Following on from last nights big iPhone 4S reveal, I thought I would share my initial thoughts…

I have always purchased the newest iPhone on day one of release, right from the first generation iPhone through to the iPhone 4. The iPhone has changed the way I live my life, no doubt about it. As a registered Apple Developer I have been lucky enough to get my hands on the latest iOS builds, and as an early adopter I have always been keen to test any new features and aside from a few bugs which are expected with beta software, each iOS upgrade has improved the iPhone immeasurably.

Before last nights event the usual tech blogs were speculating as to what device we would see, a 4S or a 5. Apple are masters of secrecy and although rumours were rife, nobody knew what to expect until Tim Cook revealed the 4S, new hardware, but in the same case. Calling the device a 4S makes sense to me. Not changing the casing also makes sense to me. Tooling costs alone would be huge to change the iPhone casing, resulting in a higher production cost. Apple have instead made the current iPhone 4 more affordable and can now even offer the 3GS for free, obviously with a carrier contract. This makes an iPhone affordable for everybody – great news for developers like myself who want the biggest possible audience for the apps that we are producing.

As soon as the 4S was announced, my Twitter stream sprang to life with people complaining that we didn’t get an iPhone 5. This seems odd to me… The 4S has a new processor, new camera, new antenna(s), Siri, new apps… the list goes on. A lot of people are also now familiar with the features of iOS5 – this will obviously be coming with the 4S. As a developer I have had my hands on iOS5 for a couple of months and although the NDA prevents me from publishing technical details, iOS5 is a HUGE upgrade. The difference between an iPhone 4 on launch day and the iPhone 4S on launch day is massive, therefore, I see the iPhone 4S as an important upgrade.

The only thing the iPhone 4S doesn’t have is the iPhone 5 badge on the back.

For those of you who still wish we had seen an iPhone 5 – I have made a simple do-it-yourself conversion kit.

• iPhone 5 sticker  (download)
• iPhone 5 Wallpaper (download)
• iPhone 5 ‘Siri’ ringtone (download)

We are pleased to have been selected for the current phase of the Service Design For Designers (SD4D) programme that is being run by Design Wales.

The SD4D programme brings together six leading Welsh design agencies for training in service design principles, methods and activities. The programme is aimed at innovative, creative and forward thinking businesses, so we were naturally interested in being involved.

The purpose of the programme is to provide support to the selected companies as they embed these new approaches within their business. The programme is a mix of interactive workshops and one-to-one business support.

We recently took part in the the first ‘Action day’ which was held at Cardiff School of Management. This was an introduction to the key principles of Service Design and was also a great opportunity to meet with like minded people. We were also able to practice some of the techniques used in Service Design, one of these being ‘serious play’.

By using serious play we are able to design services around individual personas, or users. It is a fun, but very focused way of really understanding how a product or service can be used.

Our understanding of Service Design

We see Service Design as being a valuable tool to complement our capabilities in the more traditional field of branding. In today’s competitive world of business, what separates an industry’s players is often the service that comes with the product offering – the customer experience. Quality of service determines whether a customer will be loyal, or leave.

Services, much like products and systems can be designed. Service Design is a process that can help you do this in a strategic, practical and efficient way.

Service design asks some fundamental questions: what should the customer experience be like? What should the employee experience be like? How does a company remain true to its brand, to its core business assets and stay relevant to customers?

Service design is a process and set of methods, tools and approaches that can help answer all of these questions and help design a better service for your business and your clients.

About the Programme

The Service Design Programme has been established to help Welsh design and advanced manufacturing companies use service design to increase competitiveness, innovation and capacity, as well as generating new employment opportunities in Wales.

The programme is operating from July 2010 to August 2013, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government Department for Economy and Transport. Over the three years Design Wales will deliver a number of service design activities to both sectors.

Design Wales have been funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to provide support and training to businesses that want to innovate their existing services or develop completely new services. Paul Thurston, who leads the programme says, ‘It’s come about due to combination of two factors, firstly the growth in the practice of service design across Europe and secondly, the need for companies to think beyond the products they produce and start thinking about the service they provide’.

We are now looking forward to the next stages of the Programme and will share these with you in due course.

I have now been here at Huw David Design (HDD) for nearly a month, so I thought I would write about my experiences.

I arrived on my first day to a very warm welcome from not only the team but also the extended HDD family, which includes a menagerie of animals. I have been employed as an Account Manager to our existing clients as well as looking at growing the business.

So why did I choose to work for Huw David Design?

It was a gut instinct I got when I first came for my interview. I pulled into the courtyard of Malthouse Court, which is located on a working farm in the heart of old Llantrisant. I instantly had a good feeling about the place and after an interview with Huw, which felt more like a friendly chat; I left feeling good about the potential position.

Obviously because I am writing this I was offered the job and I can safely say I made the right choice!

I have tried to list the reasons for my choice:

1. In the last month, I have arrived to a pair of very inquisitive sheep, a cockerel and his harem of hens and have been entertained by our 2 senior designers Graham and Andy undertaking the Movember challenge.
2. The location and working environment is second to none. When you look out of your window at work do you get a panoramic view of the countryside?
3. The team, which includes Jake the sheepdog, are always glad to see me, even if it is only to scrounge a biscuit… (Jake that is and not the team lol.)
4. The design work is well thought out and exciting! It isn’t just about getting work out the door as quickly as possible, but about well thought out campaigns.
5. The work ethic here is about working hard and getting the job done, but still enjoying yourself. Follow us on Twitter and check out the blog and you will see that we do have a lot of fun.
6. The final point is that Huw David Design is a forward thinking company that values the opinions of each member of the team and embraces new changes, which will benefit the company and it’s clients.

I know you may be thinking of course I am going to say these things because I work for Huw David Design, but I have worked in the design industry for the last 7 years for agencies in Cardiff and it is a complete breath of fresh air!

So keep an eye out and when you see us recruiting, apply! You wont regret it.

Last weekend, rugby fans heading to France to see the England/France Six Nations match were greeted by graphic Nike adverts that were posted across Paris.

The concept for the adverts was the word ‘Hello’ stitched over a fresh wound. The advert featured heavily in Paris’s Gare du Nord train station, one of the main entrance points for English fans arriving in the French capital.

The tagline for the campaign was ‘France welcomes her English friends’ and the images were created by Wieden and Kennedy (Amsterdam). They said that the “raw and graphic photography and art direction illustrates the souvenirs the French players will leave their English opponents with after the match”.

With the adverts placed around the stadium and in local press, it seems the English fans were unlikely to miss them and the image certainly commands your attention, as the example above shows.

Tonight is the night the whole world has been waiting for. Well, maybe a few people. The killer of Archie Mitchell will be revealed in a special live episode of Eastenders to mark its 25th anniversary.

Apparently only 6 people will know who the killer is before the episode starts transmitting and the actor whose character is guilty will be told as cameras start to roll. Therefore we have no way of finding out before this evening, so below are our final educated guesses. Or just our final guesses.

Graham: My last conclusion is quiet but deadly, Ryan Malloy. Motive wise it would be jealously over the relationship Archie had with Janine, plus he may’ve been present the night she was thrown out of the Queen Vic wearing next to nothing. Also facts to consider are that he has access to both Janine’s flat and the pub enabling him to plant the Roxy’s Grandmother’s ring in the teapot, switch the keys and previously he showed his criminal side by mugging Chelsea Fox. Finally the most damning fact is that he currently doesn’t really have much of a story line so a spell at Her Majesty’s pleasure would be quite advantageous to the writers. Convinced? You should be.

Andy: Janine Butcher

I don’t watch Eastenders, but if I did I’d probably think it was her. Look at that face – pure evil.

Huw: Peggy Mitchell – My final prediction remains Peggy Mitchell. The reasons for my choice are as follows:

• Peggy does have a mean temper
• Peggy had the most to gain from having Archie bumped off – the pub, his money etc.
• After finding out about Archie’s romance with Janine, him raping Stacey and generally being no good, she flipped her lid and battered him with the Queen Victoria bust.
• She then had help from Phil to cover up her handy work.
• Peggy wanted to prove she was harder than Pat Butcher.

Of course, Peggy does remain innocent until proven guilty.

Rob: Ben Mitchell – If I’m totally honest I will be gobsmacked if my guess is correct. However, sometimes it pays to take a risk so I’m reverting back to my original prediction. I think Ben is guilty but that his grandmother Peggy will take the wrap for him. Look at his photo above, he has guilty written all over him.

Whodunnit?

A final blog post will be written Monday to reveal the murderer and who, if any of us, was correct.

Doof doof doof doof doof doof

The HDD team have been piecing the clues together over the last few days and we now have mid-week predictions for who we think killed Archie Mitchell.

Alternatively we could be none the wiser and are just picking random names hoping we are right, therefore spending a day in work being waited on hand and foot, not answering phones and choosing this months book for the studio.

With that, the black gloves are off (a reference to Monday’s episode) and the latest predictions are:

Graham – Ian Beale or Jack Branning (changed from Glenda or Sam Mitchell)

Andy – Dot Cotton (same as first prediction)

Huw – Peggy Mitchell (same as first prediction)

Rob – Bradley Branning (changed from Ben Mitchell with Peggy taking the wrap for him)

Our final predictions will be made on Friday.

Like all designers, we live, eat and breath news and popular culture. If not just as a source of inspiration for our work, but also as a general topic of conversation.

Now unless you have been living in a cave for the last few weeks, you will no doubt have heard the tragic news that on Thursday, 25 June 2009 Michael Jackson, aka ‘The King of Pop’, passed away.

As we spent the day taking in the news and updating our playlists with classic MJ tracks, Graham, a Senior designer here at Huw David Design, took it upon himself to create his own little tribute. This tribute came in the form of a striking t-shirt unashamedly inspired by the famous ‘I Love New York’ logo created by American designer, Milton Glaser.

Through the popular social networking website Twitter, Graham came across a design inspired t-shirt sales website named Teepay. After uploading his design to the site, Graham was then contacted by the much respected clothing company Howies, informing him that they wished to print his design on a small run of t-shirts.

The t-shirt has subsequently been nominated as the ‘Howies t-shirt of the week’ and the Teepay staff ‘pick of the week’. The t-shirt can be purchased from the following website links.

Howies Women’s t-shirt
Howies Men’s t-shirt
Teepay

Graham will be donating 10% of any earnings from sales of this t-shirt to The British Heart Foundation.

Although this was a personal project, it does show how, as designers, we are able to react quickly to recent news and then find a medium in which to express ourselves. We at Huw David Design can tailor a marketing package for our clients which utilises the most appropriate web technologies such as Facebook, Twitter and E-newsletters, as well as more traditional media, to provide a powerful and far-reaching campaign.

Although we’re all very proud of Grahams’ Teepay efforts we would encourage him to cease wearing a single white glove and moonwalking to Greggs for lunch!