Inevitable Change



As a designer you’re always learning, always on the hunt for new information, which always keeps you full of bright ideas. As your experience and knowledge grows it inevitably changes the way you approach your work.



Speaking of ideas and changes. I’ve had a good run with my pink logo, not exactly a standard colour choice for my industry but it said a bit about who I was as a designer. Under it I have gone from undergraduate, to graduate, to professional, to business owner and through that journey it has served me well.
But I think it’s time for me to start a new chapter and to reevaluate who I am, what I stand for and where I want to go with my future. The best way to communicate this is through a rebranding and swanky new logo (and some silly gifs of course).
The brief to myself for the new logo and branding was that it had to:
  1. Tell a story via the relationship of forms and shapes
  2. Communicate my multi-faceted design abilities
  3. Use colour work that's eye-catching and meaningful
  4. Reflect something about the industries in which I work

As I scribbled and pixeled on the new logo I would evaluate the designs against these four requirements from my brief. After some time I came upon my final design. Here's a quick breakdown...
1. Tell a story via the relationship of forms and shapes
2. Communicate that I am a multi-faceted designer

3. Use colour work that was eye-catching and had meaning

4. Reflect something about the industries in which I work






So now that Jade Doel Design has a solid logo that met the brief, I wanted to explore different ways it could be applied and used. I kept feeding my brain and decided on three different ways to present Jade Doel Design:



The Combination Mark is for more formal use, such as business cards, letterheads, email signatures, website and direct advertising


The Icon or Tag is for more fun use, such as apparel, merchandise and indirect advertising




The Word Mark is for more informal use, such as blogs, indirect advertising and moments where Jade Doel Design is required to be more subliminal

Testing Jade Doel Design on some merchandise 


So there you have it. A small exposé on how the new Jade Doel Design came about. Expect more insights in the future. Please like/follow Jade Doel Design on Facebook and Twitter and most importantly make sure your...

Video



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NX

What I admire most about the business ideas and strategies of Nintendo is their ardent desire to try something new, to introduce new customers to the world of gaming and most importantly, to create fun for everyone! After the success of the Nintendo Wii, the company tried to stand on the shoulders of the hardwares success with the follow-up home console, the Wii U. Unfortunately the console never hit its stride and was semi-doomed from the beginning due to its lack of third-party support, confusing approach, lacklustre games at launch and tough competition from the likes of PlayStation, Xbox and even the mobile phone crowd.
A battle lost doesn't spell the end for the big N, they have experienced failure in the past and each time they come back with more gusto and creativity to launch "the next big thing" in gaming.

They are already underway with their upcoming much anticipated console, the NX (codename), also referred to as the Fusion (DS and Terminal), named so because it is rumoured to combine the best of the portable and home console traditions.

Based on these rumours I've created a quick concept for how I'd envision the NX to look and what features it might include to give it a point of difference compared to other electronic entertainment and utility devices on the market.


Click image for larger view
Features
  • A flexible capacitive HD LED touch screen that wraps from the front, around the edge, to the inside of the hinged screen panel
  • Dual sided screen design encourages game designers to think of new ways for active users and passive participants to interact with games and each other (think of the Battleship games)
  • Android OS and free serviced 3G phone for online access from anywhere at anytime
  • Stream games from the Terminal over Wi-Fi or the included free serviced 3G
  • Left and right pressure sensive analog pads with haptic feedback to imitate a click
  • Includes all buttons and control features currently found on the New Nintendo 3DS
Using the NX
  • When closed, use the NX as a regular Android smart phone with access to the Google Play Store and Android software
  • Developers and designers can use the strip of pixels on the 'blade' of the screen to display useful and interesting information even when the screen is in sleep mode
  • Open the dual sided screen to instantly change to the NX user interface (NX mode)
  • In NX mode users play games designed specifically for the NX that leverage the devices unique features and controls.
Using the NX Terminal
  • When you're at home, place the NX into the Terminal to play your NX compatible games on your TV.
  • The Terminal contains a hard drive and disc slot for disc-based games as well as additional controller that maps the layout of the NX control scheme, minus the dual screen.
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GohMee App


As a User Experience Designer, you never know what type of product you are going to design next, this is something that I absolutely love and enjoy about my job. What makes it even more meaningful to me is when you get the chance to work on revolutionary projects that have the potential to change peoples lives for the better. This is what GohMee is all about.

For the past year, I have had the pleasure of working with three friends on a healthy eating smart phone app called GohMee. In May of 2015 we released GohMee to the world as a free-to-download app for Android and iOS devices.
The past 12 months have been absolutely incredible working on this project but it's not over yet! We're currently hard at work developing multiple, optional features called GohMee Expansions, that you can use to upgrade your GohMee experience. We've got tonnes of great content in the pipeline and we look forward to releasing some of it in the very near future, so keep your eyes peeled!

To learn more about GohMee, please check out our press release below, we are also open to partnerships with companies that align with our values so please contact us at hello@gohmee.com

If you are an app reviewer, you can find details on GohMee for review towards the bottom of the page.


TM-GohMeeRounded_Icon_TransparentCorners_TM_1024x1024.psd
PRESS RELEASE
App Name as displayed in the app stores: GohMee
Introduction: GohMee was founded in Christchurch, New Zealand in June 2014, and was officially released on 21 May 2015. GohMee was founded on a desire to help people of all ages, shapes and walks of life understand their nutritional and dietary needs in an easy to use package.  It is not a fad but an individualised eating programme that people can use to learn to eat well for life.

Problem and Solution: The problem is that existing food and activity tracking products are unnecessarily fiddly and time consuming to use. Competitors have created apps that are complex and overwhelming, and turn what should be a simple task into a chore. GohMee wants to empower all users to better understand their personal needs and at the same time give them access to a simple to use tool.
The solution can be found in GohMee’s simple card logging system that is easy to follow and keeps users engaged by removing some of the hurdles and work around eating well.
What it does: At the start of each day, GohMee instantly calculates and organises the nutritional intake and activity output based on the user's personal details. GohMee then presents them with an allotment of cards for the day, all they have to do now is spend an average of two-minutes a day swiping and logging their cards as they go, no need to worry about calorie counting!
Why it is different: GohMee has been designed for the everyday-person by taking care of the complicated, technical jargon and processes associated with healthy eating and replaces them with the intuitive card logging system, helping people understand the food that they know and love in the process.
The price and Availability: The app is completely FREE and is available for download on Android and iOS devices right now.
The Future of GohMee: We’re working very hard on developing more valuable features to our users in the near future, including:
  • An integrated GohMee community, where people can share their GohMee journey
  • Integration with third party health devices such as, FitBit™ for automatic activity logging
  • A Shop feature that invites GohMee partners to promote their products to our user base and allow our users to use their GohPoints to purchase their products and unique GohMee items that expand the apps functionality and features.
  • A Scrapbook feature that displays longitudinal tracking of progress and user stats. It’ll also have a diary and “a photo a day” feature
This list is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the future of our platform, which is why we are so excited to see GohMee succeed.
About Team GohMee: Sally Rossiter, the founder of the successful paper-based healthy eating programme, Life Choices, approached three friends in June of 2014 to help her turn her work into a digital format, much to the excitement of her clients. It took her several years to find the right people and the right time, but the stars aligned on a cold winter’s evening in 2014 at an outdoor bar in Christchurch city, where the team was united for the first time with a strong belief in Sally’s vision. A couple of weeks later GohMee™ (named after the self-motivational phrase, “go me”) was founded by Sally, Peter Dunlop as the backend guru, Colm Brady as the frontend ninja and Jade Doel as the quirky designer.
Website: www.gohmee.com
Apple App Store: Available now here
Google Play Store: Available now here

###


###
Contact: Jade Doel - Design and Marketing - jade@gohmee.com
Skype ID: jade.doel
Official Hashtag: #GohMee
GohMee for Review
GohMee™, the revolutionary way to log food and physical activity - For iOS and Android devices
Trying to reach your health goals can be very challenging, and it doesn’t help when you’ve got the motivation but not the know how. That’s where GohMee comes in.
GohMee helps remove some of the barriers that can interfere with the journey to reaching a weight loss or weight maintenance goal.
These are some of the barriers GohMee can help you with:
  • Nutrition: Knowing what food groups to eat and the portion sizing
  • Calorie counting: GohMee takes care of all the counting so that you can just enjoy your food instead of treating it like a science experiment
  • Exercise: How much physical activity is required and what constitutes towards exercise
  • Self-motivation: Encouragement through a unique points and achievements system that keeps you focused and goal orientated
GohMee is available for download for free on the App Store (May 2015) and the Google Play Store (Now). You can read more about GohMee at: www.gohmee.com
Thank you in advance for considering GohMee for review.
Kind regards
Jade


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Flag That

A flag that is inclusive. Is that what you see when you look at the current New Zealand flag? Who exactly is it including...?

 To me a flag is more than a piece of cloth, it's more than just a national icon, it's the face of our country to the rest of the world, it is what we hang our pride on and what brings us together as a multicultural society -- it's the one thing that we should all be able to relate to as individuals, no matter our heritage, ethnicity, religious beliefs or cultural identity. All the things that make us delightfully different should be respected, represented and reflected upon that cloth.

 I ultimately decided to participate in the governments initiative that called on all Kiwi's to put forward a design for a flag referendum (the first of its kind in the world to my knowledge) because growing up half-Maori and half-Pakeha, I know the value of knowing and understanding ones identity and if there is anything that I have learnt in the past 32 years it's that being proud of where you come from and who you are is invaluable, that's why I would like to propose a more inclusive flag, a flag that acknowledges what makes us unique, whilst at the same time making it culturally sensitive and timeless.
If flags were first cousins... (Left: NZ flag, Right: AUS flag) 
My Own Brief

 The new flag must reflect on who we were yesterday, consider who we are today and anticipate who we want to be tomorrow.
This is part of everything that I design and part of my own personal design philosophy and signature

 To help me achieve this, I did some research on flag design and came across a great read called, 'Good Flag, Bad Flag', compiled by Ted Kaye.
These are Kaye's five basic principles of flag design:
  

1. Keep It Simple - The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory . . .
2. Use Meaningful Symbolism - The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes . . . 
3. Use 2-3 Basic Colours - Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set . . . 
4. No Lettering or Seals - Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal . . . 
5. Be Distinctive or Be Related - Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections . . . 
Papamoanarangi (Land, Sea, Sky)

 With some guiding principles I got to work, and this is the outcome and my proposal

Flag Name

  • Papamoanarangi (A Maori name that means, 'Land Sea Sky')

Papamoanarangi (Land, Sea, Sky)


Meaning

"Don't just see New Zealand, feel New Zealand" (Possible branding and marketing ideas. Typeface inspiration )
Colour
  • I've used complimentary colours that reflect the natural beauty found around our country. I've intentionally avoided black as I associate that colour with death and the national rugby team.

Design inspired by the rule of thirds

 Form

  • The paneling is divided proportionately inspired by the rule of thirds (W x H = 60%, 10%, 30%) and represents an abstract image of common scenery around our coasts. Also each panel represents one of the countries three main islands; North, South and Stewart Island
  • I've used the red Southern Cross stars as a reference to NZ's current flag (I didn't use the silver fern as I feel it reflects and is more appropriate in the context of sporting and military culture)
  • I've designed the flag to look contemporary and minimal so that it is easy for a child to draw from memory and so that it looks distinguishable at any angle, scale or format.
The flag must be distinguishable in any format and at any scale or angle

Check list

  1. Keep it simple - CHECK!  Three panels and four stars
  2. Use Meaningful symbolism - CHECK!  Southern Cross and abstract image of NZ scenery
  3. Use 2-3 basic colours - ALMOST!  Four colours in total (excluding white) but three of the colours are of a similar palette, so that may make a difference :)
  4. No lettering or seals - CHECK! 
  5. Be distinctive or be related - CHECK! There is no other flag out there like this design, this should solve the embarrassing confusion between the Australian and New Zealand flag by those unfamiliar with the differences between the two lands from down under.
  6. Reflect on who we were yesterday - CHECK! Southern Cross stars and navy blue panel
  7. Consider who we are today - CHECK! A modern, inclusive society represented through two new colour choices and neutral/abstract forms
  8. Anticipate who we want to be tomorrow - CHECK! (I believe New Zealanders are constantly mindful of our natural environment, we pride ourselves on being "100% Pure NZ". We are an isolated island nation built out of our native flora and fauna, it's what makes our land unique, it also sustains and nourishes us, not only as a people but also as an economy. Aotearoa will always be a world leading nation when it comes to valuing our land, sea and sky and it seems only fitting then that the flag is all about this natural, beautiful environment we cherish.
Third cousins?




Be Ready To Vote!
All New Zealanders enrolled to vote will be asked to take part in two referendums.
Referendum One
20 November – 11 December 2015
You’ll be asked to rank the four flag alternatives selected by the Panel. Rather than picking one favourite, you’ll be ranking the flag options from your most preferred to your least preferred.
Referendum Two
3 March – 24 March 2016
You’ll be asked to choose between the current New Zealand Flag and the preferred alternative design selected in the first referendum. The results of both referendums are binding. This means the flag with the most votes in the second referendum will be the official flag of New Zealand. There will be full instructions in your voting pack for both referendums, so you’ll get all the information you need to help you complete your voting papers.
To take part you must be correctly enrolled before voting starts. You're eligible to enrol and vote in the referendums if you: 
  • will be 18 years or older when voting begins, and
  • are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
  • have lived in New Zealand for more than one year continuously at some time in your life.
These will be postal referendums, so your voting papers will be sent in the mail. Enrol, check or update your details now to make sure that you're correctly enrolled and your papers will go to the right address. You can do this online or by calling 0800 36 76 56

Now watch this amazing TED Talk by Roman Mars, because:
"Every great nation deserves a great flag!"
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