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620 posts

We're hiring: Mid-weight designer

Author: Isaac Pinnock

We’re looking for a mid-weight designer, a creative geek type obsessed with the coming web and fiendish about making new things. This could be your second job or you could have a bit more experience behind you – either way, your attitude is more important than your work history.

We want someone brave, bold, talented and ready to roll with the punches. We’re *not* interested in people who want to design banner ads and out-of-the-box microsites. If you want to punch the clock and fade into the background, this job isn’t for you.

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Design to inspire confidence

Author: Isaac Pinnock

Part 1 in an occasional series about how digital products and services can learn from real world experiences.

What happens when a new service replaces one that you’re familiar with? A service that you’ve used for as long as you can remember, infrequently but at times of high emotion and potential stress?
 
The new service is intended to be better – speeding up a process by being available anywhere from the palm of your hand. It has the potential to make a moment in life easier, but is the transition from old to new easy or a moment of strife?
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The Guardian reinvents the match report as picture story

Author: William Owen

This is a small thing, but something I really like: a story well-told with lots of pictures and a few words, but a story of the kind that's usually told with one picture and about a thousand words - a match report. 

It's the Guardian's piece on Wednesday night's Classico at Camp Nou, where Real Madrid crashed out of the Copa Del Rey to Barcelona, made entirely in pictures and captions but - obviously - on the web and not in the newspaper.  

Harking back to a format developed at Life, Paris Match and Picture Post, it starts with a portrait of Mourinho's twisted face and a teaser: after a first round home defeat and leaked stories of a split in the squad "only a victory tonight would he salvage his reputation" Over 13 further pictures the drama unfolds:

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Can Good for Nothing help solve the 80/20 split?

Author: Cath Richardson

Two weekends ago, Andrew and I went along to the third Good for Nothing hack weekend, appropriately titled Occupy Blue Monday. It was as inspirational and invigorating as ever. I've written before about what it's like to do a Good for Nothing. I love the way they take new, collaborative ways of working and hack culture to support the true innovators in social enterprise. As a participant, it's amazing to be able to use your skills to provide real value - a new kind of volunteering with tangible results.

Really, if you're thinking of going, the weekend is best summed up as there are no clients, no  creative constraints and no time for bullshit. What's not to love?
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Introducing Will

Author: Cath Richardson

This week, we welcomed Will Roissetter to the Many. Being such a fresh addition, he's yet to be given an avatar. So while we wait to put a face to a name on the blog, we thought we'd ask him to introduce himself to you in his own words. 

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When will mobile advertisers stop harpooning themselves in the foot?

Author: Isaac Pinnock

Have you ever read Fuck My Life? If you haven’t, you really should stop by at least once a month. It’s a continuous stream of everyday stories in which people share the shitty moments that ruined their day. The stories are often hilarious or eye-watering, sometimes both at the same time. A heavy sense of irony is essential.

It was in this mindset that I opened the site on my mobile phone this morning and saw this ad banner at the top of the page:

Screenshot of FML

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The tyranny of the grid

Author: Isaac Pinnock

This is the grid I use to help me draw sketch wireframes. It may be tatty and covered in splotches, but it helps me draw straight lines quickly.

Sketch wireframe grid

The grid also helps me sketch pages around advertising. For the last five years the two constants of virtually every project I’ve worked on have been the width of the page and the size of ad banners. Got to fit an MPU above the fold. Can’t go above 980 pixels wide. Better make that column the same width as a skyscraper, just in case…

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An interview with Murray

Author: Leila Johnston

We're lucky enough to share this space with a really interesting and smart group of people, and Duncan and I thought it would be fun to tell some of their stories. We've kicked off with a chat with  Murray Steele, a Rails developer from Unboxed who works for us so much he is now completely 'one of the family'... He's also one of the brains behind the regular Ruby meet-up LRUG and the annual Ruby Manor conference. Find out more over the turn!

 

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