Skifree Monster!

I'd forgotten all about this game until I stumbled upon the work of Aled Lewis, a London based designer and illustrator. Aces!

http://www.aledlewis.com/

50 Things Every Creative Should Know...

Jamie Wieck created #the50, a visual essay comprising of 50 points every creative should know. As a recent graduate I still have a number of points to work on but #the50 provides a good source of advice, inspiration and comfort for students, graduate and creative professionals.

The 50

Awe-inspiring

Someone on twitter first alerted me to this, Jurassic Park theme 1000% slower. The result is 55 minutes of beautiful ambient music to rival Brian Eno or Stars of the Lid. It's only a song played really slow but it does sound pretty damn good.

Design thinking can change the world...

Yoxi is a creative competition and social game that invites teams of three to enter to compete to find the best solutions to current social problems.

The first competition challenge was simply titled; 'Reinvented fast food.'

Easier said than done.

Ten teams were selected to compete and developed a product, service or programme that helped to answer the challenge in a socially positive way.

The winners were The Udon Project with 'The Spoke' a fast food drive thru restaurant that's transparant, locally interactive and community driven.

The second competition challenge has now been released with the title; 'Trim the waste of fashion' and hopes to address issues of waste and sustainability within the world of fashion.

I think some of the responses to the first challenge were very creative, exciting and innovative so I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the next ten entries when they are announced next Friday.

Visitors of the site are also encouraged to play along and support their favourite team, a good technique for getting people involved with social issues...

Big bad world of freelancing...

Like most of my peers on the design cluster courses at the University of Salford I graduated with a respectable degree, however it's after graduation that most of us find our biggest test... finding a job. They're hard to come by and I've quickly come to realise that degree classification is all well and good but it can still be impossible to get your foot in the door without solid experience and a good reputation.

Thinking about setting up my own business with fellow graduates or going solo sounds terrifying especially with a hefty student debt looming over our heads but realistically it could provide the best option to get out into the professional creative world and avoid flipping burgers to earn some dollar...

I found this 'freelancers guide to the galaxy' on the fresh books website. May provide some much needed inspiration:

Fresh Books Blog

Keep calm and carry on...

During my final year of uni I embarked on a computing module which involved usability testing and human centred design. It involved me designing a digital interface for a specific target market. I had to take into account content, typography, colour pallets, use of media and navigation. What is the best way for my target user to move around my site quickly and easily, finding all the information they require and what happens when a missing URL is requested and they get the dreaded ‘404 NOT FOUND’ message?

Good human centred design takes all these things into account, including the occasional error message and clearly communicates to the user that there is an error but the site is not broken. By taking the time to design the 404 NOT FOUND page in keeping with the branding of the rest of the site, confidence with be maintained and users shoul

d stay on the site for longer.

Here are some examples of well designed error pages:

gdzl

Mail Chimp

Inflicted

I25UE: Design Thinking

The brief was set. Create and launch a product into industry which will promote ourselves as individual designers and help to explain to potential employers was BA Design Management & BA Design Futures is all about.

Our solution was I25UE: Design Thinking

The product consisted of:

1. A 32 page full colour newspaper consisting of the 24 design issues the students were investigating for their final major project. 5000 copies were printed and distributed to creative agency's, people and hotspots around Manchester.

2. A website and mobile app to further promote the I25UE brand and create a network for creatives in Manchester and beyond to share their design issues.

3. Our 25th issue, a live debate titled 'What skills and attributes do employers in the creative sector really want from graduates?' The debate featured a panel of key industry figures and an audience made up of students and creative professionals from some of the top creative companies based in Manchester.

Find out more at: I25UE