iTunes 11 - a designers review

Hey guys! iTunes 11 is here and it is AWESOME!

Yeah, yeah, I know it this is a random post from what I usually post but hey it is always good for change, right? I thought it was part of design, new look, new way of making things work better which is my slogan now, have you heard.

Well, let's get to it then. The BRAND NEW iTUNES 11 has AWESOME new features where you can sync your music, apps, books, movies, etc., to your iCloud account. This makes it easy to access your personalized iTunes anywhere and everywhere. Here is how it looks now:

PRETTY, RIGHT? I just love how they managed to simplify it more even though it is already very clean and minimal looking. Some people are confused on where the sidebar went and WHY they took it away. Well, from a designers perspective I think they just wanted it out of the way, making the music library look more clean and easier to access. It is all about the music and when you open your library your beautiful artwork jumps at you. It's just right there for you to click on and play!

Anyway, to get your sidebar back you just hit ALT+CMD+S (MAC) / CTRL+ALT+S (WINDOWS) and TA-DA! But personally I prefer the new look better. Problems start when you want to sync your iPod or other devices with playlists... So just turn on that sidebar and do it the old fashion way. Can also be switched on from the menu: "View > Show Sidebar"

Enough technical stuff lets talk about the design of the new interface!

Apple has manages to design this amazing feature with the new iTunes 11 when you download an album with an artwork the library extracts the colours from the cover art and changes the theme of that album window. As you can see in the picture above from the latest Rihanna album (LOVE HER!) the window extracted her skin colour of the art work and replaced the text in the window with that colour. AMAZING! Here is another example for you to get the picture:

The new mini player is a big change in iTunes and I think many people will start using this more often now. You can search and add songs to "up next" playlists from the mini player. This is an awesome new feature that I think is very handy when working and don't want the big iTunes window to open.

Furthermore you can change the views of your library that I am in love with!!! They limited it to Songs, Albums, Artists, Genres, and Playlists which is SO much easier to handle. The sidebar with all my hundreds of playlists made it confusing and difficult to find stuff. Thanks Apple for making this so awesome!

Now you just have to go download the new iTunes A.S.A.P!!! It is really a must-have that will make your life off organizing your music MUCH easier and well pretty to look at while browsing your library.

Till Later!

*F

UPGRADE 2012

Good Morning and Welcome to the new Franco Creations Blog/Website Upgrade

I am excited to announce that the upgrade is officially been done for your connivence.
Please enjoy the new experience and feel free to report if you have a problem with accessing any of the links or work.

I exhibited my work and my brands new look & feel last night. I just want to thank everyone for making this exhibition and this brand possible, and for making it look awesome. Thank you for my parents for giving me the opportunity to live my dream and building myself up to where I am today.

If you are in Cape Town please drop by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Cape Tech) to view my exhibit and take a business card. I will soon upload my portfolio to the blog. Exhibition opens 9am-8pm Wednesday 28 & Thursday 29.

Thank you supporting my brand and be sure to check for new updates.

Till Later!
*F

Post 125

So this year was insanely-crazy-busy and here we are at the end again. Wow time sure passes quickly when one is busy working.

At the beginning of this year I promised everyone that I will be posting on my blog more than every before and so I posted less than last year... disappointing, I know... To make this right I will just have to work even harder and commit myself. Everyone is busy and don't have time for things, but one can make time for important thing right?

I have been working on my new brand identity for some time now and the time has come to officially release it to the public. Although I have leaked the logo on my new Photography logo but that's cool, you haven't seen the final logo_ yet!

Next year is going to be a mystery without knowing where I will be and what I am going to do for a living. But one thing that is clear is that I won't stop designing! Hopefully luck comes my way and I can get my degree in Graphic Design which would be awesome but for now I just have to wait and see what is going to happen.

BUT HEY! Don't be alarmed, since I have some time I am going to keep you guys busy during the holidays with some designs and maybe some tutorials. Keep an eye out for the big upgrade to see new cool features.

Till Later

*F

A New and Improved Logo

You may have noticed something different on my photographs on Facebook since Saturday.
Yeah, there is a new logo on it's way! It is still a working progress but I was too excited to show it to everyone so tell me what you think about it.

This is part of a rebrand project that I am working on for my portfolio for the end of this year. I know my logo has changed a lot since 2010 but this is it. No more changing styles, no more changing identities, just no more confusion. Just FC Franco Creations.

Till Later! *F

Here is my new style and new extension logo for photography:

WTF Media Conference 2012

The 14th annual WTF Media Conference took place on September 01, 2012 at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Bellville Campus. This is a one-day media conference which hosts professional speakers in social media and technology.

The theme for the 2012 WTF Media Conference is “Impact”. The conference that will evolve around the impact of technology and the impact of social media. According to all the pundits…this year 2012 is the year that technology is going to have an impact on our lives.

The Speakers:

This year, speakers will include: Andy Hadfield, Clive Simpkins, Sheena Gates, Heike Meyburgh, John Beale, KateWolters, Matthew Visser, Melissa Attree, Sam Wilson, Tom Manners, Rashiq Fataar and Mike Sharman.

This is truly a highlight of the year at CPUT. Make sure you pencil this event into your diary for 2013 and for many years to come. To find out more about this conference please visit the CPUT website:

http://www.cput.ac.za/about/events/wtf-media-conference

(Photographs©2012 Copyright to the Cape Peninsula University of Technology)

*Click to enlarge