News

Cranfield School Of Management

Creative Jar secures relationship after three way pitch to design and develop the Cranfield SOM website ...

We're delighted to announce that Creative Jar has been selected as the new agency partner for Cranfield School of Management. The shared vision is to develop a cohesive integrated web strategy with multiple phased developments over the next twelve months.

For more information on Cranfield School of Management visit: www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/

Remix 2008

The Creative Jar Technical Team recently went to the Microsoft Developer event Remix08. This is basically Microsoft’s event where they show off new technologies to Developers and Designers, it’s also a great event to meet and converse with likeminded people.

We were particularly impressed with these presentations:

• Bill Buxton - gave a great keynote speech, a very animated and motivational presentation. Very design and business oriented this is well worth a watch!
• Microsoft SQL Server Data Services - a great innovation, currently in Beta - this will likely transform how many SME businesses store their data
• ADO.Net Data Services - this will change the way developers will interact with a database and simplifies data connectivity to a point which 5 years ago you would have thought impossible.
• ASP.NET Model View Controller - a great way to write clean HTML through server-side technologies; a great enhancement in the ASP.Net functionality bank.

Other highlights included a very informative talk on Accessibility, a great preview of IE8, Microsoft’s championing of Open Source Codeplex was proof of their refreshing change in corporate policy. Windows Live services were also very visible; though not a great winner with clients at present (Google seems to have dominated this market already).

The after event partying was also in full swing. Following some innovative Silverlight work, Creative Jar had an open invitation to the VIP party and thoroughly enjoyed meeting a variety of faces.

With a very tired wrap up on Friday afternoon, we managed some last minute meetings and said goodbye to people and hope to see them again next year.

By Gareth Moore - Technical Team Leader

Flash on the Beach 2008

The Creative Team took a day out to go to the seaside for Flash on the Beach, a 3 day Adobe Flash seminar extravaganza! Many of the finest Flash pioneers from around the world showcased their latest work and gave first-hand experience and guidance to the crowds. The arena consisted of three seminar rooms so there was always a lot going on!

Monday kicked off with a look at the latest updates in Flash CS4 by the Adobe team. After this, Dr. Woohoo provided an interesting way of importing colour swatches into Photoshop by dropping photos into external widgets. In the afternoon Erik Natze showed his latest colourful masterpieces made using randomizing action script.

Tuesday started with a chat from Aral Balkan about how to achieve the most from your designs whilst also making life easier for yourself. Then, due to a change of schedule, we were treated to an impromptu ’Flash Jam Session’ with 6 speakers each giving 10 minute talks. They were all impressive and managed to wow the crowds even with the time constraints! Hoss Gifford reminded us that simple great ideas are the best, amusing the audience with his ’Spank the Monkey’ game and giving a special look at his interactive website for the Nautilus House building in Chicago. To finish the day G*MUNK took us through his latest 3D and film work, including some amazing work in Maya Dynamics.

Wednesday hosted another stellar line up starting with the story behind the Flash on the Beach intro film sequence. Andreas Muller then focused on creating sound editing applications in Flash, mimicking old 808 drum machines and 80’s synthesizers, purely using action script. Jonathon Harris talked about how to make the web more personal by using interactive Flash applications for a rich user experience as the finale.

Lots of fun and massively inspiring for all!

www.flashonthebeach.com

By Grey Haynes - Graphic Designer