Inspiration in Milan

I visited Milan a couple of weeks ago and took the opportunity to do two things which I found to be most inspirational. As a designer, it is important to look far and wide for inspiration and to take an interest in how and why great works of art or architecture achieve such greatness.

Milan is home to one of Leonardo Da Vinci's great masterpieces 'The Last Super.' It was painted as a mural on the wall of a refectory in the fifteenth century. It is a special painting to visit because it is only one of two works of art that can be seen at this location.

Unlike other great works of art which invariably hang in a gallery, competing with many other artworks and jostling crowds; this one has your undivided attention.

I spent a wonderful fifteen minutes admiring the perfect composition, piecing together the story and understanding why this painting is so important in the development of our culture.

Moreover, I was sharing this experience with only 20 other people and a guide who spoke in Italian so the painting really was my only focus at that time. It is so rare in these days of global checklist tourism that one gets the chance to give such works such undivided attention.

My second inspirational experience was a climb up the winding stairs to the rooftop of the Duomo in Milan. The Duomo is a beautiful building which I have visited a couple of times before. However, until I watched the excellent Italy Unpacked on BBC2 a couple of weeks before my trip, I was unaware that you could go on the roof.

From there, you not only see wonderful vistas of Milan, but you can also appreciate the beauty of the statues at close quarters. They are indeed heavenly!

Favourite Albums of 2012

Each Christmas, I like to compile a list of my favourite albums of the last year and this year shall be no different.

So, in no particular order:

1) An Awesome Wave by Alt-J

2) Standing At The Sky's Edge by Richard Hawley

3) The Light The Dead See by Soulsavers

4) Four by Bloc Party

5) The Shallows by I Like Trains

6) Given To The Wild by The Maccabees

7) Put Your Back N 2 It by Perfume Genius

8) REWORK_ by Philip Glass

9) Django Django by Django Django

10) Wixiw by Liars

A very honourable mention should go to Public Service Broadcasting who have not yet released an album (it's due next year) but whose EPs deserve a prominent place on this list.

I would also like to add that Kill For Love by Chromatics, Ark by Halls, Trouble by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Tramp by Sharon Von Etten could well have made this list had I bought them earlier in the year. However, they were only bought recently as a result of numerous recommendations in the top albums of 2013 lists that appeared elsewhere.

An article on SEO

Most website owners at some stage will receive an email or phone call from an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) company promising that they can obtain top rankings with Google etc.

That may or may not be the case.... I normally urge caution when my clients ask whether they should employ such a company.

My recommendations are better articulated in this excellent article by Paul Boag.

In summary, you can achieve the website's long term potential by:

1) Building your website for your users and not for search engines.

2) Focusing on writing good content that will encourage people to visit your website.

3) The best person to write this content is you or someone within your business. You know your business better than any external agency.

Yes, it is important that your website is built with the search engines in mind - that the metatags, keywords and code all work to improve your rankings - but this will only work properly if the content is good in the first place.

You can read the full article here.

Duke of Kent

Yesterday, Wiltshire Music Centre welcomed the Duke of Kent. I was asked to take some photos to record the event as part of an ongoing commission from them.

Being a keen photographer has many advantages and being able to participate in such an event is one of them!

I am returning to the Centre again this evening to photograph both the pre-show reception and Nicola Benedetti's performance to celebrate their 15th Anniversary.

Here are some photos from yesterday:

Some statistics

Ofcom has recently published its 9th annual communications report which covers both traditional (including good old letters) and digital communications in the UK. It's a long report, but here are some key findings:

80% of the population has home internet access
76% have broadband
Each household has on average, three different types of device to access the internet

39% of adults have smartphones, of which 40% prefer to access the internet via their mobile device.
57% use their smartphones to shop online
22% use their smartphones to watch TV and film content online

Online shopping is now worth £2.6bn a year and has increased 30% year on year
Companies now spend more on advertising online than any other category (yes, more than TV and more than print)

What does this mean?

On a personal note, when looking at Google Analytics for my clients, there has been a big increase in the number of visits from smartphones (in many cases over 10% of hits), in particular the iPhone. So, it is time to be aware of the growth of accessing your website via a smartphone.

The key questions are:

1) Can people use your website easily on a smartphone?
2) Does the page load quickly enough (some people will access your website in areas where the phone network is weak).
3) Is your mobile website focused on the type of content a smartphone user will want to access quickly?

If you would like any advice on making your website mobile friendly, please do get in contact.

A new photo project

As you may know, I am a keen photographer. One of the ways to keep going out and taking photos is to have a project. My latest project is called Fragments etc.

As Sherlock Holmes once said to Dr Watson "you see, but you do not observe." Photography helps you observe your surroundings. To search for things that you wouldn't normally notice. 

This is a project about fragments. Fragments from cities. Fragments that are perhaps down side streets, or above the eye line. Fragments that have interesting shapes, colours and textures.

These photos are predominantly taken with Kodak Elite Chrome slide film. Kodak recently announced that they would stop production. This is a shame, as slide film produces the most beautiful colours and detail. It has something about it that no digital camera can quite reproduce. 

The other advantage of using film is that it costs you money every time you click the shutter and so I am more careful with my shots. I think about them more.

I have managed to buy quite a few rolls in advance of its imminent delisting from the Kodak range.

Here is a selection of some images.

Another nail in the coffin for Flash

The Guardian is reporting today that Adobe will no longer support Flash on the Android mobile operating system.

This is five years after Steve Jobs announced that Flash would not be compatible on the iPhone. This caused much consternation amongst users at the time.

I am pleased to say that I never bothered to learn Flash. It certainly made great effects for websites; but it was not accessible to Google and so harmed your search engine rankings; nor did it comply with web standards.

So, inevitably, Flash will be neglected and become yesterdays technology very soon. Its effects can now be replicated by better and more accessible methods. If your website has Flash, I suggest you look into replacing it now.

Here is a link to the Guardian article.