It's been a while since my last post this is mainly due to the fact that we have been very busy over here at TAK! towers, working on both client projects as well as a few of our own.

When developing new projects we like to investigate and use various technologies that we feel are best suited to the project and so we get to play with quite a lot. Recently we have been having a good look at the forthcoming ASP.NET MVC (Currently on preview 4) follow the link for more information - in our opinion this is shaping up to be a very welcome addition to the .NET framework.

As we investigate this further we are going to start posting source code and snippets of our findings and also linking to articles which we think are useful.

Below is sample of an experimental sound application from a site we’re making for photographer David Rowan. You can leave it playing on it’s own or interact with the lines to sculpt the audio. Enjoy.

We've just finished work on phase 1 of Visual an online art gallery for business. You can read more about the project in our portfolio. Alternatively, visit Visual and see some of the great artwork for sale.

Yipeeeeee!! 

From the Midlands with Love: not a Bond movie remade into a bleak drama by Shane Meadows, but a showcase of the finest graphic art and illustration coming out of the West Midlands.

• Media Content Lab (part of Birmingham City University) felt that too much of the design world’s attention is focused on a handful of London companies, so decided to do something about it. We put together a postcard book featuring the artwork of graphic designers, illustrators, web designers and character designers based in the West Midlands.
  
  The best computer artists from across the region were invited to submit their work before a final selection of the top designs were chosen to go into the book.
  
  "We felt that too many of the big publishing companies and advertising agencies were ignoring the Midlands", said Media Content Lab’s Suzanne Neal. "So we decided to put something together that would show them there is real talent here!"
  
  The postcard book is due to be sent to over 100 of the country’s top PR, marketing and advertising agencies as well as publishing companies and reputable agents at the end of January '08.

We have a postcard in the pack (hence this news post) image below. The project is a nice idea and hope it raises awareness of the talent within the region.

If you want a free pack of postcards please send an A5 stamped addressed envelope to:

• TAK!
  From Midlands With Love
  118 Custard Factory
  Birmingham
  B9 4AA

We’ve just received this 3D render of the Poky Beaver and it looks great! The 3D work has been created by our new friend Ming from the original clay model created by Shuji Suzuki. I highly recommend Ming for any 3D character work, as you can see, the 3D remodelling is very accurate to the original clay figure.

We also highly recommend Shuji who originally designed and modelled the Beaver character. Shuji describes himself as a 'Clayer' working on one off characters and models.  I originally met Shuji via Myspace about 3 years ago and always wanted to work with him on a 3D logotype.The Poky project was the first chance we could bring his skills into the game and the Beaver he created is fantastic.

We originally featured Shuji in the Walkie Talkie magazine we did for Clarks Originals. That’s his studio below. Wildstye!

So we're in the process of making the Poky beaver into a figure for Opened Hand to give away as a promotional item. Here's the re-modelled 3D renderings ready for production. Looking real nice.

Thumbs up - let the production commence!

We are going to sell these, so tell you what — how much do you think we should charge?... They are about A3 in size - are wide enough to hold 12” vinyl, are made from high quality cotton and feature a single colour print with side label.

Leave a price in the comments tab below. We'll price the bags at the average cost of all posts…

;) 

We just got some more print delivered today. This time for world / jazz music events group Mubu. We worked on their brand identity and translated this across an entire stationary range. We’ll photograph these and add to our site soon, in the meantime take a peek below…

Ohhhhhhh — our magazine / promo piece has just arrived. It looks well ace and smells really inky yummy! These will be used as a new business tool — the main A2 (folded) sheets piece together holding a couple of digitally printed inserts showcasing our recent work. All we're waiting on now are some bags which the whole thing will be packaged into. ETA: 6 weeks! Follow the link below for more piccies.

Outer cover

We’ve just added a collection of five games we created for HSBC into our portfolio.

View the project & play the games. 

After several months of content migration and population, we’re delighted to finally announce the launch of the Ikon Gallery website to complement and extend Ikon’s offline communications. Click here to view the site. Read on for more about the project.

We’ve just finished the brand identity work for Poky by Opened Hand. The idenity includes this handy-animal. We’ve always wanted to create a logo which involves a 3D character. I think we might have to do some more! Click here to see the work in full.

A while back we did a presentation to a bunch of illustrators from on the art of self promotion. The result of the sessions was 7x7 — a piece of self promotion which they then used to send to commisioners and other people in the know.

To follow on from my last post and to extend the new ‘Show + Tell’ category we’d like to take time to show you work we have recently completed for the Ikon Gallery. For this article, we’d like to focus on the development of the calendar within the new Ikon website and explain how this single element shaped the site as a whole.