App Redesign

The world of creatives – you gotta love it. Beautiful redesigns are making their way to the surface of web more and more as the days tick by. Some of the UX designs that pop up are captivating and really very interesting to absorb and understand. All it takes is a creative mulling over the latest design of one of the most popular apps amongst smartphone users, and out of nowhere inspiration sparks a glorious flat design concept piece. Recently, some of the best out there to be redesigned are the likes of Snapchat and someone has even taken a stab at a redesign of Adidas – not that it necessarily needs it, it’s just an interesting brand to see redeveloped and reimagined.

So, taking a closer look at the scene, you start to notice a similar design pattern amongst the creative community looking to disrupt the makers and shakers of app design and development. They all tend to be in a very flat concept. This is a style that is flooding through the design communities more and more, making a huge impact on reconditioning our perception of new and popular apps.

A design that has been capturing the attention of many avid user is the Instagram app pictured below. This is an amazing piece that really makes you believe this could be the next design for the photo sharing giant.

The designer, who is from Kosovo, has taken it upon himself to create this re-imagination saying he was “bored” with the current one as the reason why he embarked upon doing so. As you can see from his design, he has taken a stab at redesigning the user interface and the logo as an all-in-one design piece. The Logo has turned from a full colour design to a plain white aesthetic, and this is mirrored throughout the app very clearly.

 

A feature that really makes the design stick out is the reposition of the menu. It gives the illusion of a completely new app, very streamlined and very clean. And very beautiful.

Go and see the full extent of the design!

What are your thoughts on this piece of work? – Visit the original post here

 

 

 

Tweet

Does Silicon Valley Have A Diversity Problem?

Gender and Ethnic diversity. It’s been an uphill struggle to create equality in the workplace for decades. Just as we thought it was leveling out, Silicon Valley had to go an disrupt it. I guess it’s in the nature of the beast to disrupt certain qualities so, not really a surprise there.
The NY Times goes into more detail surrounding the diversity issue in tech companies. While there are no hard stats, or stats at all for that matter, the article states companies such as Apple, Google, and Facebook have all agreed in the seriousness of improving the gender and ethnicity within their companies. This may not be hard evidence or a resounding answer from Silicon Valley as a community/singular economy/independant business hub as these companies, albeit giant companies, are only three to come out of Silicon Valley amongst hundreds more. They all have a burning desire to make in the big bad world and disrupt markets in true SV fashion. What about their employee base? Just because they aren’t in the FTSE 100 their staff base doesn’t count in the world of diversity. Get it right guys!

Moving swiftly on…there have been studies on how a diverse employment crowd can have encouraging effects on the overall business. Claiming to make the workplace more creative and profitable because of the differentiation of opinion and work style, eventually one of those styles helps to progress the business and favour it heavily in the long run.
Elaborating on the creative side, the study mentioned in the NY Times article does reference ideation and innovation increasing along with the prospect of a more thought provoking company. That being said, on the totally flip side of the coin it mentions that in the US big corporates put huge amounts of money in to attracting a diversity in their workplace to only carry on receiving discriminatory lawsuits. That sounds like a good investment of money, doesn’t it? Don’t get that wrong, diversity in the workplace is a very important aspect to consider but, these big companies, they don’t really know what they are doing the social end of a multinational company, do they?

The second study referenced looks at the financial aspect to a diverse cohort. Now, this starts off with the correct analysis in relation to The Big Three SV Co’s. The top fortune 500 companies were regarded in this article to have a significantly higher financial performance, with those that had the highest representation of women board directors, that is. For example, a few stats for you digest would be along the lines of:

– On average, 53% of those with a higher body count of women board directors had a higher return on equity

– And, on average, 66% of those with a higher body count of women board directors had a higher return on invested capital.

This isn’t to say that male directors, CEOs, Founders and other senior members of large companies should be worried for their job. Quite the opposite! They should be encouraging the diversification of their company to aid it, not to hinder it.

This loops right back round to the original article. These huge companies need to start by acknowledging the problem which, apparently they have admitted to start doing. There are many levels of a company that this can benefit from. It’s not only the programmer and developer levels in a tech company but the project side, there are customers and clients and partners, there are a whole heap of staff also. There is no one role for any gender or ethnicity and the scope of the article relays that message. What is needed is for these groups of people to stand strong and gun for those roles because from an employers view, there is great value in confidence, enthusiasm and determination. Not to mention the right qualifications, background, motivation, occupational history, Location and so and so forth!

What are your thoughts, though?

Tweet

The North West Fund breaks £100m investment

If you were to ask a small group of people from all walks of life where the best start-up community was housed right here in the UK, they would most likely turn and say London. Now, that can’t be completely true because as the nation finds out every week, that community continues to grow and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Up and down the country there are companies and businesses dedicated to pushing the start-up and entrepreneurial spaces to their highest limits through programmes, institutions and even larger companies. The effect it is having on the nation is remarkable and soon it will overtake the importance of conglomerates for sure.

The North West of England has a very well funded start-up community right now. Recent buzz has been around the North West Fund which has reached an immense figure pushing over £100m. Staggering! The association has shown tremendous outcomes with the start-up community further up the country.

Providing finance from £25,000 to a whopping £2m, the North West Fund grants applications to start-up companies in the area, relocating to the area/region with the vision to develop and grow their business. The private sector has placed a huge chunk of money into this institution that topped up the funds to an incredible £150m. The figures have been released to show that more than 20% of the investments made have been into developing start-ups which is something we are super stoked to hear.

The business benefits of such a magnificent fund institution is that they reach out to numerous industries and disciplines. The arenas are: Digital & Creative, Biomedical, Energy and Environment. Amongst the eligibility criteria to apply for the available funds, not only do you have to be in the region to be eligible but also be no more than 249 employees and have various balance sheet and turnover funds below particular thresholds. It’s all outlined within the European Union business specifications as well so it’s suggested you do your reading, and plenty of it.

All in all, this is a fantastic association helping to fund start-ups in the areas they need it most – to develop and discover. The expansion of start-ups within the UK is reaching a phenomenal growth rate and is a very exciting place to be in and witness everything going on.
Tweet