It’s not you Wordpress, it’s me…

by davy on March 19, 2010

I have moved my blog to a new location. All existing content has been imported from here and this blog will no longer be updated.
If you wish to follow me on the new blog please visit: http://blog.davymac.com

That’s where I will be writing from now on.

Thanks.

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So funny I could weep…

by davy on July 4, 2009

This has got to be the sharpest and funniest portrayal of worst-case scenarios in a creative/client relationship. Unfortunately, outrageous as it may seem, discussions like these are all too common in the creative business.

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Barcamp Belfast video

by davy on June 12, 2009

It was a few weeks ago now, but I finally got the time to put this edit together for Barcamp Belfast as a kind of ‘flavour of the day’ overview.
Thanks to Alan for supplying the nice voxpop interviews, I combined Alan’s interviews with my own captures to create this video. First time using the new iMovie 09 for this, some lovely new editing features, easy to use etc., but I had dreadful problems with audio syncing. For anything but the most simple video edit I’ll be sticking to FCP in future.

Barcamp Belfast April 2009 from David McDonald on Vimeo.

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Shooting photos for Ireland at Work

by davy on June 5, 2009

First of all thanks to everyone who responded to my requests for photos on both Flickr and Pix.ie, some great images already in the Flickr group and it is great to see the photo-communities take an interest in this.

I’ve been thinking more about the type of image I’m after and I think I can expand this brief a little. I still want images of Irish people at work, but this could include people selling goods, e.g. a market or shop, a hospitality business (barmen, café hotels etc.), bus drivers, taxis, even general things like shopping and general social interaction. So you may have more luck finding images like that in your collections

For those of you who expressed an interest in shooting some new images for this (thank you!) the following info may be useful…

If you find someone willing to be photographed, try having them look natural, doesn’t have to be smiles! – thoughtful/serious is good too.

Very important to note that you will need a signed model release form if the photo is selected for use, I just can’t use a photo without it, if the person is identifiable in your shot. If you don’t have model release forms here is a link to a good example to base your own form on. I recommend you print a batch of model release forms and always have them in your gearbag anyway.

If your subjects are not identifiable then I will not need the model release, e.g. if they are too distant/underexposed/looking away from camera etc.

Finally here is a visual guide as to the layout I wish to fill on the website, ideally the text area should be reasonably clear and overall proportion as shown.

photo layout visual

Easy, eh? ;-)

Feel free to post comments here if you have any questions, or reach me on Twitter: @davymac

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Ireland at Work project

June 3, 2009

I’m currently involved in the design of a website promoting Ireland’s continued membership of the European Union. One of the features I would like to incorporate into the site design is a large photo-display showing real-world scenes of Irish people at their daily work.
I’m a keen photographer myself and I use both Flickr and Pix.ie [...]

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Oh Yes to Oh No

February 17, 2009

Last week I said yes to a quite unusual project, Maryrose Lyons of Brightspark Consulting had started a project called Website in a Week. The idea was inspired by the experience of David Jones, who lost his job in January this year and wrote a book about it – in one week. So Maryrose’s idea [...]

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Belfast Twestival

February 11, 2009

Twestival is a worldwide charity event organised using my favourite network: Twitter. I’m attending the Belfast iteration of Twestival tomorrow night at Lavery’s Bar in Belfast. Hope to meet up with a few ‘Twibe’ members, have some fun, shoot some video and raise some cash for a worthy cause. Being that Twitter is currently a [...]

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Irish Blog Awards nomination badges

January 24, 2009

In response to a Twitter message from Damien Mulley I whipped up a quick graphic badge for those blogs nominated for this year’s Irish Blog Awards. There are a few other badges there too.
If you want to use this image on your blog here is a collection of them at varying sizes in this zip [...]

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Avatarium of Horror…

October 31, 2008

For the growing numbers of freelance professionals who frequent a wide range of web network services, like Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed etc. the Avatar is an increasingly important branding element. If you are prolific on these networks then your Avatar may be the only branding piece that many of your contacts will see of you. [...]

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Apple arrives

September 20, 2008

At 9am this morning the doors opened for Apple’s first store in Ireland, It’s been a long time coming and I really expected if Apple were ever to open a store anywhere in Ireland Dublin seemed to be the obvious first choice. Not that I’m complaining though, I’m very happy that Apple have a nice [...]

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Flickr is the new Camera Club

May 22, 2008

I realise this is probably not news to those who are already active Flickr users, but a few weeks ago I decided to try and make some more time to improve my photography. Not exactly easy for me to get any free time these days but, since photography has a role to play in [...]

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You’re Welcome

March 19, 2008

I’m a huge fan of Basecamp from 37Signals, so I’m pleased to see they chose to publish the ‘welcome message’ that I enter as the first post on all my Basecamp projects.
I remember writing this and, not having too much time, just blazing through it in an effort to succinctly get across the important ‘ground [...]

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A word in your browser…

March 14, 2008

Last night was my first night at a Belfast Open Coffee club meeting, a very interesting meet-up with some (more than expected) like-minded souls.
Good fun and, as always with those who are fired with enthusiasm for their work, some exciting projects under discussion. One such project is The Big Word Project
I chatted briefly to Lee [...]

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“I’ve got a feeling, babe, this year’s for me an’ you…”

January 8, 2008

I’ve long ago given up on making ‘New Year Resolutions’ but I share the optimism of Shane MacGowan’s lyrics at the start of each new year, it always feels like a special time, it always feels like a new start, full of potential. Of course when you can get into the mindset that it is [...]

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Elementary, my dear Watson…

November 7, 2007

I just found this beautiful illustration of Branding on the Kolbrener blogsite.

Built by Kolbrener, a branding company

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Home sweet (digital) home…

October 31, 2007

I’m pleased to report that the video project I’ve been working on recently has just been approved for release.
Our brief is to promote Northern Ireland as a leading resource in ‘best practice’ web for business, hence ‘Northern Ireland’s Digital Hub’.
But, as they say, “a picture’s worth a thousand words” – so go check out a [...]

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Are you sitting comfortably?

July 24, 2007

…Well I definitely wasn’t.
Working as a freelance creative is a demanding job, I spend a lot of time generating concepts and in the subsequent production work – in addition to the necessary admin in running the business itself. This means an unhealthy amount of time sitting in my work chair, so I thought I should [...]

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Friday Night at the movies

July 24, 2007

I got to see Gary Hustwit’s ‘Helvetica’ movie a few weeks back at my old Art College in Belfast. I really enjoyed the movie, it was done with abundant wit and charm, but most of all I was carried along by the enthusiasm of it’s director. Gary really achieved a lot in delivering such an [...]

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Happy Birthday dear… Helvetica

May 16, 2007

Although it seems like the Helvetica typeface has been around forever it is only today celebrating it’s 50th birthday.

It’s one of those typefaces that ignites love and hate in equal measures amongst designers, celebrated for it’s ‘clean geometry’ on the one hand and vilified on the other as a safe, boring, corporate ‘cop-out’
For me it’s [...]

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The Suite Spot

May 14, 2007

Well, the long wait for Adobe Creative Suite to go fully Intel is over at last – and the question on many designer’s lips is ‘it’s how much!?’ ‘was it worth the wait?’

The answer from most of the Mac creative websites is a resounding yes (it was worth it). Like many creatives there was no [...]

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