Apple website starts to use adaptive layout for devices. Finally.

Apple website layout changes according to screen orientation. But it's not responsive. 

We have often wondered why Apple has not catered for mobile users on their website. Their website has never redirected to a mobi version or used responsive web design techniques to cater for small screen sizes. The only thing that they have done is to cater for users to swipe through product photo galleries by including support for touch.

Finally, with the launch of the iPhone 5, it seems that Apple is moving towards an adaptive web design approach to adjust the website layout for different devices. It is very minor. But it is something. It will be interesting to see how far they go and how they collapse their navigation if they choose to pursue this. Their approach uses device detection, rather than adjusting the layout using responsive design, which uses media queries to detect the viewport size.

We'll keep our ear to ground on this one. In the mean time check out our responsive web design projects.

Morewood Bikes - responsive design using Bootstrap

Kaluma Development - responsive design with base of 960 grid system

POD Boutique Hotel - responsive design using 960 grid system

Miles Mossop Wines - responsive design using 960 grid system

Trop-X Seychelles Stock Exchange - using Bootstrap

We have four more projects that use responsive web design on their way in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

We designed the Toodu website

Toodu is a unique concept that allows users to create a to-do list which is broadcast to relevant local businesses. This allows users to find people really quickly, but also helps small businesses to pitch their services at precisely the right moment.

In August we reworked the communication and brand identity, creating conceptual illustrations, in order to get their business concept across quickly and easily. Check it out: www.toodu.co.za

My Blackberry's not working.

There was nearly worldwide downtime on the Blackberry network this week. So RIM has taken yet another beating, so to speak. What's the point in a blog with out a topical YouTube post?

Latest Project: NCC Environmental Services

And... we're back. We launched out latest and most ambitious project in a while just a few weeks ago; www.ncc-group.co.za. It has been a real pleasure to work with NCC Environmental Services a client we pitched for (twice), and whom we have assisted with the redesign of their website and communication. The site aims to properly showcase the scope of their work and service offering. The site also works perfectly on desktops, laptops, iPad, and most smartphones. Not sure about those Blackberrys though.

Great sound studio demo

Great demo of someone building a track up from scratch with NanoStudio app for iPhone. Give it 30 secs to take shape, song starts peaking at about 2 mins. Makes me want to learn more. Mobile apps are the heat. This one is by Blip Interactive.

Buy a Morewood. Save a tree

We put together a video animation for this new initiative from Morewood Europe and Treems. The first 100 bikes from the 2011 range will also save and support 100 Ecuadorian rainforest trees.

Check out the video here: www.morewoodbikes.com/save-a-tree/

sploosh.com gets a little face lift

It is amazing how time consuming creating content can be. When you're a design business it take even longer, because it so easy to change the design. Every time we rebuild our website, which is not often, I'm amazed at how long it takes to get the communication and images together. We sympathise with all our clients. Part 1 of the Sploosh website update is done. Check it out.

Product branding project for Morewood 2011

Here's a first look at the sticker designs we did for the Morewood 2011 product range. Nice work Ish!

What to put in a brand manual?

Brand manuals, brand guidelines, brand bibles, corporate identity manuals, however you refer to them, they are an essential reference to any corporate identity project. It's even more critical for designers to define the application and use of the logo when the brand needs to be shared with distributors. And, when those distributors are all over the world carrying a legacy of old branding with them, it should be made perfectly clear what they can and can't do.

We've started documenting our pieces of design into a brand manual, in order to help ourselves rollout new design work correctly. I found some great reference online, and also noted a designers comment that using the term "brand guidelines" could indicate that the document is only a guide, as apposed to the rule. Good point. Design is a dictatorship. Should we coin a new phrase: Branditarianism.

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue very well, but it should get the right message across.

Some digital paper from sploosh

We created some sticky vectors about a month or so ago, and stuck them to the wall in the studio. When we created the artwork file for the sign-writer, we had to gather all the shapes together for cutting, and it made an interesting piece of final artwork. So, I thought I'd expand it a bit and get it out there. The one up top is 1920 x 1080. Feel free to take it.

Greetings from Eurobike

We thought you might like to see some visuals from Eurobike 2010, which happened last week. In these shots you can check out the product branding we have been working on, along with the updated morewood identity and various graphic design elements.

We also added the rebranding project to our portfolio on the Behance Network, check it out, and give it some love.

:)

Morewood bikes launches new identity in Europe

2010 has definitely been a good year for the studio. Here's why: We took a global brand and breathed new life into it. That's the new mark for Morewood Bikes and lower down you will find the new logotype, which has also been evolved to communicate the changes going on within the business and through the product-line.



As the original designers of the Morewood identity, is was a unique opportunity to work on the evolution of the brand. With the biggest challenge undoubtedly being the mark. Morewood are a South African company, based in Pietermaritzburg, who have been making bikes and exporting them all over the world for the best part of a decade.

But there was a problem. The logotype was getting tired, and their "badge" was difficult to work with. The new brand needed to be easy to work with, memorable, edgy, unique, conceptual and fit the brand. Plus there is so much brand equity related to the logotype that any drastic departure could result in failure.

That pretty much sums up one of the trickiest design brief for sploosh in 2010. After months of design and development, this is the result.

: )

We're a Loerie finalist!

We are super stoked to announce that Sploosh Digital has been nominated as a finalist in 2010 Loerie Awards. The logo we developed for POD last year was entered into the brand identity category with the hope of being recognised for its aesthetic qualities. As a studio we have worked hard to establish our reputation for good design. It's great to have entered a piece and be nominated. It feels like the first step in the right direction.

pod website gets some actual photography

Last year sploosh digital designed an identity and website for the boutique hotel called POD. Located on the Camps Bay foreshore, the hotels website was required to launch prior to the construction work being completed. Greg Wright Architects contracted Think3D to create stunning visuals of the finished interiors even though the hotel was still a building site.

Last week we received some final photography. It's amazing to see how close the conceptual renders were to the actual finished product.

The hotel opened its doors just in time for the soccer world cup, and has been receiving rave reviews ever since.

1000 songs to choose from, by Admataz

Check this mash-up out. Admataz took the "1000 songs to hear before you die", and mashed it with Last.fm database - Nice.

Sticky vectors & swivel chairs

On Friday we knocked off early and began to compose our mural. This was a new experience for all of us; taking something digital and applying it to a wall. There is a cool vector quality to the mural. It has retained the stylised look of a digital desktop or printed material because it has been cut out of vinyl. Some refinement is still to come.

Some words of advice for all you aspirational office mural creators out there: Do not stand on top of a swivel chair. Ever.

Soccer balls and bicycles

2010. Apparently there are 58 days to go until the Soccer World Cup starts - bring it on!

It's quite amazing. We are only half way through the 4th month of the year and already we are opening our 50th job bag. Ok, I'm dramatising a bit because half of those jobs are done in a day, but still, it's a great indicator of how the studio and sploosh is performing.

You may have read about the events of 2009 in this post, or maybe you missed it. This year has been eventful to say the least. We faught for one of our biggest clients, and we came out on top. We will also launch the Canadian brand, Straitline, any day now. We dropped Rushsports into the e-commerce sector in South Africa last week, and POD the boutique hotel opens in Camps Bay at the end of this month.

What's on the desktop you say?
We are working on and launching one of the most exciting jewellery brands in South Africa in the next few weeks. We have also picked up a new and exclusive travel company, and are redeveloping their website, communication and online marketing strategy.

Our Backyard
It's funny when you know a brand so well that it lives in your veins day in and day out. You feel a part of it, you know how it thinks and how it reacts. Most importantly you know what other people think of it.

Sorry for being a bit obtuse. But it's for good reason. I don't wish to give the game away too early in the process. But lets just say that I am extremely pleased to be able to work on the biggest rebranding project we have ever tackled.

What's on our desktop?

Sploosh office about to get a facelift

We moved to the other side of the building last year, so that we could have a bit more space. The office still needs a lot of finishing and organization, in-between a barrage of real work of course. Here's a sneak peek at the mural design we started yesterday.

What the public really think about your brand: Fifa, Google, Facebook, Apple

Hello. Long time no see. Tonight I post a mild conspiracy theory driven by the Google search algorithm. The company who famously did not remove a picture of a chimpanzee from its results when typing the words Michelle Obama, is (apparently) committed to the integrity of its search results being from all web users and websites. It's a mind field of business deals, industrial espionage and government alliances I reckon. I love a good conspiracy theory.