My ageing original iPad 1 is still going strong but has slowly been relegated from a work device to a kiddies play thing so it was time for a long overdue upgrade. The original iPad isn’t supported in the latest OS’s and so trying to test new iPad apps we’re designing at kc web design kent was proving a little tricky. I’d been reluctant to fork out for a new iPad this year knowing that a new iPad would arrive at the October Apple event so I’ve been waiting and waiting until now.
It was a tough choice between the new iPad Air and the retina iPad mini but having had a Nexus 7 in the office for a while now I decided that the small size was nice but not a practical for working on as the larger screen. The iPad Air seemed a great half way house as its screen is bigger but it’s considerably lighter than any other 10″ iPad.
What! No screen cloth!
As soon as the new iPad Air was available I grabbed one from the Apple store along with a case and it turned up at the kc web design kent studio a few days ago. It’s a lovely piece of kit – as you’d expect from Apple – and its size and weight feels perfect. The lightness makes it easy to hold and use and it really doesn’t feel much heavier in use than the first gen Nexus 7. One thing that was noticeably missing from the box though was a screen cleaning cloth! Every other Apple device I’ve bought has come with a cloth – even my giant 27″ iMac that we use in the kc web design kent studio has a small cloth! – so an iPad without one felt a little harsh, especially when paying a premium price. The stickers were there (I must have about 20 of these now and no idea what to do with them!) but now screen cleaning cloth – that’s a bit mean Apple!
I’ve not been a massive fan of iOS7 but I have got used to it now on my iPhone. There have been reports of it not working to well on the iPad but the iPad Air feels very nice. I think the ultra fast processor helps make iOS7 feel very fluid and tactile and whizzing around between apps using the multitouch gestures makes working very easy.
Having not used the old iPad very much for work over the last year or so at kc web design kent having the new iPad Air around and using it for more work related tasks feels great. It gets me away from the desk a bit more which is always nice! So, all-in-all it’s the perfect iPad – light, fast, slick and a joy to use. Just what everyone expected!
“kc web design make hand crafted websites…” – that’s what it says on the new kc web design kent homepage. But what do we really mean by hand crafted website design?
There’s been a lot of talk on twitter recently about the word “craft” with a few top web designers saying it shouldn’t be used in the web design industry but I disagree. Kc web design kent do make hand crafted website designs. The word craft, for me, means time, care and attention to detail and doing that with skill and knowledge built up over many years.
At kc web design kent we don’t use tools like Dreamweaver that try and do it all for you, we hand code HTML and CSS from scratch in a text editor like Coda. One thing that has always stuck with me in the 15 years I’ve been doing web design is something a wise old (no longer with us sadly) web designer said to be when I was just beginning…”the clue is in the code”. Hand coding using skill and knowledge means you know the code, you know what you’re writing and that makes it easier to debug. Using a web editor that does it all for you but generates unreadable code isn’t much help in the long term. It pays to learn the basics of web design coding inside out as this allows you to craft your code or design.
I’ll admit, it’s not really the same as spending a whole lifetime learning to craft axes from raw metal and hickory, but I do believe there is a craft to learn and to do it right takes time and skill. Building websites and creating pixel perfect website designs takes time and effort and to me that’s a craft.
If you want hand built website, designed and coded with skill, care and attention to detail then call kc web design kent today.
kc web design kent were contacted by the lovely John and Jane from Yohondo a few months ago about designing the user interface for their new iPad app. Yohondo have spent the last 12 – 18 months designing and building a skeleton app that will completely change the way people learn graded music lessons. A huge amount of research and testing had gone into the app and kc web design kent were offered the task of creating and designing a beautiful user interface for the iPad app that would help bring all that research together into a good looking, usable app.
kc web design kent designed a completely new user interface that uniquely combine the research by Yohondo with an intuitive and user-friendly design. Ease of use was paramount in the design process as well as creating a user interface that compliments the user flow and actions throughout the app. The Yohondo ipad app is aimed at a younger audience, as well as adults, and so small elements of gameification were built into the design to create an experience that kept users coming back and help with progression through the lessons.
The iPad user interface design that kc web design kent have created is unique in this market place and was designed to fully compliment the hard work undertaken by Yohondo in building a world class iPad app. The app will be completed over the coming months and launched in the summer so watch out for it in the app store. Next on the list will be a brand new website for Yohondo design and built by kc web design kent.
kc web design kent are delighted to be working with the wonderful Yohondo on their brand new iPad app. We’ll be designing the user interface over the next few weeks to create a beautiful UI experience and craft an award winning app.
Yohondo is a new iPad app designed for teaching grade 1,2 and 3 piano in a new and intuitive way. kc web design kent will be working with the Yohondo team to take their working wireframe app and turn it into a visual exciting, beautifully design experience for all levels of users. The app is designed to help children and adults learn graded musical pieces in a new and exiting way and the user interface and overall design will reflect this.
The new Yohondo iPad app will be available later this year along with a brand new website design. A second round of beta testing will be starting soon once the new user interface design is in place so if you’re interested in becoming a beta tester head over to the Yohondo website.
At kc web design kent we specialise in iPad and iPhone user interface design and understand the complexities of designing for touch devices. We also create web apps and responsive website designs that can be used on all types of devices such as phones and tablets. If you have a project that needs a user interface or want a website that taps into the growing mobile marketplace then get in touch with kc web design kent for a chat.
