It was almost surprising to see how little care is put into them. That journalists are granted access to sensitive areas, from crime scenes to government facilities, on a daily basis all across the country, with little more then a ball of paper with a glamour shot and the word PRESS.

You would think there would be some sort of standardization for such a document. That maybe the media or the government would have developed a standard in the days since Police Chief’s signed each pass and a slip of paper in a fedora went out of style. Especially in an age where these passes could easily be replicated by any 15 year old with a decent printer.

Anyone could throw one together and have a good chance of it going unnoticed; I’ve even created one. In 2006 I put together a series of passes for an online media company and it’s staff. Admittedly it was a bit over-designed, more so in comparison to other companies, but it was in the right direction of what standardized passes should resemble.

I think there needs to be a set of fundamental features when putting together a standard ID card like this. Much of the features are standard on licenses and passports now, and the same level of gravity should be given to media identification. So I propose the following features.

First, a standard size and paper weight, plastic even. The bigger the better but not so big it becomes cumbersome. It’s such an easy thing to do to ensure a quality document and a familiar format.

Bright Colour, the Toronto Sun has bright red, making the document visible from a distance. I chose green for my client at the time because it was their corporate colours. But a standard colour should be agreed on and possibly even changed each year, like licence plate validation stickers. Easy to see and verify if the pass is current.

Barcodes. A super easy way of verifying the information matches what’s written on the pass. Hard to duplicate unless you know exactly what is contained in the barcodes and how the information is formatted.

Lose the glamour shots. It’s not really necessary to have a head shot that looks like you had it taken by a high school photographer. Passport style photos work well for a number of reasons, and tones down how awesome you think yourself to be.

Four relatively easy steps to having a more secure ID and on the way to becoming a standard if everyone could agree on how these features would be laid out. It wouldn’t necessarily have to cost much more then it does now to produce either.

Of course I’m told by Dan Brown of the London Free Press that these flimsy credentials are often seen as a means to an end, sometimes a hindrance, or unnecessary all together. So I’m probably backing up the wrong tree. But it does seem like an area that’s habitually neglected and should be remedied.

I’d love to hear from journalists about their thoughts on this and what they think about the ID issued by their company.

Make sure to check out her Esty store, Odd-ish Creations, and if you ever need a stamp made up I fully recommend going to Odd-ish Creations for them.

The site, designed by Leschinski Design, gives you the latest and greatest in reviews on the hottest plays of the festival and the hot spots to enjoy a meal after the show. You can also share and discover thoughts about plays, restaurants and hotels on the sites message board, and get all the info you need from locals and tourists.

http://stratfordfestivalreviews.com/

The design updates the previous static and dated version of the companies online presence, and brings a fantastic fresh design inspired by water and light.

Along with the new look, the back-end has undergone some radical changes. A new content management system was implemented, bringing with it a blog, an improved pattern showroom, and an easy to maintain site.

Check out http://www.deysfab.com.

Over the last few months I’ve been helping make PodCamp London the best looking PodCamp ever. Everything from signage, stickers, name badges, to hats, shirts, and more I had my fingerprint on and it was fun to see it all come together. I even had a limited set of posters printed out that I had everyone sign. Bill and Titus, the main organizers, got two, and Duane Brown won the other. I hope they enjoy them as much as I enjoyed putting them together.

And speaking of sessions. Mathew Hoy and I spoke about brand guidelines. You can watch part of our presentation here. Unfortunately the live streaming/recording didn’t work 100% of the time and only caught a portion of our awesome session.

I’ve also uploaded the slides to slideshare.

I attended several sessions that broke down into one of two categories; metrics and technical. I enjoyed the technical sessions a bit more, as the metrics sessions often felt like a sales pitch.

My favorite was Government 2.0 by Mike Kujawski. It helps that I’ve had some experience in this realm as well, before the term government 2.0 was even a gleam in someones eye I was pushing municipal governments to jump into the web and to use it to connect with citizens more directly and efficiently. The Mayor of Fort Frances got the message in early 2005 and despite being unfamiliar with new media he was willing to jump in feet first. So it’s always interesting to see where government is changing in response to shifting trends with citizens.

All in all it was a very enjoyable experience; I’ve already expressed my interest in helping organize next years PodCamp Toronto, and I got to meet a number of great people who I hope to stay in contact with. If you have the chance next year you should definitely come out, and in the mean time see if there is a PodCamp near you!

I’m very pleased with how the stickers turned out. I had them done at Sticker Giant and the price, quality, and service were excellent. I’d recommend them to anyone looking for some stickers to promote their brand, or just to fool around with.

The business cards however I was not as pleased with. I ran them through Juke Box Print in Vancouver, as well as a clients business card order, and there were numerous problems with the order. Mine were at least usable but my clients were complete garbage. Fortunately they are willing to reprint them free of charge so we’ll see how the second batch turns out. Until then, despite the great price promotion, I can’t give them a stellar recommendation.

If you want a few of either you can send me a self addressed stamped envelope or find me in person and I should have a few. As always, feel free to offer any thoughts you may have.

If you happen to get a copy it’s on page 68 in the “Blog Beautiful” section; an ongoing feature that showcases inspirational blog designs. It’s along side some great sites like Objectified and Wishingline.

If you see any of my work being featured, especially in print, please let me know.
And if you work at a magazine or know someone who does and would like to feature my work give me a shout, I’m more then happy to speak about my design.

CastRoller is most easily described as an online podcast discovery and subscription tool. With CastRoller you can find the best podcasts, share them with your friends and easily manage the podcasts you already love.

In May of last year I began working on the new CastRoller identity and user interface standards. But over the last few months we’ve been working overtime to get CastRoller ready for it’s public debut. While it’s been launched that doesn’t mean work has stopped, hopefully once some more data comes in on user behaviour and additional features are added, small tweaks will be made to continually improve the CastRoller experience.

Check it out, and make sure to add me to your contacts. And as always I value constructive criticism and comments, so please feel free to offer any thoughts you may have.

Starting the year out on a great foot I created a new website and logo for Drew Winniger and his incredibly funny off-off Broadway show Clinical Depression ^{(The funny Kind)}. Shortly after that I began working with Greg Fowler and “From My Bottom Step”, a London Ontario community activist blog, where I completed a massive overhaul visually and technically that was well received by many. And rounding the year out I helped CastRoller find its new look and “roll” out a new identity and blog, which quickly grabbed peoples attention, and continues to do so.

Some of my older work got a bit of time in the limelight as well this year.
The business card designs done for the NorthEastEnder were featured three times throughout the year, and the logo for Talk of the Town and website for Bryan Johnson Creations were recognized as well.

The notebook saw some great action this year, with my mock(ing) LTC (London Transit Commission) ads creating quite a buzz, and ending up in the London Free Press for my review of London’s Indy Media scene; which made it one of the most commented on articles to date.

Things aren’t about to slow down either in 2009, which is moving along at an even faster pace with three clients you’ll hear about soon that I’m excited to be working with. So hopefully you will stick around for the ride and I continue to be thankful for all your support and comments and hope your 2009 is a great one as well.

Happy New Year.