Last week I visited “Decode – Digital design sensations”, at the

Last week I visited “Decode – Digital design sensations”, at the V&A in London. Decode showcases the latest developments in digital interactive design, and focused on three themes. Coding, which explored how computer code can be used to create great pieces of conceptual design; interactivity, that looked at work that responded to physical presence, and Network charts or reworks that visualizes stats from its surroundings.

The exhibits were all very conceptual in their approach and they all tried to interact with their surroundings or people in different ways, and this is why I think it was such a great show and why everyone there was enjoying it. Families were creating 3 second video spots for the video grid by Ross Philips, Children were throwing their arms and legs about in front of a canvas to create their own art on Mehmet Aktens Body paint. There were even some of the more senior visitors looking slightly nervous about the amount of data traces that can be pulled from the real world.

There were a couple of pieces of work that really stood out for me. Daniel Rozin’s Weave Mirror. Since seeing this I’ve had a quick look at other work by Rozin and there’s a couple of other great pieces, the mirror’s mirror and the snow mirror are worth a look if you haven’t already seen them, both are his website.

Another piece of work that I was really impressed with was Simon Heijdens “Tree” just because of how simple but great the idea was, plus it had the benefit of looking brilliant. The digital tree reacted to the weather conditions outside, so would blow in the wind. The tree would also shed its leaves which were projected onto the floor and then the users could kick through.

The show was great, I enjoyed reading about all the different projects at the exhibition and seeing how digital design is slowly but strongly expanding from screens and into the physical world. It was also refreshing to see that this wasn’t another geeky digital exhibition, its audience was wide spread the world was being enjoyed by everyone. If you get chance I would recommend you get yourself there, but be quick it’s only on till the 11th of April.

Here are the rest of the photos from my trip to Decode, on our Flickr account.

First we replaced desktop computers with laptops, allowing people to take their computers with them.]]>

First we replaced desktop computers with laptops, allowing people to take their computers with them. Now laptops could be in line for a similar extinction in the mobile office. Smart phones such as the Apple iPhone and Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry are removing the need to take a laptop with you to work.

Over the past couple of years phones have become much more powerful, and are no longer just a device to make and receive calls. Smart phones are simply a development of the mobile phone that we all once had, which allowed us to send and receive text messages and phone calls, usually in between a game of snake.
The development of the mobile phone has always been fast, but when Apple introduced its first IPhone it was immediately thrust into the limelight, and established smart phones in the consumer market. Now customers are expecting more from their phones. They want phones that allow them to browse the internet, send and receive emails and even keep up to date on Facebook and other social networking sites.

So why are people preferring the phone to laptops? Generally it seems to be because of ease of use and convenience. This is combined with the fact that you can check your emails anywhere and the speed of mobile network technology like 3G is always improving. Continuing improvements to smart phones such as increased screen sizes and software that allows you to move more of your daily tasks to your phone means that the phone is becoming the device that you take with you for you daily tasks, and the laptop becoming what you use for lengthy processing.

As with everything though there are also downsides. Small screen sizes, restrictive input devices and low processing power will never rival laptops. Smart phones can make the smallest tasks tedious. In my opinion phones have a long way to go before they replace laptops, but it is definitely making people change the way they work.

Will my site still look the same? As people are using them to browse the internet it also mean certain changes have to be made if you want your website to perform as well on a mobile browser. Small screen sizes mean that you have to make sure you communicate your message in a much smaller frame.
There are also a lot more tools you can use on your site that smart phones offer, such as GPRS tracking and tagging and dedicated apps driving marketing campaigns.

In conclusion. As an Apple iPhone user myself, I definitely agree that phones have replaced the laptop to perform certain tasks. I now keep track of my emails, social networks and to some extent browse the web using my phone. There is still definitely a place however for a laptop when performing processing and administration tasks, as phones are a long way off accomplishing total take over of the device for the mobile office.

Flash is a tool used to create stunning interactive experiences.]]>

Flash is a tool used to create stunning interactive experiences. It is also becoming more acceptable (especially in the design industry) to build an entire site in flash, allowing for the use of lovely touches of animation and interaction.

Even though Flash offers so much, there are certain problems to its use.

Flash has become more than just a format to display videos on the web. If used correctly you can build great functionality into elements, as it is an incredibly interactive medium. You are able to create interaction that is flexible and tailored to the user.

It does not seem to restrict creative ideas, whereas HTML websites can struggle. If anything it can expand an idea and act as a source of inspiration for the designer.

Although it has obvious advantages, it does have some problems. It is not an ideal medium for usability and accessibility, especially as it requires the download of a plugin. Also it is only recently that search engines have been able to index Flash elements. This makes it hard to optimise your Flash elements so that search engines can investigate the content they hold.

There is a lot that must be considered before you begin a Flash project, regardless of its scale. To make it a success, the designer must firstly fully understand the audience, and the level of interaction that they will be comfortable with. Also there must be a balance between graphics, video, animation and sound. Another thing which we consider important at Jupiter Digital, is waiting times. You do not want to have a user watching a loading bar for a couple of minutes before they are able to access the content.

There are some great things that can be achieved with Flash. It can really turn a project into a great success, which people will notice and return to again and again.

Twitter is a social networking and

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service, which lets you update your status using tweets (short messages saying what you are doing), and find out what friends, colleagues and even celebrities are doing. It has been called the logical evolution of blogging.

Once on Twitter you can update your feed, and receive updates of those you are following in a number of different ways. The most obvious of these is to login to your Twitter account online, but you can also update your feed quickly using your mobile phone, and receive Tweets by SMS text message, RSS TwitterMobile, Tweetie, Twinkle, Twitterrific, Facebook, and Twidget, a widget application. I think that this is one of the main reasons behind Twitter’s success, especially as users are able to interact using mobile phones.

Twitter was launched in 2006, created by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. And in recent months, it’s been  talked about more and more due to celebrity attention  from people like Steven Fry, Barack Obama, Jonathan Ross and Richard Branson to name just a few. Twitter has also been the place to find out breaking news, like a plane crash in Denver which was first announced on the social blogging site.

Some people have criticised the use of Twitter, saying they can’t understand why people would use it in a world already suffering from information overload. It is true, there’s no real reason to use Twitter, but this is the same for a lot of social networking sites. They are there for us to communicate without the boundaries of time and distance. They’re useful and addictive, and Twitter especially is a great tool for those on the go, who are able to keep their social network up to date with what they are doing from anywhere in the world.

So how can Twitter be used? It can be used as I have said just to keep in touch with people you know, and even those you don’t. Yet the best use of Twitter I’ve seen is when a Twitter is incorporated into a site, acting as a live feed of information. This also gives the viewers more reasons to return visit the site.

The Twitter concept is being further developed. TwitPic allows users to post images to their micro-blog and tag them to a geographical location. Other great applications I’ve found are Remember the Milk (A reminder application, which you can update and view from anywhere, great for iPhone users) and there are plenty more little Twitter apps being developed all the time.

As it is at the minute, Twitter is never going to compete with other social network giants like Facebook and Myspace, but I believe it is a great idea. It seems to me a similar concept to SMS text messaging – it’s obviously on a different platform, but look how much we use that. It may end up being just a trendy way to communicate. But depending on how it’s developed, it could be something that is used daily to keep in touch with your social community. So why not create a Twitter account and get Tweeting.

There is an ever growing presence of

There is an ever growing presence of motion graphics. especially following the continued growth in the popularity of television and the internet. It is seen by many as an obvious and logical progression from static graphics which has become less important as technology has changed today’s culture. But what is it and how can it be used…

Motion graphics is hard to define, but simply it is giving static graphics movement. This should not be confused with installations such as a rotating sign. Motion graphics is usually displayed on-screen and can be a mixture of photographic film, typography, illustration, animation, photography and music among numerous other graphic elements that can be included. The difference between motion graphics and most other on-screen video is there has to be a narrative, which is delivered throughout.

Motion graphics is most commonly used in television advertising, in-store marketing, online videos, staff engagement, music videos, and film titles to name a few.

With the ability to give static graphics movement, motion graphics can be a really important tool in bringing a brand to life. It can transform how your brand is viewed and give it character. This means that it is vital that the creative execution is correct, and that everything from the tempo of the piece to the delivery method is considered in order to create a successful piece of digital communication.

At Jupiter Digital we are being asked to do more and more motion graphics work. There is a growing understanding of Its effectiveness as a means of communicating a message. Recently we have completed a staff engagement video for Wilkinson, that introduced the new brand and explained all the changes that the staff would be experiencing. We have also done work for ITT Water & Wastewater and Fusion Learning.

Used in the right way motion graphics can become a great vehicle for your message, it cannot only bring it to life, but it is sure to get attention.