Articles, Thoughts, Updates & Musings.
In other words this is our blog. Read on to find out what we are up to and what we are thinking about current trends and strategies.
Mkcert all the things
After Ade Attwood’s recent dive into TLS and creating server certificates with a root ca. This is a much simpler way with mkcert…
Future Web Design Skills
This post is a version of a recent lecture. The question is “What skills and knowledge might future designers be expected to know”.
Practically output – Our working summer 2020
It has been a busy summer for us here since March 2020. Here are just some of the design-led projects that we have completed in this time. Adapted from a show and tell presentation by Anna and Sam.
![[UX Design] “We are going to tell you your baby is ugly. And you are going to thank us for it.”](https://practically.io/wp-content/uploads/ux-design-ugly-baby-400x250.jpg)
[UX Design] “We are going to tell you your baby is ugly. And you are going to thank us for it.”
This rather rude quote came up in conversation & it got us thinking about how we approach UX, strategy, design and projects in general…
The eclectic sounds of (many) generations – Facebook’s ‘10 albums’ challenge
Any DJ would turn grey if presented with the mix of music we like to listen to at Practically towers. Not that we think our taste would be bad - it...
London is where it is at?
For the creative industries the proximity of other creative industries has meant that London is absolutely the place to be for any agency or artist…
Diagrams to live your life by
As part of our Practically Academy Sam shared a whole series of diagrams that help in the strategy work that he does, and beyond.
Yii2 stream responses
In your Yii2 controller, it is quite common practice to return the stream of a file to the browser for your user to download. However, it’s not so well documented you can set any stream reference as the content of your response.
We are judging on the UK Digital Experience Awards
We have been lucky to be taking part in this year’s DXA awards, judging in the Best Website category, with criteria being very much about effectiveness.
(Practically) artwork for our new website
See under the hood of how we created the artwork for our new website. Spoilers – it was really good fun.
Named regex matches in php
When dealing with those pesky regular expressions trying to get our matches by their index, making your code that little less readable.
Lockdown Quizzes
Our Practically bi-weekly quizzes. So why not get some inspiration or even borrow from us. Here are some highlights of our quiz rounds.
The dirty secret of Pay Per Click advertising (or how lockdown has opened our eyes)
Covid lockdown has given us a unique and unexpected experiment; what happens when online ad spend stops across the board in a sector?
Cookie Consent Popups in 2020
You may have noticed, or perhaps not, that we have no cookie consent popups on our site. We, as designers and web practitioners, have some real problems with those annoying cookie popups. And we are not alone…
![[meta] Network-Made Tips for SEO and Marketing in a Lockdown](https://practically.io/wp-content/uploads/flock-of-birds-917494-400x250.jpg)
[meta] Network-Made Tips for SEO and Marketing in a Lockdown
There are quite a lot of posts about what to be doing, now, for your business. So here, from my network of wonderful people are the more in-depth how-tos from some amazing experts.
Up and running with Kubernetes and Microk8s
Canonical have been doing some awesome work with Microk8s. This program makes it super simple to get up and running fast with Kubernetes.
Trust is the currency of home working
Here I sit, as do you, in my home office space. Constantly on Zoom / Skype / GoogleChat / Slack / Insert client’s chosen comms method here, with colleagues as well as clients. Then nipping out to the corner of the garden in order to get that phone signal…
Cathedrals, Memes, Advertising, God and Liverpool
During a session with some of our third year students, Sam’s old dissertation came out as a key reference source. So we thought we would dig this beast out of the archives…
A Lazy Canoe Trip Down the River
A wonderful day canoeing and larking about on the beautiful river Wye. Photos from the day of all the team, though none of the kingfisher that we all saw…
Cheltenham Office gets a facelift
Wow – look at our building!
Git Repository Clean Up
After you have been developing a project for some time your local git repo can become detached from the repository on ‘origin’. Here are a few commands you can run to clean things up a bit when you feel things are getting cluttered.
HiP Infographics
Some of the many infographics we created for HiP Property, showing the state of ICOs and competitors. Complicated but fun these did really well in the campaigns we ran based around them.
Data is the new sugar? People are the new data, surely?
Essentially the article argues that we marketers are hooked on gathering data, which is true, but that this has become the end goal in many cases. In other words, like sugar, we are all addicted.
Ich Bin Eine Berliner
Sam was part of a week long trip to Berlin with the students from University of Worcester, visiting the many museums, studios and, er, pubs.
The Design Diamond
Simply stated, it aims to convince design students of the process of design. That without one of the four corners of the diamond then a design presentation (a crit or critique) will be weak.
HTML5 Banners for The FA
We have been busy creating a series of banners for The Football Association (The FA) to promote all sorts of things, from upcoming games to the joining of the supporters club. This has been a great opportunity to debate the pros and cons of the HTML5 Banner.
4 Playful Designs?
A student-led seminar for graphic design students on playful design. Here are our thoughts.
Adapt2 Digital Engagement Map
I have been privileged to be shown in person the Adapt2 DEM or Digital Engagement Map. I cannot emphasise how blown away I am by the progress made and how useful it would be.
Crystal Palace Vision
We have been helping out various parties with some strategic, high level creative thinking.
Dr Men – Heroes and Heroines of Science
Designed as a set of Top Trumps, with 52 famous and infamous scientists from history.
Afri-Kokoa
Time for a new flyer set for Afri-Kokoa. We love emulating that African craft feel and learning about a music that is a far cry from the studio diet of electronica and techno.
True Story
Our strategy and thinking has been heavily influenced by a highly recommended book – True Story by Ty Montague.
Voice recognition – we get closer to HER?
An interesting aside from this morning’s news. IBM’s Watson, arguably the pre-cursor but almost definitely the competitor to Siri is being used for one city rather than a device.
Timeport (Theme Park Concept)
Introducing a unique, fun yet educational visitor attraction & online world for children and their families.
Oddizzi
Oddizzi is an online travel guide and learning resource for kids. It is designed to be used in primary schools.
UCL Engins
Engins, or Engineering Inspiration is, or will be a collaborative community for engineering news of all flavours. Owned, sponsored and by UCL (University College London) it is the reincarnation of The-Briefing which has run for many years.
Worcester Degree Shows
We have just helped curate and manage the Degree Show for Graphic Design at Worcester University. Check out their work on their own site for this year.
What makes a brand?
How do we describe a brand, and make it into a repeatable pattern? A do-it-yourself guide using the BrandSum+ methodology.
TypeStackr Game
Typestr is a simple game, where – you guessed it – you get to stack type. Just place the letters on top of each other and get to the win bar. Each level features one of our favourite fonts. Perfect for your designer friends.
Tweet this
If you steal knowledge, it will be with you until your last breath. [Tweet this]
The Death of Social Sharing, Apparently
So here is an article from the rather great WallBlog, that is a little light on data, but is never-the-less thought provoking. I found interesting largely as I thought it would be about something completely different. Here is why…
Think usability not just aesthetics
There is simply no point to having a beautifully designed website which is impossible for users to
understand and find what they are looking for.
The death of the slideshow?
The rise and fall of the Slideshow, on a par with the rise and fall of responsive, is in my opinion what next for web design in 2014.
Sam loves Infographics
Infographics seemed to us to be one of the hot trends of last year…
Wild West Casino
Our concept for a poker and casino game, using the power of avatars within Facebook. Using the idea of moving Facebook avatars as Poker faces.
Manic Mundi game
A tricky but highly addictive puzzle game for kids (ahem). One of the most beautiful pieces we have created, you must turn off all the gas lamps in the Prince Regent Hotel.
100ml Sprint
An odd concept but rather fun and utterly unique. A game played at a man’s urinal with the control being via your very own stream. Best explained by Captive Media’s website and video.
Pantene ‘Make a swisssh’ hub
A vast online campaign aired across the Hearst network to promote Pantene, in conjunction with Cat Deeley. User uploaded content, games, a social hub…
Phenotype Definition
The word ‘phenotype’ is a biological term and is best explained by examining the differences between the ‘phenotype’ and ‘genotype’ of living organisms…