.Net magazine #213 Gallery reviews column

Sites featured in my regular reviews column this month are :

We Dance to the Beat On arriving at We Dance to the Beat  I’m reminded of late-90s raves in east London warehouses, where your heart pounded to the DJ’s beat and low-tech visuals were projected on the walls. Ifly magazine Real printed magazines usually have my vote over online versions. KLM Royal Airlines’ Ifly magazine, though, is beautiful and chock-full of great content. Fresh & Bright Superheroes Fun! Yes, here’s some fun: a terrific ‘leave your brain at the door and just enjoy the experience’ site for Diesel’s Fresh and Bright campaign

Computer Arts magazine #187 Does commerciality strangle innovation? Discuss…

No one ever wants to produce dull or uninspiring creative. However, the sad truth is that in any commercial design situation there will be occasions where creatives do have to spend time churning out template-driven work. I invited six industry professionals to discuss how creativity and inspiration can be applied to any design job, and how to work with clients to develop more innovative work. Our panelists also swapped advice on how to stay inspired and hired.

Computer Arts magazine #186 How can we recessionproof design? Discuss…

With talk of a possible double-dip recession, every creative needs a survival plan if they’re to weather the storm. I invited some of the industry’s most experienced professionals to share their insider knowledge on how to not only survive but even thrive during an economic downturn.

Computer Arts magazine #185 Design icons: Framestore

I spent a morning at pixel miracle maker Framestore in Soho where I interviewed CEO Sir William Sargent, Creative Director Mike McGee, Head of Animation Kevin Spruce and Diarmid Harrison – Murray who is Head of 3d commercials. A very impressive place where it seems everyone is in love with film and has a real passion for what they do.

Computer Arts magazine #185 ‘Do creatives need to diversify to survive?’ Round table discussion

Diversification as a creative seems to be the key to a continued working life. I invited a group of industry experts and chaired this Computer Arts round table which featured  long time Neville Brody collaborator Jeff Knowles and Times font designer Luke Prowse. This lively discussion took place at Candid Café in Islington and my write up appeared in issue 185.

Computer Arts magazine #184 ‘Mobile design: Can every creative move into the new frontier?’ Round table discussion

I chaired and invited a group of creative professionals to take part in this Computer Arts magazine round table discussion.  An astonishing half a billion people accessed the internet via a mobile device in 2009. This figure is expected to double over the next five years. We discussed what impact this would have on the creative industry.

Computer Arts magazine #183 ‘Cut&paste’

I was very happy to be asked by Computer Arts to go along and be a judge at International digital design tournament “Cut&paste” and to do this write up about the event for them. Turning the way we usually view design competitions completely on it’s head as the cream of British design talent, their friends, family and assorted curious creatives gathered at the “Village underground” in London for the UK leg of the tournament.

Computer Arts magazine #181 ‘The art of appraising creatives’

When appraisals go wrong creatives stay in the same position for years on end and never seem to be paid exactly what they’re worth. This has a lot to do with how they are appraised as well as an inability on behalf of the creative to effectively explain their thinking processes.
My article for Computer arts was featured in edition 181. It can now be read online

.net magazine #212 review column

Even if i had the money i wouldn’t buy Armani jeans and if i did i certainly wouldn’t look like Cristiano Ronaldo does in this site of the month for Armani jeans – but the site is certainly novel and i love the snap shot feature and the facebook integration.  Also featured is Many Colours One Voice a site which visualises the internet’s emotions in colour.

.net magazine #211 review column

My sites for issue 211 included this terrific Monet site and Battle of Britain which  takes old German WW2 bombing maps of London and overlays maps of how the bombed areas have changed over time. Pretty cool.