DAVE'S DESIGN BLOCK

Illustration Friday - Teacher

Well this was a toughy. When attempting to come up with a solution for the subject I attempt normally to think a little different, well not that different but it would have been just to obvious to select the usual image of a teacher.

At one point I was nearly illustrating an image of a tea cup that looked like Cher (get it TEA-CHER) thinking back on it the subject matter actually might have made for an interesting concept (might do it at sometime).

Anyhow, I eventually decided on a mother bear and cub to represent teacher. For me being a big fan of bears and knowing the nature of a mother bear preparing their cub for the wild is the epitome of a teacher, providing you with the skills to survive. 

ohh was getting a bit heavy there.

Feel free to let me know what you think. Oh and I will post the original sketches in the stuff section of the blog.

Illustration Friday - Freeze

I have returned, I was long overdue to brush up on my doodling skills (don’t have the balls to say I can Illustrate) and thought what better way to get into the groove by hitting up illustration friday.

Can wait fo this Fridays word, anyway back to the project management for now.

TAXI FOR - Initial Design Concept

Finally happy with the initial look so here it is. 

This idea came from 3 (Dave Grant - John Sneddon - David Galletly)guys putting there heads together and coming up with a final solution to the issue of a taxi directory which wouldn’t require searching to find a local number. 

The name comes from a saying which taxi drivers will call out during a pick-up. So we took that idea and applied it to services which taxi companies may provide and also the needs of taxi users and came up with the concept of “Taxi For…. Large Groups, Party Nights, Business Accounts, Airport Pick-ups, weddings….etc

Picture this you have got off a train in… say Dundee you really don’t want to have to pay for a hackney £13 for a 5 min journey who does really wants that? what you would want is a local hire but you don’t know a number. Well what if there was a mobile app/website that can deliver a number in an instant which is relevant to your location.

Thats what “Taxi For” was designed for. The short explanation on how this would work in the long run would be a service which would either pick up an IP address (static) or GPS (mobile) for purposes of defining a location of the user, then deliver an automatically confirmed location within the search area on the device, which when confirmed by the user it would generate the numbers of 5 local companies which would be closest to their current location.

What I was trying to achieve was a service which would provide the end goal in the quickest time. On a mobile device there would be an automatic option to call/share/like. On a PC/Mac the option of call would be substituted out for a SMS service which would send the number direct to your mobile. 

This is obviously just in concept stage but this is where we will go on to iron out any design UX/UI issues. I have tried to keep it all simple and entirely free of fuss - a kind of get in get out mentality behind it all.

If you can be bothered let me know your thoughts/feedback, constructive criticism is all part of the design process…

Waldorf Astoria Park City

This was the design before the design (if you catch my drift), as with many of these sites it comes down to the photography to sell the dream and this was why I made a massive focus of the site. The other element I tried to get across not so subtly was the skiing/lodge aspect of the resort and have this as a thread throughout the site.

(Hilton Hotels own all work created for the Hilton Worldwide Group)

Pima Bar - Hilton Liverpool

I created this visual an concept to make the most of what the product. I wanted the photography to sell the product and not be overshadowed by screeds & screeds of copy.

Unfortunately this was another visual which did not get past concept due to the budget constraints of the hotel and it was decided that they would promote through the brand site so hey ho…

another one bites the dust and is added to the folio.

(Hilton Hotels own all work created for the Hilton Worldwide Group)

Hilton Anatole

Well, now that I am back at Hilton for a bit (email marketing team) it has given me the opportunity to pick up some of the visuals/designs I left behind when I left last time. 

First off is one which was actually designed to show what the team in Glasgow could produce, quite chuffed that I had been given this opportunity and can see that it slightly influenced the final product if I do say so myself.

Thoughts on a stamp addressed envelope please…or get in touch

(Hilton Hotels own all work created for the Hilton Worldwide Group)

BBC Presentation

Well I was a fortunate fellow as I was encouraged to submit a presentation for the beeb… unfortunately I was unsuccessful in having the concept taken up and gaining a placement. It was a fantastic experience which I am going to share and provide a little insight into the concept and pitch I put across.

I was given access to the GEL standards (which we all can get a hold of, yay tv license), this is where my research began. The standards were the map to creating a product which would best adhere to the stylisation and quality that we have come to expect from the BBC.

Oh, numpty that I am haven’t said what the task was. It was to mash together two of their K&L sections to create a brand new product and describe how this could be rolled out over multiple platforms.

My choice after a long deliberation was to go for food & gardening, which would allow me explore sustainability and how we could become more self sufficient whether we have a window box or and allotment.

Sticking to the standards set before me, I chose the elements and widgets which would best in terms of design in my opinion provide a genuinely strong navigational element which would be coherent and informative to the end user. Photography was a major element which I needed to nail as it was important to strike the right balance and not have the food element appear to polished as I was aiming for a more rustic look which users would not be put off by.

The chosen elements I added were to make the site as social as possible and allow users to share growing, cooking and tips on keeping livestock (if you have the space). I wanted this to allow for not only sharing of tips but possibly produce.

One element I thought could be a nice touch would be an interactive produce list which keep the user informed of all weather data and provide what produce is ideal for growing and from here you would enter what you had grown. This would then lead to the user being sent emails/alerts as to what recipes would go with the produce grown. 

I could see this element having legs to stretch out on to the mobile platform, possibly through an app which would automatically update your user account whether on PC/Mac or smartphone. On a smartphone I would foresee this being a stripped back version but not compromising usability and allowing the interface to speak for itself (or not even speak out I would imagine it would slip under the radar and be usable without being noticed).

Now I would like to thank Robert Hamilton (Senior Designer of UX&D) and Jane Murison (Head of UX&D) for the opportunity to present and even be considered it was a privilege.

As always if you can be bothered let me know what you think of the design & concept…