Design Studio

Design

Studio

SHOWCASE DESIGNERS

Top new artists from around the world

REVEIW SECTION

Reviewing all the latest new gadgets on the market

STAR BURST Explore a wide range of new exciting designers

An INTERVEIW WITH

The talented Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic

THIS ISSUE’S COVER ARTWORK DESIGNED BY: NIK AINLEY LOCATION: United Kingdom CONTACT: Nik@shinybinary.com +44(0)7930122547 Nik Ainley is a UK based designer who has a passion for producing personal art and illustrations. After teaching himself Photoshop in his spare time while gaining a degree in physics at Imperial College London, he has since moved full time into the design world.

He is constantly trying to further his expertise in digital media, and won’t stop until he has mastered all the tools he needs to fully realise his designs.

As a designer, Nik has been receiving more and more exposure, his work featuring in many magazines as well as on books, album covers, posters and clothing.

His style is quite contemporary. Since Nik did not have any formal education or learned design from the ground up it wasn’t a conscious decision to follow one particular style of design. The images he produces are what he thinks look good, and although obviously it is influenced by other work around him. In the future Nik expects to continue his work both on and offline, while trying to satisfy his huge appetite for mastering new tools and techniques.

DESIGN STUDIO / MAY 2007 Design Studio is pleased to have such a great fan base and hopes that you enjoy reading the magazine.

COVER ILLUSTRATION

Nik Ainley

United Kingdom Talented English designer Nik Ainley who has a passion for producing personal art and illustrations. , he has since moved full time into the design world. He is constantly trying to further his expertise in digital media, and won’t stop until he has mastered all the tools he needs to fully realise his designs. You can see more of his work in on the new and improved Shinybinary version 2.1. www. shinybinary.com

Roberto marcello showcases some his newest work for DESIGN Studio make sure to check it out at page 22

A very interesting interview with the talented artAt A Glance ist Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic, to have a great read turn to page 45

Reviews on comparing ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 3 the newest cell phones on MASTER COLLECTIONthe market, including the iPhone and Sony Erickson DESIGN ACROSS MEDIA W88i goto page 47

® Photoshop Re-Creates Aging Impressionists’ Eye on the World, how Adobe’s program gives insight on page 28

Welcome to the first issue of the newly designed Design Studio. Ask any designer or illustrator about trends and they’ll usually come up with same line “Other people may follow them, but I never do.” Whether this is true or not probably depends upon the individual, but it’s rare creative who could place their hand on their heart and swear their work was influenced by nothing other than what was going on in their own head, rather than the screen of their Mac, the billboard hoarding near their house or the pages of their favorite magazines.

Although the idea of following trends can strike fear into the hearts of even the most bleeding-edge creatives, there’s no denying that the design industry is driven by trends and fashion to a greater extent than many other areas of the creative world, and any designer worth their salt will need to keep firmly on top of them. I think about it for a second. Nothing shouts ‘last year’ quite so loudly as a slightly unfashionable typeface, dated illustration style or even stale colour palette.

That’s why in this magazine we are looking ahead and we’ve called on some of the great up comming illustrators, graphic designers, advertisers and typographers.

We look ahead and tell you which trends in each respective field you should be keeping your eye on.

Elsewhere in the magazine this issue, we take a look at the about the best way to keep your style fresh, the new creative suite release by adobe this year and a interview with Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic. Hope you enjoy it.

®

Follow the flow of your creative ideas wherever they lead.

Designed for creative professionals who blur boundaries and The new Adobe James Wignallruns showcases break rules creative in pursuit of their vision, Master Collection suitesmoothly CS3 gets reviewed some his illustration on the most current Mac and Windows® computers.

by Design studio five work for DESIGN Studio A truly comprehensive design environment for exploring and expressing ideas, Master starsCollection rating on page page includes all 42 of Adobe’s leading tools for designingat content for33 print, web, interactive, mobile, and dynamic media such as film and video. This highly integrated, exceptionally productive toolkit equips you to balance design aspirations with deadline demands and meet any competitive challenge in the fast-moving business of design. With Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection, you can:

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection combines full new versions of:

WELCOME

Realize your vision with essential creative tools—Tackle virtually any creative task from image editing, illustration, and page layout to web design, interactive development, motion

GREG TERY - EDITOR g_reg2005@hotmail.co.uk CONTACT Design Studio, Future Publishing 36 Cross Stile, Ashford Kent, TN23 5EH PHONE: 01233 335576 SUBSCRIPTIONS: 0870 837 4722 OVERSEAS SUBSCRIPTIONS + 44 1858 1858 438794

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 5

Design Studio ISSUE 1 EDITRIAL 01233 335576 gt.mail@designstudio.co.uk GREG TERRY - EDITOR ROSS O’NEILL - DEPUTY EDITOR JOE SIMMONS - NEWS EDITOR SCOTT WHITE - SENIOR ART EDITOR KATE PARRY - OPERATIONS EDITOR ABBY GATES - ONLINE EDITOR DAARREN COLE - NEWS MEDIA EDITOR

CONTRIBUTIONS Mark Mayers, Jason Walsh, Alex Cox, Sue Jones, Karl Spence, Rex,Crowle, Ed Arber, Daniel Ricketts, Nick Curd, Mark King, Ben Crossman, Helen Smith.

PHOTOGRRAPHY - Simon Crabb COVER PRINT - UBF TEXT PRINTER - Andrew Taylor

ADVERTISING 01233 335576 NICK CLARK - senior advertising manager CARL HOPE - senior advertising executive TIM WEAR - senior sales manager

MANAGEMENT LEX ROSE - publisher IAN HUDSON - assistant publisher DIANE TULLY - group publisher LAURA WEBSTER - production manager TINA SPRING - group art director

PRODUCTION MICHELLE DEFOE - production co-ordinator JEFF KEANE - ad production manager STEVE KING - promotions manager

SUBSCRIPTIONS DesignStudio Subscriptions, Future Publishing, FREEPOST LRSC-XSSE-KKST, Uint 5 Block house, Greenwood Park, Market, Kent TN23 5EH SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES 0870 833 4552 OVERSEAS SUBSCRIPTIONS +44 1858 4562793 EMAIL designstudio@subscription.co.uk

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Future MEDIA WITH PASSION

zine

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Market (UK) Ltd 020 6733 777 4th floor, High Rise Town, Queens Reach, Andfeild Street, London SE1 7FD

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LOADS OF NEW TUTORIALS

IMPROVED NAVIGATION

SHOWCASE GALLERY

Updated daily, our tutorials section contains expert tips on all the leading design apps.

Access content, with clickable links and images, with the new e-magazine features.

An extensive and impressive online gallery showcasing the very best contemporary artists.

SHOWCASE

P10 ROBERTO CONTI A very colourful artist who loves to put a message behind his work.

P30 JAMES WIGNNALL Illustrator who has mastored the the use of Illustrator CS2 into his own style.

P38 POKE STUDIO

Weird and wacky designers who thinks out side of the box.

P54 ADAM TIKLE Well thought of designer who now designs mostly for band CD covers.

P56 JUSTIN MALLER

3D artist with a wide range of knowlage.

REVEIWS

P86 CELL PHONE BATTLE All the newest phones on the market go head to head

DESIGN TIPS

P37 REINVENT YOURSELF How the leading designers, illustrators and agencies evolve in order to stay ahead of the game.

P38 20 TIPS FOR… Interactive designers Make life easier with our expert tips for creating better websites, interactive TV content and DVD menus.

P39 EASY MONEY

P41 FREELANCE SURVIVAL GUIDE Consider the practicalities of freelancing in this expert survival guide.

P32 NEWS

P53 EYE ON THE WORLD

What’s so good about high definition, will give you the specs.

Photoshop Re-Creates Aging Impressionists’ Eye on the World.

Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3, InDesign CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Flash CS3 all gets reveiwed for Adobe’s new big step forward.

8 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

P68

Taking an iconic image and manipulating it isn’t particularly creative. And although it might be lucrative, it’s almost certainly illegal.

P78 WHY UPGRADE TO HD?

P93 ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 3

P43

P32 MICRO COMPACT HOME The m-ch, for short, is a 76-squarefoot domicile.

P68 ADOBE LIVE 2007 Feed your imagination at Adobe Live. Give your creativity the nourishment it deserves.

Design

Studio

P22

Nella società dell’im

l’immagine è im

INTERVEIW

P14 AEROSYN-LEX MESTROVIC

COVER FEATURE: NIK ADLIY’S

STARBURST P55 IPOD TAKING OVER CDS? A great article about how the reveltion of the Ipod will one day take over the use of ever buying a CD ever again. To read more on this turn to page 55.

The Creative Director for the KDU and designer / typographer sits down and gives us the info of what goes on behind closed doors, answering DESIGN Studios questions one by one with a great sight into every day life. How he became what he is today, what he’s doing now to keep the KDU the biggest tool, an ever evolving creative network. The network which unlike other professional organizations (i.e the AIGA) allow for a more egalitarian form of collaboration. With a creative network they are using new means of content creation and collaboration to facilitate the production of traditional and non-traditional media, and of course looking forward to the future and what it holds.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 9

SHOWCASE

Send your work to DESIGNstudio and be seen by thousands

ROBERTO CONTI LOCATION Milan JOB Free-lance visual designer CONTACT www.imho.cc/ SOFTWARE Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Flash

An Italian young free-lance visual designer, he got a diploma in New Media Design at the New Academy of Fine Arts of Milan in 2004. Roberto began studying the street art and drawing animals and birds with watercolours and pencils. His professional focus is on graphic design for magazine, editorial, layout, flyers, brand identity, corporate brand, logos design, brochures, posters, publications, tickets, postcards; manual and vector illustration for book, magazine, clothing, wall print, exhibitions; web design, internet design, video, motion graphics, animation and photography. He projected a clothing wear design and vector illustrations (www.kakitree.com) Vector illustration is a possibility to simplify the shapes in the reality and to express ideas and subjects in directly way. “Culture and curiosity it’s very important to make good projects, I always look for a context around clients and works, and the simplicity it’s the key of a good project. I define my style as a travel between reality, actuality and visual communication working with manual skills and digital technologies.”

10 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

Nella

l’imm

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 11

INTERVEIW

Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic LOCATION Brooklyn + Tokyo JOB Creative Director CONTACT www.aerolex.com/ SOFTWARE Illustrator, Fontographer and Photoshop DESIGNstudio : What do you do for a living? : Creative Director for The KDU / designer / typographer Why is design so important to you? : I see it as an extension of mankind’s innate ability to communicate visually.

It’s a language unto itself and knows no boundaries. I first and foremost am intrigued by language & communication. I view design as a means by which to communicate ideas that might not be expressed otherwise.

What do you think makes a good designer? : I know that photoshop and a pen tablet does Not necessarily make a good designer.

I think the ability for one to facilitate and communicate ideas visually is fundamental to what I would term good design. One needs to have an understanding and awareness of the graphic tradition in order to be able to create designs that will outlast the context into which they were born.

12 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

In your honest opinion do you really think design actually has a great impact on a business and ever deeper peoples lives, or is it just a way to make things pretty?: I feel design holds an enormous amount of influence on peoples lives. I think the framework with which we gaze upon design is too limiting.

We are in touch with some form of design every moment of our lives. With respect to business– Design and Commerce seem to be locked in an uneasy marriage. Nonetheless the importance of design has to be equated into the impact of commerce on the societies of the world. Marx writes that “capital works by separating ownership from labor. . . The capitalist owns the means of production and distribution { the factory, the tools, the retail stores }, while the worker does the producing { earning a wage instead of owning what he or she makes }.” This statement offers a parallel to the relationship between design and commerce, and to the experience of your typical employed or hired designer. Design is not limited to strictly serving the purpose of Business. They do at times serve each-other equally well and create a synergy which can in turn truly impact the lives everyone the world over.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 13

As a person what are some of the bigger concerns in your mind, are you into politics and government at all? : I’m not sure who much I can elaborate on this but very much so. I follow international politics in particular as best i can. I watch Charlie Rose religiously and use the conversations presented there as a springboard for further studies into myriad topics.

I’m of the mind that it’s my duty to be as informed as possible with these larger issues, as ultimately they are what shape the world around us. I would also hope that these informed dialogues find their way into my work. I wish there were a greater intersection between design and politics ( I’d love to do Identity and Branding for the UN ).

What exactly does the Creative Director for a huge army of creatives like the KDU do?

In principle, one Directs. In practice, one does everything imaginable. It’s honestly a labor of love, one that is ever demanding yet rewarding in that it affords me the opportunity to interact with talented creatives the world over in a way that would otherwise be impossible. I find myself at the center of a great amassing of creative energy; I’d like to think that it is our ( David Gensler and Myself ) responsibility to apply that energy with precision and force so as to maximize the impact and reach of that collected talent.

Can you explain from what you know and have seen how the KDU is meant to work, what its use for, and how it’s so benefitial to allowed a member in the KDU? It’s a means of empowerment.

It’s a vehicle, a tool, an organic, ever evolving creative network.

It is a network which unlike other professional organizations (i.e the AIGA) allow for a more egalitarian form of collaboration. It’s a creative network for a

newly christened “Flat World” (as described by Tom Friedman). We are using new means of content creation and collaboration to facilitate the production of traditional and non-traditional media.

If one looks at the standard model of design consumption it is obvious that ones physical location is critical to the work one does. I moved to New York to go to school ( Pratt ), but also because I knew that what I wanted for my career was to be found here. Those who are outside these creative centers are often times disenfranchised and seldom have the opportunity to affect the culture with which they identify. Their only option is to consume that culture from afar. The KDU allows for a direct interaction and participation with our core culture; it’s a very powerful and eye-opening model. We have members all over the map and because of my proximity to the network I am able to interact with people from Warsaw to Auckland to Bucharest to Rome to Singapore to Lahore on a daily basis. I don’t know of any other creative network which facilitates this type of interaction.

There are of course many other benefits to membership, but collaboration is key.

Your work shows that you’re into typography and calligraphy can you elaborate on how they’ve influenced your work?

I see typography as the most basic representation of language. I fell in love with Type and letter-forms whilst at Pratt.

I was fortunate enough to have studied + worked with some great professors there, Kevin Lyons being one of them. I’ve always loved language. I used to perform spoken-word and write quite a bit. There was always a distinct urge to communicate both verbally and visually. By exposing me to the principles of typographic design my education afforded me a new tool with

14 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

which to communicate. I’ve been enamored ever-since.

Oddly enough, I had been involved with calligraphy from an early age. My father prides himself on his penmanship and had taken me to calligraphy classes at various points throughout my childhood. I later found a parallel to calligraphic lettering when I began writing ( graffiti ) – always working on handstyles and pieces. It’s romantic to think now that all my time spent painting walls, scrawling tags, running from various forms of law enforcement somehow brought me to typography.

Whilst living in Tokyo I was able to study japanese calligraphy ( Shodo, Gyosho, Kaisho) and that has continued to influence my work and process. I learned much about the spiritual nature of the practice and I feel that it’s a means of expressing ideas of beliefs that have no verbal equivalent. There I also learned to make my own brushes and inks and have taken that practice into my more western influenced calligraphics by cutting my own nibs. To me there’s an undeniable thread that has linked my life experiences to these two facets of my work.

How about your background how does Brooklyn, Bueos Aires and Tokyo connect with each other in a person who’s so young? Tell us about growing up and how each of these places had an influence on you in life and design, help shaping who you are now?

I feel my background is my work, and my work is my background. I say that to infer that both narratives are intertwined and inseparable. One’s life is clearly a narrative, and I view my work in much the same way.

I was born in Buenos Aires and moved to the states at a young age. I was raised off in the south.

Miami to be exact; and was exposed to all types of people, cultures and traditions. I feel

fortunate to have had art as a constant throughout my life as there were times when I became caught up in some “unhealthy” practices and it was my capacity for art that presented me with an opportunity for change.

As I mentioned I moved to Brooklyn for school, but had always maintained a “Brooklyn” state of mind. I then was able to spend the better portion of a year living in Tokyo. To me all of these experiences are closely related and I can almost visualize the aesthetic influence that each of these places has had on my life and work .

Tokyo, how was that experience for you, its so much culture there, were you able to soak any of it up for your own good? Would you ever considering going back for good?

Honestly, I view it as one of the best experiences in my life thus far. I feel greatly privileged to have had the opportunity to really immerse myself in the culture and develop long lasting friendships with the people I met there. I feel that the Japanese culture has traditionally embraced aesthetics and design as part of their social fabric. I feel that still stands true today.

Their visual traditions have always spoken to me with great resonance.

I would live there again for an extended period of time.

Do you think you’ll love design and be as much involved with it now in lets say 5 or even 10 years from now?

Design, or let’s say Visual Language, is ingrained in my persona. It’s something that shapes my perspective on life. I pray that if i’m afforded another 10 years of life and work that I’ll still be involved in the creation of images and visual communication - if only at a much elevated level.

Lord Willin’ .

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 15

The Intel Core 2 Quad processor packs four brains in every PC and delivers the immense speed and responsiveness that is increasingly required to process today’s most demanding media-intensive applications. This processor is available in PCs and in the reseller channel immediately. Intel also announced two quad-core processors for single-socket servers.

Intel builds on the company’s revolutionary Intel Core 2 Duo and quadcore microprocessor families, with 29 dual and quad-core processors for sale in the desktop PC, laptop and server market segments.

NEWS

TOP STORY

CONDOMINIMUM

Disney Ratatouille Online

Breakthrough

IPOD TAKING OVER CDS? A great article about how the reveltion of the Ipod will one day take over the use of ever buying a CD ever again. To read more on this turn to page 55.

Welcome to the micro compact home. The m-ch, for short, is a 76-square-foot domicile designed by Technical University of Munich professor Richard Horden to meet the growing demand for short-stay living.

And this isn’t just a dressed-up shack; the m-ch is the BMW of small homes. For $96,000 a cube (including delivery and installation anywhere in Europe), owners get a fully integrated interior teched out with everything from a flatscreen TV to a dining room table that seats five. In the future, solar panels and a roof-mounted horizontal-axis wind turbine generating 2,200 kilowatts of power a year will make m-ch models self-sustaining.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 17

NEWS

Photoshop Re-Creates Aging Impressionists’ Eye on the World For decades, art historians have wondered what made Claude Monet and Edgar Degas evolve from landmark impressionist painters to what some consider to be shadows of their former selves. Now, a Stanford University ophthalmologist has used the Gaussian filter and other Photoshop wonders to replicate how the artists saw the world later in life.

The verdict: The painters couldn’t paint the same way anymore because they couldn’t see the same way. “It’s no secret that both Degas and Monet had failing vision. What’s never been clear is what did that mean for them,” said Dr. Michael Marmor, who studies how the brain processes sight. With the help of Photoshop, “we realize how this limitation may have influenced their style.”

The findings raise doubt about the

18 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

prevalent theory that later in life, the painters were influenced by more modern, expressionist artists like Van Gogh and Seurat, who used darker, heavier lines and sharply contrasting colors.

Monet and Degas are both known as masters of the French impressionism movement, which is characterized by short brush strokes, pastel colors and indistinct outlines that the eye blends from a distance.

Both artists suffered from eye disease in their later years. Monet had cataracts while Degas, famous for his paintings and sculptures of ballet dancers, likely suffered from macular degeneration, Marmor said.

Degas’ brushwork seemed less refined closer to his death in 1917. The changes could have been a natural evolution of his painting style or the result of other

aspects of aging. So Marmor tested whether vision played a role by using Photoshop to re-create what the artist might have seen.

He manipulated three paintings of nude women bathing in order to see them as the artist would have with 20/50, 20/100 or 20/300 vision. Marmor determined how much blur to use by applying filters to an eye chart and observing which level of blur most replicated a particular level of vision.

While the two later paintings (After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself and Woman Drying Herself ) look rough in their original form, the blurring effect eliminates the coarseness. “If you look at these same late works as they appeared to him, they don’t appear so crude,” Marmor said.

“He may not have been able to realize or understand how they looked to those

Short Stories Online games becoming all too real.

Chances are, you’ve been addicted to a computer game at some point in your life – maybe Grand Theft Auto lured you into completing every mission, or you got mesmerised by the lines of Tetris.

Whatever you’re gaming vice, though, it almost certainly pails in comparison to the recent stories from Asia’s Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). with normal sight.”

Monet preferred to paint nature and buildings. Cataracts, which he suffered from between 1912 and 1922, when they were surgically removed, disrupt color perception and visual acuity.

According to Marmor, Monet’s work began to show a yellowish cast as his cataracts developed. To reveal how Monet saw the world, Marmor darkened images using Photoshop and reduced the levels of blue to replicate a yellowing effect. He also used blurring filters.

The results suggest that Monet’s vision corrupted his ability to see colors correctly. This and not a desire to reflect the growing expressionist style of painting may explain the abstract nature of Monet’s later work.

Marmot published his findings in the December issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Bradley Fratello, an art historian and assistant professor at St. Louis Community College, said he’s unconvinced that eyesight influenced the artists more than contemporary artists like Van Gogh and Seurat.

In the paintings of women bathing, Degas demonstrates his ability to draw fine lines in some portions of the works, Fratello said.

“If you can’t make refined lines because you can’t see, then you can’t ‘choose’ to make them some places and not others, can you?”

A few weeks back a girl known as Snowly settled down for a three day session on World of Warcraft it resulted in her death from exhaustion.

Hundreds of fellow players (there’s currently a worldwide population of 4 million online gamers) then paid an eerie homage to her by organising the virtual funeral Chinese authorities are naturally looking to act to prevent more deaths. A three-hour limit is to be introduced next year, and games manufacturers are also looking to include ‘anti-obsession’ features.

Randy Dotinga

iPhone nano plans leak Apple’s got plans for a tiny touch-phone.

We know the iPhone’s going to be the first in a range of mobiles from Apple, but we’ve just caught sight of the company’s plans for the next-gen model.

The documents, forming part of a patent application, show a nanosized device with a non-touch screen on the front and traditional scroll wheel round the back.

Email on your iPod MagneticTime comes up with an ingenious way to ‘read’ your emails on an iPod, phone or PDA - by listening to them as MP3s We’re still not sure whether to file this in our Useful or Utterly Pointless box but here we go anyhow.

MagneticTime lets you listen to your emails on your phone, iPod or PDA - or indeed anything that’s capable of playing MP3s. It copies all your Outlook emails in a separate folder before using text-to-speech conversion to MP3s.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 19

Condominimum

Welcome to the micro compact home

No furniture required.

The m-ch’s space-saving interior includes: 1 Fire alarm and smoke detectors 2 Sliding table that seats up to five people 3 Two 7.5-foot-long Double Beds (a bunk above the dining table and a slide-out at floor level) 4 Shelves and drawers for storing clothes, bedding, cleaning supplies and, equipment, and so on 5 Control panel operates all electrical systems: heating, air-conditioning, TV, CD player, and LED lighting 6 Bathroom with a sliding screen that separates the toilet and the shower, plus a drying area for clothes and shoes 7 Kitchen equipped with a microwave, fridge/freezer, sink, waste unit, and double-level work surface

More aesthetic than ascetic, the micro compact home may be smaller than an SUV, but it packs a lot more utility.

Welcome to the micro compact home. The m-ch, for short, is a 76-square-foot domicile designed

by Technical University of Munich professor Richard Horden to meet the growing demand for short-stay living.

And this isn’t just a dressed-up shack; the m-ch is the BMW of small homes. For $96,000 a cube (including delivery and installation anywhere in Europe), owners get a fully integrated interior teched out with everything from a flatscreen TV to a dining room table that seats five. In the future, solar panels and a roof-mounted horizontal-axis wind turbine generating 2,200 kilowatts of power a year will make m-ch models self-sustaining. The aluminum-clad abode has a Le Corbusier sheen, but really, the m-ch is all about the inside. “It’s for people who like interiors,” Horden says.

“You come into contact with all surfaces in the structure - similar to what you experience in a car or an aircraft.”

Photograph by Sascha Kletzsch

20 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

Online Testimonials www.banksy.co.uk

Adobe Live 2007 Come for one day or two - it costs absolutely nothing to feed your imagination at Adobe Live. Give your creativity the nourishment it deserves.

5-6 June @ Business Design Centre, London Want to be inspired? Want a concentrated hit of creative energy? Want to learn how Adobe Creative Suite® 3 will change the way you work and create?

Adobe Live will feed your imagination. Whatever you’re into, this annual two-day feast will help you turn your creative vision into reality - on the page, on the screen, in print or on the web.

•Explore the latest integrated creative tools from Adobe: Creative Suite 3 •Get more of the tips and tricks you love •Delve deeper with our new hands-on training sessions •Be inspired by some of the industry’s best known experts •Discover the wider world of creative solutions in our exclusive partner expo: it really is a one-stop chance to sample the world of complementary hardware, software and services.

ADOBE LIVE PARNERS

Above: Banksy is a well-known yet pseudo-anonymous english graffiti artist.

www.billmcmullen.com

Above: Bill McMullen a commercial designer who concentrates on companies

www.menuez.com

Above: Douglas Menuez is a photographer who catches real life stories on film.

www.fiscusphoto.com

Above: Jim Fiscus is an award winning advertising and editorial photographer.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 21

NEWS

IPod Will Be the New CD Big changes are afoot for the iPod in the wake of the Beatles settlement -- the iPod is about to become the new CD. Big changes are afoot for the iPod in the wake of the Beatles settlement, the iPod is about to become the new CD. On Monday, Apple Inc. and the Beatles’ Apple Corps announced that a 15-year legal spat over the “Apple” trademark had been settled in Steve Jobs’ favor.

But the biggest news wasn’t mentioned at all in the joint press release: The new contract clears the way for Jobs to sell iPods loaded with music.

Who cares?

Well, the iPod could become the new CD, especially if Apple starts offering cheap shuffle iPods pre-loaded with hot new albums or artists’ catalogs. Imagine a whole range of inexpensive, special-edition iPods branded with popular bands containing a new album, or their whole catalogs.

Flash-memory drives are now so cheap, software companies are starting to use them to ship software. H&R Block, for example, is selling the latest version of its

22 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

tax-preparation software on a flash drive for $40 -- the same price as the CD version. How much would it cost Apple to add a few music chips and some cheap earbuds?

Apple was prevented from doing this until now by the 15-year-old contract between Apple Corps, the Beatles’ music company, and Apple Computer. This contract precluded Jobs’ Apple from acting as a music company and from selling CDs or “physical media delivering prerecorded content ... (such as a compact disc of the Rolling Stones’ music).”

Apple has been selling music as downloads for years, of course, but thanks to this clause, the company couldn’t sell an iPod with music already loaded onto it.

That’s why the U2 special-edition iPod ships with a voucher for downloading the band’s catalog online. The Beatles contract prevents Apple from pre-loading the U2 iPod with U2’s music.

That is undoubtedly going to change.

Apple will soon offer a range of iPods pre-loaded with tunes.

First up will likely be the widely rumored Beatles special-edition Yellow Submarine iPod. Beatles fans are hoping that the Fab Four’s entire catalog, currently being remastered, will be available in uncompressed format. What better way to deliver it than preloaded onto an iPod, instead of forcing fans to download gigabytes of data from iTunes?

Apple will also start loading sample tunes onto all new iPods, just like Microsoft’s Zune currently does. This will be extra cash for Apple, and possibly quite lucrative -- the labels will pay to play.

Getting a band’s new single loaded onto a hot-selling iPod could prove so desirable that a new type of payola is born.

Then there will be all kinds of new limited-edition iPods, branded by artist, band or genre. It’s going to be the biggest change to the iPod since the iTunes online store debuted in 2002.

Leander Kahney

C C C WHITE PAPER WHITE PAPER WHITE PAPER

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Disney Ratatouille Online Breakthrough Debuts 9-Minute Scene Exclusively on Disney.com in Never-Before-Done Cross-Media Play. Audiences Get Exclusive Opportunity to Sample the Most Original Comedy Event of the Summer.

Audiences eager to see Disney/Pixar’s upcoming summer comedy “RATATOUILLE” will get an early summer treat on Tuesday, May 1st when an extended 9-minute sequence from the film will debut exclusively on Disney.com. In an innovative cross-media promotion intended to make sure that audiences won’t miss this special online debut, Disney will launch a day long television advertising campaign on Tuesday, which will be highlighted by a :90-second commercial during “American Idol,” all of which is designed specifically to drive audiences to Disney.com and view the exclusive footage.

“We really feel like we’ve got the most original movie of the summer and we can’t wait to show it to people,” said Jim Gallagher, president of Walt Disney

24 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

Studios Marketing. “In a summer of sequels, we believe that inviting users to sample a chunk of the next masterpiece from Pixar is the most impactful way of demonstrating the film’s fresh comedy and originality. The Internet gives us the opportunity to do this without the limitations of traditional media and we think that this stunt allows us to cut through an increasingly crowded marketplace.”

“The new Disney.com allows us to deliver unique online experiences around highly-entertaining properties like ‘RATATOUILLE,’” stated Paul Yanover, EVP and managing director of Disney Online.

“The synergy being executed between the Motion Picture Group and Disney. com is extraordinary,” continued Gallagher. “With the Disney.com re-launch earlier this year, they have truly become

the number one destination for families online. They have done everything possible to ensure that every guest arriving at Disney.com sees the exclusive clip.”

Beginning at 12:01AM PDT on May 1st, the video playlist on the homepage of Disney.com will be roadblocked to include only the 9-minute scene for a 24-hour period. Additionally, there will be a “RATATOUILLE” custom background skin, permanent homepage promotional units, and character integration into their very popular segment pages, geared specifically towards boys, girls, kids & teens, families and Disney fans.

Additionally, the site’s Disney Xtreme Digital(SM) (Disney XD), a highly interactive broadband experience, will launch an exclusive “RATATOUILLE” XD Channel.

The customized channel will include a

customized video playlist, character widget where users learn about the characters from the film, a speed chat room to include select French phrases, and many more games and activities.

Launched earlier this year, the new Disney.com has received a positive reception from fans, with the average time guests spend on the Disney.com home page increasing 85% and registrations at the site up 10 fold (March 07 vs. March 06 - internal tracking).

About Disney Online Disney Online (www.disney.com), a division of the Walt Disney Internet Group, produces the number one kids’ entertainment and family community destination on the World Wide Web. Launched in 1996, Disney.com is the online gateway to all of the company’s Disney-branded entertainment initiatives, providing comprehensive access to, and information about Disney movies, travel, television, games, mobile, music, shopping and live events. Disney.com also features Disney Xtreme Digital(SM)

(Disney XD), a highly interactive broadband experience that will let Disney. com guests create their own customized online channel with games, videos, music, and chat -- all of which can be enjoyed simultaneously in an immersive environment.

About “RATATOUILLE” Academy Award®-winning director Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”) and the amazing storytellers at Pixar Animation Studios (“Cars,”“Finding Nemo”) take you into an entirely new and original world where the unthinkable combination of a rat and a 5-star gourmet restaurant come together for the ultimate fish-out-of-water tale.

In the hilarious new animated-adventure, “RATATOUILLE”, a rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the city of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary

hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unwanted visitor in the kitchen at one of Paris’ most exclusive restaurants, Remy forms an unlikely partnership with Linguini, the garbage boy, who inadvertently discovers Remy’s amazing talents. They strike a deal, ultimately setting into motion a hilarious and exciting chain of extraordinary events that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.

Remy finds himself torn between following his dreams or returning forever to his previous existence as a rat. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef.

Disney/Pixar’s “RATATOUILLE” releases in theaters nationwide on June 29th.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 25

Apple goes green Jobs is trumpeting the Mac maker’s plans for a greener future, and confirms new displays by the end of the year.

Environmental groups have long opposed Apple’s record on recycling, the use of toxic components and its policy on disposing of old products, but now Steve Jobs has had enough of the mud-slinging, penning an open letter on Apple’s plans for a greener future.

“It is certainly clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well” says Jobs in his mammoth letter, posted to Apple’s website. “It is generally not Apple’s policy to trumpet our plans for the future… Unfortunately this policy has left our customers, shareholders, employees and the industry in the dark about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener…So today we’re changing our policy.”

Explaining Apple’s abandonment of lead-heavy CRT displays, Jobs is quick to have a pop at competitors Dell, Gateway, Hewlett Packard and Lenovo, who all continue to sell the old-style monitors.

The Apple boss goes on to list toxic chemicals Apple is working to reduce or eliminate in its manufacturing process. Most exciting is Job’s revelation that Apple will soon adopt LED backlighting in Macs, reducing the need for Mercury in fluorescent lighting.

“We plan to introduce our first Macs with LED backlight technology in 2007. Our ability to completely eliminate fluorescent lamps in all of our displays depends on how fast the LCD industry can transition to LED backlighting for larger displays,” he said.

It’s the latest in a line of Apple product announcements ahead of their actual availability. First we saw Apple TV unveiled six months before launch, then the iPhone followed suit. Now we hear Apple’s nextgen laptops will get power, and planet-saving LED screens, followed by desktops.

It’s a sea-change for Apple which has always been obsessed with secrecy, and gives Mac fans even more to look forward to ahead of WWDC.

John Douglas 26 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

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SHOWCASE

Send your work to DESIGNstudio and be seen by thousands

JAMES WIGNALL LOCATION London, UK JOB Full-Time Studio Designer CONTACT www.mutanthands.com/ SOFTWARE Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects

DESIGNstudio: Is there a specific type of style you have when designing?

It varies a lot on the project and brief in hand. When I get given a brief I usually have a good idea of what route to take style wise.

How did you get to where you are today?

What is your background?

Initially I kind of fell into the industry.

After graduating doing a multimedia course in Leeds my friend recommended I applied for a job he saw at a local studio, so I applied and thought nothing of it. A couple of months later they gave me an interview (coincidently I had lost my voice at that time), and they decided to give me the job. After that it was mainly talking to people I respect, getting contacts, building a reputation and then word of mouth kicks in!

How about your background, Tell us about growing up and how this influenced on you in life and design, help shaping who you are now?

As a child I was always quite arty, I loved drawing and I always wanted to be a cartoonist. My parents always supported...

28 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 29

me in whatever I wanted to do which was great. I used to be good at the old sciences too, but after college I realized that it wasn’t the path for me.

Is or has there ever been anything else you’ve wanted to do instead of designing?

Cartoonist or architect, So I guess I went halfway between!

Who do you look up to for inspiration?

Where to start, there’s so many. Motion design wise my friends over the pond at Buck, Loyalkasper, Stardust, over here in London Studio AKA, Chris over at Dstrukt, Hellomuller, Wyld Stallyons.

What has been your biggest project to date? Or what is your favourite piece of

30 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

work you have produced?

I recently finished working on a 4min stop frame animation for Sony psp, that was quite a big job.

Do you have a set workflow for your work?

Concept – Brainstorm - Create What would you say is your design style?

If I had to pigeon hole myself into a category, I think it would be ‘vector’, but I don’t like to limit myself to one style,.

Is typography under-appreciated?

I don’t think so, if the typography is good then it’ll stand out and people will appreciate it.

How did you develop your style?

It just kind of evolved through trying

things out really. Seeing what works and what doesn’t, it might be the long way round, but I’ve never been a fan of trying to imitate people. It’s always nice to see some work and know who did it just by his or her signature style.

As a person what are some of the bigger concerns in your mind, are you into politics and government at all?: To me politicians are all the same, they promise a lot and lie to get into a position of power, once there they usually don’t deliver or live up to expectations. I watch the news and generally know what’s going on, but I’m not really that concerned unless it’s something that effects me directly. One thing that really annoys me

at the moment is pollution, and how America (the biggest polluter out there), have only just signed up to trying to cut down emissions. It’s so short sighted, and obviously just about greed at the end of the day.

Is there a specific type of style you have when designing?

It varies a lot on the project and brief in hand. When I get given a brief I usually have a good idea of what route to take style wise.

What are your plans for the future?

Working on a personal short film piece, some talks at various design conferences (like BD4D end of May), lots and lots.

Do you think you’ll love design and be as much involved with it now in lets say 5 or even 10 years from now?

I think so, if I’m still designing or not is a different matter! It’s a big part of my life and who I am.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 31

ILLUSTRATION: JAMES WIGNALL

32 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

Reinvent yourself Like all creative fields, design is subject to fads and fashions, so how do the leading designers, illustrators and agencies evolve in order to stay ahead of the game? Sean Ashcroft speaks to the experts about the best way to keep your style fresh.

Change is the status quo in design, and if you stand still too long there’s a danger that the industry will slide past, leaving you stranded both commercially and creatively. Sustaining success through the years demands that designers’ work always remains relevant, accessible and fresh.

The Photoshop-montage style once so popular is starting to look dated, and its practitioners have either evolved or perished. Illustrator Jason Cook, however, has turned evolution into a science, by using numerous, distinct styles and marketing himself as a different illustrator for each of them.

“My Jacey identity has been around since I started illustrating nine years ago,” says Cook. “A lot of that stuff was Photoshop montages, which were hugely popular between 1995 and 1999. But the dot.com crash and the new millennium meant people wanted something different, so I came up with my Flatliner identity, which was a cleaner, graphic approach – silhouetted figures and clean lines, in line with magazines like Wallpaper.”

Similarly, print-based agencies that have stuck with what they know have watched budgets shrink, as clients have instead targeted multi-channel solutions able to reach specific audiences. Design consultant Stylorouge was in the vanguard of agencies that moved with the times.“The area we know the best, the music industry, started to reduce its print marketing

and CD packaging design budgets, and was pouring more into videos and websites. We saw the writing on the wall a long time ago,” says managing director Rob O’Connor. “Many design companies who are competitors haven’t been so interested in making the move, but it’s a shame for them, because not only does it make sense as a business move but it also opens doors creatively.” The psychology of change So what does ‘change’ mean in creative terms, and how can it be achieved? Ultimately, designers must want to change if anything meaningful is to happen.

“Design is like fashion – although the core principles and craft remain the same, it has to evolve or it will die,” believes Jay Armitage, co-founder of digital agency Ralph. “But for a designer to change their style they have to be influenced by stuff.”

“In my experience there are two types of designer,” Armitage continues. “There are those that pass themselves off as designers, but are really just artworkers who can copy stuff. They’re pack followers, and although their work may evolve it is shallow and doesn’t break any new ground.

Then there are real designers, the ones with talent and ideas, who get inspired by things – art, architecture, photography, film, innovative products, nature, anything really. They adapt and change through experimentation.”

Change, then, can be a reflection of the designer’s relationship with the world.

Take digital illustrator Derek Lea. “My best ideas come when I’m mentally off the job,” he says. “I take my dog for a run around the green spaces of Toronto every day, and images have come out of that. I’ll pick up oak leaves to scan in, and return to photograph interesting tree-bark patterns I’ve noticed. I then use these in my work.”

There’s also a commercial motivation to being tuned-in to the wider world, say Mike Doney and Katie Tang, otherwise known as Tado – the Sheffield-based partnership whose specialities include illustration, animation and graphic design.

“It’s important to keep up with changes in fashion, design and culture in general, because one minute your work may be the ‘in’ thing, but things quickly move on and change, and evolution must play a big part in work if you are to remain on the ball,” they say. “It’s about being able to expand your skills or evolve your style to work alongside new ideas.” Changing mediums Style, whether intentional or sub-conscious, is determined to some degree by the medium in which you choose to work. One way to remain creatively fresh and commercially relevant is to diversify, by making a move from, say, paint to pixels or from online to video. This is also a very effective way of combating another common occupational hazard – pigeonholing Tado’s character-driven style lends itself to animation, and it’s a skill they’ve de-

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 33

veloped so that they can now offer multichannel solutions, A recent example is their work for British Airways, which saw them re-brand the BA kids’ club Sky-Flyers using two mascot characters, and then cement the new identity through two short animations.

But being masters of more than one medium is no easy task. “Basically, we have no life,” say Doney and Tang, only half joking.“We are constantly juggling many different commercial projects and we work pretty much all day every day. But we love it. Our commercial work is often very creatively open and we have some very open-minded clients.” But, they warn, for a multi-discipline approach to work “you must be confident in your skills and abilities”.

This is a sentiment which is echoed by the increasingly successful Australiabased Jeremyville, whose design disciplines include clothes design, cartoons, toys, fine art, books and commercial work.

Jeremyville says mastering different disciplines is about wanting to get an idea out, not about wanting to be a part of a trend. “You have to be a very hard worker, a lateral thinker, and someone with a genuine love of the new medium, not just because it’s cool and everyone else is doing it,” he says.

“I designed and produced my first 3D toy in 1994, long before the designer toy craze happened,” Jeremyville continues.

“The concept dictates the medium. For example, I wanted to create a functional product that artists could customise and be involved in, so we came up with the sketchel custom bag idea. Over 500 art-

34 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

ists have now become involved. First, this was a notion in my head, and then it became a product design exercise, with manufacturing skills and production issues. The concept dictated the methodology. I didn’t think ‘Oh, I’m not a product designer, so I can’t do that.’ I became a product designer by virtue of the idea.

But you must ask yourself if it’s worth the time and effort to branch out into this new area. You need to say something unique with the project.”

Changing services While less encumbered by a need to evolve stylistically, agencies face great commercial pressure to remain relevant in terms of the services they offer. Stylorouge’s Rob O’Connor believes doing so demands adaptability and a deal of pragmatism. “It would be sad if we decided to put reimbursement above creative fulfilment, but if the design areas that once commanded good fees don’t any more, you have to look at where people are spending their money.”

Exploiting boom areas is a challenge that O’Connor believes is doubly difficult if an agency’s approach is overly prescriptive, which is why Stylorouge has made quality art direction the beating heart of its operation. “There’s much more to art direction than some people understand,” he says. “At the end of a photo shoot you must have not only all the material you need, but also the material you want. If we’re doing a record sleeve shoot we make sure we have pictures that are appropriate both for print and online, and we’ll also ensure there’s a video camera at the shoot, which might be useful for a documentary at some stage. We’ll also

shoot with animation in mind. Clients will look at all the pictures and say ‘This would work well online’, or ‘This would make a nice animation’. The fact is, we know that, and are one step ahead because of forward planning.”

Jay Armitage and his colleagues took a more drastic approach to bolstering their creative offerings, by splitting their business into two operations – DS.Emotion for branding and marketing projects, and Ralph, its digital arm. “It was a way of concentrating on different disciplines.

The agency as one didn’t make sense,” explains Armitage. “It was like two companies anyway, with completely different clients and ways of working. Also, the directors had different wishes and goals as to what they wanted to achieve as individuals and a business. It’s very important to think about personal goals because that’s what makes you get out of bed in the morning.” Armitage admits that even though all the conditions for change were right, the process has nonetheless been exacting.“There are huge pitfalls for a traditional design agency wanting to reinvent itself as a digital agency, as some of the big players are finding out at the moment,” he says. “It’s a very hard transition and a very different way of working. Finding good people in your own discipline is a nightmare, and finding good people to help you branch out into the unknown is a massive headache. It’s easy to lose sight of your identity and what you’re all about, and you end up managing a lot of people. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.” For designers and illustrators, style is what makes their work unique. Some,

such as Jon Burgerman, Tado and Jeremyville, have a powerful signature style, but for most, style is something more esoteric.

Although hard pressed to define what makes their work unique, successful creatives are clear about the influences that inform their creativity.

One of today’s most popular illustrators is Serge Seidlitz, who believes the key to evolving a style is to maintain an interest in non-commercial work.“You get commissions based on what’s in your portfolio, and if you’ve only got commercial work in your portfolio you’re limited to the stuff you’ve been commissioned to do, so that one piece of work can become a watered down version of another piece,” he says. “Your personal work should be at the top of chain, and this should filter down into the commissions that you get. You need to plan to take time off to work on your own stuff.”

Working with good creative directors can be another key influence, says Seidlitz. “Good art directors will see things in your work that you don’t, and will suggest ideas that simply hadn’t occurred to you. One commission can definitely feed into the next in terms of the development of new ideas.”

Derek Lea believes that editorial is the area most likely to refresh one’s style. “I had a newspaper client where I ran a cover illustration on two sections in the same day and had to look like two different guys,” he says. With arming him with new ideas and techniques. “Anything that’s writing related allows me a great deal of time to focus on the processes involved. I often come across things that are new that I really like, and these then feed back into my commercial illustrative work.”

FL@33 is a multi-disciplinary design studio. Its partners, Agathe Jacquillat and Tomi Vollauschek, believe that at any one time, a style is based on years of experimentation, training, experience and lots of work. “Since methods and techniques are usually fine-tuned and varied over years, most styles will evolve with experience and in this way can theoretically stay fresh for a long time,” they say.

“We work in different areas of visual communication, and focus on concepts and individual working methods rather than one recognisable style,” they continue. “It’s about the process itself – finding the most appropriate visual language, technique and, if we have the choice, the medium for each individual project.”

Style is a far more tangible thing for multi-persona illustrator Jason Cook, who has four identities: Jacey, for his Photoshop montage work; Flatliner for work with a clean, graphic approach; Flatliner V2, for “the more organic freehand stuff ”; and Jaroslav, for his “darker” offerings.

Cook says that his agency, Debut Art, doesn’t market him as Jason Cook but as his individual brands. “They are very good at knowing which style a particular client will like. As far as clients are concerned, I’m four individual artists,” he says. Working under these separate brands means Cook can earn an income from each style, but how does he generate such diverse work? “My argument is that when you’ve got an understanding of colour, shape and form you can apply it to any medium and come up with any sort of style. I find it quite easy to switch between my styles,” he says. “I create different identities by watching trends and seeing what people are commissioning. It’s not necessarily just down to illustration, but also music and other art forms.

Hopefully some new illustrators will come along soon, because I feel things have got a bit stagnant over the past two years, and I’m scratching my head thinking of what I can come up with next.”

Illustrator Tim Spencer says that for him, style is not a question of evolution but reinvention. “I have a habit of burning bridges every time I get bored of what I’m doing and feel the need to move on,” he admits. “An illustrator’s bread-and-butter work comes from clients who have already made a decision about style and technique, and are approaching illustrators on the basis of what they’ve done before.”

“In that sense a good illustration portfolio has a consistency, and the illustrator may only ever expect to be commissioned to draw a particular subject matter in a particular style,” Spencer continues. “I’m associated strongly with a retro 1980s airbrush aesthetic and it’s the one thing I get consistently asked to do, so it has come to dominate my portfolio and brings in more commissions of that nature. It’s like natural selection for creativity, but the downside is that the creative element gets suppressed.

I did a picture of an eye two years ago and have been commissioned to do ten more as a result. I’ve recently closed the door on that style, and will be pushing a completely new style of work in my portfolio.”

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 35

Win a Nokia N95

Nokia was recently struck down with convergencia, a rare disease that compels sufferers to make a gadget and pack it with every feature they can think of. The result was the incredible N95. And now, in their stupor, those crazy Finns have given us four of the things to give away.

It takes a deep intake of breath to roll off the feature list of the Stuff-proclaimed ‘best phone ever’, but here goes. For your connectivity and web-surfing needs, there’s the full spectrum of Wi-Fi, HSPDA and stereo Bluetooth, which goes nicely with the 2.6in QVGA screen.

Then, to replace your dusty compact, there’s a 5MP camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and built-in flash. Inside, it has 160MB of internal memory along with a microSD slot for you to store all your music, photos and video.

And then there’s the cherry on top: a GPS receiver to guide you home. In short, wow. Now, move your eyes to the right to find out how you can win one…

For your chance to bag one of four Nokia N95s, just answer this painfully easy question: Q: How many megapixels does the N95’s camera have?

a.) 2 b.) 3 c.) 5 Terms and conditions Competition Terms and Conditions Competition open to UK residents only, excluding employees of Haymarket Magazines, the competition provider or any of their affiliates. Entrants must be aged 18 years or over. All entries must be received by midnight on closing date of competition. The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries. The prize-winners will be notified within two weeks of the draw. The prize is as stated and is not transferable. No cash substitute can be provided. The promoter (Haymarket) reserves the right to substitute the prize with another of the same value should this prize become unavailable. No purchase necessary. The decision of the organizers is final and no correspondence will be entered into. In formation on the winner and competition will be available two weeks after the published closing date and will be supplied upon receipt of a stamped, addressed envelope. Haymarket Magazines Ltd may contact you with offers you may be interested in. By entering this competition we deem you to have consented to this. If you do not wish to receive such information, please write to: Data Manager, Haymarket Circulation, Haymarket Magazines Ltd, Broom Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 9BE.

SHOWCASE

Send your work to DESIGNstudio and be seen by thousands

JONATHAN BALL LOCATION Wales JOB Poke Studio manager CONTACT www.pokedstudio.com/ SOFTWARE Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and 3DMAX

Design Studio: Hey Jonathan thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer these questions for us, first off what exactly do you do for a living?

Thanks for having me, it’s no trouble at all. Well I manage a company called Poke Studio and as an individual am a graphic designer/illustrator.

Why is design so important to you?

Good design it enhances the quality of our lives, it’s as simple as that really. I don’t want to give out a long answer what makes no sense, that’s how I look at it.

What do you think makes a good designer in today’s world?

Someone who would design anyway whether they was paid or not, and does not do the least they can get away with. As long as you love what you’re doing and there hearts in the right place.

In your honest opinion do you think design actually has a great impact

on business and ever deeper peoples lives, or is it just a way to make things pretty?

Yes it has an impact in many ways, to make things understandable memorable and to stimulate our senses increasing our general well being and satisfaction.

Your work shows that you’re into typography and calligraphy can you elaborate on how they’ve influenced your work? Typography is often neglected, but is in fact one of the most important areas of design work, and can throw up many challenges.

Tell us about growing up and how each of these places had an influence on you in life and design, help shaping who you are now?

I grew up in a inner city and think the diversity of life and lifestyles there has had an influence on my work and often inspires it.

Many designers use music as a vehicle to fuel their creative side, a way of inspiration, do you use music any, are you a big fan of music or more of a quiet room worker?

Definitely into music and I work far... more creatively when listening to music, band I rate include arcade fire, mogwai, labradford, underworld.

Is or has there ever been anything else you’ve wanted to do instead of designing? create music, in fact music was my first passion, and I will go back to it one day.

Is there a specific type of style you have when designing?

I think I go through phases of design styles, but when you work with clients you need a style that suits their needs so its important to be versatile and get enjoyment from working with many differing styles.

Do you think you’ll love design and be as much involved with it now in lets say 5 or even 10 years from now?

I hope so, there so many avenues to explore and many new ones opening up.

Any message for designers trying to make it in the world?

Graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators who have been raised in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable use of our talents. Many design teachers and mentors promote this belief; the market rewards it; a tide of books and publications reinforces it. Encouraged in this direction, designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design. The profession’s time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at best.

40 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 19

20 tips for…

interactive designers Make life easier with our expert tips for creating better websites, interactive TV content and DVD menus. They say we learn from our mistakes. That’s certainly the case when working across web, TV and DVD – over the course of a number of years, you’ll pick up more than just a little insight into what works and what doesn’t.

To help prevent you from making some of those errors for yourself, we’ve put together the following guide. We’ve gathered some great interactive design advice for use on websites, DVD menus and interactive TV content. We’ve also asked a few industry experts to contribute their own tips into this interactive mashup. Forewarned is forearmed, so read, absorb and take note of these tips and you’ll be an interactive design guru before you know it…

1 Aim at your audience Be mindful of your target audience.

Get to know who they are and what kit they use. It’s a disaster if you’re making a full-on interactive site using the latest version of the Flash Player – with all the bells and whistles available to you – if most of your audience won’t see any of it because they still have Flash Player 6. It’s also good to bear in mind those design features which are available only in Flash 8. Bevels, glows and drop shadows can be cool, but not if they can’t be seen. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that viewers with anything less than Flash Player 9 will see your designs without the effects, because what they’ll actually see is a large

42 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

white area with nothing in it at all!

2 Keep focused Tom Harding, designer at WeeWorld believes that you can avoid losing focus on a project by asking yourself a series of questions related to the project. “Be it for the web, a kiosk, CMS, DVD or mobile, these questions should apply: Who will use what you’re creating once it’s complete?

What environment will they be in?

What tool will they interact with and how will this affect the design? Most importantly, what information or experiences do they want to gain from interacting with your project? Ask yourself these questions again and again throughout the development of your project to see if you’re still on brief,” says Harding.

3 Test your site User testing can be a painful process.

You may think anyone who can’t find that button back to the homepage is an idiot, but it’s good to identify these issues early on. Find out how user-friendly your website, mobile interface or DVD menu is, by getting your friends and family to test your work for you. Listen to their opin-

ions and act on them. Be sure to test your interactive designs on different types of set-ups too. DVDs should be tested on widescreen and 4.3 TV sets and home computers, and websites should be previewed on different browser set-ups and different screen resolutions. This is vital for any content that can’t easily be withdrawn, such as on a DVD. 4 Make it simple Visitors to your website should be bowled over with its richness of design and interactivity. When it comes to signup forms or search boxes, however, keep them as straightforward and as obvious as possible.

Ask only for pertinent information – don’t request people’s life stories, because interactivity should be fluid and immediate.

5 Boost your rankings When you finish building and designing your all-singing all-dancing website, it’s not much fun if only mum, dad and your best mate come to visit. Ensure all the important keywords appear in the title, description, Alt tags and content of your web pages. This will improve your keyword density and, in turn, will boost your ranking in the search engines.

formation – don’t request people’s life stories, because interactivity should be fluid and immediate.

5 Boost your rankings When you finish building and designing your all-singing all-dancing website, it’s not much fun if only mum, dad and your best mate come to visit. Ensure all the important keywords appear in the title, description, Alt tags and content of your web pages. This will improve your keyword density and, in turn, will boost your ranking in the search engines.

6 Keep up with new technology Tom Kershaw works across all of the BBC radio websites. For him, education is key to creating successful interactive sites, as he explains: “Keep up with new and emerging technologies. This doesn’t mean going home and studying – it could simply mean subscribing to your favourite magazine, or keeping an eye on some current websites. Some sites that are worth checking regularly are A List Apart, Zen Garden and The Web Developer’s Handbook – the Swiss Army Knife for web development.

Keeping up with new technologies might mean using AJAX to make the user experience faster, easier and more fluid, but whichever way you decide to use these tools, they’ll be shaping the web above and beyond the 2.0 era as we move towards a more desktop-like internet.”

7 Font types and sizes Designing for a computer screen is not the same as designing for interactive television or DVD. There’s a greater viewing distance for a TV, so fonts need to be much larger than on a computer screen. 12pt text simply isn’t going to work, so keep your font sizes at 30pt minimum. Be careful with serif fonts too –televi-

sions flicker because of interlacing, making serifs hard to read, so use a font designed specifically for television or one that’s a slab serif font.

Have a TV monitor hooked up from your computer so you can use it for testing purposes. This is not only good for testing font sizes but will also enable you to check colour temperatures. The difference in these between TV and a computer can be quite shocking – computers have a much higher resolution and display colour temperatures differently.

8 Think modular Use the ‘loadMovie’ function in Flash to load SWFs. These will enhance the user experience by cutting down on initial site load times. Create a container movie and from that load movies in and out of it. This makes the experience of using the site more seamless and ‘interactive’. Don’t put everything in one SWF – the lengthy load time alone will make visitors go elsewhere. Images, video and content SWFs should all be loaded on demand.

9 Be creative with layouts ‘Functional and usable’ doesn’t have to translate into ‘duller than dishwater and boring’. The challenge of being a designer of interactive content is to find a middle ground between great functioning interactivity and inspiring, original creativity. Experiment with different layouts and schemes until you get a balance of content and functionality – in other words, wow-factor visuals and intuitive navigation.

10 Correct ratios Computer screen pixels are square; on a television they’re rectangular.

Photoshop enables you to create graphics in the correct ratio by selecting Image>Pixel Aspect Ratio.

Here you can make sure that circles don’t become ovals when viewed on a TV set by switching between square and rectangular pixels. Try and get into the habit of using this tool because it takes the guesswork out of creating graphics across different types of media.

11 Interactive menus Mark Bulley, web producer for Square Enix, has recently completed work on the site for the PlayStation 2 game Kingdom Hearts. He’s got this advice for designers: “Make use of interactive menus within your site, because these bring depth and make your site stick out from the rest. On the Kingdom Hearts site, I used tools such as 3D Studio Max, After Effects and Flash to create a fluid carousel as a navigation device for the site.

I used a lot of modelling, texturing and rendering to achieve this effect, which, although time consuming, pays off with the visual effects you can achieve.”

12 Compress video files Sorenson Squeeze is a piece of kit which is a lifesaver for anyone working with video delivery on the web.

It’s an amazing video compression suite which uses the Sorenson Spark codec to make mincemeat of bloaty video files. Export as Windows Media, MPEG 1 and 2, QuickTime, Real, SWF, FLV and AVI. Streaming media can also be exported and videos can be trimmed before you export them.

13 Make DVD text clickable Bear in mind that DVD menus are also used on computers and controlled by mouse-clicks rather than remote controls. Some DVD interfaces use highlighted graphic areas rather than clickable text on screen and these can be quite hard to find when using a mouse. When design-

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 43

ing menus, ensure you make all text next to your buttons clickable. This will remove the pain and frustration experienced by computer viewers desperately trying to figure out where to click on a menu screen.

14 Improved preloader “Skip intro?” Well, okay, I will. It’s disheartening to think of all those finely crafted animations being ignored across the web, so you need to be a little smarter with your Flash work.

Stop the madness of looping animations and create a preloader whose animation changes as more bytes are loaded. The result should be functional and more visually interesting, rather than an intro movie which comes across as a hindrance for the visitor.

15 Push the limits “Keep the design nice and simple”?

Nonsense. That’s a phrase which often just means, “We couldn’t really be bothered to do that much design work.” Just because a menu system or layout looks clean and simple doesn’t mean it adds anything to the visitors’ overall experience. Stretch your creativity to the limits and make fantastic eye-popping menu systems which fit well with your overall design. Interactivity should be about fun, excitement and pushing the limits. Just remember to make your layouts and menus logical and intuitive.

Nothing original was ever achieved by following the herd. Be experimental and break a few moulds.

16 Website structure Oliver Davies is a project manager at FremantleMedia Ltd, where he works on TV properties such as Neighbours, The X Factor and The Bill. “Getting the information architecture right on the websites is vital in creating a good user experience,” says Davies.

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“Be clear about the site’s aims and who your target audience is. Write each content type on a Post-it, work out what’s in, what’s desirable and what’s out. Take the definites and maybes and group them into related subjects. Name your Post-it ‘piles’ and use them to draw a structure diagram for the site, like a family tree.

This will help you work out a logical onscreen navigation system.”

17 Formatting Flash text Be innovative with your designs.

In Dreamweaver use the Flash Text option for formatting display type.

This allows you to use unique face fonts for titles and headings. Flash Text ensures that your visitors will see your headings the way they were originally designed.

18 Keep it brief First-play movies on DVDs are the ones that take you to the menu screen after you pop the DVD into a player. Some of these are amazing.

Rendered in 3D or animated in After Effects, they’re sometimes more fun than the movies themselves. But some of them go on and on and on.

Keep first-play movies less than 20 seconds long and menu transitions down to five seconds maximum.

Show off your animation and 3D skills by making your video menu screens longer. These are the screens which will be seen for the longest duration by viewers (your first-play movie will only be seen once) so it makes sense to invest more time and energy in this area.

19 Remember your gran With our televisions getting bigger and better, many of us have become familiar with widescreen TV and surround sound. But not everyone has the latest kit. All that fantastic

content is being delivered to some poor souls who stick like barnacles to their outdated equipment. So you should remember the ‘Granny with the black-and-white portable’ rule when creating video content for your websites. Believe it or not, there are still people who connect via narrowband, so be sure to have an option available for a 56kb video download.

20 Give your visitors the choice Be warned! If you’re building a website which has a movie player on the homepage, don’t have the video player set to auto run. Your bandwidth will be zapped and your hosting bills will go through the roof.

Every time your homepage is loaded, a video is served and bandwidth consumed. Save your pennies and have the video on pause or have a filler image in its place with a ‘Click to play’ option. By leaving this choice with the visitor, you also enhance the user experience by not bombarding them with your video content.

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REVIEW

All our products go through rigorous testing and only the most outstanding products get our rating.

Nokia N95

“It’s what computers have become - the new Nokia N95 . “ Nokia have introduced the Nokia N95, an all-in-one multimedia computer with a pioneering 2way slide concept, integrated GPS functionality, a 5 megapixel camera and support for high-speed mobile networks, making it easier to watch and record videos, listen to songs, take high-quality photos, browse the internet, or catch up on email while on the move. The innovative 2-way slide concept makes it easy to switch

46 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

between different modes, going from reading maps to watching a video with a simple slide. A numeric keypad slides out from one end of the device while dedicated media keys slide out from the opposite direction, converting the display into full screen landscape mode. With powerful 3D graphics, the Nokia N95 has a stunning user interface that makes it intuitive to find the features and services you want.

Nokia N95 brings a range of multimedia ingredients together, such as a fantastic display, outstanding photo and video capability and high-speed connectivity, making it the ultimate multimedia computer,” said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia. “This single device - which fits easily in your pocket - can replace stand-alone devices that you no longer need, whether it’s your music player, your digital camera, PDA or navigation device. Most importantly, the Nokia N95 is with you and connected when you want to use it.”

With the Carl Zeiss optics on the 5 megapixel camera, you can capture print quality photos and DVD-like quality video clips. Photos and video clips can be enjoyed on a compatible television thanks to the device’s TV out feature and support for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology.

Designed for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) networks and with support for WLAN, EDGE and WCDMA networks, the Nokia N95 provides excellent coverage and speeds wherever you may be. In HSDPA networks, browsing the internet, reading email, streaming video and downloading large files can be carried out up to 10 times faster than with 3G. It also offers a first class entertainment experience with the combination of a large 2.6” QVGA 16 million color display, impressive 3D graphics, built-in stereo speakers offering a 3D stereo effect, standard 3.5 mm audio jack, support for compatible microSD cards and mini USB for convenient data transfer. Browsing the internet

on the Nokia N95 is a pleasure using the Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map, with new features such as a floating toolbar, password manager and auto complete, as well as web feeds with support for Atom and auto update.

Nokia N95 is based on the world’s leading S60 software on Symbian OS, enabling you to personalize your device from a wide choice of compatible applications that can be downloaded to the Nokia N95, including games, navigation, entertainment, productivity and creativity. The Nokia N95 comes out of the box ready to create, connect, consume and interact with some of the internet’s most popular services. Use Yahoo! Search to search for and find most anything on the web, scroll though a book with Amazon’s MobiPocket Reader or snap a photo and send it directly to your Flickr site.

Release price: From £249 Manufacturer: Nokia Contact: +358 7180 45667 FOR Fast and efficient High-quality screen Easy to use and maintain AGAINST Big and heavy Occasionally freezes VERDICT Nokia N95 is an excellent multimedia mobile phone but beware of it’s lagging.

***** May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 47

Sony Ericsson W880i “The first truly iconic music mobile, and a clever 3G handset to boot. “

The Walkman phone has been reinvented as a pancake-thin trendsetter.

But can the W880i’s svelte body still produce a musical roar?

The Walkman phone family aren’t traditionally renowned for their sexiness. The odd orange-and-cream paint job aside, they prefer to concentrate of music, 3G web browsing and, occasionally, Symbian smartness.

In purely physical terms, the W880i is an early candidate for phone of the year. It’s a staggering 9.4mm thick.

Crucially, it’s not too thin. Unlike the Samsung X820, it’s comfortable to hold and is superbly constructed.

The mix of stainless steel and a rubberised finish on the back also gives it the perfect mix of looks and ruggedness. Turn it on and you’re greeted by a bright QVGA screen and the usual Sony Ericsson UI. The combination of cartoon graphics and a four-way joystick certainly isn’t revolutionary, but it’s slick and intuitive.

Is there a but?

Of course, Newton’s law of super-thin phones dictates that these handsets always cut corners with their features. So, where are the compromises? The main drawbacks are a lack of memory and a few usability issues.

With only 10MB inside and Memory Stick Micro cards topping out at 2GB, you’re looking at a phone that can only store 50 albums at once.

Those weeny side-buttons – a Walkman player shortcut, a volume switch and the camera shutter – are also a

48 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

nightmare for the fat of finger. But our fears that the keypad’s equally small buttons would force us to carry around a toddler to do our texting proved unfounded: they work surprisingly well with a little practice.

Musically, the W880i is the equal of its Walkman peers. The sound is full and detailed, the bundled in-ear headphones block out street noise, and you get the usual combination of album art, playlists and handy Disc2Phone software for ripping and transferring CDs. Web features.

Music may be the W880i’s day job, but at night it indulges in 3G web surfing. The browser may not be in the Nokia N80’s class, but the extra speeds make regular forays onto the web viable and it’s got a neat RSS feed reader.

We’re amazed at how much the W880i has packed into its skinny body. Sure, it’s not as smart as an iPhone, as cavernous as a Nokia N91 or as practical as a W950i. But its dynamite mix of Walkman software, 3G and brilliant design means that, at least until Apple rolls out its big guns later this year, it’s our new number one music mobile.

Tech specs Storage: 10MB Screen size: 1.5in Screen resolution: 320x240 Wi-Fi: No Bluetooth: Yes Dimensions: 103x47x9.4mm Weight: 72g 3G: Yes MP3 Yes Main camera resolution 2MP

Release price: From ÂŁ189 Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson Contact: 0800 925 925 FOR Slim and sleek High-quality earphones Weight only 72g AGAINST Fat fingers should avoid Small memory card VERDICT Sony Ericsson W880i is superthin phone with a brilliant use of multimedia functions.

***** May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 49

Apple iPhone

“Apple’s iPod-cum-smartphone boasts a revolutionary touch-screen interface”

Apple has just one iPhone on its stand at Macworld Expo, and it’s behind glass on a podium, guarded by three Apple staff. Fortunately, I managed to get backstage and finally spend some quality hands-on time with the phone. I was expecting my initial fervour to be tempered by the glitches you often find on preproduction devices. But I was wrong.

The iPhone is nothing short of genius. It’s smaller than it looks, and so thin it hurts. It feels like science fiction: there doesn’t seem to be space within it for a battery and a display, let alone all the computing and wireless gubbins. But the 480x320pixel screen is incredibly clear and bright, with the graphic wizardry of OS X supplying amazing animations and zooms as you move between functions.

The first thing I checked out was Safari, which loaded the Stuff website in a few seconds, displaying the homepage in its entirety. Zooming to a readable level really is as simple as prodding with your finger, while pinching two fingers together zooms out. Hold the iPhone on its side and the browser immediate flips to landscape mode. It’s absolutely incredible.

Safari will come with a number of web plugins for multimedia content, but it’s unclear whether it’ll have Flash – Apple is not opening the iPhone up to third party applications, preferring to be in total control of the user experience. This makes sense on UI level, although it’s a little

50 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

frustrating when we live in an era of great homebrew and shareware apps.

According to Greg Josniak, Apple’s Vice-President of Product Maketing, the iPhone runs “full-strength Mac OS X”, although I’m not sure how that can be possible without it taking up the iPhone’s entire 4GB capacity. But it certainly feels like Mac OS, especially when you use the Widgets – small web apps that have specific functions. I checked the weather, flipping between cities with my forefinger like I was leafing through I book.

I can’t express how cool this Minority Report-style Multi-touch UI is, and how revolutionary – we really are talking about something as momentous as the first mouse.

I was concerned that the complexity of the technology could make it hard to use the device – but the opposite is true: the iPhone is beautifully intuitive, and more fun to use than a computer. The same cannot be said for rival phones.

Google Maps works just like it does on a computer, except you can move around and zoom with your fingers. The music app works just like an iPod, except with more eye candy. I even took a photo with the 2megapixel camera, and despite the darkness of the room and the lack of a flash, the quality seemed pretty good.

So what can’t it do? Well, despite featuring 802.11g, the iPhone can’t sync via Wi-Fi or stream to Apple TV – Josniak said that Apple wants

to keep the computer as the hub for digital content. That’s why you can’t download music directly to the phone, either. But you can sync the iPhone with Windows computer, and it’s likely to work with Adobe Photoshop Elements and Outlook (although that’s not yet confirmed).

Also unconfirmed was whether the iPhone featured Bluetooth Stereo for music streaming, but it’s hard to think that it won’t.

Other problems? Well, aside from the fact I won’t get one for another 9 months, I can’t see any problems. It’s possible that the iPhone will be expensive – the US price of $499 (4GB) and $599 (8GB) requires signing up to a 2-year Cingular contract, and it’s not clear how much that contract will cost.

But I’ll pay, and so will you, if you have any passion for gadgetry.

Because the iPhone is more exciting than the original iPod. It is, put simply, the Best Thing Ever.

Tom Dunmore

Tech specs Processor: Intel Storage: 8GB Screen size: 3.5in Screen resolution: 320x480 Operating system: Mac OS Embedded Wi-Fi: Yes Bluetooth: Yes Firewire: No Dimensions: 115 x 51 x 11.6 mm Weight: 135g

Release price: From ÂŁ250 Manufacturer: Apple Contact: 0800 039 1010 FOR iPod built into a phone Touch screen 8GB of Memory AGAINST Price tag No 3G available VERDICT Apple iPhone is another quality product from Apple which you can again trust as a must have.

***** May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 51

UP COMMING DESIGNERS A small selection of young designers to watch out for in the future.

ADAM TICKLE LOCATION Bath, UK JOB Freelance graphic designer CONTACT www.culturaldomain.com/ SOFTWARE Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Why is design so important to you?

I have always had an interest in music but I have never had the time, patience or passion to learn an instrument, I desperately wanted to be involved with the music industry so I though the next best thing would be to work with bands and musicians, I got into designing posters, flyers and tshirts and eventually landed some CD artwork, since then I have continued to work with the alternative music scene and other industries.

What’s the idea behind you work?

With my work for the music industry I try and design a piece of work that works well with the sound of the music but does not look clichĂŠ yet fits with the bands ethos. I think it is important to produce something unique, something that will stand out on the shelves and convince the audience to buy the CD not only for the music but for the artwork.

What would you say is your design style?

I would say I have quite a clean style, mixing photography with typography, I use to produce more grungy type artwork but of late I have gone much cleaner and somewhat more sophisticated (see Showing Off To Thieves) What do you think the future holds?

I think and hope to be more involved in design within the next 10 years than i am currently, what is great about the industry is that it is always changing, new ideas and new people will always be evolving into something exciting!

52 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

PHIL DUNNE LOCATION Dublin, Ireland JOB Freelance designer CONTACT www.lovetherobot.com SOFTWARE Adobe Illustrator, FreeHand and Corel Painter

Is there a specific type of style you have when designing?

I think hand rendered Is my major style. I try to Infuse the hand rendered with the digital tools on my computer. Also, my style depends on my mood or my Inspiration.

What do you think makes a good designer?

The ability to create something that Is

unique, Iconic and original. Also to push a particular medium or discipline to new and fascinating areas.

To think In an exciting and refreshing way.

Why is design so important to you?

I think my talent for drawing and painting are more Important to me. They are something that I don’t want to waste. I feel like I’ve been given a special gift and It’s not be squandered. I also think It’s Important to show people what you think Is good design and how you can visually express your Ideas.

What has been your biggest project to date? Or what is your favorite piece of work you have produced?

My biggest project was my old full time job. I worked as a designer In the biggest department store In Dublin, called Arnotts. I got to design window displays, Illustrations for fashion shows, I got unbelievable creative freedom.

My favourite piece of work has been my Illustrations for the Candy/Sony PSP competition. I won the public design competition and It’s been an amazing springboard for my career and my work.

What do you reckon you’ll be up to in the near future?

I can’t answer this question really. It’s just because I seen and had so many unpredictable things happen to me that I’m not sure what’s around the next corner.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 53

JUSTIN MALLER LOCATION Melbourne, Australia JOB Creative Director CONTACT www.superlover.com.au/ SOFTWARE Adobe Photoshop & Cinema4D.

Is there a specific type of style you have when designing?

Not really. I try and work in as eclectic a fashion as possible so I don’t get weighed down in conventions or processes.

What has been your biggest project to date? Or what is your favorite piece of work you have produced?

Depthcore probably counts as quite a big project, right? 200 artists, five years, 4000 pieces of art, 29 packs, yeah; that took some doing.

54 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

How about your background, Tell us about growing up and how each of these places had an influence on you in life and design, help shaping who you are now?

Well, I grew up In Melbourne. As a place, Melbs has a very vibrant urban culture - just catching the tram to work gives me Ideas sometimes. It’s hard to be specific, given that my unique locale has played such an important part in my artistic development, but it is safe to say that my work is very reflective of my environment.

Whose work do you admire?

I like the guys from depthcore.com, esp fellas like Nik Ainley.

Hellovon.com is one of my heroes too.

What do you think makes a good designer?

Dedication & originality.

In your honest opinion do you really think design actually has a great impact on a business and ever deeper peoples lives, or is it just a way to make things pretty?

I think making things pretty has a great Impact on peoples lives and business. Beautiful things make the mundane easier to bear.

Many designers use music as a vehicle to fuel their creative side, a way of inspiration, do you use music any, are you a big fan of music or more of a quiet room worker?

Always have music going, can’t stand a quiet workspace. If I get really stuck working, I’ll get up and hit my drums or play the guitar.

DESIGN TIPS Free advice from the people in the industray.

Easy money?

Taking an iconic image and manipulating it isn’t particularly creative. And although it might be lucrative, it’s almost certainly illegal. But how long will the prime suspects avoid the strong arm of the law?

We’ve all seen them, those debasements of creativity. Whether it’s Kurt or Elvis, Jimi or Marilyn, the number of vendors happy to sell iconic imagery dressed up with a bit of colour and printed onto canvas is terrifying. And let’s not get started about online availability, where there are literally hundreds of examples of people looking to expend minimal effort to make a quick buck.

But although it’s understandably tempting to set up shop and put your well-honed creative skills into lucrative practice, is it legal and, more importantly, will it spell the end of your creative career?

“You see these artworks on eBay all the time, and in the vast majority of cases they have no right to use the original image and are normally subject to a take-down notice,” says Alex Chapman, partner at Briffa, a leading London law firm that specialises in intellectual publishing and media copyright. “These artists often try and conjure up the feel of an original copyrighted image, but there’s really no skill involved in that.”

The rule of law The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 is a complex beast, and not one that we have space to pick apart here. Suffice to say, that copyright infringement of this sort is far from a black-and-white subject, and the Act itself often makes it difficult to establish any breach at all.

Take, for example, the iconic image of Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. Meddling with this portrait, and then selling on the results, breaches several areas of copyright law, and from more than one source. Not only does the copyright of that particular frame from the film rest with United Artists – which has legitimate grounds to sue – but the representation of McQueen’s image could be pursued by his estate; or the lawyers who work for it.

“There’s a law firm who have a deal exclusively with Universal, and which specialises in going after people who misuse Scarface images,” says Chapman as proof of the serious nature by which film studios take these matters. “But there’s no science to it,” he admits. “It’s not black and white, so like the art itself it’s very subjective.”

That said, according to Chapman, the Act is pretty clear in one area: “Think about it. If a character, logo or something that’s recognisable and associated with one company, or a

56 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

film, brand or person is used out of context but is still recognisable, then most companies will sue – whether it’s a straight-up facsimile copy or an image that has been digitally manipulated.”

This is particularly pertinent when it comes to images altered in Photoshop. If you produce an image that someone else, at some point, no matter how far down the line, has played a part in creating, the copyright isn’t yours. So, if you take a sourced image of Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, strip it to monotone and add a poor Warhol triptych mimic, the entirety of that creation didn’t solely come from your head and hand. Simply running an existing image through a handful of Photoshop’s native filters will never change where the copyright lies, and is certainly questionable in terms of creative value.

“Changing something is, in itself, using a substantial part,” asserts Chapman. “You’ve copied it, not used it as inspiration. Tracing, manipulating or filtering elements of an image in Photoshop is copying, because it’s using as its primary element a substantial and recognisable copyrighted image.”

Legally, unless you have a licence to manipulate the image – which is both rare and costly – you’re breaching copyright. “It could be only one centimetre from a four-foot square image that’s been taken,” Chapman maintains. “But that centimetre is absolutely critical and encapsulates the central essence of the original image.”

Getting away with it But what is the likelihood of being sued? In researching this article, we tried contacting three eBay vendors, who all seemed happy to sell us iconic imagery. Though they all declined to be interviewed, one seller did say he’s been selling canvases through eBay for two years, and hasn’t received a takedown notice, or been contacted regarding copyright infringement.

“It’s not commonplace to be sued,” admits Chapman. “Take, for example, Camden market. These people are so fly-by-night that it’s very difficult to go after them. But it is something copyright holders take seriously – even more so if people are making substantial profits from it.”

Copyright here in the UK seems clear, then. If you don’t own the image, you can’t do anything with it.

And now, for the hordes flogging their digitally-manipulated reprints, a day of reckoning could well be imminent. The Gowers Review recently recommended that the Government make it easier to pursue copyright infringement and increase penalties, citing digital image manipulation as key transgressor.

But whether the argument remains a legal one, one thing’s for sure. Digitally manipulating an iconic image isn’t creative, and to many it certainly ain’t art.

INFO: www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988 www.dacs.org.uk www.briffa.com

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 57

REVIEW

All our products go through rigorous testing and only the most outstanding products get our rating.

HD Eye Candy

“Combines a new level of user-friendly convenience with advanced image technology. “ We start off firstly with the new batch of Sony ‘BRAVIA’ D3000Series LCD TV combines which has a new level of user-friendly convenience with advanced image technologies. Thanks to these innovations Home Theatre has never been easier to enjoy, and everything from films on Blu-ray Disc™ to High Definition TV is enhanced.

Anyone who wants a Home Theatre setup is likely to appreciate ‘BRAVIA’

58 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

Theatre Sync, which is the D3000Series’ way of making life simpler. By connecting compatible devices via HDMI™ connections and enabling ‘BRAVIA’ Theatre Sync, you have onetouch control over the entire system, and far fewer buttons to press to get started.

The next step towards a visibly superior picture occurs as the D3000Series actually boosts the refresh rate from the standard 50Hz to 100Hz

using Motionflow +100Hz technology. This Sony-developed algorithm creates and adds extra frames based on the originals, causing the eye to perceive motion as far smoother and more realistic than in the unenhanced source. Motionflow +100Hz works with both sources using film-based contents and standard TV and DVD, imparting smoothness to everything you see.

The D3000-Series also offers hugely enhanced colour reproduction. The standard 8-bit panels normally used for LCD TVs are capable of only 256 steps of gradation between colours, but the 10-bit panel used by the D3000-Series offers 1024 shades of gradation. This breathes life into everything from skin tones to sunsets, and once again ensures that what you see is as close to the original as possible.

To ensure cinematic-style sound to match the quality of the picture the D3000-Series uses S-Force Front Surround technology to create an enveloping surround sound effect from just the two TV’s own speakers, to sound as if you were surrounded by many speakers. S-Force Front Surround technology was developed exclusively by Sony.

“Visually, the ‘BRAVIA’ D3000-Series is all about using powerful technologies to achieve subtle but crucial improvements,” says Andreas Ditter - Director TV Operations Europe.

“This is the key to its strength. We’ve all seen several TVs side by side in the showroom and quickly picked out one as the best, but not necessarily because the others were bad.

We just notice the small differences and instinctively home in on the one set that is most lifelike, most convincing. Very probably it will be a D3000Series.”

Tech specs Sky HD

Sky’s HD box offers 10 HD channels and 160GB of storage space for up to 30 hours of super-realistic HD content or 80 hours of standard video.

The long-awaited cruise ship to the hi-res promised land has finally set sail. Sky’s HD option is more complete than Telewest’s, with a starting line-up of movie channels – including the latest films on pay-per-view – plus BBC HD, Sky One and some more arty business.

Having a choice of 10 HD channels is fantastic and picture quality is as amazing as expected. Alas, the 300GB hard disk has been partitioned so you get only 160GB for storing 80 hours of standard video or 30 hours of HD – the rest will be for internet use later, apparently – and there are only two tuners.

It’s got HMDI and analogue outputs for spouting shows to your telly, and an Ethernet connection for connecting to a network.

Wi-Fi No HDMI Yes Hard drive storage 320Gb Ethernet No SCART Yes Sony Bravia Backlight Yes HDMI Yes Screen Size (inch) 40.0

Release price: TBA Manufacturer: Sony / SKY Contact: www.sky.co.uk/HD www.sony.com/ FOR Loads of channels and quality is amazing as expected.

AGAINST For the high price, you only get two tuners and the hard-drive is partitioned.

VERDICT One-touch control over your whole Home Theatre setup with ’BRAVIA’ Theatre Sync for ultrarealistic TV.

***** May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 59

Audi RS 4 Cabriolet Unrestrained passion

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Freelance survival guide A career as a designer or illustrator could mean working in a studio, as a specialist within a larger organisation or going freelance. Let’s consider the practicalities of freelancing in this expert survival guide May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 63

Whichever option you take, be it a salaried job in a design studio, a fulltime post in a more specialised field, or striking out as a freelancer in a collective or on your own, your work will involve the generation of original ideas and the communication of information from your client to its intended audience.

your own hours,” says Matt Wellsted from illustration and communication agency Pen. And Archibald considers working from home a major plus: “I no longer travel into London on a daily basis,” he says. “Not having to deal with the noise and crowds of the city has done great things for my stress levels!”

Regardless of the project or the medium you work with, all aspects of design essentially use the same process. So doesn’t it make sense to be your own boss, to pick and choose which – and how many – projects to take on? Sounds ideal, but how can you be sure you’ll survive out there?

When asked about the benefits of freelancing, most advocates cite similar things. “As your own boss, you make your own creative decisions, rather than being a cog in the corporate machine,” says Brett Archibald of Archimedia Design, a sentiment echoed by Nicholas Maroussas of motion graphics studio Mooschool.

“You don’t have to deal with anyone complicating things with office politics and weird personal agendas,” he says.

The work itself is the most important factor, though, and many freelancers claim they now only work on projects they find interesting, providing greater variation and challenge in their working lives. “Freelancers directly reap the rewards of their hard work,” says Maroussas, “It’s your reputation on the line if something should go wrong. I like that – it makes me care.”

Convenience certainly plays a part. “A big pro of going freelance is keeping

62 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

However, branding and design specialist Mike Frank warns that you might initially spend a lot of time pursuing opportunities and taking on non-sexy work to pay the bills.

All freelancers admit that chasing outstanding payments and new jobs, dealing with administration and taxes (which may require a third of your working day) and being seen as ‘small fry’ by some clients are downsides that those considering going

it alone should consider. “The good news,” says Frank, “is that once you have a handle on time management and identifying new engagements, things aren’t as bleak.”

Whether you’re currently employed in the design industry, working in another area or still studying, do take time to weigh up the pros and cons of all avenues. If freelancing feels like the right route, make sure you do it for the right reasons, and make sure that you’ve done enough preparation.

Look before you leap “Only go freelance if you’re confident in your work and prepared to lose the comfort of full-time employment,” advises freelance illustrator Steven Mclellan. “Don’t do it just because you hate working for your current employer.” Once convinced freelancing is right for you, build up a cash reserve before making the leap – just in case.

“A hard break is necessary,” says illustrator Dave Curd. “In addition to your day job, take the odd freelance commission to get your feet wet and build up a portfolio before making a full-time go of it.” Similarly, you should try to acquire equipment

gradually. “Unless you’re into 3D or animation, you don’t need the fastest, latest computer, and you needn’t buy the latest software, which usually runs slower, for the sake of some new features you may never use,” says Sean Macfarlane, a successful freelance illustrator.

Once fully immersed in the freelance world – a process that could take about a year – you’ll find many problems of full-time employment disappear, only to be replaced by brand-new issues. “Rather than moaning about your boss, you’ll wonder whether you’ve enough money coming in,” says freelance graphic designer Robin Green. Work rarely spaces itself evenly – there are always peaks and troughs – and getting through dry spells can be tough.

“When I first began freelancing, I remember eating rice and free soy sauce from the local Chinese for Christmas,” says former Computer Arts cover illustrator Jeremyville.

“That was my lowest point. I was waiting for a huge payment, but there was absolutely nothing in the bank.”

Staying motivated during such times can be difficult, but to succeed, freelancers must remain determined. “Use slow periods to work on your website, learn new skills, or promote your work,” suggests Green, “because when it gets busy, you’ll have little time to sort such things.” You might also find related employment. Illustrator Jem Robinson works as a part-time lecturer at her old university. “The brilliance of this is that it’s a steady income, and it also provides me with a creative environment where I can discuss aspects of the industry and then return revitalised to my studio,” she says.

Isolation and motivation “I work in a shared studio, which helps beat the isolation,” says freelance illustrator Ben O’Brien. “We ask each other for opinions, and if you’re stressed, someone will offer daft conversation to lift the mood.”

Oz Dean regularly works in-house at studios, thereby getting the interaction and idea-bouncing opportunities that are so important, and those who work from home recommend instant messaging services and regular meet-ups with other designers. “Exercise also helps keep you motivated and creatively active,” claims Nick Deakin, who swims daily. “Staying indoors all day drains you.” Deakin also suggests new freelancers should figure out when they’re most productive and use their naturally non-productive times to do administrative tasks.

Networking is another way of staving off cabin fever, and it can potentially lead to new work. “Rely solely on contacting strangers unannounced, or when you don’t know whether they need work doing, and you’ll struggle,” says Archibald. But cold calling can work wonders, says Ian Keltie: “When in Holland recently, I bought a Dutch magazine with a few illustrations in it. I emailed the art director on my return and within a few days she’d commissioned me to deliver six illustrations!”

Whatever you do, resist becoming introverted, and always be willing to communicate. “You should only work with people you can have a conversation with,” says multi-disciplinary designer Holly Wales, and this works both ways. Be approachable and willing to let clients call you to chat about potential ideas.

“However small the job, prove you’re there for your clients,” says Green. This is one way freelancers can be better, by providing a more personal service.

WHY? Eight aspects of full-time work that might make you think about setting up on your own 01 Everyone notices when you show up five minutes late, but not that you’re working two hours extra every single evening.

02 Your boss has a massive ego problem, knows nothing about design, and treats the staff like peasants that must pander to his or her every whim.

03 Politics have started to become more important than creativity, and you’re sick of walking on eggshells all the time.

04 The job you do has become routine, and your passion for the field is becoming increasingly muted by uninspiring briefs.

05 Design by committee has taken over, and all of your best ideas are being mercilessly edited and unnecessarily ruined by others.

06 The boss sees you as the same person that you were when you joined the company five years ago – and treats you as such.

07 You never get the credit for the fantastic work you do, and yet the project managers sit atop gold-plated pedestals.

08 Despite being multi-talented, you’re creatively flatlining, stuck working on web banners with no thinking behind them, and aren’t learning anything new.

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 63

Once you have clients, it’s imperative that you keep them happy, which often leads to repeat business and referrals. “Return calls if a voicemail is left, reply to emails, even if just to say you’ll reply properly later and hit your deadlines,” advises Green, who claims word-of-mouth provided 75 per cent of his work last year. “Also, put aside time to send a short email to your client list now and then, just to keep in touch. Then you’re already in mind when new work is being commissioned,” recommends O’Brien.

Learn to say no One aspect of working alone is actually understanding when to say ‘no’ to clients, and how to be firm with them, rather than friendly. “Learn to fire clients, if that’s the right thing to do,” advises illustrator Miguel Ripoll.

“And never start a project without a properly written and signed contract and at least 30 per cent of the budget in the bank.”

A ‘no’ may also be required in less confrontational circumstances. Jonathan Lewis of web, print and graphic design agency DigitALLSTARS says that “if you don’t like the sound of a project, don’t do work for the sake of it,” and web designer/ developer

64 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

Simon Collison recommends softening the ‘no’ if you’re too busy to help a client: “Look at building a gang of trusted ‘associates’ who you can filter work to,” he says. Those people may return the favour when work is slow for you, or you can even outsource to them – as long as no-one is underpaid, everyone comes out happy.

“Don’t be afraid to ask if you can have more time,” says illustrator Nathan Fletcher. “If the client has come to you, chances are they’ll stretch the deadline in order to use you.” But always avoid the temptation to take on too much work. You’ll regret it later when you’re over-stretched and stressed out, and your work is bound to suffer as a result. “One reason freelancing is so tempting is because it offers the potential to free up more time for yourself,” says Mclellan. “You can make piles of cash by over working, but what’s the point of earning all that extra money if you don’t have time to enjoy it?”

Broaden your horizons Working alone doesn’t mean ambition should be forgotten. “Illustrators can break into publishing and TV work – there’s never a cap on what you can do,” says Collison, and Archibald believes that anyone regularly swamped with work

should consider setting up their own agency. “This happens quite a lot with freelancers who have been working for a long time, and it offers the benefits of both full-time and freelance work,” he says.

“You should always have aims – to work in certain magazines, or on a bigger and better ad campaign, or to diversify,” says O’Brien. “Setting yourself aims keeps you focused on your freelancing career. Most importantly, ensure you’re happy in what you do, because you’re the one in charge.”

And that may prove to be the most pertinent advice. Make sure you love what you’re doing – the work itself, as well as the admin, accounts, selfpromotion, networking and potential lean times. If you don’t, perhaps you should consider the other options...

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ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 3 “Follow the flow of your creative ideas wherever they lead.”

Designed for creative professionals who blur boundaries and break rules in pursuit of their vision, Master Collection runs smoothly on the most current Mac and Windows computers.

A truly comprehensive design environment for exploring and expressing ideas, Master Collection includes all of Adobe’s leading tools for designing content for print, web, interactive, mobile, and dynamic media such as film and video. This highly integrated, exceptionally productive toolkit equips you to balance design aspirations with deadline demands and meet any competitive challenge in the fast-moving business of design. With Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection, you can: Realize your vision with essential creative tools, Tackle virtually any creative task from image editing, illustration, and page layout to web design, interactive development,

66 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

motion graphics, and film and video production. Work fluidly with intelligent integration—Share assets effortlessly among projects, moving fluidly from task to task and eliminating redundant work and awkward workarounds. A consistent Adobe user interface helps you move efficiently among components and use your knowledge of one component to quickly learn others.

Choose among agile workflows. Be nimble. That’s the secret to staying ahead in the dynamic world of visual communication. Whether you’re a print designer wanting to expand into web, mobile, or motion graphics, a web designer seeking to incorporate video into websites, or a video professional developing print materials to promote your work or online venues to showcase it, Master Collection enables you to reach the broadest possible audience in the widest range of media.

Work more efficiently than ever with

highly integrated tools.

Get up to speed quickly, thanks to Adobe’s consistent approach to interface design. For example, master Flash CS3 Professional more easily using its elegant new Adobe-standard interface, including an Adobestandard Pen tool for drawing. Share content more smoothly than ever among all of the components of Master Collection: Import layered Photoshop files with full fidelity into Illustrator, InDesign, Fireworks, Flash, After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Encore, or copy and paste layered web designs from Photoshop into Dreamweaver. Incorporate layered Illustrator files, cropped for the appropriate media, across your creative workflows. Export InDesign files as XHTML or XML to jump-start web designs in Dreamweaver. Paint video files on a frame-by-frame basis within Photoshop CS3 Extended and then export them in different motion graphics formats,

which you can open directly in Adobe Premiere Pro or After Effects for ongoing work. And that’s just a taste of the tight integration offered.

Collaborate between design and development to create rich, engaging content. Producing rich, engaging content to deploy freely on the web, on mobile devices, and on a wide variety of other devices, including appliances, vehicles, and gaming consoles is mandatory for today’s creatives and requires close collaboration between designers and developers. Master Collection offers a unique combination of tightly integrated creative tools for producing this content and improving efficiencies between designers and developers. Whether you’re quickly copying motion to ActionScript 3.0 to hand off to a Flash developer, or using rich scripting support across components to automate various tasks, you’ll find built-in support for producing cutting-edge creative and deploying it anywhere. Follow your imagination anywhere. From the tactile pleasures of print to the worldwide reach of websites, from the appeal of rich interactive experiences to the storytelling power of motion and sound, Master Collection tools enable you to make your ideas real. Also discover learning resources, CSS layouts for jump-starting web designs, animation presets, and other support for achieving high-quality results in design disciplines you’re just starting to explore. Turn creative daring into business savvy. No matter which medium is your specialty, you’ll find tools for venturing in new

directions, whether to anticipate customer needs, maintain your competitive advantage, or fulfill your own creative vision. Here is just one example: Explore the explosive potential of mobile

publishing using Adobe Device Central CS3 to preview and test graphic, web, interactive, and video content on mobile phones.

Output to virtually any medium— From high-quality print to highdefinition video, Master Collection meets your most rigorous criteria for output. Find the professional output options you need for each design discipline from print to web to video. Adobe’s ongoing focus on open standards ensures that your work can easily go wherever you want.

Face any design challenge with future-ready tools. Handle today’s deadlines while preparing for tomorrow’s demands. Meet the needs of your clients head-on thanks to comprehensive support for the most cutting-edge workflows in any media. Take advantage of amazing value—Expand your creative and technical skills without breaking your budget. Master Collection combines the best of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, Web Premium, and Production Premium in a single cost-effective, valuepacked offering.

Pricing and Availability Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard, and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard will begin shipping in April 2007. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection for Mac OS X on Intel-based systems and for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista platforms will begin shipping worldwide in the third quarter of

2007

Master Collection • Adobe InDesign® CS3 • Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended • Adobe Illustrator® CS3 • Adobe Flash® CS3 Pro fessional • Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3 • Adobe Contribute® CS3 • Adobe Fireworks® CS3 • Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional • Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3 • Adobe Soundbooth® CS3 • Adobe Encore CS3 • Adobe Acrobat® 8 Pro fessional • Adobe Bridge CS3,

Release price: From US$2499 Manufacturer: Adobe Contact: www.adobe.com/ FOR Offering some compelling new features.

Great leap forward.

AGAINST Not all programs are essential upgrades.

VERDICT One of the biggest upgrades in application history, it has a wealth of new features.

***** May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 67

ADOBE Photoshop CS3 “Create powerful images with the professional standard.�

Photoshop CS3 speeds the path from imagination to imagery.

New automated features slash the time needed for selecting and compositing. Live filters boost the comprehensive, nondestructive editing set to keep you more flexible than ever. And with the new, streamlined interface and time-saving tools, your work simply flows faster. With Photoshop CS3, you can create any image.

For years, creative professionals such as designers, photographers, and prepress specialists have relied on Adobe Photoshop software to help turn imagination into powerful imagery.

But Photoshop has also become the digital imaging standard for a wide array of other professionals including people working with motion graphics for film and television; 2D and 3D design imagery in manufacturing,

68 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

architecture, and engineering; and medical and scientific professionals dealing with specialized images. To best meet the diverse needs of all these professionals and more, Adobe now presents a choice of two versions of the software Photoshop CS3.

Both new versions help increase your productivity with streamlined workflows for every imaging task, getting you from start to finish faster. New palette management maximizes your workspace, and additional preset capabilities let you store even more of your favorite settings for reuse. The unrivaled editing power of Photoshop is enhanced with new live, reeditable filters; improved color-correction features, And breakthrough compositing stems from new features that automatically align and blend multiple image layers, automated selection tools, and more.

www.adobe.com/ FOR Slick menus and buttons Editing video layers 3D editing AGAINST Can be abit confusing at first but once learnt, worth it.

VERDICT Photoshop has moved forward and simply pushed beyond the boundaries.

*****

ADOBE Illustrator CS3 “Explore new paths with the esential vector tool.”

Adobe Illustrator CS3 software is a fundamental part of the creative workflow, tightly integrated with other components of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 family. Create vector graphics with speed and precision for publishing across media.

Adobe Illustrator CS3 is the essential vector drawing tool for originating designs that go everywhere. The Adobe Creative Suite 3 family offers a choice of design environments, and Illustrator CS3 is an integral part of each. Precision drawing tools, rich typographic controls, advanced live effects, powerful object blends, brushes, color exploration tools, and much more, provide the vector tools you need no matter what your medium.

With Illustrator CS3, your Adobe Flash CS3 Professional software projects benefit from powerful vector tools along with new copy/paste and import fidelity. For video, vectors are

indispensable for motion effects, masking, titling, and animation. If you’re a print specialist, colour and prepress management, along with PDF output, help ensure high-quality printing.

With Creative Suite 3, you can experience an uninterrupted flow from initial concept to polished final execution across print, web, interactive, motion, and mobile. End-to-end integration is the core of what makes the Adobe Creative Suite 3 family of software uniquely powerful you can remain focused on your creative vision and achieve the highest quality results in less time.

Designers will be talking most about Live Color, which introduces a new way of discovering colors and applying them to vector graphics. Other features make tools and options easier to find, faster, and more integrated.

www.adobe.com/ FOR Live colour Slick menus and buttons Integrated Flash.

AGAINST Short cut keys have changed.

VERDICT Illustrator has once again upped it’s game and gone in the right direction.

***** May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 69

ADOBE InDesign CS3

“Explore new creative possibilities, streamline repetitive tasks and produce reliable output.”

Boost your creativity and productivity with Adobe InDesign CS3 software. Every release of Adobe InDesign is shaped by customer requests emerging from day-to-day design and production experience.

With InDesign CS3, designers can more easily realize their creative vision, production staff can meet deadlines with less effort, and IT personnel can keep efficiency up and costs down. With each new release, more major magazines, newspapers, and corporate creative groups worldwide move their layout workflows to InDesign, achieving significantly higher productivity, producing consistently reliable output to print, and creating more compelling creative content. InDesign CS3 is packed with new features that respond to today’s demanding workflows.

Explore new creative possibilitiesWiden the scope of creative ex-

70 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

pression within your page layout workflow through expanded transparency controls, enhanced typography, and additional creative effects.

Experiment freely with new nondestructive Photoshop based effects and transparency settings that can be applied independently to an object’s fill, stroke, or content.

InDesign CS3 makes it easier and quicker to get just the result you want as you design in real time, with live preview of all your creative moves. Be more productive— Achieve greater efficiency through new and enhanced productivity tools that make it faster and easier to lay out, export, and print typographically rich pages. Apply and update table formatting with a single click, using new table and cell styles.

Complete layouts faster by importing multiple files in one step. Boost your productivity further with an improved workspace that lets you quickly adjust the display of panels.

www.adobe.com/ FOR Creative object effects, including feathered gradients.

Table and cell styles AGAINST With all the new feature it can slow down for quick viewing.

VERDICT There have been some great new feature but not a huge improvement.

*****

Dreamweaver CS3

Flash CS3

The web-design community has been wating for this release since Adobe’s purchase of Macromedia in 2006. As the two web-design tools are almost always employed together, Dreamweaver and Photoshop have a special relationship. And with the realse of Creative Suite 3, that relationship has just got better.

All-new Adobe Flash CS3 Professional software is the most advanced authoring environment for rich, interactive content creation. Whether creating interactive websites, rich media advertisements, instructional media, engaging presentations, online games, or content for mobile devices, designers and developers worldwide depend on Flash to ensure that their content reaches the widest audience.

“Web authoring and image production in perfect harmony”

Unlike the rest of the new Creative Suite, on the surface the Dreamweaver interface is relatively unchanged. There’s been some beefing up of CSS workflow and some new templates, which are useful and fluid. And you can move CSS snippets from inline to external documents using a context-sensitive menu.

Ther’s also the Adobe CSS Advisor, an online CSS bug repository that community users can contribute to.

It’s accessible when you use the app’s overhauled Browser Compatibility Check feature, and can identify CSS problems and offer coding solutions.

Adobe-watchers will know that Spry has been available to users as a standalone AJAX library for the last year. But now it’s been intergrated into Dreamweaver, bringing drag-and-drop UI widgets, XML data containers and inline effects along with it.

The big news is enhanced intergration with Photoshop. There’s direct PSD import.

VERDICT Although big new features are few, Dreamweaver works seamlessly with the tools web designers really use. That’s what counts

*****

“Flash CS3 ensures a fast, fluid, and efficient workflow”

Available for Microsoft Windows and as a universal-binary application for Mac, Flash CS3 provides the tools you need to be successful. Flash CS3 Professional is an integral part of Adobe Creative Suite 3, which empowers creative

professionals and developers to experience an uninterrupted flow of energy and ideas from initial concept to polished final execution across print, video, web, and mobile devices. The end-to-end integration is the core of what makes Creative Suite uniquely powerful so you can remain focused on your vision and achieve the highest quality results in less time.

Adobe Flash CS3 Professional features powerful new functionality that makes it even more enjoyable to create truly engaging interactive content.

Advanced design and animation tools provide greater flexibility to express your most creative ideas.

VERDICT Flash CS3 features a full set of creative drawing, animation, and interactive tools offering greater productivity and flexibility.

*****

May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 71

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Recruiting for graphic designers, web designers or multimedia professionals? To Advertise, or for more information, call Greg Terry on 01233 335576, or email g_reg2005@hotmail.co.uk

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NEXT ISSUE - Before graphics software and computers, designers had to use scalpels, T-squares and Rotring pens to create physical artwork. Adrian Shaughnessy recalls the days when art demanded painstaking craft…

- We review the latest software like 3Ds Max 9 and Maya 8. Printers such as the HP Design Jet 30gp, Epson Stylus Photo R1800 and Cannon’s iPF5000. Also the console wars, with the new release of the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii. - We also get our hands on the new Windows Vista, and see of the Pro’s and Con’s of upgrading.

ON SALE FRIDAY 20 JULY May 2007 DESIGNstudio / 77

COVER ARTIST Congratulations to the cover artist for outstanding work.

NIK AINLEY LOCATION United Kingdom JOB Free-lance / Web Designer CONTACT Nik@shinybinary.com SOFTWARE Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash

CUTE An image produced for Unicef on the theme of child soliders. This will be featured in a special book later this year. All the profits will be going directly to Unicef.

THE ENDLESS PATH Last release from this depthcore pack, was just playing around with ideas etc. Ended up playing with the colours so much I had about 15 adjustment layers stacked on top of this piece.

78 / DESIGNstudio May 2007

BLACK DOG As for this picture, it’s my way of representing being in a bad mental state, which seems to be becoming a bit of a recurring theme I must say... I worked at pretty high resolution for this.

Printed in the UK Cover Illustration : NIK AINLEY

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