A few folks have asked how I pull the blog feeds through to this home page, so here is the code I use, as a little gift for being awesome people, I have pulled it through exactly as I use it so that you can see and toy with a working example in all it nasty detail.
I have taken up commuting again and to make the trip more palatable and playful I have decided that I will sculpt a micropoem on each inbound trip at least and tweet them daily on my arrival at work.
All poems are for now available at Micropoems.com in the future I intend to combine them with some photos / paintings I’m working in and make them into a little Ltd edition book.
The ever decreasing few who know me in the physical world as well as he digital will be aware that my background is in the fine arts and if you’ve ever had the dubious pleasure of being my house guest will be aware of the large painting that’s always adorned my walls entitled ‘Soul mate’ and dealt with the idea of sailing through life’s troublesome waters alone and searching for and hopefully finding a soul mate. Read the rest of this entry »
Just a quick post to get this off my mind, its a simple little idea but I would argue that it makes a heap of difference to how users feel when they contact you and the quality of the information they provide when they do. Read the rest of this entry »
I have just uploaded a selection of the panels I designed that are now part of the London Zoo’s big cat enclosure that details the dangers to these beauties. I finished them back in February but am only now managing to get an opportunity to update this site, amongst moving, working with Cucumber and designing the new Liberty Human Rights web site life is a little on the manic side so once again apologies for the lag in replying to emails, I do love you and I love hearing form all you folks both socially and project related.
I’ve taken up a new post leading the design side of Cucumber a cracking digital agency based in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. I’ll still be taking on new projects through this site, and with the added support of Cucumber’s accomplished development team I’ll be able to deliver much more complex digital solutions. I’ll still be taking on smaller design & Illustration projects myself though as and when something arrives that peaks my interest.
Just a quick update to apologies to all those folks I’ve not replied to emails and requests to (I don’t like being one of THOSE people). Secondly the reason that I’ve become one of those folks is because I’ve landed some big yet quick turn around jobs that I need to sort out asap. The jobs are for 7UP through Spook Media, the Liberty Human Rights redesign and a separate campaign and some design work for the signage at London Zoo for the BIG CATS exhibit, plus numerous other projects waiting in the wings shouting at me for there attention. So if your one of those shouting for my attention I promise you’ll have it soon and I don’t mean to be an arse.
Way back in the day, before I got involved in all this interactive & graphical design I was a fine art student and spent my days making films and noise. I would make electric guitars and other electric noise making devices out of all sorts, old tape players with the reading heads removed and placed into hand units, guitars out of old speaker box’s and all sorts of joyous nonsense. Read the rest of this entry »
Forms are often the most over looked aspect of a web site, ironically they are also one of the most important as they act as the conduit for interaction and activity. Read the rest of this entry »
There is a trend at the moment for compiling top ten lists of personal favorites form the decade so I’m going to join in perhaps more for personal fascination reasons then anything else. Read the rest of this entry »
Many folks are using Twitter to search for and advertise jobs, for some reason its mainly the American and Canadian markets, the others seem to be a little slow on the uptake.
There are several things that folks looking to use Twitter to recruit can do to ensure that they attract the right candidates by getting the right information out there. Read the rest of this entry »
I have increasingly been asked what my creative process is and am finding it very difficult to explain, not because I’m illiterate or because I don’t have one but because the creative process I do have is so hard to define in that my process is process-less. Read the rest of this entry »
After the success of the ‘42 Days‘ campaign I worked on with Liberty Human Rights at the tail end of last year I was invited back to tender for the re-positioning of the Liberty Human Rights brand online, and I am overjoyed to tell that I was awarded the creative aspect of the project in collaboration with the wonderfully clever guys at Kitsite in London and it all kicked of last Friday with a great and enthusiastic meeting. Read the rest of this entry »
I recently flew to London and back for a cracking meeting with a great client, who I’m very excited and happy to be working with again on a much bigger project (I’ll save those detail’s for a separate press release). Read the rest of this entry »
Some nasty little urchin went and spoiled the last bed that my web site slept in and created a right rumpus with a Denial of Service attack that kicked the sever over and like the pointless bullies they are every time my host got the server back up these ragamuffins kicked it back down again. So I found a new bed in the stylish home belonging to Media Temple. This is where I now sit listening to the server kicking going on next door and wincing but safe in the knowledge that I have saved McCoy from a good beating as I need this site up for potential interactive art director / digital creative director jobs & freelance web design contracts in order to provide a living and feed the kids. Read the rest of this entry »
As if I wasn’t getting enough feedback about the size and range of my portfolio, I’ve been working through the backlog of work created but not yet added to the portfolio. So now with tired eyes and an odd disconcerting curve of my spine from too many 2am work finishes I have added the following: Read the rest of this entry »
Not strictly within the the remit of what I normally talk about on this site, but I’m one of those creatives who is totally media agnostic. I also love a good chili sauce. As I’m currently living in rural Ireland with no car, my options are somewhat limited.
I’ve always cooked, I always enjoyed cooking too. So have my family, though I must admit this is one for me only. Its a damned side cheaper than the sauces you get in the shops, plus its not got pointless preservatives either. I use mine to add to Dhal at the table that I make for the the family that is mild enough for the kids but too bland for my pallet, it gives it a fine kick. Read the rest of this entry »
Okay so I get a pile of emails asking me how to become a freelance web designer and I often spend a while answering the specific queries individually, but figured I may as well do it publicly so its all shared. One thing to note this is just my opinion, I hold no responsibility if anyone acts on my opinion and isn’t able to pay the rent (I’ve come close once or twice in the past). Read the rest of this entry »
This is a nice little poem my 10 year old daughter wrote and excitingly read to me on returning from school this wet afternoon, it made me smile so I decided to share it with you all.
A creek in the hallway,
a shout from outside,
the witches will not stop
till they are satisfied.
The ghoul and the ghost
will always boast,
and will jump out and say boo,
but insist that it does not frighten you.
To keep safe on Halloween there are some things you must do,
to keep calm and do not be fooled,
by any thing they try to do.
By Lori McCoy
The Days4U web site that I designed and Illustrated has been launched, it was quite a challenge designing for a Greek language web site with a different character set as people often underestimate how important it is to understand what it is your designing with before you can communicate it properly but thankfully with a lot of humor and patience I think that the Days4u team and myself managed to pull it off. I am particularly proud of the fact that the finished design not only is my design work but also contains so much of my own illustration work as well. Read the rest of this entry »
