If there is one thing that is more desperately needed than a new post on miLienzo.com, it is an update to the I Love Social Bookmarking plugin. Two birds. One stone!

Since its release ILSB has had a few minor niggles related to certain themes’ CSS and which sometimes caused display problems and browser discrepancies – [...]]]>

If there is one thing that is more desperately needed than a new post on miLienzo.com, it is an update to the I Love Social Bookmarking plugin. Two birds. One stone!

Since its release ILSB has had a few minor niggles related to certain themes’ CSS and which sometimes caused display problems and browser discrepancies – usually involving Microsoft Internet Explorer.

The way I had written the code that draws the list and operates the hover-over function had good intentions at heart – for compliant browsers it was a pure CSS solution and for Internet Explorer there was a tiny bit of JavaScript doing the hover effect. Unfortunately, and without going in to too much detail as to why, the way I had written this code was problematic and causing these issues with a small number of users.

For this new release I have re-written the code that operates the hover-effect. It is now a completely JavaScript driven effect. This is a bit of a double-edged sword as whilst it will eradicate the problems users have previously experienced, it is of course not as pure as a CSS-driven hover effect and with this current release there will be accessibility issues if any of your blog readers use text readers or have JavaScript switched off.

In the end I decided I had to provide a plugin as solid as possible for the the mast majority of users. Rest assured that the JavaScript I’ve used is incredibly streamlined and efficient, and for a future release I will provide a JavaScript-free solution for those concerned with accessibility.

Head over to the ILSB page to download the latest release, and I’d love to hear your feedback on how you get on with it.

Note: If you are upgrading from a previous version of ILSB, your may have to refresh your browser to clear the old CSS from the cache as I’ve made a couple of changes to the style sheet.

Those of you who have lurked around these pages for more than a few months will know that I finished college back in the summer after two years of being a part time ‘mature’ student. Well guess what? I’ve somehow talked myself in to going back for a third and (hopefully) final year studying Interactive [...]]]>

Those of you who have lurked around these pages for more than a few months will know that I finished college back in the summer after two years of being a part time ‘mature’ student. Well guess what? I’ve somehow talked myself in to going back for a third and (hopefully) final year studying Interactive Media.

I’ve known about this for a while actually but not mentioned it. When I was offered my new job as a Graphic and Web Designer back in July, part of the package on the table involved sending me back to college for another year to ‘upgrade’ my qualification. Obviously this is good because it’s free education and I’m old enough to know the value of that, but on the other hand I was kind of looking forward to getting my life back after dedicating it to learning for two hard years.

Oh well, another year beckons and today I donned my shorts and satchel and went back to school. The ageing PCs that I’ve worked with for the past two years have been replaced with shiny new Macs, which is quite exciting. And I’ve already been given my first assignment: using Final Cut Pro to make a TV advertisement for Tetley Tea.

As my assignments unfold I will post about them in more detail so I can share with you what I’m learning and how I’m approaching things, and you can help me by sharing your thoughts and ideas. I’m excited already!

Just over a month ago I designed and printed personal business cards for my graduation exhibition. In fact, I ended up printing a few more cards than I needed, but that’s another story altogether.

The design uses the coloured circular elements from my personal logo design, and the branding is consistent with my business website, printed [...]]]>

Just over a month ago I designed and printed personal business cards for my graduation exhibition. In fact, I ended up printing a few more cards than I needed, but that’s another story altogether.

The design uses the coloured circular elements from my personal logo design, and the branding is consistent with my business website, printed portfolio and interactive-CV CD-Rom.

The cards are printed on a 400gsm silk stock and are ever so slightly narrower than a standard business card size. To be honest, I’m not sure I like the slightly unconventional size but it meant the cards fitted perfectly into my C-Shell CD cases whereas standard-sized cards would not have fit.

I won’t mention who printed the cards because, frankly, I don’t think they’re worthy of a mention. As I alluded to earlier, I had a few problems with the printing. This was in part due to my inexperience (lesson learnt) but also the printers complete lack of customer service played its part too. They were an Internet-based printers with attractive prices, but in future I will be seeking to develop a relationship with a good local printer. Another lesson learnt!

If anyone wants a card, drop me a line and I’ll happily pop one in the post to you.

Many thanks for the recent comments: Paul, Lorelle, David and Johno.

Here’s a photo of my display. I managed to call a favour and get two [...]]]> My end of year exhibition finished today so I managed to grab a few photos of my stand, plus a few of others’ work which I liked. Generally the standard throughout the show was very good, particularly from the illustration students.

Here’s a photo of my display. I managed to call a favour and get two huge banners printed, which did kind of steal the show in the multimedia room.

Another shot of my display. Being multimedia, all of the juicy stuff is on the computer, but I printed a nice A4 portfolio and had plenty of CDs and business cards on display. (I’ll reveal the business card design soon, I promise!)

This is the work of one of the illustration students, a chap called Elliott Rooney. I liked the use of colours with the black and white and somewhat abstract image.

Another illustration student, Richard Everett, produced this work. I love the use of symmetry here.

There was also a fine arts section which was… arty. Exhibits ranged from a series of fans hanging from the ceiling, to a perspex coffin filled with iron filings sat upon a sub-woofer with music being played through it (which was actually pretty cool), to a sack of powder hanging on the wall with a pile of powder underneath it.

I take everything down tomorrow and find out what my final grade is on Friday. I’ve heard through the grapevine what my grade is already, but I’ll wait until I’ve heard it from the horses mouth before I reveal it here.

Thanks for the recent comments: Asgeir, Arpit, Paul, David, Lauren and Psycho Dude.

I have quite a bit of printed material, but the main part of my display is [...]]]> Tonight’s the big night. My end of year show begins this evening with a private viewing to industry. The correct business cards have turned up, my best bib and tucker is waiting for me, and I’m ready to whore myself.

I have quite a bit of printed material, but the main part of my display is my interactive portfolio. My new personal website, www.aaronrussell.co.uk is now up and running with a version of my portfolio. Feel free to check it out and comment.

Currently the site is just an exact port of my exhibition display, but over the next few weeks I’ll put it onto a WordPress install and tweak the copy so it better positions me in the freelance market. I won’t turn it into a blog though, miLienzo.com is my blogging home.

The other day I promised Tara I’d take a few photos of the show tonight. Unfortunately I don’t have my camera with me, and besides I think I’ll be too busy. But I promise to take a few photos over the weekend when I won’t be trying so hard to sell myself.

Wish me luck. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Thanks for the previous posts’ comments: David, Randa, Mac, Charity and Tara.

So, back to the sketchpad I went, [...]]]> A few days ago I posted a personal logo conceptual design and asked for your feedback. What became clear from the comments I received was that everyone’s instinctive first response upon seeing the logo was not the response I desired. It drew the wrong connotations in the viewers mind.

So, back to the sketchpad I went, and taking the previous comments on board I have a new concept to present:

So once again, I open it up to you guys to give me your honest feelings about this design?

I promise later in the week to write a detailed post on how I came to this second design, and my rational behind this and the previous design, with a shed-load of sketches chucked in for good measure.

Many thanks for the previous posts’ comments: David, Asgeir, Paul, Tara and Rob.

The style and branding of this site is unique and that is important to me. However, it struck me that I could tweak the overall feel of the theme simply [...]]]> Since redesigning miLienzo.com, I have had lots of positive feedback and one or two people have emailed me asking if they could use my WordPress theme.

The style and branding of this site is unique and that is important to me. However, it struck me that I could tweak the overall feel of the theme simply by changing the colourset, which is exactly what I have done.

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you my first WordPress theme available to download, Fresco:

Features of Fresco include:

• Cross-browser compatibility
• Easy customization
• Print-friendly stylesheet
• Search engine optimized

So, without any further ado, why not head over to the Fresco theme page now?

This is still a work in progress, and you will see the last cut gets a bit [...]]]> A couple of months ago I introduced you to my conceptual iPod with a roll out screen. As an extension of this project I have created an advert for the concept which carries through the branding, Widen your horizon.

This is still a work in progress, and you will see the last cut gets a bit jerky where I have blended in the 3D model. I hope to smooth this out within the next couple of weeks when I deliver the project. Enjoy!

PS – I’d love to hear any feedback!

I’m pleased to report that I have finished adding the colour swooshes – a process that took me well over 20 [...]]]> At the end of February I gave a sneak preview to a work in progress on a spoof advert – a mash-up of the dance scene in Napoleon Dynamite with the iPod nano ‘colours’ advert.

I’m pleased to report that I have finished adding the colour swooshes – a process that took me well over 20 hours! For a how-to check out this video tutorial for creating the light streaks in Adobe After Effects.

I must confess some parts of the clip work better than others, but hopefully it’s worth a chuckle!