We come across a great new way to send large files over the internet without the arduous task of massive emails and FTP directories.

We Transfer is as good as it get. Not only that it looks great, (checkout the timeline animation) but, quite literally, it simply works brilliantly.

Needless to say with file size getting bigger and broadband getting faster it’s been a pretty useless tool. A definite contender for our 2010 Web Awards*!

wetransfer.info

*Not that we have any awards but if we did it would be contender.

The 960 grid as perhaps regarded as the web design grid. Workable, simple and flexible this Photoshop layout really helps when putting those first pixels to screen and the template saves a few minutes ’set-up’ time too.

So here, as a gift in this time of Yule, please feel free to download.

960-grid.psd.zip (16kb)

Having seen a sneak preview of some of this collection of work, we must say it some his finest to date. If you are passionate about abstract art, or you are looking for that original piece to fit that empty wall in your home or office, please go along and check it out.

The exhibition is at The Courtyard Gallery in Aylesbury town centre and the private view is on Friday 12th June – 7.30pm to 9.30pm. If you would like an invitation please email simon@simonchambers.net

The exhibition is open to the public from June 13th – 28th, Mon – Sun, 11.00am to 6.00pm.

Visit www.simonchambers.net for more info.

3 years ago I was asked to put forward suggestions for a quick, personal, update app that allowed a company to put a ‘friendly’ face on their website and grow their social network. I put forward Twitter. At this time they barely had a 50,000 users and was very much in it’s infancy. However, the company in question felt it wasn’t ‘corporate’ enough and shelved the idea.

Moving forward 3 years and Twitter, with it’s few million users, has recently become an integral part of the companys website. This isn’t just a one off. Many companies are now using Twitter to reach a wider audience, to promote their products and increase their traffic. It seems Twittering is fast becoming the new blogging, so much so that the mighty FaceBook has restructured it’s homepage to rival it.

Twitter takes less time to write and perhaps more importantly it take less time to read and with the use of such tools, (FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace et al), the possibilities have now been totally realised by many companies, especially in the doom and gloom climate we all seem to be living in today. There seems to be a certain sense of urgency, to be a “part of it”.

But what about good old fashioned blogging? A well written blog will always attract more attention than a tweet. It becomes indexed by the search engines and it’s not confined to a user, it is far more global. The possibilities of using a blog (or blogging platform) when considering a website should never be under-estimated. We have had some great success from constructing sites based around blogging platforms and are continued to be amazed at the development that goes into them. Wordpress in particular is always highly recommended at the Provide Design camp. But now we have many more options/toys to play with.

With the amount of web apps available to web developers a company can reach their target web audience in more ways than ever before. We as web designers, can utilise this time of social networking to create that killer site that really works the way it needs to work as well as look darn pretty.

And that really does make us want to blog more!

Here at Provide Design we don’t like to think of ourselves as Party Poopers. We like to think of ourselves as Christmas Crackers – explosively good and containing lots of nice surprises (and the odd really bad joke). Today we just wanted to write about something which becomes very apparent this time of year.

We’re not being Party Poopers and there isn’t a humbug in sight, but as Christmas gets closer it seems a lot of us use it as a reason to panic and forget about what lies ahead until it is all over and we are comfortably in the New Year.

From a business perspective we have seen many Christmases where everything is rushed into the last few days. Suppliers drop the ball, clients ring expecting the impossible and there isn’t even time to think about the Christmas shopping! This is when detail is missed and our need to get the year over and done with can cloud our foresight and we forget about planning for the coming months.

This year we did it differently. We planned all our marketing activity, we booked our jobs in advance so there would be no need for Christmas Eve deliveries and we made sure that when January comes round it will be a solid continuation on from 2008. No drastic resolutions – just keep stuck to the business plan.

We also employed the assistance of marketing experts to guide us on what our next move should be. Designers and creatives we are, but as marketeers we have a lot to learn – always bring in the professionals to move this part of your business forward.

So this year we will be relaxed and comfy over Christmas knowing what is coming next. Nice feeling – works great with mulled wine.

So Merry Christmas everyone – have a great time. Unwind and if you’ve not done it already, at least mentally prepare for an awesome 2009 – it will be one!

Well, here are our favourite design related websites for 2008. We have selected these sites as they have not only inspired us, but have become the weekly read with a cup of coffee as well as useful tools and resources we call upon now and then.

Graphic Exchange

www.graphic-exchange.com

Web Designers Wall

www.webdesignerwall.com

I Love Typography

www.ilovetypography.com

Think Design Blog

www.thinkdesignblog.com

CSSRemix

www.cssremix.com

Coroflot

www.coroflot.com

Core77

www.Core77.com

ffffound

www.ffffound.com

Colour Lovers

www.colourlovers.com

The Favourite Website Awards

www.thefwa.com

FunkBunk Part 2 is ready! FunkBunk’s neighbouring office space has just been finished and is ready for carpet, cables and some new tenants. The commercial office space is available to rent from FunkBunk as desk spaces just like the original FunkBunk or if the right tenant comes along then they can snap up the entire space for an incredibly good rate.

Good parking, great location and high speed broadband are just some of the plus points.

Contact FunkBunk for more information. or call us on 0845 003 9559

It’s that time of year again. When the prospect of a legion of children, all super-charged on sugar and E-numbers and hell-bent on making you feel guilty when you profess that the last lot of ghosts, goblins and witches took all the fizzy cola bottles, begins to make you feel a little un-easy.

The same could be said for choosing the right company for your website re-design or your next market strategy. At some point you are going to have to open the door and face what’s on the outside. Choosing the right company can be a scary process but it needn’t be. Talking to designers and creatives who are both passionate and understand modern demands of good creative strategies will help you realise the main objectives of your project.

A good designer will not only tell you where you are going right but also where you a going wrong. They will justify their reasons for their proposals and not only present you with great looking visual work but tell you how that will achieve the results that you require. Don’t be afraid to ask too many questions, the more information you have the less frightening it all seems. We’re not a ghoulish bunch after all.

Ultimately it has to be said that communicating regularly with your designer ensures you are always kept up to date with progress so you’re less likely to be tricked and more likely to receive a treat at the end of it all. We may even have some fizzy cola bottles left over.

A short in car video from the inside the Forge Racing TVR as they secured 2nd place at Brands Hatch in June 2008