In my online travels this week I have come across a site or two I wish to share with you. I was struggling with a site design and visited the usual CSS galleries we all know and love for some inspiration, but that was not where I found it. In my despair I started visiting random sites, in the hope of something setting off a spark and inspiring me. Then I came across two sites, each unique in there own way and I had my inspiration!

The first of these was Multiplayer Bingo

On first impressions its not a ’stunning’ site, but it was the colours that grabbed me. The bright pink’s and blue’s could be blinding, but the beige eases the eyes and in all they compliment each other well. Online Bingo is not my thing at all, but attention is drawn to the important areas of the site through the use of these colours and tempts you to give it a try and sign up. (although I didn’t, bingo is just not my thing!)

Another site which grabbed me was edubook.com

I love the colour scheme and layout on this site. Personally I think it looks awesome but then I have always been a fan of orange and black layouts! Every detail on this site has also been carefully planned. Articles are well layed out, you can easily get to a category you require such as SEO resources or the Internet marketing articles, and they are well presented.

Just from exploring random websites I was starting to notice that you can be experimental with colour schemes, go out on a whim and use bright colours but use them in an effective way. They have not been overused on either site, but they are dominant and do their job: draw your attention and inflame your curiosity of the site!

There are alot of great resources for finding colour scemes, wether it be css galleries, other sites or colour matchers etc. But why use those? Why not be experimental, splash some bright colours over a site but think about how effective they will be, and are they drawing attention to the correct areas?

Well, enough of me waffling on, i’m going to go experiment with colours!

Spill your thoughts below and if you find anything cool, share the love!

Jason

Well here it is. I have been trying to think what to write for a first post, I mean it’s all about first impressions isn’t it? If you read something for the first time and it grabs you, your more likely to come back and see whats going on next time right? If you go for a job interview and you look a mess and are not prepared, your less likely to get that job because of a bad first impression. It’s the same with web design.

But what do you do if you have a client with very specific needs, and your all out of ideas? What about all those times your struggling to come up with a design, and by the tenth attempt you still haven’t nailed it? I stop designing. Take a break. Take a walk. Then I come back to the computer and research. I get inspired.

There are hundreds of resources out there to inspire designers, but the problem is finding the right ones for any particular project. Im not saying if your stuck for a design idea to go and steal someone elses, but looking at well designed sites can inspire you to go the extra mile and create that fantastic design you have been chasing.

This is a daily routine for me, researching design and seeing what is out there, inspiring myself to go the extra mile with each new project. And every now and then you come across a gem of a site that gives you that inspiration you crave so much. Over the coming months I will be sharing my discoveries showing you the great sites, inspiring graphics and other great resources of inspiration. Who knows what may turn up!

Farewell until next time,

Jason

Well, what can I say miLienzo.com readers? It’s been a while…

The last time I posted here was five months ago. Seriously, I consider that too lengthy a period of time to call this an ‘active’ blog. So what now for miLienzo.com?

Well, I have good news and sad news. The sad news is that my business and personal commitments mean that continuing to run this site isn’t an option. Already there are a few spots of mildew gathering in the corners of this site, so to prevent further neglect I have decided to step down from the helm.

The good news is that a keen and willing successor is in place to kick a new lease of life into the site. Jason Stone is a Graphic Designer within a web design and software development company from Essex UK. Jason is an experienced blogger and owns the popular Flash tutorial blog the-dude.co.uk. This is what Jason has to say:

“I am a long-term reader of Aaron’s blogs and I am very excited to be taking over milienzo.com, and breathing some life back into a great website.

Over the coming months you can expect to see a revived site, with new posts added weekly providing inspiration for designers and some ramblings on my day-to-day discoveries on the web, plus a few surprises – but you will have to wait and see!”

Jason will be taking full ownership of the site from 1st December but he is an author with immediate effect, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of him very soon.

For me however, an era has come to an end. I learnt a lot with this site and got to know some great people too. If you haven’t already, do make sure you subscribe to the feed at my new site, or follow me on Twitter.

Thanks for the support that I’ve always been shown and thanks for the wealth of information and knowledge that you have all shared with me. Forgive me as I wipe back a tear or two. Goodbye miLienzo.com.

As my final instalment to my showcase month of old DJ mixes, I return to House music, but this time with a little twist.

In May 2005, pioneering DJ Sasha made music history by being the first ever DJ to play a live set on a purely digital medium. Recorded at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios with no turntables, not even any CDs, Sasha recorded his essential mix using a laptop, Ableton Live, and some MP3s.

At the time I was quite excited by these advancements in technology, so not to be outdone by Sasha I got hold of a copy of Ableton and started doing my own digital mixes.

The following quick mix presents a blend of House music and takes you on a journey from a funky groove to a more tougher sound in just about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Friday is here and the weekend has landed… so why not listen to some House music?

I’ve revealed here before that I’m a retired DJ. I hung up my headphones in the professional sense just over two years ago, and since moving house early last year I have not even touched the wheels of steel for fun.

Paul Enderson recently asked to hear some of my old mixes so I spent a few hours this week just listening to some of my old music and it has really got me in the mood. I’ve decided to make a mini-series of this and post a different mix every Friday throughout July.

My tastes in music are quite diverse and eclectic, but what I loved playing out more than anything else is House music. House music really is a DJ’s music.

This first mix is a CD I recorded back in December 2004 for a Worldwide DJcompetition (by worldwide, they meant Swindon, Bristol and the South West). The mix got me into the final of the competition, but alas I didn’t win it.

I would describe this mix as deep’n’jazzy, sexy’n’funky, ass-jackin’ House! Which is a genre of music I invented  . If you think you don’t like House, please listen to this mix because I defy you not to be wiggling your ass around in your chair after five minutes.

The mix is about 60 minutes long. Enjoy!

Download the MP3 of this mix.

Lookout next week for something completely different.

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.

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.