In the coming weeks of 2011 I hope to get the new site and new look live as it’s now very overdue, and I’d really like to show some of the work I’ve done over the last year or two.

So yes, keep watching (if anyone still does watch a blog not updated in nearly a year) and there will be things to see :)

Design/Inspiration

designerstalk, or more commonly DT
A passive aggressive wonderful forum for designers, developers and all manner of other creative folks. It’s one of the few forums of it’s ilk which is genuinely honest online. Some forums are full of people saying it looks lovely regardless of quality, which whilst feeling fuzzy inside, won’t help you much. DT will make you a better designer/developer etc. if you can withstand the very blunt criticism and take suggestions onboard. I frequent the board as Maerk, and generally try to be helpful, though I’m not beyond pointing and laughing at the people who register with the sole intention of asking for designers to work for free. It is primarily for creative folks, so don’t expect a no-swear zone of political correctness talking as if they’re pitching for business.

NOTCOT.org
I’ve mentioned NOTCOT in passing quite a few times on scrapbook, as I do repost various things I find there, it’s a lovely resource for all manner of creative wonderful and weird, not just design related, but interesting photography, weird products, generally very refreshing.

siteInspire – inspiring web design
Not just because a few of my sites have been featured either, but it is a lovely resource – in a world of dozens/hundreds of website collections, it lets you sift through the contents (1,423 sites and counting at this time) by styles, types and themes which is great if you’re looking for specific inspiration, many sites have no real quality control and no way to browse the gallery very easily.

Twitter
Yes, really. Sorry. It is what you make of it, and I’ve turned mine into a pool of designers, authors and comedians, which often gives me information apps and inspiration I wouldn’t have found any other way. (Incidentally I could put Twitter in all of the following sections except comics.)

Useful sites

Lipsum
Which generates Lorem Ipsum, the dummy text used in designs as it lets the eye naturally read the page better than saying DUMMY COPY DUMMY COPY ten thousand times.

Teux Deux
A site which is a very straight forward and effective to-do list by Swiss Miss. Very simple, minimal and useful. I was using post-its on my mac’s dashboard until this(!).

Upload Pie
Ok yes, me and Rick created this, but I do use it on a daily basis as it’s that darn useful, which is why we created it. It’s ace for quickly showing people images that you don’t have to remember to delete later, or take the time to upload using FTP blah blah. Great for getting feedback and fresh eyes on designs, or just sharing pictures of cats… which is honestly the only real reason for the internet.

Comics

dieselsweeties
Observant types will have noticed this link on scrapbook for a long time. It’s a wonderful world of robots romance and pixel art. I even own three t-shirts. (Pixelsaurus, hammer & sickle and Mr. Monocle Moon) It’s lovely.

Questionable Content
Is wonderful. Erm how to describe it… the lives of an odd collection of people, has very surreal moments. Also sentient mobile PCs with disturbing personalities. A yelling swearing bird when Jeph has a day off. Lovely.

Ctrl+Alt+Del
Gaming themed comic surrounding the life of a social incompetent, makes me giggle.

Penny Arcade
Gaming themed comic, very surreal, needs very little describing. I imagine most people will have at least heard of it. Generally surreal comments relating to specific games/game companies, but they do some lovely original arcs unrelated to anything but their own wonderfully warped minds.

xkcd
Sarcasm maths and language. A wonderfully dry comic. Also a fair bit of dinosaur obsession which goes down a treat. Which is handy as I really struggle with a few of the maths gags.

News

BBC News
Whilst I do think the quality has dropped in some areas, I still find myself checking it most frequently for my news needs.

Guardian
Admittedly I mostly find myself reading David Mitchell’s Sunday Observer column and anything by Charlie Brooker, but I do wander elsewhere occasionally.

Daily Mash
English satire news site, needs little explanation, very wonderfully done.

And in other news, I have started redesigning my portfolio site, honest.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and aren’t finding the return to work too horrific :) (Those of you that can make it in to work that is.) I keep talking, hinting, probably outright promising to update my site and blog with a new design, and well, erm, yes. That’s not likely to happen just yet, but I’ll try to fit it in sometime 2010.

In the mean time, lights! Gorgeous colour changing lights. (yes I already have something a little similar but still…)

More pictures + video over the leap

Incidentally I should say I found this on the lovely NOTCOT.org

This is the first of a series of rather verbose rambles I intend to share, if they go down well there may be more.

It started very quietly, the end of 2008 was a quiet time for my work, several regular clients reassessed using freelancers, and other clients lost some of their regular work and simply cut back in all directions. It was in many ways simply everyone holding their breath to see if the money would continue to flow into 2009, which had a very nasty hiccup effect on various people, myself included.

So it was pretty scary stuff, I of course reached out to some of my peers for advice, wondering if I should consider weathering the storm in a permanent job, I was met with comments along the lines of “ahahaha it’s your turn to go through a recession now youngster” (cheers Gez), followed swiftly with a jibe at my age, as I’m headed with deadly speed towards my thirtieth. But foolery aside, after some slightly more sensible advice I decided to hang on with freelancing, (as I really do enjoy it – the flexibility, the highs and lows) and the work did indeed begin to flow again.

So after a slow start, 2009 became a changing year for my work life – going from working within a few regular client agencies who had supported me in my first year or two of business – to suddenly finding myself working directly with clients, which was full of new challenges (and pitfalls of course). Project management isn’t entirely new to me, but there’s room for improvement still, and I’ve had an uphill lesson in working and managing clients needs and expectations during the year.

Being fully involved in the creative process really has led me to produce far better work than when I’m involved towards the end or (as I’m sure some freelancers can sympathise with) when you work on a project only to be unable to follow the project to completion due to other commitments or the work being finished internally. Some designers prefer to be insulated from the clients, and whilst there are moments I appreciate the cushion between me and them, I’ve enjoyed the change and developing those relationships.

I’ve worked with a total mix of clients, and on a wonderful variety of projects. The quality of work I’ve been involved in has been much higher overall and on projects I can really feel positive about, in the arts and education sectors to name a few. All in all, despite a rocky start, 2009 has really started taking me in a direction I want to keep heading in.

Other freelancers and small operations have also become a source of both inspiration and a wonderful source of work, combining a healthy mix of skills to offer clients something really special has been something I can really be proud of.

With that in mind I’ve also continued to develop plans to combine my skills with Rihards, more of which will be seen in 2010, which is very exciting to me considering we’ve discussed the possibility of working more together for some years. Rihards developed Sreski, Upload Pie and SGN‘s site, while I crafted the look of them, all of which have been very well received, indeed all three have been featured on the very lovely siteInspire.

What else has helped me survive the year? Oddly enough I’d actually name Twitter, something I scorned when I first joined it, it truly is something you get more out of the more you put into it, and it’s compensated for the increased amount of work I’ve done independently this year. Prior to this year I mostly worked in design studios and creative departments, supplementing teams in a variety of roles, or working on specific projects. This year with so much work from home it does help you feel grounded, keeps a little of that studio banter going so you don’t completely lose touch with humanity.

But am I having a big victory dance about lots of direct work this year and more working from home? No, I hope not, it’s been different and exciting. Would I have done it from the outset as a freelancer? Probably not, my time spent in many different studios introduced me to a great number of designers and other members of the industry. It widened my own knowledge and experience for the better, giving me the ability to learn from their stories and experiences. And I’ve certainly had some opportunities work with some great brands and produce lovely work for clients I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I hope to keep the balance in 2010, whether working from home, or walking into a totally new agency like it’s your first day on the job especially when you often have to jump straight into the deep end.

I guess I still like the swim.

These aren’t terribly new, 2007 I believe, but I’ve been reading my way through Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books after one of these wonderful covers caught my eye. The books themselves are brilliant, far better than I expected – I think we’re brainwashed with expectations of the deerstalker hat and “elementary my dear Watson” which is never said, and the hat which is never worn.

The books make a beautiful set and I’ve been treating myself to a new couple every few months when I get a chance, and the designs perfectly lend themselves to the real spirit of the books and the characters, not the parodied cliché of Holmes.

The full set continues after the click.

Designer – Coralie Bickford-Smith (www.cb-smith.com)
Illustrator – Mike Topping/Despotica (www.despotica.com)

Well, I’m planning on reviving scrapbook, along with maybe giving it a fresh lick of paint and forcing myself into the habit of scanning my doodles and posting my random odds and ends.

I’ve just had my 28th birthday, yikes. But it’s been a busy year, lots of wonderful new clients and some brilliant new friends and experiences along the way.

Along with scrapbook, I’ll be updating Sreski with new content over the coming few weeks. In the mean time check out Rihards’ brand new site designed by yours truly, and of course developed by himself – www.rihardsonline.com check his news section which incorporates his old blog, and is frequently updated.

For day to day babblings my twitter is here it is mostly gibberish I assure you.

That’s all for now – Mark.

Another little project between myself and Rihards. It’s a very simple, small & helpful tool, handy for showing someone an image within your browser (for me it’s handy to show people some of my WIPs to get a second opinion) without fussing with FTP, or worrying about deleting it later. Good for when messenger is being rubbish at transferring files.
Take a peek.

We decided it’d just target images you can view within your browser, so it’s not ideal for huge files, so I’d happily recommend either senduit.com or mailbigfile.com for those cases.

As a note, Rihards is still ironing out a few bugs, so any problems just fire us an email. We hope you enjoy it and find it as useful as we have :)

Upload Pie – The Simple Image Sharing Tool

A few wallpapers in various flavours for your pie needs :D

Upload Pie Wallpapers

Upload Pie – Red Back – 1920×1200
Upload Pie – Red Back – 1680×1050
Upload Pie – Red Back – 1440×900

Upload Pie – Green Back – 1920×1200
Upload Pie – Green Back – 1680×1050
Upload Pie – Green Back – 1440×900

Upload Pie – Strawberry – 1920×1200
Upload Pie – Strawberry – 1680×1050
Upload Pie – Strawberry – 1440×900

Upload Pie – Blackberry – 1920×1200
Upload Pie – Blackberry – 1680×1050
Upload Pie – Blackberry – 1440×900

Upload Pie – Blueberry – 1920×1200
Upload Pie – Blueberry – 1680×1050
Upload Pie – Blueberry – 1440×900

The third in the series of books on lovely business cards by Michael Dorrian and Liz Farrelly, which I stumbled across in Magma on Friday – I’d forgotten it was coming out this summer!

It’s a lovely resource for all kinds of inspiration and styles. And I’m very proud to have my cards be part of the collection (must be scraping the barrel and all that – before Coxy could say it). But yes, very lovely and happy they’ve been so well received :)

Links
Business Cards 3 – Designs on Saying Hello @ Laurence King Publishing
Magma

Been a while since I posted any of my own work, this is an identity I did the other month for the lovely Mancunia based photographer Jo Harter-Tong, of Mojo Images.

Links
Mojo on Flickr

And on reading these 10 (11 actually) points I found myself guilty of one or two of them, I’d blame a few of these hiccups on stress and pressure, and thankfully I’ve never actually used some of these statements on clients, but I’ve more than once made the “doctor’s aren’t questioned, why are designer’s opinions so disrespected?” case amongst friends. Apparently my comparison was out of date, in the day where Google and Wikipedia reign supreme, doctors are indeed challenged every day by people who think they know better. In fact my gran pre-dated the internet with her belief that all doctors know less than her, so it was a bit blinkered of me to really presume no one questions a doctor.

So, humble pie really. I think I came through the list relatively unscathed, and in the areas I didn’t well, shall just have to do better. Tut tut.

Number eleven of the ten points (yes) was lovely to read just because it’s nice to see it confirmed.

11. When a client says the words — “you have complete creative freedom,” they never mean complete creative freedom. Whatever you show them, they will find a problem with. Happens every time.

Links
DO – 10 Design Paradoxes