I’m working on some illustrations that have a definite sixties modernist feel.
I’ve been working on a few projects but can’t talk about them yet. Hopefully I’ll have something interesting to share soon.
Working on more book covers, and like most designers at some point in their career I’m shamelessly stealing from the work of Saul Bass.
Issue 6 of Midnight Echo, the official magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association is now available. I provided the cover illustration and a short interview in which they were nice enough to describe me as a ‘rising talent’. I wonder how long I can get away with that…
Just finishing another batch of ebooks, and it’s a varied selection. We have rain-soaked, neon-lit urban squalor, strippers, murder, vampires terrorising a posh school, linguistics & the art/science divide, plus some recipes.
Adobe have announced they are no longer developing Flash for mobile browsers. Instead they’ll be focussing on HTML5 based tools. This is good because Flash on mobile pretty much sucks, and the antagonistic relationship between Adobe and Apple has been a childish distraction. Hopefully the resources Adobe wasted on pushing Flash for mobile can now go into developing HTML5 authoring tools such as Edge. However, it’s not all good news because 750 Adobe employees will lose their jobs over this.
Amazon recently announced Kindle Format 8 (KF8), the new ebook file format they plan to use instead of Mobi 7. It’s a shame they didn’t switch to epub as rumoured, but KF8 offers much needed improvements to layout and typography. However, my heart sank when I read that only the latest Kindle devices will support KF8. The Kindle 3 or earlier will be stuck with Mobi format ebooks, which could make things difficult. Imagine the following scenario: A client comes to me with a proposal for a graphically rich title such as a cookery book. I think “Ah, KF8 provides the layout controls we need for this and it will look fantastic on the new Kindle Fire”. Quite reasonably, the client wants to sell as many copies of her book as possible so doesn’t like the idea of limiting it to owners of the latest Kindles. Therefore, I’ll have to create two versions of the ebook, doubling the time and cost for the project. Also, the version for older Kindles won’t look very good because of the limitations of the Mobi format. And that’s before we start looking at a version for the iPhone, iPad, Nook…
When the iPad appeared there were dismissive comments about it being a ‘content consumption’ only device, suitable for reading, web browsing and so on, but not for creative work. That was untrue, but maybe the strength of the new Kindle Fire tablet will be that it really is a device for the content consumer, backed up by a tried and tested online store. Amazon marketing for the previous Kindle focussed on the ease of reading, wide choice of ebooks and speed of delivery. Now they have a device which offers this, but also hooks into their video streaming service and has a more intuitive interface. Add web browsing, email and a carefully managed selection of apps and it could be a winner. However, bright LCD screens really aren’t good for reading lots of text, so if you’re looking for a book reader it’s probably best to stick with the e-ink devices. Or buy both types of Kindle, which is what Amazon really wants.
Issue 6 of Midnight Echo, the official magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association will be available in November. The theme of this issue is science fiction horror, with stories from Cody Goodfellow, Cat Sparks, Stephen Dedman, Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Joanne Anderton, amongst others. There are also interviews with Hugo and Locus Reader Award winning author Charles Stross, and renowned science fiction artist Chris Moore.
As expected Amazon announced new Kindle models today. The existing e-ink devices have been updated, with both models losing the physical keyboard and one of them gaining a touchscreen. As before, these models use a greyscale e-ink display and are designed specifically for reading. However, the new Kindle Fire is a 7 inch tablet device intended for reading, web browsing, game playing, music and more. Amazon clearly want some of the iPad market with this one, and the low price indicates they hope to sell millions and recoup their costs through content sales. However, I think there’s plenty of room for both Amazon and Apple. The direct competition is Barnes & Noble, and companies such as Samsung and RIM who tried to copy the iPad but couldn’t match it on cost, design, ease of use and content availability. (Of course, this is just me thinking out loud and I might change my mind when I get hold of a Kindle Fire. Just what you need, eh? Another blog with unqualified, unverified speculation on a product that isn’t available yet.)