Freelance Design - Week EIGHT - 12.11.07

iStock image of the week - Ghosts and Demons

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As the iphone is finally launched in the UK I thought I would draw on some of the influences Apple have had on the design industry. Not only did it bring about the prefix of 'i' on the front of anything remotely technological (iTeddy, iRiver,I-DECT etc) it is also having an influence within graphic and web design. The sliding album covers of the iPhone's interface are a good example of this. I really love this effect combining 3d effects and reflections (see below). This has already started to diffuse into other online work, the example I have used is the Radio 1 website. Although this example has a very clunky feel to it, it captures the essence of the original functionality and the cool factor developed by Apple. Reflections have become a heavily used feature online and is a must for any new website site. I believe we will see a lot more Apple-esq inspired visuals as we have seen with their hardware in the future, cementing Apples bold development as having a significant influence on all things design. You have to admit that Vista is starting to look a bit appley.



This week (but technically last week since I'm late posting)

My apologies to those who expected a post on Friday but it got very busy towards the end of the week.

I began this week with a 3d visualisation commission for an animal care product, the client wanted to show a variety of concepts in spun aluminium. Although these were simple revolves in Solidworks getting the exact profile was quite testing. I finished up in 3D Studio max to apply the spun aluminium material, a slight reflection and lighting.

Midweek I went for a meeting with a high street retailer which was the highest profile company I have ever had the pleasure to be involved with. Naturally I was quite nervous but put it aside in time and really enjoyed going through my portfolio and discussing possible future projects.

I spent the second half of the week on and interactive website which allowed the user to flick through a brochure. Technically this is a difficult feature to work on, as images often get compromised but after a lot of trial and error a nice feature was achieved. I will post a link to the website when its live.

Thanks for reading.