mikesimagination goes pro…

Regular readers will know that I’ve been contracting my software skills to Design Room Cornwall by way of expanding that business. It has been, and continues to be an enjoyable, worthwhile enterprise. Not being employed directly however meant that I also needed to take control of my own future, hence my involvement with Outset Cornwall as mentioned a couple of posts ago. With that in mind I have created  my own site promoting my development skills with the obvious aim of building my own client base. The plan is to continue to work in partnership with Design Room for all their development and also where clients are looking for a full-on graphic design package (branding, brochures that kind of thing), while I concentrate on the online/application design.

I’m enjoying myself. It might sound a bit weird but writing code is a creative pursuit.. it takes me back to my early roots as an aeronautical engineer writing fluid dynamics (aerodynamics) software, taking satisfaction from creating something that does something.. and does it well. There is a pride in not just creating something but creating something that is as good as it can be. Without being deliberately immodest (!) I have a talent for both visual and technical design so I feel lucky now to be in a position where I can indulge both of those, and to be able to bring some significant engineering discipline and experience to the mix.

The “mikesimagination” brand has been around for a long time so it made sense to stick with that, a lot of people know me either as a result of this blog or my photography. For the next 12 months or so I’ll be operating on a sole-trader basis as I will be taking time out this summer to return to the Outer Hebrides as a sea kayak guide, continuing to work with Design Room of course, and I want to see how things go in general. In the future if the business grows I can shorten “mikesimagination” to “MI” or “MI-Studio” or something without changing my look or logo which is handy – may as well be positive and plan for growth.. or I may end up becoming a permanent part of Design Room Cornwall. Either way it is all rather exciting.

My photo portfolio is down temporarily while I redesign it and integrate it with the more professional mikesimagination now residing at the existing mikesimagination.net domain. Clicking on the screenshot above will take you there. Spread the word… please! In the meantime it is time for me to knuckle down to something which does not come naturally… marketing planning and execution :-|

Trial Balance Consulting

Reblogged from the Design Room journal:

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Although it may seem like it but here at Design Room we don’t just swan around eating cake and hobnobbing at wedding fayres, we actually work too! Back in November we teamed up with web developer Mike Hayes who worked with us on a redesign of our own website. It’s added a new dimension to Design Room and expanded the range of work we are able to take on.

Read more… 222 more words

click the link above that begins "reblogged.." to read more. I was going to write about this myself, and perhaps I still will but in the meantime Sal at Design Room did a lot of the hard work for me. This was an enjoyable project to work on as I got to play around with some stuff I'd not done before such as Ajax for certain asynchronous elements as well as work with a brilliant client who gave us a fantastically positive testimonial. A good start to 2012 I think :-) By the way, they do eat a lot of cake at DR, especially when I'm not around but despite that I'm feeling very positive for the future growth of this side of the business. I remain self-employed however so exploring all sorts of possibilities for putting my skills to good use as I continue this adventure outside of the career world... stay tuned as always!

Design Room Cornwall

A couple of posts ago I mentioned Design Room Cornwall, henceforth referred to as DR… I uploaded the new site yesterday so now I can write a little bit about it. Although not directly employed by DR I am part of the team so I can say things like “we are a talented bunch” rather than “they are a talented bunch“.  It is true too, although “bunch” might be too plural, we are only 3 after all ;-).

I don’t need to write too much, the site should speak for itself. Given most of DRs business comes from the small, local businesses that make up the Cornish economy the site needed to be something appealing to that market that showcased the diverse talents and growing portfolio of the team.. it needed to avoid being overly and intimidatingly trendy, easy and intuitive to navigate, avoid superfluous content and clichés, and be nice to look at. I also wanted to keep it very light in terms of processing. It’s all CSS/XHTML.. no javascript or flash to weigh it down. I think between us we managed that very well, certainly feedback received so far has been very favourable.

We operate out of a fun little studio in Truro.. well, it’s an executive shed really, but I don’t mean that in a dirty, cobwebby kind of way. Rather it is that office rental in Truro is very expensive so instead of weighing the business down with unaffordable rental we have a very groovy wooden studio on a patch of private land a short walk from the city centre. It’s cosy and a darn site nicer than some of the office spaces I’ve worked in over the years. There is also very good coffee, visitors are most welcome… bring jaffa cakes :-)

So, please go and have a look around, clicking on the image above will take you there.. or simply point your browser at http://www.designroomcornwall.com . So now you know where to go for all your graphic design, photography and web needs.. and coffee of course :-)