. I have already found about three other possible opportunities in the Midlands area (where I am looking at the moment) but I'm deciding which ones are more suitable.

*PORTFOLIO_Temporary Hosting

2008-05-12T14:20:00.004+01:00

Just realised that I can actually upload my entire portfolio site using Google Pages. For the time being, until I find a suitable host and buy a domain, the site will be available HERE so feel free to take a look and comment.

*PORTFOLIO_Complete

2008-05-11T21:08:00.010+01:00

Personal online portfolio is now complete. Have not hosted it yet because I haven't had time to shop around for hosts. Had a mountain of other things to do like get prepared for the end of the PRP module and the presentation in a week's time.

Anyway, as you can see, the portfolio came out pretty well (better than the other attempts I made) and will be hope to get the thing live as soon as I can. All complete in Flash, got some PHP in there for the Mail function on the contact page and have used external swf's all throughout the
portfolio to save loading times and to ensure that the users only download the content that they look at.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_6th Artefact_Viral Marketing_The Ads

2008-05-08T17:47:00.005+01:00

I have created the two videos for the Viral Marketing sixth artefact. The videos give away as little as possible but aim to intrigue the user. They look very plain but the idea I got looking at a lot of viral marketing campaign is that they don't give away too much. I wanted to concentrate purely on the message of the advertisement and try to make the user think 'What's that about?'.

Viral Ad 1_For an Apple product

Viral Ad 2_To show the past, present and future of Apple

Viral Ad 3_Communicate with users using something they are familiar with (hopefully)

To replay either of them, just right click and click rewind and then play. These three advertisements are likely to be tweaked before the 14th May but I will evaluate them as they are now and try to gather some responses about if it is intriguing for a user.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_6th Artefact_Viral Marketing

2008-05-08T09:22:00.005+01:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, I will be concentrating on Viral Marketing for the sixth and final artefact of the PRP module.

I have found some helpful guidelines as to what it takes to create a successful Viral Marketing campaign from some marketing companies. One I found on Web Marketing Today is that there are six elements of a successful Viral Marketing campaign. It is suggested that not ALL of these are necessary but the more that is included - the more sucessful the campaign:

Gives away products or services
Provides for effortless transfer to others
Scales easily from small to very large
Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Utilizes existing communication networks
Takes advantage of others' resources

I thought that this idea was slightly vague although Web Marketing Today do explain these in further detail. However, I didn't feel like I knew anything more about how to make a viral advertisement. I searched further and found a blog by a guy called Seth Godin who is an marketing author and he provided a similar set of guidelines but in simpler terms. His theory suggests that for an idea to spread, it needs to be sent and received;

No one "sends" an idea unless:
a. they understand it
b. they want it to spread
c. they believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their peace of mind
d. the effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

Also, No one "gets" an idea unless:
a. the first impression demands further investigation
b. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
c. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time

These guidelines look to give me more ideas about how to approach a Viral Marketing campaign. I am going to be creating a web format advertisement with a series of three videos about an Apple product. To make it viral, the focus is trying to grab the user's attention so that they want to know more about the product, but also try to give the user an incentive to circulate the message.

*PORTFOLIO_Update

2008-05-07T21:56:00.002+01:00

Just another quick update on the progress of the Portfolio. I've now finished the homepage and tied up the loose ends on the loading stage too.

I've animated all of the buttons for the site so they fade to black on rollover.

Also, I've added a dynamically controlled news section on the bottom right corner of the homepage where I can post updates and news about what's new. The source is a text file which I can change whenever and the content will automatically load the next time the homepage loads. This avoids having to change the .fla source file every time I want to add something. I've added a custom scrollbar here aswell which works quite well.

Also, to keep the site maintainable, I will most likely be using XML for the Portfolio page so that I can edit and change areas as and where it is needed. I still have a bit to do but I'm going to try and get the sixth artefact done for PRP module before I make any more progress with this.

*PORTFOLIO_Update

2008-05-07T12:49:00.004+01:00

Just a quick update on the personal portfolio.

As you can see, I've changed the layout quite a bit since the previous post because I just wasn't happy. Anyway, the screenshot shows a sample of how the homepage is going to look. I felt that it had to be visually eye-catching so I designed some artwork using Photoshop. I have a few other images which I may use instead.

Also, I've designed and created an MP3 player for the site, which uses XML for the songs. This way I can easily update new tracks onto the site without changing the Flash source document.

Finally, I decided to change the colour scheme because when I was trying to design the page layouts, I felt that orange was just too inappropriate to use with other colours so I'm sticking with a neutral theme with hints of blue here and there. Should be finished soon.

*PORTFOLIO_Layout

2008-04-28T18:28:00.004+01:00

Here's an update on the design of my personal online portfolio. Like all my designs, I think simplicity is the best way and using different colours to emphasise anything important on the site.

I'm going with a black/white/grey/orange colour theme and as you can see, I've changed the colours of the logo like I said I would to coincide with the design. I'm using no anti-alias for the text giving it that classic pixelated Flash site text. More coming soon.

*PORTFOLIO_Logo

2008-04-28T10:21:00.003+01:00

This is my logo which I have just designed for myself. I've done this logo to coincide with the redesign of my personal online portfolio and thought that I needed some sort of "stamp".

As you can see, the logo is simply my initials, an "A" and a "D" and is simple, colours can be changed easily and the best thing about it is that it is just a font so I can use it on any program I'm designing my site on (i.e. Flash, Photoshop etc) to any size without losing any resolution which is most important.

In case you want to know the font is called Zeroes Three and I think you can download it for free at 1001 Fonts.

My portfolio is going to be completely redesigned this week and I'm hoping to create the layout using Photoshop and importing these layers into Flash. I'm also going to try and incorporate some sort of content management system like XML to keep the updating procedure as simple as possible.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_5th Artefact_Part Two

2008-04-23T18:14:00.007+01:00

Just finished the second part of my fifth artefact. Now at first glance, it might not look all that different but I've tried to keep the design the same so the user pays attention to what is actually being promoted rather than saying "this one looks better etc".

Anyway, this second email advertisement follows the same 'The Apple Experience' theme but more forcefully aims to get the consumer to buy their products. To compare the two in terms of one promoting brand awareness and the other promoting sales, it will be interesting to discover the similarities and differences and users would generally act in different ways to two different types of email marketing.

Once again, the screenshot does it little justice so please view the email advert by clicking the link below.

DOWNLOAD: The Apple Experience_Email Advert_Promoting Sales

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_5th Artefact_Part One

2008-04-23T10:51:00.008+01:00

As I mentioned in a prior post, I was going to be creating two email adverts for Apple products. One would aim to promote brand awareness of the products and Apple as a company and the second would try to sell these products to the consumer.

Well, I've done the first advert which is a made up thing called The Apple Experience which is a fictional newsletter type of advert where which was created solely in Dreamweaver & Photoshop. The screenshot doesn't really do the advert justice so feel free to click on the downloadable link and see the advert in action. Second one should be done by the end of the day giving me enough time until the end of the week to evaluate the two and notice any correleations or differences between them.

DOWNLOAD: The Apple Experience_Email Advert_Promoting Brand Awareness

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_5th Artefact

2008-04-21T16:10:00.005+01:00

Been a while on the PRP side because of concentrating on getting the live client project finished. Anyway, I didn't post anything up for the 4th artefact I creatd which was a mobile marketing campaign (shown below). I didn't concentrate too much on the actual design of the campaign but rather the compatability of creating Flash based adverts for mobile phones and iPods. In the end I created a sort of newsreader which displayed current Apple headlines for the company which thought could be downloaded from the Apple website to your iPod or SMS'd to your phone. Couldn't find a way to make the advert adjust to the size of the screen of the phone so I created it to a 240x320 and 320x240 resolution (iPod and Sony Ericsson K800i screen sizes). I found out a lot about the success of mobile marketing through this artefact learning that it is still a rather new advertising medium but can be effective if used properly. As mobile marketing is a type of viral marketing, artefacts five and six will explore viral marketing in more detail.

For the 5th artefact, I am going to create two email campaigns for Apple product(s). The first campaign will focus on selling the product and the second will focus on creating brand awareness of the product. I will create the campaigns in Photoshop with layers and import them into Dreamweaver to put them into HTML format.

The Game - L.A.X.

2008-04-19T20:36:00.010+01:00

I don't usually post up tracks that I'm feeling anymore cos I just add em to my playlist.

However, I have to make a post just for The Game cos his new track with Keyshia Cole is dope.

Check out the links below for the track and also for the track Big Dreams - his new album's (L.A.X.) buzz single.

The Game - 'Pain' feat.Keyshia Cole
http://www.zshare.net/audio/10755588d54434a1/

The Game - 'Big Dreams' [produced by Cool N Dre]
http://www.zshare.net/audio/896535950026c4/

PRE-ORDER L.A.X. from HMV (Release Date: 23/06/2008)

Other Exhibition Images_62x62mm

2008-04-17T17:03:00.009+01:00

Didn't really know which images portrayed my work the best for the exhibition catalogue so I decided to put a range of images from all three years to sort of show my progression and also show my various skills. They're all below.

So I'm gonna have one 130x130mm pic on the one page and the other four 62x62mm images on the other page.

Exhibition Images_Image 001_130x130mm_350dpi

2008-04-16T11:23:00.010+01:00

Just completed one image for the exhibition catalogue. As you can see, it's inspired by the film Sin City and it took me ages to get it to look right in Photoshop. Effects used included desaturation, threshold, adjusting levels, noise and motion blur. Anyway I'm happy with it and on with the next image.

I'm not sure which page layout I'm using for the catalogue yet. My idea is to create loads of images at 130x130mm, 130x95mm etc and then I'll choose the best ones.

I know it's going to look a little distorted because Blogger always alters the size of the pic in terms of resolution I think because the image looks a lot more clear when I view it from my hard drive. I hope that these images won't distort when they're printed out.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website_FULLY COMPLETE - NOT TOUCHING IT NOW

2008-04-09T11:04:00.006+01:00

I felt that the client website was looking good but there was little things that were missing or were not looking effective. For example, the background, that grey colour just wasn't doing and it drained all the energy out of the website. I decided to use a patterned background instead of a plain one. I downloaded a few brush and pattern sets for Photoshop and created this striped one (shown). This screenshot also shows a slight change in the Portfolio page being the orange transparent bars at the bottom.

As I had a patterned background, I thought that I could make the most out of a "glass" effect for the navigation buttons. So I did that (also shown).
Finally, I enhanced the logo for the site just by adding a drop shadow to make it more bold and outstanding.

I am off to finish the evaluations and will not be touching the website now. I've emailed the updates to the client aswell.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Printing

2008-04-08T16:33:00.003+01:00

Just went to Alphagraphics today to get my corporate identity package printed out. Don't ask how much it eventually costed me. Anyway, that should be ready by tomorrow. I spent quite a lot of time discussing the bleed issue with them, which I mentioned in a previous post. If they attempted to change any of the artwork either by resizing or editing - that's a straight out £15 extra charge so I thought forget that. I just told them to the best they could to ensure that there wasn't a large white gap around the border of each page of the brochure. The invoices, estimates, with compliments slips and letterheads will all be printed on 120g A4 paper and the business card will be printed on matte standard card. The brochure is going to printed onto 300g glossy card which should look quite good...hopefully.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Business Card

2008-04-03T13:17:00.003+01:00

Just thought it might be a good idea to do a business card for the client if I was going to do a corporate identity package. Kind of felt incomplete without the business card. The business card size is 87x56mm.

Also, on another note, I rang the printers today (John E Wright) as I'm a bit confused about the bleed area I have to leave when I get stuff printed out. For those that don't know, the bleed area is the area around the edge of the page and you're normally meant to have your artwork about 5-7mm in from the edge. This obviously decreases the size of the page if you're expecting to print out on A4 - it is actually A4 minus the 5-7mm border around the edge so not quite A4. Sorry it sounds confusing. ANYWAY, he said if you haven't left a bleed, the only suggestion I can make is to print out on A3 and then cut the thing down to size. I'm in a bit of blunder so not sure.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website Compatibility

2008-04-02T20:16:00.000+01:00

I have tested the client website on Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox and Safari. Naturally Safari and FireFox are the browsers of choice and Internet Explorer isn't. However, I did not experience any problems with the site in IE apart from when the site is first launched, as it is in Flash, the user has to allow the website to "Allow the blocked content" as IE likes to call it.

Apart from that, no compatability issues. Works great in Safari and FireFox. I did design the site using FireFox as a guideline but ensured I tested if it worked on the other browsers also.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website_Tweaks

2008-04-02T18:30:00.002+01:00

Just been tweaking the Client website and will be doing during the rest of the week along with evaluation. I have posted up an annotated screenshot of the main page of the site just to explain some design decisions. The Homepage hasn't changed dramatically but I tried to make it fit in with the theme of the rest of the site.

Any more updates, I'll post up.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website Complete

2008-04-01T13:57:00.004+01:00

FINALLY, I HAVE FINISHED THE CLIENT PROJECT and NO THIS ISN'T AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE. Well not exactly, I still have to write the evaluation, but the designer's job is all done. I have completed the final page for RP Design Ltd, which was their Services page. I am now going to just go through the site and see if there is anything that I can add to make it look better (eg. special effects, animation etc); although I did do most of this while I was doing each page - that's why each page was taking me so long.

Anyway on this services page, I have created a menu bar as the client has given me information stating the services which he provides. I assembled these into a little interactive menu bar on the Services page where the user can click each individual type of project and service for more information which pops up on the right (see screenshot).

I still have to show my client and based on his thoughts, I will write my conclusive evaluation for the project. One other I still have to do is get the corporate identity package printed out and packaged. I will do that later on this week.

Now gives me a chance to focus on the Research module and complete my artefacts and write that evaluation and then looks for jobs relating to web and graphic design. I still have to complete my images for the end of year exhibition catalogue which shouldn't take me too long.

P.S. I'm not going to post each page of the website as I have been doing that already and most of them haven't changed. Any notable changes I notice during post-production, I will post these up.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website Update_And...Again

2008-03-28T16:24:00.007Z

Last piece of work for this week I think that I'll be doing because I'll be at work on Saturday and Sunday. I've completed another page for the client website. Page I created today was relatively straightforward. There is yet no animation or effects that are necessary to the page but I might add these in the post-production stage. Anyway it was the Company Process page. The client stated that he wanted a page explaining the procedure for which he conducts each project. This is because regardless of the type of the project, the process remains the same and it is always completed in the same order; hence the client wanted to make his clients aware of this via his website.
Also, today I got a chance to finish off the client's corporate identity package. I may not have mentioned it but his company is now going under the name RP DESIGN LIMITED - Not RP Design Consultants. Therefore, I had to go back and change all the identity package with the 'consultants' logo on it and change it all. Logo remains the same, just that there is a 'Limited' instead of 'Consultants'. Also, have completed the final drafts for the letterhead, invoice & estimate sheets and the With Compliments slip. I have also designed and finished a company envelope/wallet where the client can put his quotes and invoices into to give to a client. I felt that it was a good way of packaging the identity package.
In case you're confused about this big RP image. The image furthest to the left will be the front cover of the corporate identity wallet/sleeve and the image on the right with the company address on it and the logo is the back page. Inside details will simply contain the black company logo (shown above) and a few paragraphs about the company from the Managing Director of the company, which in this case is my client.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website Update_Again

2008-03-27T21:08:00.004Z

A bit late today. Nonetheless, am still on target for completing one page a day for my client's website. Today took a bit longer than usual as I was designing an interesting navigation system for the portfolio/gallery section of the site. I decided to load the images in external SWFs to that the website will only have to download the image if the user wants to see it enlarged. This way the loading time for the page is smaller.

The thumbnails to the images are placed on a navigational bar which I created which scrolls continuously and if the mouse if moved the left of the site, the thumbnails scroll left - if moved on the right side of the screen, then they scroll to the right. Quite a lot of actionscript but I tweened the movement of the image bar.

I deliberately stretched out the image bar to go wider than the width of the orginal website just to give it an extra effect and make it look like its just overlapped on the page rather than looking flat and boring. Like the other pages, I have included a pre-loader for the portfolio page but not yet for the enlarged images so I would like to do that. Also, I am happy with the usability of the gallery but still thinks it looks a bit plain so I'm going to try and add some colour and spice the page up a bit.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_More Website Progress

2008-03-26T16:12:00.003Z

Currently on schedule for my one page a day target for the client website. Today was a small job as it was only the 'Contact Us' page to do. Still took quite a while, but I'll be starting the Disclaimer and the Terms & Conditions pages which will show this information in HTML pop-up boxes in the middle of the screen.

The Contact page consisted of a little bit of PHP programming. As Flash is unable to send email by itself, I had to use PHP which communicates with the server to send an email for the query form. Sounds more complicated than it is but unfortunately I won't know if it works or not until I've uploaded the site onto a server. I am going to try and test the site on the NTU server after the holidays so we'll see.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website Progress

2008-03-25T16:55:00.004Z

Had a productive day today. Finally, I'm happy with the progress of the client website. My aim is to complete one page for the site per day. I know this doesn't sound THAT productive but after I've animated the page, added the preloaders, and tweaked it until I'm happy, it takes the majority of the day. Anyway, I got a screenshot of what I've done today (the About page).

Added a shadow the website aswell to make it look less "flat" on the page. Like I said I'm only happy with the progress at the moment. So far, I've been chopping, changing and fiddling with the design & colours constantly but I feel like I'm actually pleased with how it looks now so lets see. Chances are, if I still like it by the end of the week, then its definitely staying.

Oh yeah, I have shown the client the website so far and he was pleased with what I had produced like a fortnight ago but as a designer, he trusts my judgement when it comes to making design decisions. He has simply stated what he wants on the site, the types of colours to use and just to keep the design simple and professional, yet unique.

Mobile Marketing_Interview

2008-03-24T11:19:00.000Z

Just found this article recently about a Marketing and Business Director called Meidad Sharon. It proves an interesting interview about mobile marketing and how network operators can make money from this type of campaigning. Helpful for the fourth artefact for the PRP module which is about Mobile Marketing.

DM: So Meidad, I believe Comverse has a pretty unusual approach to mobile advertising, can you tell us about it?

MS: When you’re talking about mobile media, the operator has two assets. The first is the ability to touch the user through multiple touchpoints. When people think about mobile advertising, they think of the mobile web, banners, search etc but operator has much more inventory than that to sell.

DM: Such as?

MS: There’s a host of things. Off-portal inventory. Messaging channels A2P (Application-to-person) and P2P Person-to-Person). And voice channels, so a bit like a ringback tone, but instead of hearing a ringback tone selected by the person receiving the call, the caller hears an ad because they have opted in to the programme.

DM: And what’s the second asset?

MS: It’s the fact that mobile media is the only 1-on-1 media, compared to TV or billboards or print advertising. Even the web, because on the web, I might think I know who the user is from the IP address, but that could be me in the morning, my wife in the afternoon and one of the kids in the evening. Also, the operator has a lot of detail on the users, historical data about where they have surfed in the past; what they are doing now. Are they on a news site or a sports site? And also socio-demographic data like age, gender etc. So they can run targeted campaigns.

DM: Can you give us some examples?

MS: Sure. For a P2P message, I might send an SMS to a friend to invite him to meet for a coffee and get a text ad at the bottom of the message for Starbucks. Or I might send an MMS photo to my wife with an ad for Nike on it. Then there’s voice calling. The customer can opt in to an ad program so that when he makes an outgoing call, while he’s waiting for the call to be answered, he hears a targeted ad.

DM: These are all interesting ideas, have you deployed any of them yet?

MS: We have operators using the ad-funded SMS solution. The voice call/ringback tone idea, we have a lot of interest, mainly from Eastern Europe and APAC, and we are making good progress on various fronts with the sales process there.

DM: So if you take something like the voice calling idea, how much would the customer be paid or how would he be rewarded for listening to the ads. I imagine most people would find it fairly annoying but if they have opted in to it, that’s their choice, but I wonder what the operator would have to give them to make it worth their while.

MS: The market is developing so I cannot give you a precise figure. There is one operator in Europe where the users opt into the ad plan and receive a one-time bonus payment of $10 (£5), and in return, they get ads in various different channels, including ringback tone and other channels. But the business model will vary form operator to operator.

DM: Are there any more ideas?

MS: Yes. Another one we think might be of interest to operators is avatars, where someone sends an SMS to a friend to invite them to go skating maybe and they get an animated avatar skating as part of the message.
Another one very interesting is the ability for the operator to use the off-portal space for advertising. Putting banners on their portals is simple, but we offer them the ability to show an interstitial ad when a user is surfing in off-portal. So say someone clicks form Google’s mobile site to Yahoo’s, while they are waiting for the Yahoo! page to appear, we would serve them an ad.

DM: So this is between pages, as opposed to an ad network lik eAdMob serving banners on individual sites?

MS: Correct. AdMob has agreements with specific WAP sites, which is fine, but the operator is not part of the value chain here. So when a Vodafone user goes to Vodafone live! But then moves off-portal, they might see ads served by AdMob, but Vodafone get nothing from this. But since Vodafone has invested in the network, they would like to leverage this off-portal traffic, which is already big and growing rapidly. This is a way for operators to remain in the value chain and get a new revenue stream from off-portal traffic. Operators are moving to the flat-rate model, and there is really not much difference between flat-rate and being some kind of dumb pipe. This gives the operators a way to stay in the value chain and be more like a smart pipe.

DM: I would imagine operators have been biting your hands off for this. What’s the reaction been like?

MS: We have had a great response to this idea and we are in an advanced part of the sales process for it.

DM: Anything else?

MS: Well the other point worth making, where we feel we have a big advantage over the competition, is that if you look at all the ad proxies, the messaging gateway, video gateway, ringback tones, this is all the in-network part. Now because we are a market leader in Value Added Services (VAS) like voicemail, SMS, ringback tones etc., we have a lot of knowledge in this space, so we know how to build ad proxies to put ads in those channels. To be able to put ads in P2P messages, off-portal, ringback tones, and to do all those channels together, is a unique ability and because of our VAS leadership, we are in a great position to supply this solution to operators.
Then the other part of it is the central platform, made up of the ad server where we create and manage campaigns and create reports, and then the targeting engine connected to all the spaces in the operator in order to get the relevant data to target ads in the most relevant manner. The ability to do this is vital. You hear mobile ad operators sometimes talking about their solution and when you see the demo, the parameters they can target on add up to the handset type and time of day, because this is all the information they get. You need to integrate with the operators to get more data. By doing this, our targeting engine identifies the sub-segments of a segment that will respond best to a campaign. That enables us to increase the clickthrough rate from the mobile industry average of 3-5% to up to 15% by optimising the campaign results in real-time.
The final point is that we are white-label, but we are an established firm, with over 4,500 employees, over 500 service provider customers, and 1 billion end-user subscribers in 130 countries. So you have companies like Google and Yahoo! who are big and credible, but a threat to the operators, are smaller ones who are not a threat, but who are not established or credible. We’re white-label, but we’re credible too, not a small start-up.

Source: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/2008/03/dont-stop-at-wa.html#more

*PORTFOLIO

2008-03-22T20:38:00.003Z

Haven't been able to post any information about my portfolio as I had been working on the design of it. I decided to keep the layout simple but keep it interactive for the user. As I'm focusing on Web/Graphic Design, I created the portfolio in Flash and it's still incomplete but the layout is all up and running. Below are a few screenshots of how it looks at the moment.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website Update

2008-03-17T19:45:00.004Z

I know it's been a while but I've been so busy trying to sort out my client project as well as finishing my artefacts as well as trying to finish my web portfolio as well as looking for jobs for SPP3.

Anyway, the website has changed for the client project since my last post. The design template is more or less complete and all that remains is the input of the content which i am STILL waiting for the client to email me.

Anyway this site, as you know, is created using pure Flash and HTML. I've used quite a bit of ActionScript aswell for stuff like the preloaders, button instances, links to other web pages, time & Date function, the email function (which also uses PHP) and for tweens and animations.

Because the client wanted the design to remain simple, I have tried to incorporate effects, navigation and a theme that is worthy of creating the site in Flash in the first place. At first glance, it may just look like a HTML mimic but that's only because I didn't want to compromise the satisfaction of the client. I'm still using this project as a way to showcase the skills that I'm capable of as an interactive web/graphic designer.

Within the next week, I am hoping to complete the website and use week two of the Easter holidays as "post-production" time to tie up all the loose ends.

Anyway, I will have more on this soon.

P.S. I remember that on my last post, I was designing the site using a 800x600 pixels resolution. Well, after doing quite a lot of research into the most popular monitor size, I am now designing a 1024x768 pixels site. Also, a great feature which I have included on my site is that whatever monitor size the site is viewed on, the website will adjust to the size of the browser, so if you make the browser smaller, it will scale so there is never any need for vertical or horizontal scrollbars.

Andy Foulds

2008-03-03T11:44:00.000Z

Have been looking around for some inspiration in terms of Flash design and I found this guy, Andy Foulds, about a month ago.

Came across his brilliant portfolio site andyfoulds.co.uk (do check it out if you're interested in Flash design) and have been exposed to some really great ideas and experiments.

Definitely a Flash guru but he makes simple stuff looks so interesting to look at which is what I like.

Anyway, check out his site if you get a chance. Got some really cool stuff on there.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Website Layout

2008-02-27T14:30:00.004Z

It's been a while but I've been trying to design a consistent website layout for the client. I have decided with the client to set the display at a resolution of 800x600 pixels. This is because it is the most common size for a website page and also, users prefer not to keep scrolling either horizontally or vertically. A working design of the website is shown below and it is likely that this may be materialise into the actual one. Pure Flash & ActionScript is being used to implement the website with some use of HTML.

P.S. SpongePrint is my own company name for web and graphic design solutions.

Post-Graduate Route

2008-02-20T12:32:00.003Z

After thinking about possible post-graduate routes before Monday's SPP3 seminar, I found that in the web/graphic design industry, it is very difficult finding a position with just a degree and no experience. There are three possibilities which I am open to after finishing this year:

1. Do a Masters (MA) in either Graphic Design or Branding & Identity Design at NTU.
2. Try and find a job with a relevant company at entry-level to "get your foot in the door" and slowly work your way up to your desired position.
3. Work freelance as a sideline whilst maintaining a full-time job (to maintain income) until your experience is of worth to a company or design agency who will employ you.

I found that most design agencies look for a minimum of 18-24 months experience in the industry. I also found this to be the case with junior-level posts also.

I did find some web and graphic design agencies when searching for jobs online and some of them are quite useful in terms of what employers look for (Atomic Design, Hot House Marketing, Buzz, Toast Design, Deep & Blaze Communcation).

At the moment I am still contemplating my post-graduate route but it will certainly be one of three possibilities above.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_3rd Artefact

2008-02-13T11:28:00.003Z

The third artefact I will create will be an interactive CD/DVD which will pose as an information source for the iPod family.

This will be a multimedia authored interactive CD/DVD and will work on Windows only. It will show all information and data about the Apple iPod range without the user needing to use the Internet to find the information. The CD/DVD will substitute what the Apple website already tells us but in a CD/DVD format, which if was produced commercially, could be given out for free in newspapers and computing stores and doesn't require the users Internet access to locate any information as it will all be on the CD/DVD.

The purpose of this artefact is to find out whether the Internet is really necessary to elevate a products sales and success and if a substitute medium to the Internet like an interactive CD/DVD is used; does this affect the way the product is portrayed and can the product still create enough buzz without the Internet.

The interactive CD/DVD will be created using Mediachance's Multimedia Builder and the output will be an .exe file and therefore will only be viewable on Windows platforms - not Mac.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Corporate Identity Package

2008-02-10T18:21:00.000Z

It's been a while but I've been trying to juggle the creation of the artefacts for the research module as well as trying to progress with the live client project. I was about a week behind schedule but have caught up and have got some updates regarding RP Design Consultants' corporate identity package.

Below is a set of likely sample designs that I have created. I have emailed these to the client and am just waiting for his response.

Still working on a strong business card. Have had some ideas but nothing concrete as of yet. Also have designed the prospective front page for the brochure but it's too colourful for my liking so once I've tweaked it, I'll post it.

I am also planning a meeting with the client this week where we can discuss design and content for the website if he is happy with the identity package.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_2nd Artefact_Evaluation

2008-02-08T15:43:00.001Z

The second artefact to be created for the personal research module was a user/consumer questionnaire which asked 10 participants about their experiences, opinions and thoughts about online web campaigns.

The questionnaire consisted of primarily multiple choice questions with some open-end questions to get an idea of the opinions of participants. The questionnaire was twelve questions long and was distributed to participants from different ages and backgrounds.

The attached sheet shows the responses of the multiple choice questions from the questionnaire and they, along with the open-end questions, will be evaluated in the conclusion.

The majority (80%) of the ten participants were aged between 19 and 25 and the three most popular hobbies and interests were Fashion, Music and Movies. The three main sources of information for the participants’ hobbies and interests were the Internet, Magazines and Television. 9 out of 10 participants selected the Internet as their main source of information and 80% of people would go home, log onto the Internet and find out about any product they are interested in rather than asking a friend or going into a shop.

What Does The Questionnaire Show?
The answers given by the participants showed that the Internet is a valuable source of information and knowledge and that advertised products on the Internet, more often than not, garner the popularity and interest of a user and draws them towards the product leaving the user searching for more information about it.

Although unanimously agreed by all participants of the questionnaire that a more advertised product is not a better product, more advertised products get more interest from users as they have the exposure and this heavy form of advertising sometimes leaves the user without a choice as to whether the product is a good or bad one. This pushy advertising approach can sometimes devalue the product in terms of opinions of potential users and can damage the credibility of the product. Nevertheless, users still give the advertised product attention whether its for good reasons or bad ones.

Therefore, it is not really an issue as to if the product gets exposure with the amount of advertising but whether it is seen in a positive or negative way. This approach can just as easily damage the reputation of the product or boost its sales and status. It is quite clear however, that in an age where the Internet is used as a primary source of information, any upcoming product without any web presence is very likely to be ignored by consumers as there would be no information about the product available to them in their desired information format (the Internet).

It is clear that online web campaigns are necessary for a product but not necessarily for a product to succeed. It garners the attention and exposure and adds to the status of the product. Also, no web presence would truly crucify the product in today’s Internet-reliant society.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_2nd Artefact

2008-01-30T18:07:00.001Z

For my second artefact for the PRP module, I will be producing a questionnaire. I know a lot of people did this for their first artefact but I jumped straight in and created an interactive web banner.

This questionnaire is going to distributed to 10 participants from all ages and backgrounds and will revolve around the topic of online web campaigns, marketing & advertising online and the significance of it all - if there is any.

This questionnaire will also ask the participants questions regarding their thoughts about the significance of advertising online, do they prefer shopping online or on the high street and what exactly do they use the Internet for.

Most of the questions will be multiple choice with some having open-end answers from the participant. The answers will be evaluated in the form of graphs and charts and if there are correlations between the answers given in relation to the participants age range and interests. These graphs will accompany the summary and conclusion.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Logo_Final

2008-01-24T12:33:00.000Z

Just had a meeting with RP Design Consultants' founder and proprietor, Mr Panesar, today and we have agreed on the final design for the logo. As this has now mutually been agreed, design and preparations can begin for the company corporate identity package which will include a set of business stationery. This will comprise of a business card, company letterhead and invoice and estimate sheets. These will all be branded with RP Design Consultants Logo and a suitable "theme" will be created. Additionally, an A4 sized two-page brochure will be created which will be a print version of the information that will be presented on the company website.

P.S. The logo may not look different from the ones shown in earlier posts; however a shadow effect has been added to the "RP" part of the logo (as the client wanted more emphasis on the RP) and also the colour scheme has ben changed to a teal blue and light grey colour. The colours may alternate for different applications. For now, the above logo is FINAL and no more changes will be made to the design.

BREAKING NEWS: HEATH LEDGER DIES! (1979-2008)

2008-01-23T09:27:00.000Z

Just wanted to take time out to say how shocked I am about the news of Heath Ledger's death.

Of all the controversy surrounding whether it was suicide or a drug overdose, I just want to say that the guy was a great talent and a good actor and I'm sure his memory will live on through his movies.

Just sad to see such a young person die at the peak of their career. Condolences go out to his family and friends.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Logo_Response From Client

2008-01-21T10:50:00.001Z

Just had an email from my client in response to their thoughts regarding the newly designed logo for their company.

Their response was

"Dear Amit

I like the new design. We think we need to make the RP a bit more fancy font wise. See what you can do."

With that, I'm going to stick with the same design and try to spice up the the "RP" part of the design and try to incorporate a more visually impressive font. More on this soon.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_1st Artefact_Evaluation

2008-01-16T14:11:00.000Z

EVALUATION USING RESPONSES GATHERED IN RELATION TO THE WEB BANNER FOR MAC OS X LEOPARD.
The answers were varied. However, what did become clear is that Mac users are more loyal to the Apple brand and Windows users still need a little encouragement and convincing to switch over to a Mac.

In total, six out of the eight users would click on the web advert to find out more about the product. That’s 75%. Only 50% however agree that a web advert alone can generate enough interest for the product.

To conclude, it is now a proven fact that for a company like Apple, often seen as the underdog when it comes to software, that it takes more than just web presence to promote the product. Apple has to work twice as hard to ween users off Windows and switch to Mac. The banner was intended to promote the new product in an eye catching yet subtle way. Although only about 38% (3 out of 8) users thought the design of the banner did enough to catch their attention, 6 out of 8 of them would still click the banner for more information.

It is now clear that an online presence is all but a tool to add to the variety of marketing techniques needed by any technology or electronics based company to see their product get maximum exposure. The advantage of a web banner is that it can reach an unlimited amount of users and has the advantage of being available to any website. It is still however a small piece of the advertising puzzle and can only be successful if it is integrated with other means of promotion.

Web banners are a good form of delivering a message. However, in a day where advertising has taken over the web, users have learnt to ignore most web adverts and banners. This has diminished the value of a web advert so careful design and planning must be undertaken in order to make the most out of web advertising.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_1st Artefact_Web Banner Question Results

2008-01-15T20:42:00.001Z

As I mentioned yesterday, I will showing the web banner to a selection of four Mac users and four Windows users and asked them the questions shown in the previous post. The results are in and they are varied, though I did expect some obvious loyalty from existing Apple users.

Q1 If you saw this banner on a website, would you click on it to get more information about the new product from Apple?
Q2 Is the banner enough alone to get you interested in the product?
Q3 Does the banner do enough to get your attention?

The answers given:
Windows
Q1 2 - Yes, 2 - No
Q2 1 - Yes, 3 - No
Q3 1 - Yes, 3 - No
Mac
Q1 4 - Yes, 0 - No
Q2 3 - Yes, 1 - No
Q3 2 - Yes, 2 - No

Going to write my evaluation based on these results.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_1st Artefact_Web Banner

2008-01-14T17:57:00.001Z

Just finished the banner (I changed it to 468x60 pixels) for the first artefact and am going to evaluate it by showing this to four Windows users and four Mac users and ask them the following three questions:

1. If you saw this banner on a website, would you click on it to get more information about the new product from Apple?
2. Is the banner enough alone to get you interested in the product?
3. Does the banner do enough to get your attention?

The banner is shown above and as mentioned previously, is a promotion for the new operating system from Mac OS X, Leopard. Should have the results of the questions by the end of the day and can then write my evaluation from that. The purpose of creating this banner was to judge whether an online presence is enough to gather enough attention for a new product. What will be interesting is if there is a difference in opinion of Windows and Mac users and also how many of the users would like to know more about the product just from a web advert.

Feel free to click on the banner and it will take you to the Apple Mac OS X website where you can find a full run-down of the Leopard operating system.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_1st Artefact Idea

2008-01-14T13:50:00.000Z

For the first artefact for my Personal Research Project (PRP), as previously reported, I have decided to create an advertisement for Apple's new operating system; Leopard, which will use the current promotion techniques and designs that Apple use for their adverts.

I will be creating a web banner which will be compatible for all web browsers and which will embody the style of the adverts that Apple use to promote their products. I will creating a 336x280 pixels horizontal rectangle banner which is the size of the black image shown below.

I will be creating this as the title of my research project was 'How online web campaigns by Multimedia manufacturers such as Apple, Inc. have an effect on consumers and how this leads to the success of a product in terms of sales and status'.

Therefore by creating an on-line web campaign in the form of a banner which is aimed at promoting a product, can have the success of it, evaluated by consumers and compare any differences they may detect and see how these differences negatively or positively impact the product that is being promoted.

Beats By Dr. Dre Announcement Conference

2008-01-11T16:35:00.000Z

Just following on from an early post about the collaboration between Monster Cable and Dr. Dre to announce a new product - the studio quality high performance headphones with additional iPhone compatibility. Here's a video of the announcement conference.

VIDEO COVERAGE BY GEARLIVE
BeatsbyDre.com
Monstercable.com

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_1st Artefact_Final Decision

2008-01-09T15:40:00.000Z

I have finally decided to implement an Apple advertisement which promotes the company's new operating system; Leopard. I have chosen this as the iPhone (which is Apple's current best selling and new device) has already been heavily promoted and there is little scope for expansion or nothing that I could gain out of creating an advertisement for this product.

Therefore, the Leopard OS is a new, fun and significant product release from Apple and one which has more scope for creativity in terms of promotion and advertising. The OS also has 300 new features.

Oh yeah, and it sold two million copies in it's first weekend outpacing the sales record set by their previous OSX release; Tiger.

Apple OS X Leopard - BUY NOW
Image Source: © TAUME.COM

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Logo_2nd Draft

2008-01-09T14:12:00.000Z

Just a quick update to showcase the improved but still incomplete logo design for RP Design Consultants. I have edited the house image and added the company tagline beneath the company name and incorporated a colour scheme of navy blue and black - a colour scheme preferred by the client. More on this soon.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Meeting With Client

2008-01-09T12:44:00.000Z

Just had my first official meeting with my client. Found out some further background for his company including his company tagline:

RP DESIGN CONSULTANTS
"Architectural and Structural Services"

Out of the draft logo ideas that I created, he handpicked his favourite design to elaborate on (shown above) and we are working together to complete the identity of the company by the end of January, including colour schemes and typography.

Saigon - 'The Greatest Story Never Told' Tracklist

2008-01-08T19:09:00.000Z

Station Identification
The Invitation feat. Q-Tip & Fatman Scoop
Come on Baby feat. Jay Z & Swizz Beatz
The War
Enemies
Friends
The Greatest Story Never told
Clap feat. Faith Evans
Preacher
Its Alright feat. Marsha Ambrosius
Believe It
Give it to Me feat. Raheem Devaughn
What the Lovers Do feat Devin the Dude
Better Way feat. Layzie Bone
Oh Yeah

Bonus Tracks:
16. Pain in my Life feat. Trey Songz
17. Enemies Live feat Bun B

Source: Anotha Forum

Monster Cable & Beats by Dr. Dre

2008-01-07T19:35:00.000Z

Dr. Dre has stepped into the consumer electronics market by teaming up with Monster Cable to release a set of high quality studio standard headphones.

"When I'm making a track I'm trying to capture the sound that makes me go 'now THAT's the shit! And I want that reaction from everybody who hears it. I spend a lot of time in the studio listening to my music through headphones...with Beats, people are finally going to hear it the way they should: the way I do."

The headphones go on sale in the coming Spring and will retail at $399.

The headphones will be called "Beats by Dr. Dre".

Image used courtesy of Gear Live 2008.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Logo Drafts & Ideas

2008-01-06T20:19:00.000Z

I have begun to draft together some rough ideas for the RP Design Consultants logo as I feel that it will be vital to create the image and identity of the company before I can begin implementing the website.

I have a meeting with the client on Wednesday 9th January where we will look at some of the rough logo ideas I have put together.

This will give the client an opportunity to have some input into the direction his corporate identity should take.

The image on the left shows a selection of the logo ideas that I have put together - none of these are final or finished - they are all still in their design stages, but each design demonstrates a different type of logo and it will be interesting to hear the feedback from the client in relation to these ideas.

All of these logos have been created using FreeHand and are all vector based drawings - none of these images are raster images, hence they can be adjusted to any size and modifications can be made without losing the clarity of the image.

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_MacWorld Expo 2008

2008-01-04T14:50:00.000Z

The Macworld Conference and Expo is familiarly where Apple discuss and demonstrate new and upcoming products and services which the company have or will be developing.

The first Macworld Expo for 2008 will take place between the 15th and 18th of January in San Francisco, California, and it will be interesting to find out what products that Apple has on the horizon for the new year.

"Macworld isn't just a hall full of exhibitors or rooms of conference session; it's a series of calibrations of the world as you know it. Your perspective will be jolted. Your creativity will be ramped up. You will walk away realizing it's not just the world that's changed. It's you, too.

Whether you attend the Conference or just come for the Exhibit Halls you'll come face-to-face with something unexpected."

Source: http://www.macworldexpo.com/about

*PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECT_1st Artefact

2007-12-28T18:32:00.000Z

In conjunction with the second half of the PRP (Personal Research Project) module, we are asked to create six artefacts based upon the discussion raised in the written document before Christmas.

For my first artefact, I have decided to create (I know it's a bit "ordinary" but its the first one) an interactive Flash banner which uses the design laws and tactics used by Apple, Inc., for one of their new products.

In the UK, the newest product that Apple have launched is the iPhone. However, as this product has been heavily promoted and advertised already, it will be difficult to create an interactive banner better than what has already been created.

Aside from the iPhone, other possible products that I could create for the foundation of the banner could be Apple's advance from it's Tiger OS (operating system), Leopard. The Leopard operating system has seemed to have superceded the Tiger OS in many ways but the operating system has not had that much exposure in comparison to Apple's hardware products. This is a more likely product to promote for the first artefact.

*LIVE CLIENT PROJECT_Client Background

2007-12-20T14:01:00.000Z

It's been a while and although I had sorted out my Live Client before Christmas, just didn't get a chance to post any updates so here goes.

My client is Ravi Panesar; a building surveyor and contractor who runs an independent consultancy firm which provides building solutions for design and architecture. After meeting with him on a number of occassions, it has become apparent that he will be formally launching his new limited consultancy firm, called RP Design Consultants, in the not too distant future.

His company provides a service which draws the architectural plans for a house rennovation, extension, conversions and other building-related construction projects. This coincides with his construction company which then acts upon these plans and implements the projects.

For this new company (RP Design Consultants), he is need of a company brand identity and has asked me to create a corporate identity and website for him.

Firstly, the major component to be created will be the primarily Flash (and HTML) driven website which will provide a place for him to showcase his work, provide information about the services that his company offers and contact details. As the company is a building and construction business, there will be a small degree of 3D visualisation necessary and possibly some CAD (computer aided design) designs to be created.

Additional to the RP Design Consultants website, the client has also asked me to create and produce a branding package for the business. This will include a new polished company logo, a small editorial-style brochure which shows finished and pending projects and again, services offered by the client's firm and finally, business stationery such as a letterhead and business card. This half of the client project will consist of high percentage of graphic design which is a side interest to multimedia, so it is something which I am willingly looking forward to.

.net Magazine

2007-12-07T10:58:00.000Z

Have recently been getting hold of .net magazine (netmag.co.uk) issues since the beginning of this year after choosing the web component. It's £5.99 which is a bit pricey for a mag but has got some good web tips, tutorials, articles and includes a CD with every issue with sort of the same stuff. Probably one of the few magazines which manages to interact design styles with the web and not just coding and programming.

Steve Jobs & Bill Gates Interview

2007-11-21T16:36:00.000Z

Just found this rare interview between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates talking about their early days when they were starting up to now, how they act as competitors. Interesting insight because of my research title.

*CLIENT PROJECT_I.D.S. WEBSITE

2007-11-08T10:25:00.000Z

The Insect Disease Society (IDS) is the name of the fictional charity I have created for the purpose of the simulated client project. I have created the final layout for the website and just have to populate the pages with relevant content. The design has been updated as have all the links.

The image below shows a completed version of the final design.

Jay-Z - 'Roc Boys (And The Winner Is...)' [VIDEO]

2007-11-06T19:37:00.000Z

The video for the second single from Jay-Z's American Gangster album. Cameos from NaS, Diddy, Mariah, Jadakiss, Beanie Sigel, Rick Ross, Cassie, Irv Gotti and more. Definitely worth a watch.

Source: OnSmash & *BET

Insect Disease Society Website

2007-10-31T17:50:00.000Z

Just a quick update to let you know how the simulated client project is coming along. Today, I began to make a rapid effort to get the layout of the website complete. I didn't, but I'm pleased with the outcome so far. I've almost finished the Homepage and I've added the other pages which will are all linked aswell. I just have to do the layouts for the other pages.

Also, I decided to change the logo as you can probably see on the site. I did this because I felt that the star that I created initially (see earlier post) was a weak representation of the subject. I then went "back to the drawing board" and created like a messy looking box with the mosquito logo inside. I thought this relates more as in mosquito nets etc and I personally think it looks more eye catching and relevant to the charity website.

I'm using Dreamweaver 8 on the MAC at the moment. When I'm nearly through, I'll test the site on Windows XP and Vista and also do a browser check. FireFox is my default and browswer of choice but will test the site on Internet Explorer and Safari for evaluation purposes.

Client Project_Dreamweaver

2007-10-24T19:32:00.000+01:00

Having not done the Web component last year (Year 2), I rarely experienced the need to use Dreamweaver for anything (including websites). I preferred using Flash for building sites and creating interactive objects such as banners and adverts. Because of the simulated client project though, I had to really start getting to grips with Dreamweaver as I had to incorporate HTML and JavaScript and creating a full site just in Flash isn't going to get me any marks.

I did a couple of tutorials from a book I tok out the library and have started building a prototype for the client project microsite. I consider myself a bit of a Dreamweaver novice but I've made a start.

I'm hating the navigational menu but just used it for practice sake.

I'm currently testing the site on Mozilla FireFox (see below).

BOOKS USED:
TARIN TOWERS, J., 2005. Macromedia Dreamweaver For Windows & Macintosh. California: Peach Pit Press.

Simulated Client Project_Charity Organisation & Logo

2007-10-24T13:37:00.000+01:00

For the simulated client project, as I am doing Web, we are asked to choose between a series of campaigns (see prior post) to base our Web work on. I have chosen to implement the Charity campaign. Unfortunately, after doing some research, I could not find any existing charity organisations who specialise in promoting awareness of insect-borne diseases such as Malaria and Yellow Fever.

I therefore decided to create a fictional charity organisation for the sake of simulated client project. I began by creating a prospective logo using Adobe Illustrator CS3. The name used was just for design purposes and not final. The first of my designs is shown below:

This logo was okay but I was not happy as it did not relate to insects or insect diseases when you look at it. It had no real identity - it was just a logo.

I then went back instead this time using Macromedia FreeHand. I then created a more relevant logo which can be identified as an insect related organisation. This logo is my final idea (shown below) and a name has also been finalised as the name of the fictional charity organisation - The Insect Disease Society (T.I.D.S.). This logo is going to be used on the microsite and on areas of the interactive banner.

I think it is important for charity organisations to have a light hearted brand identity, as they deal with so many serious worldwide issues. Similarly, I took the same approach when designing this logo.

Also, the black and white design keeps the identity very subtle. However, the simplicity of the design allows the colours to be changed without any bother when using the logo in different instances.

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Illustrator CS3
Macromedia FreeHand MX

SIGNED & APPROVED: Personal Research Project Title

2007-10-22T17:51:00.000+01:00

After speaking to Simon Perkins last week, he sort of told me that the original idea for my research project (see previous post) was a little to wide and said that it may be difficult creating artefacts and evaluating the title. He said that it was more of a "survey" question and was not focused on a particular aspect of the topic.

After he made some suggestions, I decided to make the research project more specific and use Apple Computer as a case study. The signed and approved project title is:

How online marketing from Apple has contributed to the company’s success in terms of its sales and products. How their successful campaigns using the web have an effect on consumers and how this leads to their success. I will also explore:

- Comparing Apple’s online brand strength compared with Google, Amazon and Microsoft.
- How Apple’s website is structured and how they keep their visitor’s interest high.
- What leads to a powerful AND commercial online brand.
- The processes involved in preparing and implementing an online advertising campaign for a product.
- The online packaging used to portray their products.

By doing a topic more specific, it makes it easier to compare to other relevant material and relate that back to your question. It also helps find an answer to the problem which you are trying to solve.

The artefacts to be created will, at the moment, be the processes involved in creating a successful online ad campaign for the launch of an Apple Computer product. Additional to online advertising, I may also extend these artefacts to include print ads aswell.

Personal Research Project_Final Idea

2007-10-17T12:27:00.000+01:00

I have narrowed down my research project title and am basing it around the past, present and future of Multimedia Web Design. The actual title of the project is:

"Documenting the progression and development of Multimedia Web Design from when the Web was first introduced with text-only websites to now, how there are so many websites which consist of multiple types of content such as video and audio. How the web has evolved and where is it going in the future?”

The focus of the research will be loosely be based upon the history of the web but more importantly will focus on the present state of the web and in what direction it is heading. This is in terms of content used such as audio and video and the variety of platforms on which the Web is used on; e.g. mobile devices.

The research will also explore what constitutes a good website in terms of the content which is used such as high resolution imagery, animation and advanced aesthetics. How important it is to create a balanced website which is relevant to its cause. Designers sometimes get carried away with the "look" of a site and fail to populate it with accurate information.

Finally, whether the Web is changing for the better or worse will be explored. Is it being used for what it was intended for when it was first launched and how the Web is always evolving.

Simulated Client Project_Develop An Insect Repellent Microsite & Banner

2007-10-15T14:13:00.000+01:00

For the first term of the Client project module, depending on the multimedia discipline you have chosen (WEB in this case), we are asked to develop a promotional online banner and microsite for insect repellent.

There are five campaigns that we can choose to address:

1. Public: Explaining the how and why of using Insect Repellent
2. Commerical: Selling insect repellent
3. Tourism: A traveller's guide to some of the things you need when going abroad
4. Media: A site for a fictional online comic strip called 'Insect Repellent'
5. Charity: How Insect Repellent would save people from Malaria and other diseases.

Out of the five options, the most likely campaigns I would consider developing would either be for a Public campaign, a Tourist campaign or a Charity campaign. I feel that these are probably the strongest campaigns to push.

I'm leaning towards the Charity option at the moment but have not fully decided. I will most likely be developing the microsite using Dreamweaver and Flash incorporating CSS, HTML and ActionScript where necessary. I will also use Photoshop for any image enhancements needed.

I would like to create an identity for a new insect repellent product in terms of its logo and design rather than updating an existing product. All factual information will however be based on original and existing products.

Creature House Expression

2007-10-10T16:36:00.000+01:00

Just came across a free drawing program when I was looking for vector based drawing applications for my new iMac. It's called Expression and was originally developed by a company called Creature House.

The program has recently been acquired by Microsoft but can be downloaded for free with no registration required from here. It can be used for Windows or for Mac and acts a substitute for programs such as Macromedia FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator.

I needed to get my hands on a vector based drawing program and although I had FreeHand and Illustrator already, was interested in seeing what freeware was available which does the same things as the Adobe and Macromedia versions do. Need a vector based drawing program for my web-based Client Projects.

NOTE: The free download link provided will only work on Mac OS 9.0 or later, including Mac OS X. Microsoft have appeared to have pulled the free download for Windows. Microsoft are code naming the application Acrylic.

Image Source: LarkWare

Possible Research Topics

2007-10-10T14:50:00.000+01:00

Here are some topics I have thought about for my Personal Research Project. All scenarios depicted are completely original and all my own ideas. Just having a few problems deciding on which topic would suit best.

1. How branding online has contributed to the success of the world’s most successful
corporate families such as Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google.

i. How accessible their online material (i.e. websites) is to consumers.
ii. The web designs which are used to attract the user to their site and keep them
interested.
iii. How high is the trust factor between the company and the consumer.
iv. How strong is the brand identity of the company in terms of its logo, corporate
design, web standards used and online packaging - how the website is arranged
and formatted.
v. What leads to a powerful online AND commercial brand.
vi. Which strategies are used for effective online branding.
vii. The process of designing and implementing and online brand campaign.
viii. Company name, web addresses, contact links - all memorable?

2. How important is online advertising in the success of user driven websites such as online forums and communicative sites?

3. Are multimedia mediums such as video, audio, animation and graphic design important
to a site’s success and if so, then how to create a balanced website which uses these
mediums to their fullest but most useful potential.

4. Chronicling the progression and development of Multimedia Web Design from as early as when the web was first launched with text only sites, comparing to now how there are so many high graphic websites which include:

i. High resolution imagery
ii. Detailed animation
iii.Graphical rollovers and other mouse behaviours
iv.Inclusion of video and audio via providers such as YouTube and Odeo

Is this a change for better or worse and why?

5. The fundamental factors to consider when designing and implementing material for the web. This includes:

i. The first impressions that a user experiences when they visit your site
ii.The level of bandwidth required based on the multimedia components which are used
for inclusion on the website
iii.The costs involved
iv.The design decisions undertaken which find a balance between the client’s
requirements and the designer’s instinct and experience
v.The content used and in what way it should be presented and published
vi.How to test for any problems or issues before, during and after implementation

3D Modelling Assignment_Virtual Reality_BEDROOM

2007-05-29T10:33:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update here showing the finished and rendered 3D model for the Virtual Reality module. All of the furniture has been polished, materials added and lights & effects used.

3D Assignment_Virtual Reality_BEDROOM

2007-05-26T12:03:00.001+01:00

So far, I have created the bedroom floors and walls and have merged the objects that I have already modelled to the bedroom. The virtual environment is still a work in progress but I think is coming along steadily.

3D Assignment_Virtual Reality_BED

2007-05-26T11:47:00.000+01:00

Although it was very easy to create a standard bed with just the use of a box, I was curious as to how to create a cloth looking effect for the bed spread. The first bed I modelled was very simple and was comprised of simple boxes and chamfer boxes. This is shown below:

Although I created many segments for the bedspread so that I could edit the vertexes to give it a "cloth look", it still didn't look real enough.

After doing some research into an appropriate modifier to use to imitate a cloth material, I found that by adding a cloth modifier fixes this issue.

I remodelled the bed from scratch, and added a Cloth modifier. From here, I simulated the modifier and made it so the bed spread wraps around the other objects of the bed (pillow, mattress etc) without going through them. The final result is shown below:

3D Assignment_Virtual Reality_PLASMA TV

2007-05-26T11:33:00.000+01:00

As it was a bedroom rennovation for the Virtual Reality assignment, I wanted to create either an LCD or Plasma TV. I decided to go with creating a self standing Plasma TV.

It was created by starting with a box with 9 segments. By creating these segments allowed me to apply changes such as extruding and bevelling specific areas of the TV.

I used a black mesh material for the side speakers and a picture of the 20th Century Fox logo to make the TV look real.

3D Assignment_Virtual Reality_SOFA

2007-05-26T11:17:00.000+01:00

As I'm modelling a bedroom for the 3D modelling assignment, I needed to start with modelling each piece of furniture.

This blog will be updated as each new piece of furniture is modelled using 3DS MAX 8. They will be shown in their rendered state.

The first piece of furniture I created was a sofa. This uses a MeshSmooth and Symmetry modifier and was created from a box.

Dr. Dre Birthday Interview

2007-02-22T11:26:00.000Z

In celebration of his 42nd birthday, Dr. Dre called into Big Boy's Power 106 station in Los Angeles. He talked about upcoming projects including the heavily anticipated "Detox" album which Dre has confirmed will be released this year.

Interactive Essay

2007-02-21T11:42:00.000Z

Below shows the Interactive Essay DVD Cover I created using Macromedia FreeHand. The completed package became an Interactive CD with animation, graphics and video and used the Nottingham Evening Post as a case study for the chosen "System In A City".

Interactive Essay

2007-02-05T13:04:00.000Z

Been thinking of an idea for the Interactive Essay for the Design module. Going to implement the system using Flash 8. Going to set it out in the form of an interactive article. Just not decided on a particular subject.

An idea was to create an idea based around the tram service. An academic article about the service of the trams in Nottingham. This idea is feasible as there are many different resources which are available that can aid my research. However, this is just an idea at the moment.

Whichever subject I decide to implement the article about; the system will follow the associated theme, colour, form, function and layout of the chosen subject.

Windows Vista

2007-01-30T10:47:00.000Z

Five years in the making and finally Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 have arrived for home consumers. Business editions of the operating system were released in November.

Vista and Office 2007 are reported to be the most thoroughly tested software boasting faetures such as increased security via User Account controls and bi-directional firewalls, integrated search facilities, the new "Aero" user interface with translucent windows and 3D scrolling.

The operating system is available in four editions; Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. You can download a tool on the Vista website checking which version is best for your PC or laptop.

D&AD Student Award

2007-01-29T18:07:00.000Z

Just made a start on the interactive advert for npower.

D&AD Student Award

2007-01-29T11:42:00.000Z

As I mentioned earlier, I've changed my choice for the D&AD Student Award to creating an interactive advert for NPOWER convincing people to get an online quote from their website.

I've decided on what kind of thing I want to do. I will be using Flash 8 creating a repeating animation with links and graphics. I went onto the NPOWER website and have decided to keep with the colour and theme of the website.

I will try to incorporate the pinky reds and greens into my animated advert and will try and use similar fonts also.

Portfolio of Images

2007-01-29T11:28:00.000Z

Have finished my Portfolio of Images "book". Printed out the label on normal A4 paper. I then mounted this onto a piece of corrugated card. I then stuck this to the front of the book using 3M Spray Mount (spray adhesive), which I used to stick each image to the book as well.

I then created a protective cover for the book using red acetate paper. Here I measured the area around the book, then cut the acetate to the correct size. From here, I Spray Mounted the two edges which enabled the book to slide in and out of the cover as necessary. The images below show what I mean.

Portfolio of Images

2007-01-26T11:23:00.000Z

Nearly finished my Portfolio of Images. I have attempted to layout the pages in a book form and the result is not bad. All that is left to do is to add a front cover label. Altogether there is 15 images that make up my image essay.

Portfolio of Images

2007-01-26T10:52:00.000Z

Changed my original thoughts on the layout of the Portfolio of Images assignment. Since I mentioned the layout in a previous post, I have changed the layout to something I read about in the Paper Engineering book. I am actually going to create a "sort-of pop-up" book where each image unfolds as the reader turns each page.

Source: Natalie Avella, 2006. Paper Engineering [book]. 1st Ed. East Sussex: RotoVision SA

Change of D&AD Student Award

2007-01-26T10:48:00.000Z

Just been thinking about possible ideas for the direct mail pack for Capital One. Come to a dead end with my ideas so I've decided to change it to creating an interactive advert for NPOWER.

The advert should persuade customers to get an online quote from the NPOWER website. This idea seems more worthwhile and I can think of more ideas for this topic.

I will create the interactive using Macromedia Flash 8 as I'm quite confident using Flash.

Contents Of A 'Classic' Direct Mail Pack

2007-01-20T14:36:00.000Z

Just found something on a site about mail packs. It thinks that a mail pack should be thought about when designing the elements for it as a jigsaw puzzle. Meaning all of the pieces of the puzzle must be in place before delivering it to the customer. A missing piece may distort your message.

Contents of a 'classic' mail pack
1. Envelope
2. Letter
3. Brochure & accompanying information
4. Responce device - how the customer will communicate with CapitalOne.

The again, obvious, contents act a good template about what to put into a mail pack. Other items such as CD-ROMs and pens are also good ways to communicate the message to the customer.

D&AD Student Award, Direct Mail Pack

2007-01-20T14:18:00.000Z

For the CapitalOne direct mail pack, as part of the D&D student award, I have found an article (Creating Direct Mail) detailing the do's and don'ts when using direct mail as a form of advertising.

Do's
* Make the content relevant. The right message to the right person
* Update your data
* Keep it simple. Be clear about your message and what you want the customer to do
* Make it easy for the customer to respond

Don't's
* Don't put too many things in the pack

The guidelines seem pretty obvious but hopefully by sticking to them, I can create a simple mail pack with a clear message to the customer.

The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot

2007-01-18T15:52:00.000Z

Just thought of an idea of how I'm going to portray my image essay. I thought of creating a book where the split cover will open left and right. Inside the cover will be the introduction and first image. This is just a basic layout. Just done a quick template on FreeHand to show how it will look.

Front Cover

Open Book Inlay

The reader will then navigate through the images and each image/page will lift vertically.

The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot

2007-01-18T13:03:00.000Z

I have decided to construct a series of about 16-20 images; 4-5 images per stanza for The Burial Of The Dead. Each page will show a square image (dimensions and size tbc).

I want to give a 20th Century poem a 21st Century interpretation by using colourful and modern art and editing techniques to portray the message. I don't want the poem to lose its authenticity, however I would like to create an interpretation which has not already been tried.

The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot

2007-01-18T12:31:00.000Z

As mentioned in a previous post, The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot is split into five sections.

1. The Burial Of The Dead
2. A Game Of Chess
3. The Fire Sermon
4. Death By Water
5. What The Thunder Said

The first four sections of the poem correspond to the Greek classical elements; Earth, Air, Fire & Water.

The irregular change of time, location and change of speaker in the poem sometimes confuses the reader but is still considered a classic piece of modern literature.

It is clear from the Burial Of The Dead, Eliot's own fears of disorder and spirituality become apparent. The Dead Land of Egypt which is used to depict the sterility of the post-war age. The use of metaphorical references all signify the result of an unsatisfied civilisation due to the unfulfilingness of the Isaiah prophecy. There are also many references to infertility, fear of spiritual decay, Western culture, the London masses and society in general during early 20th Century.

T.S. Eliot - The Waste Land, Part 1:Burial Of The Dead

2007-01-18T11:51:00.000Z

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering	5
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,	10
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,	15
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,	20
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,	25
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.	30
Frisch weht der Wind
Der Heimat zu.
Mein Irisch Kind,
Wo weilest du?
'You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;	35
'They called me the hyacinth girl.'
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,	40
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Od' und leer das Meer.

Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cold, nevertheless
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,	45
With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she,
Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,
(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)
Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,
The lady of situations.	50
Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel,
And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,
Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,
Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find
The Hanged Man. Fear death by water.	55
I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring.
Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone,
Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:
One must be so careful these days.

Unreal City,	60
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.	65
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.
There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying 'Stetson!
'You who were with me in the ships at Mylae!	70
'That corpse you planted last year in your garden,
'Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?
'Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?
'Oh keep the Dog far hence, that's friend to men,
'Or with his nails he'll dig it up again!	75
'You! hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère!'

Portfolio of Images

2007-01-18T11:17:00.000Z

For the first part of our Portfolio of Images assignment (Imaging & VR), we are asked to choose between two texts and construct an image essay based on our interpretation of the story. The story should follow the pattern of a book using primarily original images to demonstrate how you think the story is told.

The two texts are:
1. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot
Probably the most written about long poem of the 20th Century. It is 433 lines and is written in five parts. We are supposed to choose one part and portray an image essay of it.

2. The Allegory of the Cave [The Republic, Book VII], Socrates
A story documenting prisoners chained up inside a cave since childhood.

I have decided to choose The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot as I find the subject of the poem more appealing. Part 1 - Burial Of The Dead is the first part of the poem and I have decided to portray this part for the image essay. Eliot's interesting use of nature and language, help with interpreting the story into images.

D&AD Student Awards

2007-01-18T11:04:00.000Z

For the D&D Student Award as part of the Portfolio of Images assignment for Imaging & Virtual Reality, I have chosen to create a direct mail pack for credit card customers, trying to persuade them to switch their credit card to Capital One.

The target audience are High Street bank customers loyal to their banks, but unhappy with the services provided. The aim is lure customers in by offering them a lower interest on their credit cards than they are paying with their banks.

The trick will be convincing customers that Capital One is not just an interest free loan company, but a strong branded credit card company offering great rates and services.

Image Source: CapitalOne

Paper Engineering

2007-01-15T15:40:00.000Z

Was so impressed with the ideas documented in Natalie Avella's Paper Engineering Book;
'3D DESIGN TECHNIQUES FOR A 2D MATERIAL'.

Just bought a copy today. A useful resource for two of the Exploring Multimedia modules; Imaging & VR and Design.

An interesting look at how paper can be used in a variety of different ways. Techniques including folding and cutting and interviews with World Leading Paper Engineers.

ISBN: 2-940361-19-3

Image Source: Amazon

Upcoming Album from Bishop Lamont

2007-01-10T13:38:00.000Z

Currently signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint, Bishop Lamont is readying his debut album with 'The Reformation'. Producers for the project are expected to include Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Battlecat, Pete Rock, Focus, RZA and Jonathan "J.R." Rotem. It is expected for a Summer 2007 release.

Here's a few buzz tracks from Bishop.

For more info on Bishop, tune in to his myspace; www.myspace.com/bishoplamont

'My Inheritance' [produced by Dr. Dre]

'Up & Down' feat.Glasses Malone & Chevy Jones [produced by Scott Storch]

'View From The Top' feat.Damizza [produced by Damizza]

Apple Unveil iPhone

2007-01-10T13:16:00.000Z

THERE were portable digital music players and then there was the iPod - and the whole ball game changed.

Similarly, if Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, has his way, the mobile phone era will be divided by January 9, 2007, the day the eagerly awaited iPhone was finally revealed.

"We are going to make history today," Jobs told MacWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco on Tuesday, as he teased his way to the announcement. His company had mated the hugely popular iPod with the ubiquitous mobile phone, and mixed in a dash of Google DNA.

"Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone," Mr Jobs said. "Isn't that cool?"

Europe will not see its first iPhone until at least October and Australia is lumped into Asia's "in 2008" time frame.

As it did with the home computer and MP3 player, Apple has taken an existing device and aimed to make it easier to use.

The iPhone that Mr Jobs demonstrated on stage for an hour is not the first mobile phone that can also play music, take pictures, send emails and browse the web.

The size of a slim video iPod, the iPhone's face consists of just one button and a big 3.5-inch (8.89-centimetre) screen. A user can skim through contacts, emails or songs on the touch-sensitive screen with a forefinger and zoom to a website or photo with a pinching movement.

When text input is required for SMS a virtual keyboard pops up and the camera on the back takes two megapixel-sized photos that can be emailed over the GSM phone connection, or over cheaper, faster Wi-fi networks.

A web browser and Google's online maps are built in. Jobs demonstrated by zooming in on a map of San Francisco, searching for the nearest Starbucks, then tapping the phone number and ordering 4000 lattes from a surprised waitress.

Like an iPod, the unit automatically synchronises with the iTunes software on a computer, backing up music, podcasts, movies, contacts, calendars, photos, notes, web bookmarks and email accounts.

By the end of next year Apple wants 1 per cent of the global mobile phone market, which is soon to top 1 billion phones. In November iPods were 62 per cent of the MP3 music player market.

Image Source: Google

Source: Google News

'You Don't Know' VIDEO

2006-11-21T11:25:00.000Z

Video for 'You Don't Know' feat.50 Cent, Eminem, Ca$his & Lloyd Banks

Jay-Z/Dre

2006-11-15T13:38:00.000Z

Dr. Dre's been busy lately with production on the latest Snoop Dogg album, Eminem's Re-Up compilation, Nas' 'Hip Hop Is Dead' and now on the long awaited Jay-Z album; 'Kingdom Come'. Here's three Dr. Dre produced tracks from the album.

Jay-Z - '30 Something' [produced by Dr. Dre]

Jay-Z - 'Trouble' [produced by Dr. Dre]

Jay-Z - 'Minority Report' feat.Ne-Yo [produced by Dr. Dre]

Dre & Snoop

2006-11-15T12:19:00.000Z

New Dr. Dre produced tracks by Snoop Dogg from 'The Blue Carpet Treatment' Absolute 100% BANGERS!!

Snoop Dogg - 'Imagine' feat.Dr. Dre & D'Angelo [produced by Dr. Dre]

Snoop Dogg - 'Boss's Life' feat.Akon [produced by Dr. Dre]

City Symphony

2006-11-14T12:49:00.000Z

We were told to "compose" a city symphony. I looked up the word symphony which means:

sym‧pho‧ny [sim-fuh-nee]
noun, plural -nies.

"anything characterized by a harmonious combination of elements, esp. an effective combination of colors".

Source:Dictionary.com

From this, I created a series of images of Nottingham including the Train Station, the Bus Station and Broadmarsh shopping centre. I then used Photoshop to manipulate each image and incorporate it into one. I did not use moving images as I wanted the viewer to interpret the image as they see it without accompanying sound effects or music. I did not use a variety of colours because I wanted the image to look as simple as possible. Due to the multiple images incorporated into one, I felt that an extensive use of colour was not necessary.

How To Get Everything You Ever Wanted In Ten Easy Steps

2006-11-10T14:58:00.000Z

Just got hold of the Ordinary Boys album. Worth a listen.

Image Source: Wikipedia