Portfolio Update

I have updated my personal website, with a description, and changing backgrounds depending on the time of day.

I have gone for a cartoony, hand drawn theme which i will continue throughout the site when i add more pages.
Also, the div boxes on my site are meant to have curved corners, but the border-radius doesn't seem to work on IE, only firefox. So if someone can help me with this problem it would be appreciated.

Portfoliogo 2

I have slightly redesigned my portfolio logo with a new font and slightly different colours, as the old one could have been seen as slightly rustic which isn't really the image i was going for, and i believe the new, slightly darker colours i have used make it seem a bit more subtle and refined.

Colours in Design

http://www.amitchelldesign.com

. . .is mine, keep an eye out for when i actually put something on it.

Portfoliogo

I have finally come up with a design for a logo for my portfolio website that i am actually pretty happy with. . .

Seymour Chwast

Seymour Chwast is a designer, illustrator and art director. His innovative designs have resulted in being awarded the AIGA medal, as well as being inducted into the Art Directors Club hall of fame. He was the co-founder of Pushpin studios in 1954, along with Milton Glaser and Edward Sorel. The company quickly gained a reputation due to its amusing and cuturally relevant, eye-catching design and illustrations.

His designs and illustrations have been used for such things as, animated films, graphics, record covers and children's books, package designs, posters and magazines.
He has created his own unique style that show off creativity and innovative aspects of graphic art and design. It is his child friendly, comic book style branding and illustrations that really stand out to me, along with the use of bold and vivid colours, i think these really make an impact as well as having a light-hearted, slightly comical feel.

Interaction Design Review - Goodmans TV Remote

This is the closest image i could find to my personal TV remote.
- As with many TV remotes, the amount of buttons seems very over the top, with the only buttons i use being the numbers, standby and the volume, however i'm sure they all serve a purpose.
- The buttons are spaced a good distance apart, so not to get in the way, but also so the controller doesn't seem overly large.
- The smooth, plastic provides it to sit nicely in the hand, however the large battery pack on the back gets in the way slightly, taking away from the comfort.
- The black text used to show the function of the buttons is very clear, however there are a few bits of green text, which is very hard to read at first glance, luckily this is mainly for buttons that don't really have much use.
- Occasionally the buttons can be quite irresponsive, meaning you have to press them quite hard before the TV actually recognises them being pressed.
- Overall, not a very good remote. I would recommend standing up to use the buttons on the actual television set.

Interaction Design Review - Xbox 360 Controller

- Extremely comfortable to hold, which is one of the main purposes of the product. The hand prongs are molded in a way that fit perfectly into the hand, and the smooth plastic texture of the controller accompany this nicely.
- The buttons are all positioned in a way so that the hand doesn't need to be moved too far in order to press them, apart from the start and back buttons which are towards the centre as these don't need to be used as often.
- The vivid colours of the four main buttons make them easily distinguishable, however the plastic used for the buttons is quite hard and may cause some finger pain after a while.
- The fact that the controller is wireless provides the user with the freedom to sit where and how they want, even if they were to face backwards there would be no loss in signal.

Interaction Design Review - Nokia E5

I have chosen my own phone to review as i understand it well enough to be able to analyse it in detail.
- The phone is very slim meaning it can fit comfortably in your hand, with a silver metal backplate that provides the phone to be put in and out of your pocket easily (if that is where you keep your phone)
- The QWERTY keyboard means the buttons are very small, which you would assume to cause quite a problem when typing a text, but the phone's text prediction proves to be very helpful as it can work out what you're trying to type when you accidentally hit two keys.
- The phone also suffers from some slight slow down when typing on the keyboard, i'm not sure if this is down to the speed i type, but either way it can be quite irritating.
- The screen size can cause quite a problem when viewing large web pages that haven't been designed for the phone, however it is very bright and clear, and easy to scroll around the page.
- Overall, i believe it is a very good and reliable phone and does the jobs i need it to.