Helvetica
May 13, 07:49 AM | CommentI watched Helvetica last night which is a fascinating documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture.
“It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.”
www.helveticafilm.com
I know, I know… A film about typefaces and letters doesn’t sound all that engaging but I assure you this really is! I’d say it’s a must-see for anyone that works with type. It’s not only informative and inspirational, but features some good interviews with some of the most well-known and influential graphic designers in the world.
Google local business listing problems
May 8, 10:56 AM | CommentI recently set up a local business listing for myself in Google to both help my customers find me and improve the SEO of my site.
It works really well and if you do a search for “Web Designer Melbourne” up I pop.
Work update
Mar 25, 12:18 PM | Comment [1]I just realised it’s been a really long time since I updated the portfolio section of this site. Not without good reason though, and it’s not because I’ve been slacking off and enjoying the Melbourne sunshine (the chance would be a fine thing). It’s because most of the projects I’ve worked on of late have either been internal web applications (so not available for public consumption) or have not gone live yet. As such I don’t want to publish anything visual just at the minute, partly because I’m not really allowed to in some cases but also because I don’t want to spoil the launches for my clients.
That said, I’m enormously proud of some of the things I’ve been working on of late so I wanted to share some of the more notable pieces to give some insight on what I’ve been up to:
Lessons learned from Gordon Ramsay
Mar 22, 03:29 PM | Comment [1]I’ve been loving Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen nightmares series’ (the British ones were much better than the American ones – much less ‘reality TV’ shenanigans).
Each week Ramsay helps a struggling restaurant to turn things around, always with the same basic method of combining determination, attitude and drive with keeping things simple, manageable and meaningful to the customers.
Smashing Magazine - 45 More Excellent Blog Designs
Feb 22, 05:44 AM | Comment [3]
Smashing magazine is an excellent site/weblog for web designers and developers, of which I’ve been a fairly regular reader for a number of years now. It’s a place to find not only excellent and informative news and design/development tutorials, but it also showcases examples of noteworthy work from other designers from time to time as inspiration.
Imagine my surprise then, when I discovered this weblog had been listed in their last article entitled 45 More Excellent Blog Designs.
Looking for freelancers
Jan 18, 01:16 PM | Comment [1]Things are getting pretty busy here at BTD so I’m on the look out for good freelancers to help me out.
If you’re a web designer, standards-aware front end developer, flash designer/action-scripter or have experience in working with textpattern and you’re looking for short-term freelance work on an ad-hoc basis, drop me a line at freelancework@tollady.com
Future of the left
Jan 16, 01:10 PM
My intention for this blog is mainly to discuss things to do with freelancing, web design and web usability, but I’m fast starting to realise that it’s going to contain a fair bit of music news and other waffle too…
Now this is a big statement I know, seeing as it’s only January, but I think Future of the left just might be my band of 2008. Made up of ex-Mclusky and Jarcrew members, their debut album ‘Curses’ was released in September but I’ve only just discovered it and my what a pleasant find!
2007 live music roundup
Dec 18, 10:45 AM CommentI’ve seen quite a few web designers write about their top albums and live shows at the end of each year. It’s something I’ve often thought was a nice idea ‘cause it’s a good way to discover bands you might not have heard about (I was introduced to The hold steady from Jon Hicks’ blog during the year) and helps forgetful people like me remember what they’ve seen in years to come.
As this has to have been one of my best years for live music in quite a while I feel compelled to jot mine down too. So here we are (in no particular order):
Art, Sensis and yet more Telstra web work!
Dec 10, 08:06 PM CommentI know, I know… I’ve been a bit quiet of late on the old weblog front, but I’ve got a (feeble) excuse – I’ve been mega busy! – which is a bit unusual for the December/January silly season, but hey, I’m not complaining!
I can’t give too much away yet about what I’ve been working on ‘cause I’m sworn to secrecy and can’t ruin the impending launches, but watch this space for full details as they emerge…