We have lots of exciting things planned: family photography portraits by Tempest lady, afternoon fashion shows with Reba an independent fashion boutique and Edinburgh Woollen Mill (talk about catering for all tastes!), and an indulgence evening with shopping and gifts and jewellery.

The most exciting part of the day has got to be a children’s colouring in competition in the morning period.

I have designed and printed out some ‘My Mummy’ templates which the kiddies can colour in. We are going to have age categories and prizes for each category.

I asked ‘Miss Crayons’ to do me a dummy draft so that we can hang some “here’s what we did earlier” up on the day. This is her first attempt.

Please note the lollipop and add-on heels. Frankly, it’s like looking into a mirror.

There is now a covered shaded play space, with planting, seating and a secret garden which the children can now enjoy regardless of the weather.

Local businesses and representatives were invited along with press from the two counties to the opening. There was a great turn out and the very lovely Kev and Abby from HeartFM were on hand to cut the ribbon.

The article from the ET can be found here.

Also featured in the Lincolnshire Free Press on 3 March 2010 – Page 13.

Preparations. Great idea to recreate the new logo on the giant outdoor chalkboard. Wait a minute, is that a typo?

Cmd+Z…

What typo?

Above photography by www.pinkmilkphotography.co.uk.

More pictures of the event also on the HeartFM website

Below is the new logo for Playgroup.

The full specs are as follows:

Quantity: 250
Size: 85×55
Colour: Single-sided, full colour digital print
Paper stock: 350gsm
Finish: Silk
Delivery: Free
Turnaround time: 3 days + 2 days Delivery

Artwork: To be supplied

Total cost: £14.95

Contact me if you want to take advantage of this offer.

Most recently I was asked to work on a concept for a New Zealand ISP for their pre-pay site which was aimed at students. Their corporate colours are orange, grey and grey.

I was given free reign to go wild and wacky and so I thought, what is the opposite of funky and cool?

Flock wallpaper.

In orange.

Imagine my delight when they opt for that design. Sometimes clients just surprise me in the best sense of the word.

If I was made to choose, I would have to say that I would fall more into the web designer side of the fence. You have to have graphic design knowledge to be a web designer, but not necessarily the other way round. Even though I studied fine arts, I started my design career working on websites and interactive interfaces.

So what are the differences and are they important? The simplified version would be that a graphic designer deals in physical printed media, while a web designer deals more with user-ability and how a site flows and works in terms of user interaction. It is very important to understand the differences when deciding on what type of designer you need for your project.

I find myself torn between the two disciplines at times, I love working on branding and logos as it’s normally for new businesses and individuals. I really enjoy being able to help clients define and develop their brand and identity. I suppose it’s like planting a seed and watching it grow, but without all the dirt and soil stuff. Equally, I also love working on designing websites especially when it comes to designing layouts for portals and working out how to display information that is creative yet effective. It’s akin to solving a puzzle that has more than one answer. Makes me use the logical side of my brain, which is always good.

When working on projects for printed media there are many things to bear in mind, not least of all how the design will work when it’s printed, the medium it will be printed on, the inks and colours used. There are so many things to take into consideration that if you don’t factor them in at the start, it could turn into a costly exercise for the client. That’s why it’s critical to always get a clear brief from the client, and then the job of a good designer is to guide the client while still meeting the objective of the overall brief.

Web design has even more things to consider. Leaving aside the aesthetics look and feel side of things, there are technical things to bear in mind, like, is the code as slick and ‘clean’ as it can be? Does it validate on W3C and behave the same on all browsers? (evil IE6 notwithstanding) and does the site flow logically or at least guide the user on the path you want them to take? How can you optimise the site so that the search engine robots can index your site?

I once worked alongside a project that was described as an online magazine. The clients asked a graphic design agency to design the website concept. The finished design was great, really elegant and classy and did not work as a web page whatsoever. The designers had designed a beautiful printed image, but had no idea of how the website would work or how the different elements like navigation would be incorporated. In the end I think it cost more time and money trying to (stubbornly) plug the design into a working website than it would have cost the client to get a website designer to design three versions of it.

I think graphic and website design require very different mindsets and skillsets.

If you are interested in my further ramblings, I have blogged some tips on web design DIY style previously which you may find of some interest.

Next post will be, the differences between web design and web development – will I have enough screen space for that?

For now here are some statistics regarding browsers which you might find interesting:

This report was generated 12/31/2009 based on the last 15,000 page views to each website tracked by W3Counter. W3Counter’s sample currently includes 32,094 websites. The browser market share graph includes data from all versions of the named browser families, not only the top 10 as listed below.

Congrats to Christals (twitter). I’ll be in contact shortly to sort out the finer details.

Thanks to all who entered. Sorry if you are disappointed but [shameless plug] you can get hosting from me for a very reasonable price [/shameless plug] just drop me an email.

Here is my entry, Master Crayons in his deer-stalker gazing at Mister Crayons out of shot.

{update: Just noticed that the hat is on back-to-front. This is what happens when Daddy dresses the children.}

This tag requires that I list 10 of my favorite things that are free. Seriously, not sure I am ready to turn my brain on a such short notice, but here goes:

1. Sunday morning lie-ins. Mister Crayons takes over sprog-manning duties (yay!)
2. Cake (any type) at chez PinkMilk.
3. Sleepy snuggles from Master Crayons just before nap-times.
4. Late night chatting online to slugsandsnails when we should both be in bed and complaining about lack of sleep.
5. A hot cuppa on a cold day.
6. Snuggling up on sofa to watch trashy telly with Mister Crayons.
7. Conversations with Miss Crayons about life, the universe and everything.
8. Singing along to A-Ha’s Take on Me on youtube with backing vocals by mini crayons.
9. Seeing the collection of Miss Crayon’s artwork stuck to every wall surface in Mister Crayon’s office.
10. Cake.

Point 10 is not strictly free and is a repeat of 2, but I can’t not have cake on my list.

Passing this on to:
Pomona – lovely clever lady with an amazing way with words.
Slugsandsnails – super creative mum and teacher.
RubyWren – my fav Elliepoo girl (actually only elliepoo girl I know).
Veribagent – one of my best friends, even though I haven’t seen her for 8 years! (Hint-hint-nag-nag). There is no expiry date on friendship when you have the shared experience of coconut juice together.

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I have tried to keep it non-soppy and a little funky. They are all hand-drawn with ink onto card, freestyle. Completely original and limited. Currently on sale at Gift Wrapped and Gorgeous website and my own shop. Free postage on all cards.

‘Mr. Crayons’ wants me to introduce a “Do you love me more than my avatar?” card. Even geeks need to send cards…

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