LUNTDESIGN BLOG

Squarespace makes an example out of me

2010-07-18T10:26:21Z

Hoorah! I must be doing something right. Squarespace the CMS platform I use to build my sites has deemed my site example worthy. And all this in about 12 months!

A little story for you that will hopefully inspire.....

Early 2009 I was made redundant from Head Design position at a big agency in London. No sweat I thought - got 20 years experience, shit hot portfolio, all good. Well how wrong could I be, there were no jobs and then when one did appear it was less money than before and half of London was applying for it!

So what to do? Well everyone kept asking me if I could do websites so I started trying to build my own portfolio. First came iWeb - pretty rubbish but cos of my design skills it looked ok.

Then about 12 months ago a friend mentioned Squarespace. And holy shit - it's great. After 3 months I had a pretty decent site and still hadn't touched any code. Then on the strength of this I was asked to do some photography portfolios and started getting into the custom CSS and bit of HTML (Thanks Sib! - from the forum).

So fast forward a bit and have done numerous sites (not all shown on my website page as want to concentrate on portfolio sites), and am constantly busy. I also now do lot's more print work and can never see me going back to work for someone else ever again! Or kissing the devil's ass as I like to call it!

So in 12 months life is great - I can see myself living in that villa in Majorca and do work for clients all over the globe.

PS - I do have an advantage being a designer but Squarespace let's anyone have a go. It's easy to use and the support is fantastic.

Little word in your ear tho - if you need a designer get a proper one, too many web developers think they can design, and they can't! Takes years of practice, learning and above all else you need the talent in the first place.

squarespace.com

HMV is Waterstones

2010-05-26T14:42:40Z

I have worked on both Waterstones and HMV accounts. I did the previous Waterstones Card and have done cards and posters for HMV.

Here are some brief thoughts on the new Waterstones logo.

1. Old logo - looks good and most importantly if you didn't know what it was it says 'reading' with use of the serif.

2. New logo - Is this HMV all over again (they are part of the same company I think). I think it looks ok, nice and clean, like the font but the serif on the old logo really pushes the notion it's about books to me. Which is lost in this cleaner, more modern one.

3. HMV Logo - does this look similar?

4. HMW - morphed. Upside down 'm' - sorry but what is going on?

Conclusion - I have no idea what they are trying to do - be one company? Seems like it. They should have kept the old one as feels much more about 'reading'.

I also noticed that many of the guidelines that HMV use are similar to what Waterstones are doing - based on what I have seen so far. I wonder if they should just become 'one' and redo all their shops.

Maybe that's the idea after all?

Ultimately I think it all looks good, use of photography and typography - but it has left me confused and as much as I think the HMV brand works, I am not so sure it works for Waterstones - by pushing it to the 21st Century it has lost something. It's character or put bluntly - the serif.

I am sure all will become clear. HMWaterstones anyone?

CIGARETTE INSPIRED TITLE SEQUENCE

2010-04-28T12:04:08Z

This caught my eye today. Brilliant typography and a bit different than the usual title sequences you see these days. Makes me want a fag - oh I've given up tho!

LOGORAMA

2010-03-29T13:45:50Z

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

I stumbled upon this today. Well a friend sent me it. Animated movie involving many well known brands done in a Pulp Fiction, Blockbuster, Action Movie style. Not for kids! It's superb, very very well done.

HOLLY LLOYD ILLUSTRATION

2010-03-19T21:23:54Z

I've known Holly for a while now but have never plugged her work. Feel so guilty. Sorry Holly! It's brilliant. Fantastically simple but dynamic and vibrant illustrations. I strongly suggest you go and have a look at her website www.hollylloyd.net

I WANT AN iPAD BUT!

2010-01-29T11:51:34Z

Well firstly I want one. I have been thinking about a laptop for when I have meetings with clients, but I would probably not use it much to do anything else. I have my proper Mac for that. So to show my portfolio, talk clients through things, read books, watch movies etc. Great. It does everything I need. But 2 things stick out for me where it fails at present.

Firstly there is no multi-tasking. Rather annoying. But I presume this will be sorted for the next OS release.

And secondly, still no Flash Player! This is a nightmare for obvious reasons. I have had a look about the web too and see no indiction that it will be supported further down the line.

So based on this I am now considering a macbook. Purely for Flash.
So come on Apple, another great product but please, please sort the Flash out! And then I will buy one.

THE COMPANY BEHIND AVATAR'S FX

2010-01-06T10:07:33Z

Weta Digital is the company behind ground breaking special effects for movies such as Avatar, King Kong and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Seems they have taken over from Industrial Light and Magic who were responsible for Star Wars. Weta are based in New Zealand. Have a look at their website wetafx.co.nz

WHY A LOGO DOESN'T COST £50

2010-01-04T17:10:45Z

So why doesn't a logo cost the same as a night out? First and foremost a logo is the first impression you give any potential client.

It's your image.

The logo should inspire trust and admiration for your company. It's my job as a designer to produce you a logo that conveys this to your clients. If not I am not doing my job properly.

If it's poorly thought about and knocked together in a day it will not do you or your company any favours. A great logo has been thought about and developed. The best ones work because they are simple. These are the ones that take ages to perfect, but they last a lifetime.

Think Nike. Others such as BBC and Adidas. These are great, they have longevity.

I really wanted to put examples up of bad ones, but felt it was wrong.

I follow this basic process to do a logo:

1. A design brief
2. Brainstorming
3. Sketching and looking at typefaces
4. Rendering
5. Send to client
6. Revise and finish

This should take a bare minimum of 2 days, and that's very short.

I can do a logo in a couple of days given all the information I need. But It can also take months.

It should take as long as it takes!

INTERNET EXPLORER IS A PILE OF...

2009-11-13T14:08:19Z

If you use Internet Explorer, don't. Use Safari or Firefox. Honestly, you won't be having a good time. It would probably be like swimming the Atlantic in glue. If you are looking at this site in IE then you will not see any of the nice rounded corners I have lovingly created to make this page look appealing to the eye. So do me favour, please delete it from your computer and download something that works. Firefox will do fine, but Safari is better. Go on what are you waiting for? If you don't do it then everyone who attempts to create a great site for your enjoyment will be wasted on you. And you will lose out.

SUE LUNT CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY

2009-11-11T18:39:16Z

Sue Lunt has a degree as Master of Design, and was for many years a curator of decorative art at National Museums Liverpool. Her wide knowledge of twentieth century architecture and design is the basis which inspires the jewellery she creates. She admires the boldness in the use of colour and form which she sees in the best of twentieth century design, whether it is the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright or the work of the Art Deco designers in France. Her jewellery shows the same unashamed delight in bold shapes and singing colour harmonies, and reflects her own enthusiasm for life’s pleasures.

Sue lives in the northwest and her work can be seen in the Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool; the Ropewalk Gallery, Barton upon Humber and Gallery SCA, Shrewsbury.

The jewellery is made from materials that include coral, glass, moonstone glass, crystal, millefiori, cinnabar laquer and silver fittings.

If you can't plug your mother then who can you plug? She also has had an article written about her in the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post on Thursday 12th November 2009. Read it here

Have a look at www.suelunt.co.uk

A full website be coming soon. Thanks to Tommo for doing such a great job on the photographs.