For me, Social Media has a rebellious freedom that I find really attractive. Being part of the blogging world has given me an insight that has been pretty eye opening. Personal blogging aside [alot of ego involved there it seems] the more ‘technical’ big companies become [entering the blogosphere through smaller social media companies] the more I think the original rebellious freedom part dissipates….

It may be that as a consumer I am skeptical that this is another platform to gain access to my thoughts and manipulate their PR using a customer base. Lets be real here, the broader corporate market cannot even use the basic media tools very well [there will always be work for smaller companies like us] so how the hell will they effectively use a blog? Raw, direct communication [would you trust that? Comments can be removed etc...mmmm..not sure I do]

Sure I probably sound cynical, and I am sure that there are the odd few that have a good customer connection strategy that will make it work BUT is that really something that the majority are thinking or can do? I just don’t want to see a flood of crap from big corporates entering the blogosphere as consumers. Lets try keep blogging real!

Posted by: Candice

This site is either brave or stupid…. Check out the new  website from Cool Hunters [trend peeps]. Interesting…

The Funk that! website is now up. We are proud of it, but realise we still need to get a few glitches ironed out..this is a work in progress..! Go check it out and give us your opinion…  www.funkthat.net

Posted by: Candice

WOW! We have been busy! Great for our small business but sad when we neglect our company blog! I have been blogging haphazardly on my personal blog about politics [so much 2 say there!].

We have been working [and reworking] our company website for way 2 long now! Just never seems right! SO we have finally decided to upload what we have, it will be complete in as much as your comments will be needed to almost finalise it! The reality it though, it will NEVER be complete.

So later this week we will take the plunge and push upload! Watch this space….Phase 2 will see a migration from this blog to our own….

Graphic designers are cool and creative people, who get to wake up everyday full of energy and cool ideas ready to change the world in every aspect possible. We get to come up with great concepts and seeing the end result is always a cherry on top.

One thing though which seems to be a miss conception on especially with new designers entering the working environment, and the majority of students thinking of perusing a career in design, is that graphic design is All about “COOL”, don’t get me wrong though it’s cool but that’s not what design is about and some think it’s probably the easiest Jobs (correction profession) because they think that their artistic talent is all they will need to succeed thus forgetting the essentials and the principles of what graphic design is really all about. Graphic Design is about applying and taking into notice certain principles and understanding elements within the process of seeing a concept to print/whatever the context might be at the end of the day.

I feel that for designers to achieve optimum level in terms of helping the industry progress and produce innovative work, we as designers must not forget the purpose of what design is all about at the end of the day, which is to convey a message as effective and conceptually as possible to the viewer. Design has principles and elements, which have to be taken in to consideration thought the process, things like layout, focal points, colors and context so to speak. I feel a lot of designers tend to forget these especially in this era of drips, splatter and grunge contemporary design (put up your hand if you’ve never used drips in one of your designs to make it look COOL) I feel that it is because of instances like these which why there are more trend followers than trend setters, I would like to mention the fore fathers of graphic design like Milton Glaser and Saul Bass in this instance. They had a simplistic yet effective way of thinking outside the box but still understanding the relevance of what graphic design is about and what is it that needs to be achieved and how.

A design with no concept or purpose (which is more or less the stuff we see nowadays), might be visually exciting but at the end of the day it carries no weight or forward thinking, its like having a nice roof but with cracks on the wall which support the roof, which is where most designers, lack, not the house that is, but understanding the relevance of principles of graphic design, foundations and core of what design is all about. Designers should understand aesthetics and execute  design that is conceptually strong and a need to link everything visually and conceptually.

It’s also exciting to see designers moving towards a more cleaner, conceptually strong design which is the true catalyst of innovation and what design is about, a profession which we love and practice.

Posted by: Mphumelelo

I am a slave to great design…and it is something that I have come to expect from Mac…

Check out this keyboard beauty…

Posted by: Candice

Such weird weather lately, the gals at FT thought we should lash out on some new shoes…We’re singing in the rain!!

I am not sure how Eskom calculates where they will be load shedding but it seems that Woodmead is currently getting the brunt of the cuts. We had 2.5 hours on Thursday and guess what… as I write this – on my laptop battery [Monday 14th Jan] -we are sitting in darkness again. The power went off at 8 and when I called Eskom they said they were not load shedding. I called again [5 minutes later] and spoke to someone else and they told me they were?! They have no idea what they are doing that is for sure, which is a little disconcerting actually…

I am not sure how other small businesses are finding this whole story but I must say it is killing us, computers and the web are our business. We now have to invest in a UPS to give us additional life over the period but the reality is, I can seem some business’s crashing… nice way for government to support SMME business. The fact that ‘bad planning’ is the excuse for this nightmare is in my view not the only problem, one of the primary reasons I am sure is related to greed…. I can just see the Eskom big wigs [and government officials] sitting around the boardroom table 13 years ago flicking their hands [and noses] up in jest with a Marie Annoitnette ‘Let them eat cake’… approach.

Now once again the SA consumer is left in the dark, fitting the bill for the billion rand + upgrade, waiting for this bunch of goons to get their act together and do we hear of any recourse being taken against the company? No of course not.. not whilst they are sufficiently lining governmental pockets!

I sometimes just wish that government would have delivery to its people as top priority instead of such intense focus on what ‘financial deals’ they can strike…. Actions speak louder than words, and I am tired of all the hot air…start delivering.

UPDATE: Power out again from 2.30-4.30pm then again from 6 till 8pm. So altogether – nearly 5 hours lost of work time…. unbelievable.

Posted by: Candice

I am an Apple fan 100%, so this Ad caught me by surprise….interesting that this problem even exists and is bad enough to spend money on!!!

This is a campaign run in Australia aimed at creating awareness of the number of teenagers dying as a result of listening to iPods whilst crossing the road…can you believe that one!

Story originally see on Coolhunter.

Posted by: Candice