Simon and Brodie - Simon's 40th Rat Pack partyI am sitting on the sofa at work, taking a breather after a year of fun and adventure, for both Frontend and my personal life. Frontend made double figures by reaching 10 years and I turned 40.
We celebrated our 10 year birthday with catered lunch at the bunker, sipping back on a few bottles of Veuve Clicquot. Brodie, my fiancé, and Sandy our copy expert provided a yummy feast for the team. It was great to say thanks to the team who I really enjoy working with every day, in a collaborative way.
I am also excited by turning 40 in November and asking mi more Brodie Reynolds to marry me at my 40th Rat Pack party - what a moment which has left me floating high on a fluffy white cloud.
This year we made a conscious effort to bring in a high level strategic component into our process. This has been key to identify the customer proposition and the gaps and the opportunities, then identify what channels and functions to meet those customers. We have partnered with Kostia Shinderman from Alphero, who's company focuses on digital channel strategy development with a core focus on mobile.
Now we see ourselves delivering across multi-channel from website to iPhone apps and iPad and each having a specific purpose to touch and engage customers at the right time.
Next year we see a huge growth opportunity in creating business apps for smartphones, which needs to fit into the big picture of how you engage with your customer.
So if you are not sure where to start, the best way is to storyboard current and future-view customer journeys, which will help realize opportunities to pursue.
I am very much looking forward to 2012 being a turn-key year for businesses embarking on mobile strategies.
I'll sign off by saying thanks to my team of Corinne Gibson, James Ing, Kelly Milligan, Graeme Dickey, Dan Clausen, Quan-Lin Sim, Rebecca Tansley and Sandy Hirstich and of course our friendly clients, who we enjoy collaborating with.
Smell the roses and have a Merry Christmas with those you love.
What I look like after a few days in the office without sunHi everyone, today's post is just going to be a casual chat about making sure we all look after ourselves and both mentally and physically.
As designers our days are spent meticulously crafting and creating our craft. So dedicated are we to this that we often work to the determent of our bodies. With summer arriving soon it means warmer weather and more hours of daylight. It's a timely reminder that we should also remember to keep ourselves healthy and live a balanced lifestyle that allows us to continue what we love doing for longer.
Get out of your cave
Graphic design is hardly an outdoors activity (excluding 'special' meetings with beer). We often find ourselves inside for most of the day basking in the glow of our monitors. During winter it's not unheard of to get to work before the sun is high in the sky and leave after it's decided it's had enough of hanging around.
Vitamin D is produced in the body from exposure to sunlight. It's no surprise that when Néstle worked along side the University of Sydney they found 42% of their office works were deficient in Vitamin D. What can we do? Simple get more sun. But how? Well the sun is generally outside so I suggest starting your search there (mileage my vary).
Move about, and stretch it out
Typical office worker's neckAnother concern is the amount of time designers and general office work has us sitting down. Our ancestors toiled the fields, built shelters, and hunted dinosaurs (I assume). Though physically demanding, it meant they moved about. Quite the opposite of the modern office worker. Sitting down for extended periods can have all sorts of terrible effects on the body from terrible posture to shortening your life span. What should you do? Take the occasional break, and just walk around a bit and stretch out those muscles. Don't over stretch, but just enough to ease up a bit
Stop thinking about stuff and or things
Find an outlet for stress, else end up like an awesome 90's movie (Falling down)What about the noggin? In many industries such as Graphic design, it's hard to completely switch off from work, even when at home or on holiday (I'm very guilty of this). I've left work stewing over a problem on Friday, only to have it suddenly hit me with a possible solution on a Saturday night (alcohol often helps in this regard). This can be problematic for those around you, as you're never quite out of work mode. There's no one solution I don't think. But I've found finding a new hobby or interest you can invest in mentally helps your brain from wandering back into work mode whenever it gets a chance.
So what should you be doing? I don't know, but I'm looking forward to scuba diving out and about and getting my vitamin D quota
James
The next time you're stuck for an idea or just in need of a bit of inspiration, switch off your computer, grab your camera and head for the great outdoors!
You don't need the latest 500 mega-pixel, super zoom camera, just the one you've got on hand will do. You also don't need the perfect subject matter, quality of light or incredible natural phenomena to photograph - just the right attitude will do.
Once you're out on the street don't even worry too much about what it is you're supposed to be photographing, as long as you've got your eyes open, you will naturally be drawn to scenes and objects that are of interest to you. When you've banged off a few shots, you will most probably find that your mind starts to relax a little and eye starts to focus more and you notice details you previously may have missed.
Then by the time you get back to your computer you just might find a whole bunch of ideas have popped into your head and you feel much more refreshed and inspired. If not, at least you've got some fresh air and (hopefully) have some nice shots to post up on Flickr!
Simon and Brodie - Simon's 40th Rat Pack partyI am sitting on the sofa at work, taking a breather after a year of fun and adventure, for both Frontend and my personal life. Frontend made double figures by reaching 10 years and I turned 40.
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