Last work day before Christmas tomorrow. Wishing you all seasons greetings and catch you in the new year!

Video of print portfolio

View my new video!

Fellas if you are looking for that perfect present for your lady go for the gift vouchers! A winner every time. http://ping.fm/KjM6k

So excited! Latest website design and build live for Sharon at www.maximisegroup.com Take a look.

My wondering about the run up to Christmas is over! It's going to be a busy one. All good.

Working at Design Agency today. Really good seeing old friendly faces. Good old TC Comms.

Great day of learning and motivation at Raising The Bar event yesterday! Good contacts made and new strategies to put in place!

How can i publish my news feed on my web page. People can subscribe to it but I want to actually publish it on my site?

Ah that feels better. www.innov8gd.com finally updated!

ChauffeurControl Exhibition

ChauffeurControl Ltd, exhibited at Drive 09 on the 26th and 27th of September this year. They wanted full impact to stand out among their competitors.

The logo that innov8 designed has that impact with red and white on a black background which set the theme for the stand and accompanying materials. With business cards in place we produced a mailer for potential clients to take away with them and a POP-UP exhibition stand with some more concise bullets to draw people in.

With a 52" plasma screen (which they are happy to hire out if anyone should have the requirement!) to demo the software on, they were all set to launch into the world of Chauffeur service management.

The POP-UP stands come as a kit and are very easy to assemble. The lecturn is actually the carry case on wheels and there are also spot lights in the set that clip to the top of the stand frame.

If you would like any information about the design or purchase of a POP-UP exhibition stand please don't hesitate to call us at innov8.

Also big thanks to Judith at M-four Promotions for turning 2gb USB sticks round so quickly! www.m-four.co.uk

Another successful POPUP produced, this one for MIS CDS. Big thanks to Ben at www.spectrum-graphics.co.uk

Exhibition all set up. Just going to nip back for photos when people are there!

So exciting! New logo on bus cards, mailers, embroidered on shirts, printed on popups and all coming together on Friday! Will put photos on blog.

Am working with new contact on supplying fully hosted content mangement websites for my clients! The possibilities are endless, how exciting!

Streamtime now set up and running. Need input time to maximise but should be back at full speed soon.

To Blog or Not To Blog

Creative Review is a design magazine that I have subscribed to for a while. They have a blog and currently are holding debate about whether or not to blog.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/september/question-of-the-week-080909

I would like to use my blog for news posts and visual case studies for work that I am currently doing. I think each individuals blog has to be used to communicate whatever that individual enjoys doing otherwise as I have found it gets put to the back of the queue and not updated frequently enough.

What is graphic design?Dictionary.com defines graphic design as “the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience.”

Setting up ping.fm to update all networking sites at once.

Had a really good week...

Such a good feeling when you get it right and your clients are happy with what you do for them. Been a creative week with logos, brochures and blogs, so roll on next week and lets see what else crops up.

A Design Agency or a Freelancer – The war continues…

Link to an existing debate I couldn't resist getting into:
http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/design-agency-or-freelancer-part-2/#comment-3742

"I think i’m just about caught up with this debate and if I were a more sensitive lass I’d be offended at some of the comments. lol.

I am a freelance designer of eight working years in both corporate and freelance environment and since freelancing I have three large design agencies on my books that use me as holiday cover resource or when they are stretched. My passion is design and I work to 100% of my ability whether that is for the agency or my own client base. To say that freelancers are not as professional as agencies is in-accurate.

When working in an agency I am briefed by a third party ‘the account handler’. This has its ups and downs. If you get a good one who has worked that client for a while, they know what they want. If not the brief is panicked and just a stab at what the client has asked for. In an agency environment time is so tight because there are so many things going on in the studio and in the account handling office. Its a rare treat to work in a team on one project. Plus quite often you are picking up someone else’s work and as much as we adapt as designers, even within one studio there are very different ways of working, and someone has always used a font without putting it on the server! - time spent sorting systems is time not designing. That said when you don’t have the time to read up on the latest design news it gets discussed and keeps you in the loop.

When I work directly with my clients I too build the relationship with them that allows me to learn and know what they are after. It also allows me to maximise design time and not ’system’ time. It also means that I can help the client understand why it is sometimes better to print or design one way rather than another. I give realistic deadlines and can stick to them because I manage the workflow and time for each client.

I agree it depends on the client’s needs, but in times such as these when budgets are tight, why spend so much money with an agency when you can get quality one on one results with a freelancer?"