OUGD502 - Net Awards

I started following netmag as they are a magazine for web developers and designers and thought they would post some interesting things.

Net Awards
That they did, and there is an awards called Net Awards, where you can vote for designers and digital agencies of the year.
I went on the website, and this is a great way for me to look at how people have self branded themselves, as well as look at some of the best agencies and see where they are based, the work they do and maybe get in contact with some of them.

These are all the agencies, and I went through all of them looking at their work and portfolios, and there are some great designs.

My favourite website was by Teehan-Lax, and this was because of how they presented their work. I had an idea that morning, that if I were to present work I would allow to user to drag it and make it bigger/smaller etc to show how it was responsive, and this was a similar idea to that. Basically, you can drag left and right to see the original and new design side by side which I think is really cool. They also had a very conversational tone, and lots of different ways of displaying functions like this which I think is very interactive, and lets you take more information in clearly.

My favourite website that I came across was by Viget for WWF. It is so easy to use, and really clear and everything that needs to stand out does, and I just think it's a beautiful piece of design.

OUGD502 - A Book Apart

I came across a website called A Book Apart that sells a variety of books on different topics, and theres some (well, all of them) that I want. I think this will help further my understanding on web design, which is what I obviously want to do.

OUGD502 - Visiting Design Museum

I went to the Design Museum to have a look around, and there was some really good exhibit pieces. I think it can be hard to exhibit design as it isn't meant to be stared at on a wall, but I think they laid everything out very well. They had a lot of physical examples, videos and booklets as well as boards to explain everything which was interesting.

What I found most interesting was the wayfinding for the travel section - they even had a full size road sign which I liked because you don't really understand the scale of something when passing by.
There were boards explaining the logo of travel and the olympics which I really liked - I wish they had some take away ones for people.

OUGD502 - Networking: twentysix digital Placement

When I went to Digitaleeds, I met a former LCA student who works at a place called Twentysix Digital. I had heard of these before because I looked at who was attending and looked at the company, and liked their website and work. When he said that, I told him I had heard of them and knew where their offices were (Singapore, London, Leeds and New York).

He then introduced me to his creative director, and we had a little chat which was very exciting!
The next day he emailed me saying he had looked at my work (I gave out my business card), and had sent it over to his boss. I was really grateful that he took the time to do that because he didn't have to. Me and the creative director exchanged a few emails and arranged for me to go to the office for a chat about a placement.

I went to the office for a chat - which happens to be a REALLY cool space with five different themed meeting rooms. I was asked to go through the work on my Behance and talk through the projects really, so I did, and then he did the same. It was really informal and although I was nervous at first I felt relaxed once in there.
He then said to just email him letting him know when I am available! So I did that, and I start in June now which I'm really looking forward to (it's also paid, which is a bonus!)

I am surprised how quickly this came about as it was my third event I went to, and it has given me more confidence and motivation.

OUGD502 - Networking: Hey!Stac

This months Hey!Stac event at Faversham is tomorrow and I'm so excited!
Ian Feather is talking, and he is a developer at Lonely Planet.
The two things I love - web design and travel, combined in one. So I'm really excited to meet him and have a chat.

I'm currently doing a project based around travel, so would be cool to chat to Ian about designing for it. Here is the Lonely Planet website which I have visited when researching for OUGD505 and it is really good - in terms of visual design, usability, content, readability etc.

OUGD502 - Networking: Hey!Stac

Last month I went to Hey!Stac to listen to the talks and mingle with people. It was a really good event and had some great speakers. I really like going to these because it is quite a relaxed environment and everyone is easy to talk to.

OUGD502 - Life's A Pitch - 1st Meeting

We had a group meeting today, and outlined some things.

Topics to Discuss
I made a mindmap of things we need to consider such as audiences, type of design agency, type of company etc

We all agreed that we want to be based in Leeds because we can research office spaces and things in person, and Leeds has a really creative industry with a lot of studios here.

Type of Studio

I asked what everybody is interested in and they said

• Illustration
• Print
• Web
• UI
• UX
• Editorial

So I suggested branding would be a good way to go so we can combine all of these.

Printing and Hosting

We talked about where we would do printing and hosting, and decided printing elsewhere would be a better option, so someone is going to research printers in Leeds, whereas the hosting could be done onsite because it is a good way to make money of clients. Ant is going to research that further.

Equipment

I wrote down a list of equipment we would thought we need in the office.

• Mac
• Projector
• 24/7 Internet
• High speed internet
• Printer
• Photocopier
• Scanner
• Shredder
• Chairs
• Desk
• Whiteboard
• Air Hockey/Table Tennis

Who's Doing What?

I wrote a list of things we discussed researching, and we all decided what we wanted to do.

Ant

• Looking at hosting
• Looking at the best bank to go with

Mel

• Researching what equipment we need and cost
• Existing branding companies in Leeds

Sarah

• Office Spaces in Leeds
• External Printers

Daisy

• Legal things we need to start a company
• What type of company we are

Me

• Existing digital agencies in Leeds
• How much we are charging clients

We are going to meet up on Friday again with the information.