Inspiration. An hour a day on the old RSS reader... here's what I've been looking at: Sophie's shared items. London Toy Fair. 28.01.10 On Thursday I visited the Toy Fair at Olympia, London. This was one of my first toy industry trade events, I've been to numerous design shows in the past and expected this to be a similar event to, say, 100% design, Tent or Free Range, but I was mistaken. I didn't expect to see so many stands hidden by MDF walls or security guards. I assumed that companies showcasing their products for 2010 would be showing them off, having some fun, they are after all toys. It was definately a buyers fair. Despite this I did get the chance to see some promising products for 2010, with some interesting developments from Meccano, Tomy and Simba Dickie. Mookie also gave me a very excited rundown on the increasingly popular Smart Trike. Dental Health Spa vinyls. 12.01.10 We've spruced up Dental Health Spa's window with some new window vinyls. Watch this space for the new window display, currently in concept stages. Marker practice. 10.01.10 Some more marker practice, using tutorials from id Sketching and the idsketching.nl Practicing with some transparencies. Using a tutorial from idsketching.nl. Marker practice. 06.01.10 Marker practice, using one of id Sketching tutorials. Mana deemed fit. 04.12.09 University project Mana is featured on Yanko Design's '10 creative reasons to take up sport and get fit', in at number three. Dental Health Spa website receives a facelift. 11.11.09 The updated Dental Health Spa website goes live. A fresher, cleaner approach has been taken, whilst keeping the original branding. See the website here. Some time to relax, refresh, experience, revitalise and have some fun! A small selection of photo's from my travels, these are all Japan, but I also visited; Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. I had an incredible seven months and am now ready to knuckle down and get on with some real work! Many many more photo's available upon request!! First stop Japan. Trying to spot the ghost Buddha in Nikko. A vending machine for everything possible, even hot coffee in a can! A warrior protecting the temples gates. A little colder than we were expecting, but Australia next which should be a tad warmer! Mmm... bento. Car parking. Zen garden, with a loose sand sculpture. Crazy Seaweed 'sweet'! A new adventure February 09 I have decided that there is no time better than now to explore the world, so on the 22nd February I will be headed off on a new adventure with my partner to visit Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. We plan to be seven months, but watch this space. them. brighton launches A New You. February 09 Involved in the creation of a brand identity for a new cosmetic surgery service. The website also goes live (this has been recently edited by somebody other than myself or any members of them. brighton, however does still use the brand identity designed by ourselves.) Launch of Spa White. September 08 After creating the initial logo, brand, website and promotional material for Dental Health Spa in 2007, them. creates the identity for their in house whitening service, 'Spa White'. The brand is also utilised on the website. The three creative partners of them. brighton, Lynda Jones, Lori Macgregor and myself created also organised a photo shoot at the Bluebell Railway, East Sussex, where we had the sole use of an original 1950's train, a model, Romy Viflic, and photographer Adam Woodfield. Them. Brighton. December 08 Sophie collaborates with two friends Lynda Jones and Lori Macgregor to create them. brighton, a branding, graphics and website design collaborative. The teams first project is to create a brand identity for a new cosmetic surgery services business in Brighton. Watch this space for further developments. Mana in the news. My final year project, Mana, a squash training aid, has been featured on numerous design websites. Click on the following links to read the articles. Yanko Design Pocket Lint Trend Hunter Gadget Heat Designer Look Interior Design Room Crave Exhibition time. Summer 08 I exhibited my final year projects at three different exhibitions. The first was re:fresh, which was held at Nottingham Trent University and involved all my fellow course members. The second was New Designers, where I was one of ten students chosen from my course to exhibit. And the third was Free Range, which was organised by myself and seven members of my course. Product Design BA(hons) First Class Honours!! Summer 08 After four years of hard study (along with a bit of fun!) I achieved a first class honours in Product Design! I was also surprised to receive the Rob Morris Memorial Award for most improved final year Product Design student. Off to the real world now. Nottingham Trent Product Design Degree Show. Summer 08 re:fresh is the graduate exhibition of Nottingham Trent University Product Design Students. A strong brand was required to stand out from the other universities. I worked with a team of seven students to create the brand identity, website and promotional material. www.ntuproductdesign.co.uk.