Design Ideas/Inspiration

Commemorating those who fought and died in battle for our freedom is something close to my heart and so when I read this article in the local paper, Fundraising drive begins to replace rotting gate guardians, I thought I'd do my bit to help promote it.

The St George's RAF Chapel of Rememberance at Biggin Hill airport in Kent has two planes, one a Spitfire the other a Hurricane (saved from a film set), as gate guardians. These act as a memorial for those who flew from Biggin Hill and those pilots who died during the war.

If you ever needed inspiration to start a blog and tips to keep people returning to read it then the video below, titled How to Build a High-Traffic Blog Without Killing Yourself by Tim Ferriss, is a great place to start.

Having viewed it the other day I felt I had to share with you, it was that good, I hope you get something from it even if you have an established blog.

There's background to where and why he started blogging, including an embarressing telephone call to a blogging idol!

If you're thinking about starting a blog or have doubts as to where to start then watch this presentation:

What a stunning piece of work to create a fantastic video for Moray McLaren’s We Got Time. It’s pure creative genius, no camera trickery, everything was recorded as you see it!

I first saw the video on brainpickings but felt I had to share it with all my readers it was so good.

If this doesn't inspire you then I don't know what will!

David Wilson is the genius behind it, go check him out.

The advent of spring got me in the mood for some spring inspired web designs. The sun is out... was out and now gone back in again but at least the temperature has improved, just!

The blue skies and blossom led me to putting together this little list of stunning web designs that caught my eye.

The list contains Boompa and Getting Crazy, my favourites for their use of water colour paintings which really make them stand out form the crowd.

Hopefully it will give you some inspiration for future designs.

Every now and again our mind goes into melt down, either we have too much going or on not enough, causing a creative block!

At this point I like to get away from the run of the mill websites or magazines and find something completely different.

FFFFound is just one place this monkey visits to find random imagery to give me some inspiration or spark to get my mind working.

The best way I've found lately to browse a number of sites is by using the great iPhone app iView which brings up imagery from your chosen website such as FFFFound.

I use it on a regular basis to clear that creative block and get the juices flowing again.

Today marks 50 years of the iconic record label MOTOWN, bringing us such greats as Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the list goes on.

My favourite music blog has a couple of classic clips of two Motown greats but I thought I would pick out some record sleeves that caught my eye stylistically.

Some great photography mixed in with nice typography means these album sleeves stand the test of time. You can't beat owning a bit of vinyl, shame I don't have a record player to play them on!

Busy times lead to a slow flow of blog articles but do not fear, I've got some corkers lined up in the next few weeks!

Results from my Blog Survey '08 are on the way, so if you haven't given me your feedback click through now!

We've also got a complete site redesign coming your way for 2009. You should always be reviewing and monitoring your brand and marketing strategy, which is why we're about to tweak our design to leap into the new year all fresh faced and bushy tailed.

Recently we started using MailChimp for our email marketing so they'll be a round up of its' pluses and minuses, so far it's chimptastic

Plus there's a great little article on what you can learn from Kung Fu Panda! Oh yes, design and Kung Fu Panda, what a combination

Coming sooner than you think!

RSS is such a great way to keep up-to-date with all the latest news from some of the top people in their fields of interests.

I've updated my feeds again in the past week and thought I'd share them with you. If you have a business and no doubt a website then you'll find lots of interesting links. The primary one on each line takes you to the blog itself and then I've also supplied a direct link to their RSS feed.

If I had to pick out just a couple of blogs that I really enjoy then Seth Godin, Get Elastic, Smashing Magazine and Chris Brogan are all unmissable.

Those people wondering what that orange square is all about should check out this post on what RSS is and how it can help you gain quicker and easier access to your favorite blogs.

Enjoy the list :)

Blogging

Having had this site design for the past year I'm about to redesign. Mainly to incorporate new features but also to make the site that little bit more easier to navigate and read.

As a designer I'm interested in getting a users point of view. This is your chance to praise or blaze my design and blog! Don't be shy, I won't hunt you down for criticising it, honest!

After I've received enough feedback I'll publish my findings for all to learn from. So what are you waiting for, complete this short survey and hit submit!

As you might have noticed I've not blogged for a while, which is great on the one hand, I've been way too busy. On the other it highlights that I haven't prepared any blog posts, not the done thing now is it!!

I like to be spontaneous and write when and how I see fit, which puts pressure on me to produce work there and then but that's the way I like, it keeps me on my toes.

So back to what this post is really about, my UK Miniature Blogfest of some recent content that caught my eye. It's no good reading these well written posts without sharing them with you, so here's a small collection of UK talent you shouldn't miss out on, happy reading:

• What reason does this linkbait give for people to link to it - Lyndon Antcliff Linkbaiting Consultant
• Who Wins a Browser War - Tim Nash UK SEO Blog