There have been no recent blog updates, and that is because I’ve had a very busy – and preoccupied – start to 2015!
When I say “busy”: since January 1st I have:
- Flown to Athens for a weekend to celebrate my dad’s 80th Birthday. We had a great time, with coffee by the seaside in the sun and a delicious family dinner at the legendary Milos.
- Did some digital gardening: Migrated this blog (http://exintaris.com) from evil GoDaddy to nice Dreamhost, in the nick of time before my subscription lapsed. And bought a domain for my sewing blog http://seamstressSophie.com, which I also migrated to Dreamhost.
- Set up the digital footprint of a new business, including all social accounts (@DwPockets : Dresses With Pockets!). Ever wanted a Dress with Pockets? You will
sooneventually be able to get one! (http://dresseswithpockets.co.uk).
- Attended a memorial service. I never thought I would do that again. Not for someone so young and wonderful. I miss him. A lot of people miss him. And I owe them all the setup of a memorial website.
- Moved house. There was a flatmate rent-related snafu. Two, in fact, if you count item 4 in this list. So I packed everything up, got storage organised, put the big stuff and my books in storage and took my clothes to The Man’s.
Best moving company ever? Rocket Van.
- Visited Zurich and Basel, for the extravaganza that is Baselworld. Still a fan of Swatch Group. (I’ve been wearing swatches -exclusively- for 30 years)
- Read 10 books (Books: 2015 on pinterest) There are quite a few fiction books in there. I am in an escapist mood right now. Also made it a point to read the J.K.Rowling (under the name of Robert Galbraith) mystery novels. Love the characters, enjoyed the books, but annoyed I couldn’t guess the killer!!
Follow eurydice13’s board Books: 2015 on Pinterest. - Did my full time job, designing awesome things at CACI. My favourite project has been “the government one”. I hope to be able to write more about it soon. It should be in the public domain within a month or two. Here’s a sketch from a paper prototype I used for quick guerilla testing. The final choice was No.3: Asking 3 simple questions. All other combinations were too difficult or confusing to answer.
- Presented “How to design just about anything” at an all-hands company event. I used that title to lure people into a session where I explained what UX is using the parallel between a house and a website, and then showed what the UX Architect does, with examples from my work. Don Norman would have been proud. I will clean up the slides, I promise! Here’s a sneak peek of one of my favourites: “Where is UX” as Venn diagram.
- Attended a textile fair to find fabrics for my Dresses with Pockets prototypes. That was very exciting indeed! I received all the samples I requested, set up a poll on the website to help choose a colour, and am now nearly ready to order a bolt of “Almost royal blue”.
- Designed a set of moo minicards for a friend of mine, who is a wardrobe genius. Her sense of costuming, style, theatricality and character conveyed through clothes is phenomenal. If you know anyone who feels their clothes aren’t doing much talking for them, or aren’t making them happy, you’ll want Dana Forlano‘s magic.
First feedback from people she has handed the cards to has been “wow these are the best-designed moo minicards I have ever seen!”, which makes me very happy. It means more people know moo!! (and they like what I made, too)
Oh. And I also migrated her website (which I setup, designed & host) to Dreamhost. Obviously. Having trouble setting up the database actually. Working on that. - Was discharged – finally – following a barbotage, from the calcific tendonopathy incident on my right shoulder. I can now move my shoulder normally! And can swim. I checked. An adventure spanning from mid-November to late February. Of course the NHS works… just… slowly…
- Finally written a blog post!
