Massively unimpressed by the new macbook range!

Hi all,

I’m sure most of you by now have seen the new offerings from Apple with their macbook range. However, can I just say I really do not like them!

I was very much against the macbook air when it first came out, noticing that not only was it hugely expensive for the crap specs offered but it also looked pretty cheap, in my opinion.

This new range of macbooks and pro’s sadly have followed that trend and while a lot of apple’s hype has been around this single piece of Aluminium, I really don’t like the look of it. The overly rounded edges in my opinion make the whole thing look really plasticy and poor.

The main thing that has annoyed me, and is getting more annoying the more I think about it, is that the macbook and the macbook pro look exactly the same! I really liked the fact that they were different looking before meaning that you instantly knew if it was a macbook or a pro thus justifying the different names. They may as well get rid of the macbook pro range and just release a 13″, 15″ and 17″ macbook with varying specs.

Also, the spec upgrade really isn’t that great, bearing in mind the price has gone up massively! I was secretly thinking that if I could find a buyer for my year old macbook pro I would consider upgrading to the new macbook pro just because i’m a bit of a tech geek and I like to have the latest things. However, I would have to put at least a £1000 toward it after that sale because the price is huge.

Gladly though, I really do not want one of these and can happily carry on using my lush macbook pro. Maybe I’ll just upgrade my ram instead!

In my opinion I think it’s a very poor move from apple, although taking into consideration all of the mentions they have been getting today and yesterday it looks like they’ll sell well.

What do you guys think?

Let me know your opinions and if you think you’ll buy one…

10 ideas that will make you millions without even trying!

Hi guys,

Sorry for the over the top and elaborately sarcastic title to this post but I think it display my point quite well. Are people these days too willing to be spoon-fed ideas and use other peoples templates to save themselves time?

I’m a regular surfer of design blogs and have my homepage set to the front page of design float, and more and more I’m seeing posts that are offering free templates or free icon sets or free love etc

Is this really something people should be using? Surely any designer worth their salt should be making these things themselves. It saddens me that there is seemingly a market out there which is tempting bloggers to make their designs available for others to use. Surely this will lead to a huge number of very unoriginal designs that have been knocked up and thrown out with minimal effort.

I would hate to think that out there somewhere these people have also been given design contracts on the basis of their (template) site. As I write this it saddens me to think that there isn’t anything to be done about this. Especially in the current economic climate where (certain) clients are looking to get work done on the cheap.

I’m all for collaboration. If there’s something that you need doing and it isn’t your particular skill by all means ask a friend to help or pay a professional to do it for you. This indeed is the basis of a huge amount of the best work out there at the moment.

As I type this, within the top 16 articles being floated on design floats front page 6 of them are giving some sort of design away free for anyone to use. The fact that these are being floated obviously shows they are popular.

Do things like this devalue the work of others? Or does it in fact make the really good work stand out even more, knowing that so much crap must be being made using other peoples designs?

I’d love to know your thoughts and opinions on this, please discuss…

Auto margins

Hi guys me again,

Today I had a bit of a moan at work and I thought I’d relay that rant towards you.

It’s (if you have read the title of this article quite obviously) about the use of auto margins. Nearly every site I have built has been contained in a wrapper div. I set a width on that div and give it auto margins. I’m sure this wont be too alien to anyone here. However, I came across two sites in a row today that had not used this convention and it just looked wrong. Why would you want your content to be all squished over there on the left when, on a big screen like mine at least, there is loads of lovely space begging to be used on the right.

I understand that some designs need to be contained on the left and I am by no means saying auto margins are a must, but I would ask that when designing your site you think about us guys with lovely big screens. It’s not too much to ask is it?

Let me know what you think about this and if you have any examples of a site that negates the auto margins to great success I would love to see them.

Cheers everyone!

Are the best blogs floating to the top?

Afternoon campers!

Today I have been wondering if websites like Digg, and all of it’s copy-cat sites, are really allowing the best content to be highlighted to the masses?

I got thinking about this after noticing that a number of the bloggers I follow on twitter (my link can be found at twitter.com/atikusdesign) openly ask followers to ‘digg,float,fart’ etc their posts. This really is a pitiful thing to do in my opinion. If the content is good enough then people will feel the need to help it up the rankings. You shouldn’t get up there just because your previous posts have managed to get you a following.

An example of this happened today where an unnamed designer posted on twitter asking people to ‘float’ his post hoping to get on the front page of design float. I had seen this post yesterday and had in fact been very disappointed with it, feeling that I had read pretty much the same post numerous times, to the point I had seen his title image in another post before (how original of them.)

Still within an hour of his tweet (or whatever it’s called) he had reached the top of design float and I’m sure lots of people subsequently visited his poor blog post.

Of course some people may have visited his post and genuinely liked it, but I guess what I am asking is that if you are a blogger have the class not to ask people to ‘digg’ your site just because you are you. Secondly, if you are someone who sees this very sad request, by all means ‘digg’ the post but at least wait until you have read and enjoyed it.

If this continues the people at the top could ensure they stay there by asking their influential contacts to give them the exposure needed by asking their followers to help out.

Use the _blank tag!!

Morning all,

I just wanted to have a quick moan on this fine morning. I have just been looking through one of those, very common, “18 amazing shades of black!” (sorry for the sarcasm) blog posts on a very well respected blog. This list was made up of lots of images all with links to other sites. When clicking on these links it would then redirect my window to the other website. How annoying is that! What if I want to look at the rest of the list!

Please bloggers of the world, (i’m just hoping I didn’t do that with my list…if I did I will punish myself!) do not be afraid of the _blank reference when creating a link. Not only does it allow users to browse the web as they choose, it also leaves people on your site for longer, giving them a chance to read the whole article without pressing the back button.

Come on guys you know it makes sense!

If any of you can think of some pet hates you have with websites you visit post them here and we can use this space as a nice area to vent.

Good day to you all…

New Website Coming Soon

Hi guys,

I just thought I’d let you know that I have recently purchased myself a business hosting account and I am now set up as a freelance designer/web developer going under the name of AtiKuSDesign.

The site will be coming soon to atikusdesign.com and I imagine I will transfer this blog and it’s contents over to that domain.

For now though I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at the initial design and ask your opinions. Please let me know what you think, I’m always interested in hearing advice.

Tiny laptops…the new must have?

Hi guys,

I must start with a warning. This post is very much the thoughts and speculations of me. I could very well be way of the mark with this one…

As time has passed, the latest must have gadgets have changed in shape and function. It all started with the very advanced jotter pad and pencil. This wonderful device enabled anyone at anytime to write down a wonderfully creative idea just as soon as it popped into their head. This also had the power to be drawn on allowing doodles to add to the creative process. While this style of idea recording is still very much in use a few other options are now available.

The Camera

For a few years I went through a stage of never leaving the house without a camera. I didn’t know where I would find the next beautiful photo or little idea that I would be able to capture on wither my hand held digital or my digital SLR camera. However, as my priorities changed from the wish to be a photographer to being a designer, the need for the SLR reduced (I do still use it on specific occasions) and eventually my phone could take photos just as well as my hand held camera leading me beautifully onto the next point…

The Mobile V2.0

Excuse me for my stupid name for it but just to make it clear by 2.0 I mean the sort of phone that has a wonderful camera and the ability to organise your life with. Everyone has a phone these days and if I go out without mine I feel very vulnerable, like i’m going to miss that really important phone call that i’m not expecting. It also allows me to add appointments to my diary as soon as I need to. Most phones also have a good camera so if I see something that inspires me or gives me a good idea I’ll snap it to review at a later date. I also happen to have an iPhone meaning that it can do a whole host of things including the excellent application that allows me to update this blog via wordpress. However, it’s not as easy to type with the iPhone as it is with a keyboard meaning I don’t add much when using the iPhone and when I do it takes me twice as long. Once again this moves me smoothly onto the main point of this post (check me out using segways!)

The Tiny Laptop

The other day while on a trip to staples me and my girlfriend were having a look at their ASUS range of small and very portable laptops. They have a very good offer on them there at the moment and my girlfriend was very interested in getting one, thinking that it would be an excellent machine for typing up notes at uni. I’ve been thinking about them the last couple of days and how useful they really are for work on the move. However, the thing that I think would be really useful would be the ability to blog/twitter on the move. Blogging is really important to a lot of people nad being able to write down a thought as soon as it comes up would be very cool. WiFi connections are all over the place now and coverage is only going to get better making this even more achievable. I realise most people have laptops with them most of the time but on average they are very bulky. These ASUS laptops are so small and so light making them ultra portable. With prices under £200 and most of the functionality an average user would need while on a short trip away I think they would be an excellent investment for the pro blogger.

As I mentioned this is very much the ideas of a mad man (me) but I would be interested to discover what you think. Would you consider buying one?

Do you upload content to the web on the move? If so how do you find the best way to do so?

I look forward to your comments…

Is a degree really needed?

Hi guys,

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past week, my mind just hasn’t got around to giving me any more ideas…until now!

I’ve always wondered if my decision to go to university to study interactive media production was the right choice. Sure, I’ve since graduated from uni with a wonderful 3 years behind me and walked straight into my dream job. I know that my degree and the work I produced during those 3 years are the reason I got the job. However, my confidence, willingness to learn and general personality must have been what made me stand out above the other candidates. So many students leave uni every year with a near exact degree that employers have to look to other things to pick them apart.

Would a portfolio and the right ‘can do’ attitude be enough to get a job within the design/development industry?

I often wonder if I had not gone to university, would I have spent the 3 years perfecting my skills through self learning and would this option have proved to improve my work more than the course did? This option would certainly not have meant that I would spend half of my time writing theoretical essays allowing me more time to perfect my technical skills. While a number of my course mates would have said the essays were a waste of time on a web development course, I understood that it was my knowledge of the wider issues surrounding my chosen industry that would get me a job. It was exactly this point that impressed my current employer during my interview with him.

To the technical side. Did my course teach me anything to do with this? Well the honest answer is no. They provided us with a basic knowledge of software and not much else. While our two technical support guys were invaluably amazing, helping me out on numerous occasions, there wasn’t much else. I put a huge amount of effort into my studies because I loved what I do, however I can almost say for certain that a good proportion of my course, who did not care as much, have graduated with a degree but an absolutely unemployable skill set. While i am not worried about the wasters on my course it does make me think that maybe due to my self motivation I would have pushed myself to learn outside of a university course. Meaning three years later I would not be in £13,000 of debt.

During a 6 week work placement (half way through the course) I learned so much more than I had in the previous 18 months of uni. This sentiment was the same for the majority of the course. If I had not gone to uni and have been lucky enough to find someone to give me a break and let me learn the trade unpaid but doing it for ‘real’ I believe I would be further advanced than I am now.

The only question is would i have been given this opportunity without any qualification?

Would you employ an individual with a good portfolio, a great attitude but no degree?

Let me know what your opinions and experiences are on this matter?

I eagerly await your replies…

On a search for some inspiration?

Hi guys,

I just thought I’d post a list of brilliant sites I have bookmarked under ‘inspiration.’ Whenever I’m in need of a refuel I make sure that I visit these sites to give me a design boost.

Have a look I’m sure they’ll give you some ideas.

ISO50 – Scott Hansen

Scott is really an amazing illustrator. I was first shown his portfolio 2 years ago now and I still regularly check back for a design fix. His use of colour is what attracted me to his work, he has a very retro, scandinavian fell to his work in my opinion. I just can’t get enough of it!

His blog is also a very good resource.

Emil Kozak

Another stunning designer whose work doesn’t stop to amaze me. Emil designs a lot of products for the extreme sports genre. I love his use of white and a single colour, which creates really simple but stunningly striking pieces. His style is very ‘now’ and long may it continue.

Emilo can be followed from his blog

Design Shack

This is the first of a few web design galleries. I especially like the way you can filter the gallery by colour scheme or layout, which is especially helpful when you have a project in mind. I must admit I have never read it’s news and stories because I tend to use other sites for this, but as a web gallery this, in my humble opinion, is one of the best.

Best Web Gallery

Another very impressive web gallery. The site gets updated everyday meaning there is always fresh content to be looking at. I visit the site to try and stay up to date with the latest trends. This is one of about 4 web galleries that I visit at least once a week to keep ideas flowing.

CSS Mania

Sorry if you don’t like web galleries (why wouldn’t you like web galleries?) but this is number 3. Another very simple but effective site. It’s got a very clean design, meaning it doesn’t get in the way of the content, the wonderfully designed web sites! Certainly worth a look.

FWA

Another web gallery but this one is slightly different. While the previous galleries focused on CSS design the FWA highlights the best of Flash sites. There is a huge number of sites to discover from here and they are all of a very high standard. Personally, I do not like the user interface of the FWA and it does not feel very ergonomic to search. However, the quality of work showcased is so good that it is still worth a look.

Design Flavr

Excuse it’s very ‘cool’ spelling of flavour, this site is well worth a bookmark. If like me, you like to gain inspiration from every aspect of the design world this site is the place for you. Like the showcase sites that I have highlighted previously but with one main difference, it does not limit its content to one category. Search for Flash sites, CSS sites, vector art, portfolios, CG art and many more. There is soooooo much good work on here at any one time that you cannot fail to get something from this site. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Fave Up

Very similar to Design Flavr with a few less categories to search through. However, with CSS and Flash sites, Business cards and logos among the options there is still a wealth of quality work available. Also, the design of this sites is quite beautiful on its own.

Insipredology

This is a great resource for all sorts of information. There is a huge number of images within the articles that provide the user with some wonderful visual stimulation. It’s not only great to look at but well worth a read.

The Cool Hunter

Not totally focused on web or graphic design but this site is still one of my highest rated for supplying me with some really powerful inspiration. It showcases anything in this world that the editors consider ‘cool.’ More often than not they are indeed correct. It’s nice to get out of the normal realms of inspiration and look at things from a totally different angle. This one also comes with a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED label.

There you go…for now.

I hope you can gain a little inspiration from these sites. I know I have over the past few weeks/months/years.

If you know of any sites that you feel should be on this list I’d be very interested to see them. Please post links to sites that you think others should be visiting!

Have a good bank holiday weekend guys!

Over 1000 views!

This may seem a very very small number to anyone with a blog, but I thought it was my first landmark and worth mentioning that today, 9 days after repositioning my blog, I passed the 1000 views mark.

This makes me very happy and i thank everyone who has viewed for that