The woeful BT broadband was a little annoying, but they are pretty remote! I spent a lot of time planning, deciding on 2010 focus and noting down a number of things I really need to do….

One of the projects I’ve put down on the list for early 2010 is to sort out the office, affectionately known as the “command bunker”.

The main objectives are to declutter, get more usable space, better lighting, better filing, and more deskspace. Currently I have an old, rectangular Ikea desk, and this is going to be replaced with a corner one. I also have the old G5 here next the MacPro, so that is going to go downstairs (maybe a nice exhibit for the lounge) You don’t want to waste such nice design, do you?

Some decent shelves are also needed, so I’m hoping to get some custom fitted by a chap in the village. Not sure what else is really needed, so if you have ay suggestion, do let me know! What do you think is essential for a small home office?

Talking of which, desks and design is a tricky beast. I have not seen many I really like. Until now. Just check this out. Amazing. A perfect match for the Apple gear and lots of features built in. I wonder if it will go into a production!?

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What do you get when you take the Windows and OSX calculators from the desktop, and actually make them real?!

Well, this great post shows the 2 new calculators, and I know which one I want on my desk Speaking of calculators, I cannot remember the last time I used a traditional one. It is either via the dashboard or the iPhone. Are they becoming extinct?

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Resume infographic, originally uploaded by Bart Claeys.

What a superb way of showing your resume / CV! Interesting, draws you in, and is beautifully presented. Kudos!

Thanks to Ryan over at Think Vitamin for his post on rocking an interview here.

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If, like me, you love design, the new film Objectified is going to be right up your street.

Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability.

If I use something every day, it is SO much better to get pleasure from it. From the look. From the feel. From the usability. From the ease of use. From the design. My mobile. My computers. My house phones. Light switches. Lamps. The list goes on.

What do you covet in terms of design?

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Having had a good look around for home office solutions, I was very excited to see the OfficePod this evening, picked up by the excellent twitturly (tracks links which are being tweeted).

Lets get the good news over with. It looks FAb. Great design, well thought out and the website is very nice indeed. Really focuses on both employee and emplyer benefits. In fact the site and company seem very geared up to encouraging working from home.

Ok, the bad news. Apparently they are rental only. Yep. How about £5K per year? Err. Nope. This is a real mistake IMHO. If priced well, these would sell like hot cakes. But 4 years at £5K, and you are in the realms of Garden Lodges and the Qube. SO back to square one.

What do I need? Well, space for one (the OfficePod is VERY small to be fair). Has to be well designed and a reasonable price. I really need to separate the home and the work life as they all too frequently merge into one. (Not too much to complain about though, as I love my work)

What do you think guys n gals? Any top tips for home / garden offices?!

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Transform Your Marketing, originally uploaded by JonnyMoss.

With the wonderful design skills of Andreas, @nofont, www.transformyourmarketing.co.uk is now looking a whole lot better! Just sign up and you get 10 emails taking you through a host on online marketing info and top tips.

Once you sign up you will receive a confirmation email asking you to confirm your subscription and then you will receive your introductory email and the rest of the course will follow over the next 10 days. You can unsubscribe at any time too. Hope it is of use!

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The world of coffee can be a wonderful, yet complicated place. That is why I thought these illustrations would help you all. They are from an excellent blog from Lokesh Dhakar. His blog design is refreshingly clean, easy to read and really draws you in, and his post on these coffee illustrations has over 300 comments!

I mix and match with coffee – tend only to have espressos when in Italy, and normally drink Americano. The only constant I have is using decent coffee, and if you would like to know a whole lot more about this wonderful drink, how to brew it, store, where it came from, then head on over here and sign up for a 10 day course. Highly receommended!

Disclosure – Steve from hasbean is a good friend and also a client, but I would not recommend rubbish, even if paid!

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Perhaps it is an online store that provides great service and communication time and time again (Amazon is my vote here – they really cannot be beaten in my mind at the moment).

Perhaps it is someone you know who never forgets your birthday and always remembers to send a card (I really try hard with this, and in fact, some people have complimented me on this – set an alarm on your online calendar a few days before and set to annual repeat – not that hard really).

Maybe it’s a brand of clothes you can always rely on – good quality and fit, no quibble returns and also some good technical features (Howies every time for me here).

Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.

What matters most is getting the simple stuff right.

Doing something consistently and brilliantly. Many people, me included, have exactly the opposite effect 8 times out of 10. So if you can be those other 2 times, you are going to stand out.

I really, really try and do 2 things well with my marketing clients,

1. Great ideas and enthusiasm for their business – I take it personally that what we do does well

2. Communication and availability – I’ve recently received some feedback from a client who commented on this and said it was a huge selling point.

Could be fantastic but you are often let down

Food is a good example to look at. You can pay stupid prices for over complicated meals, whereas in fact, a superb pie n’ mash, or fish n’ chips, is much nicer and cheaper.

Pizza is one of my favourite foods – done well, you cannot beat it. However, the trick is to find a restaurant that makes authentic pizza – proper dough, fresh ingredients, and cooked correctly. (If anyone knows of a decent place like this in Yorkshire, then let me know).

The 37signals guys have a good post highlighting an amazing pizza place in NY, and when I get back there, this is going to be on my list of places to visit.

Again, simple stuff, done brilliantly works.

You can also apply this to every day items. I have a strong opinion that if you are going to be using an item every day, day in, day out, then you want that item to work. Simple. Needs to work well, with no irritation, preferably looking good too, and also it must ‘feel good’.

Feeling good is hard to pin down, but a couple of examples are:

OSX – everything feels great and the UI is stunning.

Vipp and Simple Human bins – yes, you read right, bins. Something you use day in and day out, so these ones are well designed, look cool and work perfectly.

Telephones – our B&O phones have an interface not dissimilar to an iPod’s scroll wheel – makes looking for a contact / name so much easier.

So, back to your business, my business…. Concentrate on delighting your customers by getting the simple stuff right. You will stand out, and it can make a BIG difference.

If you fancy a good read, then check this book out >>> Simply Better. It is well worth reading and gives some excellent real world examples of companies who have focused on what we have been talking about.

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Sssshhhh, don’t tell anyone!!! (Click).

I LOVE Moo Mini cards and Moo have just announced they will be doing ‘normal’ sized cards soon. I will be getting some of these, that’s for sure, both for theappleofmyi and jon moss photography. They are fun, good value and people love them! Remember, business cards should be designed with a number of things in mind:

• They have ways for people to contact you
• They are something people want to keep
• They so something unique about you or your business
• They are so cool that people show others!

Make sure you have a business card that rocks!

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