Fraser Ferguson

I've Moved

2010-06-28T19:13:00.004+01:00

I can now be found at

www.duballf.com,

so have a looksie.

Blog / Folio Redesign

2010-02-26T20:40:00.017Z

I think its about time I refreshed my Blog/Portfolio with something a little cleaner. Something that doesn't rely heavily on a background image as its focal point and which isn't hosted by Blogger.

Over the pass two years almost, Blogger has done me proud and only cost me £6 for a domain. But I've grown out of its simplistic UI and lack of customisation options. I want more, and want to start from the ground up.

I've had a few ideas on how to "re-brand" myself, the one below being my favourite so far, but it will all change no doubt as I refine the idea and play about with it a bit more.

The main idea is to have a single band of colour stretching across the screen to show the user which page they are viewing. As the mouse hovers over the page titles, the corresponding coloured band will show to provide feedback.

Still not completely decided on the colour scheme, but over the coming weeks I'll play about some more in Photoshop, then start building it with HTML and css.

Looking forward to trying out some HTML5 features I've been reading about recently too.

Mixed 09

2009-09-22T15:15:00.003+01:00

Been messing about over the last week or so, trying to nail this mixing lark. During every mix I've made so far, I've cocked at least once. This mix is no exception, but timing of tracks and cueing has improved quite a bit I think. The tracklist is a little weak, but haven't had much time to filter through the latest stuff.

Anyway here it is. Hopefully Mixed 10 will be delightful.

Mixed 09 by Duball F

Mixed 08

2009-09-03T17:49:00.005+01:00

Its been an age since I last made a mix, but here's a short 30 0dd minute one to get back into the spirit of things. As always there's a ropey bit in the middle. Think I need to put some practice hours in.

Two changes to add also. Previously I was using Virtual DJ, a software package that came bundled with the midi control I use, but I've since upgraded to Traktor Pro. It's a hell of alot more conprehensive, and really makes VDJ seem like a 'toy' in some respects. Need to try out all the features, but its pretty slick to use.

Secondly is hosting. As you can see theres a waveform below. This is hosted on SoundCloud, a really cool site that's the music equivalent of Flickr almost, with elements of Twitter. You can follow people, download tunes and comment on tracks. Take a look. Anyway here's the mix.

Mixed 08 by Duball F

New Designers 2009

2009-07-17T19:57:00.021+01:00

This week myself and 8 other Ravensbourne Interaction students have been exhibiting at New Designers in the Business Design Centre, Islington.

I've never been before, even though it seemed the kids from every secondary school in London went yesterday, but my school must of been tight. It's really impressive, with a huge range of projects, various methods of displaying work, and each college and university with its own presentation style. Some colleges 'flash the cash' more than others, but on the whole its a great way to see designs that could potentially be in your home in the near future.

In the past, Rave Interaction have taken the 'bog standard' route, and exhibited students work on the walls just like every other college tends to do. But this year we decided to be a little different.

The core premiss was to draw people in with something unusual, then interact with them while explaining our projects. For this we chose to slap a table tennis table in the middle of our exhibit space, as you do!

On wednesday 15th July, we dressed in table tennis gear (White top, shorts and socks, with our own individual coloured headband), and these needed to be of the Umbro varity of course. We played table tennis with each other, andinvited to play when they approched. Around the stand were 'take-away' leaflets, with a summary of our 3rd year projects in, with 4 portfolios, containing further information about the projects. Apart from this, we had no work on the walls. To continue the theme we stamped 300 ping pong balls with our exhibit logo, and our website www.raveinteraction.com. Occassional these would travel from our space and down onto the spaces below, so our details spread around abit.

From walking around the Design Centre, everyone was talking about our stand. Some people didn't have a clue what we were doing, and wondered why, but others really liked the fresh thinking, and different take on presenting work, and interacting with people.

It was great fun, and throughout the day I won every single game I played*. I'm such a great ping pong player**.

On top of the 'take-away' leaflets were Top Trump style cards for people to take. On them were our personal details (Phone No., Email, Website), and a blurb about out interests ans strengths. These went down really well, with people taking the whole set of 9 card (one for each of us). Each card has its own individual colour, reflected by the headbands we wore, and project headers in the leaflet.
*Not true, **Not true again.

Business Cards

2009-07-16T12:07:00.004+01:00

I've had them for about two weeks now, but I felt I should make a new post about them regardless, as this site and the cards both compliment each other. I went though a few initial design ideas, but settled on this one in the end. Wanting to include a bit of myself in my cards, the colourful 'splats' and bold text kind of sum me up.

Flux

2009-07-03T22:31:00.000+01:00

I've decided to call my Final Major project flux. After alot of searching on thesaurus websites, and writing random names down, flux was the name of choice. Meaning 'state of constant change', it kind of suites the projects, as the main idea behind it is to show the constant progression of time and events, allowing everything to be changed with ease.

I normally wouldn't do this, but as its the last project, and it doesn't hurt, I've made a quick logo to compliment the project.

Brand Idea Two

2009-05-31T22:56:00.000+01:00

Been messing about abit, and came up with this little bugger. May make a few twicks, but i like it. I'll change the background colour to suit the project. RSA [Cyan], Collaborative [Yellow] and Individual [Magenta].

Possible Logo to place in the bottom left of the boards

Brand Idea One

2009-05-31T19:24:00.000+01:00

Here's a quick mock-up of how I'll brand my exhibition space for the coming sumative on the 17th and 18th of June. I'm pretty sure I'll use the same colour scheme of CMYK, (One colour associated with one project), but not sure on the layout and typo yet. I'll keep playing around tonight.

Immersive Time Management 2

2009-05-28T14:30:00.000+01:00

Here's abit of development on the main idea behind the Immersive calendar concept I'm producing for my final major project at Rave.

The general idea is to steer away from the normal, bog standard box/table style calendar seen in the likes of Gmail, Outlook and iCal. Instead I've proposed to design something more dynamic and immersive, that moves and changes as time progresses. Unlike the calendars mentioned above, I'd like to show time constantly moving forward, displaying it's effects in real time. Every minute that passes will bring events on the calendar that bit closer towards the present, and give the users a clearer sense of time before something is due to happen.

[Mock-up of 'Base Station']

The image above shows a work in progress mock-up of how the calendar will look. Using a standard smart board, or purpose made setup, the target audience is predominately aimed towards education institutions. Every class, year, course or level would have their own 'calendar board' installed in they room. On it would be the terms event, information, files and a 'base station' for students and staff alike to share and educate.

[Mock-up of iPhone app.]

The calendar 'base station' [seen above] would be accessible by all students with a smart phone or access to the institutes computer network. A mobile phone application would allow students to add, edit, share and view existing events on the move, and upload to the 'base station' for others to view either in the class room on the board, or on their phone.

For students without access to a smart phone, a widget, that loads at log-in onto a computer on the network would allow students to add, edit, share and view existing events on the service, then upload to the base station and other users for others to view.

Other possibilities include:

• Real time notices from anyone in the institution would scroll along the top of the 'base station' and widget, and in the 'Notices' page on the mobile app.
• Overlay map of the location of lectures and staff in the new Ravensbourne building [New setup in the building mean lectures in the building don't have an assigned desk. Instead they must sign into a desk using the telephone.] This would allow students to locate, assess their schedule and book a meeting time with a member of staff if a slot is free.
• Collaborate projects would allow students to view other courses or levels events, and grant access to particular files, notices and information.

I'll mention these possibilities in the project, but concentrate mainly on the calendar and networking aspect.

Immersive Time Management

2009-04-30T16:17:00.000+01:00

Calendars are all pretty boring to look at. A majority of them do the job they're intended to do, but lack visuals to help the user make sense of the data, and don't often show the progression of time. Here are the boards I produced to pitch the idea.

The idea behind this project is to design and build a physical 'calendar', that could be displayed in a room. This would show events, appointments and activities to its users in a physical manner, that constantly moves with the progression of time, and relays the information directly to the person it concerns.

Throughout this project, I will be researching existing calendar applications (online, offline and non-computer based), and assess the major differences between them. I'll also look at combining multi-platform calendars and timetables together, to use aspects of each type and create a more dynamic, physical time management system.

Here are a few ideas, where data from a computer based calendar may then be used to shape a visual, and physical representation of the events. Over the coming weeks, I will be building prototypes of some initial ideas, then gather results from user testing to develop the ideas.

Mixed 07 > April Mixture

2009-04-11T18:48:00.000+01:00

Mypodcast.com, the host i've used to store previous podcasts i've made, has been going through a bumpy batch recently, and for some reason all but 1 of my mixes have been deleted.

Looks like the sites ok at the moment, so here's Mixed 07. Two very dodgy bits, but that gives it sex appeal I feel.

Download it direct here, listen to it online, or subscribe to my podcast with iTunes. Up to you!

The Tracks >

: The Young Lovers - Shake Off The Ghosts
: His Majesty Andre - Peep Thong
: ATFC feat. Yasmeen - Tell U Y [Chris Lake Remix]
: Herve - Mars [Herve Re-Fix]
: Will Bailey - The Dutty Clem [Aniki's Will Love The Bass Mix]
: Nato Medrado - Dubai
: Jack Beats - Get Down
: Mike Candys & Jack Holiday - La Serenissima (Work That Body Remix)
: Breakdown - Play With It [Gigi Barocco Remix]
: Alena - Turn It Around
: Freestyle - [Don't Stop The Rock
: Martin Solveig - One 2 3 Four (Funk D Remode)
: Tomas Barfod Fredski - March On Swan Lage
: Deadmau5 - Brazil

Euphony

2009-03-09T20:13:00.000Z

Its been a while since I've posted on this bloody blog, but things have been abit hectic recently at uni, with two final major projects to address and other bits and bobs to do.

Well, my collaborative final major project has been a real headache so far. The plan is to make a music sequencer table, were multiple users can play and interact to create musical outcomes by pressing tactile buttons. Building the table itself was quite straight forward, with only a few steps. Cutting out an MDF circle being the first, then drilling it with a series of 128 holes, and finally placing 64 tr-colour LED'S and 64 buttons through the holes.

Today however myself and Dan (my team mate), started wiring the buttons into a circuit board we had made late last week. This proved very time consuming, and i referred to it being like having a really bad knot in your shoe laces when you were younger, and having no idea how to untie it.

Having 32 wires all jumbled and knotted was quite stressful at times, and having to then find particular wires to solder onto the circuit board made the day even more fun. Unfortunately we weren't even able to determine if the whole thing will work yet, so yet more fun and enjoyment to look forward too.

A log of the project so far can been found on our project blog as it happens. http://euphonyproject.wordpress.com/

Ipod Scratched

2009-01-11T19:01:00.000Z

Ipod's are great, letting you store your tracks onto a portable, attractive device, all really easily. Great. But if your like me, any sign of a scratch or nasty mark and my life's ruined. My eye is always drawn to it, and I'll always know it's no longer beautiful and pristine.

I've taken pretty good care of my iPod Classic, keeping it in a silicon case and not putting it in my pocket along with my keys. However the once nice, shiny metal back of my iPod has developed a few scratches. I'm not too sure why Apple decided to make the back super shiny, and a magnet for fingerprints and marks, but i wanted a fix.

I had a look around the net, and found a method of 'brushing' the back of the iPod, so it looked like brushed steel. Perfect!

I did as it suggested, and used a kitchen sponge with a scouring pad to 'scratch' the back. It looked pretty slick, and got rid of the original 'evil' scratches, but wasn't really the look I was after.

The sandpaper I had in my shed was far too coarse, and would scratch too deeply, but a green kitchen scourer without a sponge worked a treat and left a nice brushed effect.

First I got a Coca Cola box (other brands are available) and nudged a smaller box up against the side and taped it. This gave me a straight edge to rub the scouring pad against so all the scratches go in one direction.

I used electrical tape to cover the front and black lip on the side of the iPod, and stuck it down onto the box by doubling over the tape.

It took me about 45 minutes to get this effect, rubing back and fourth over the back one way. I then took care to do the same to the sides, top and bottom (covering over the hold switch with tape). I will most probably give it a second going over, but for the moment i'm happy with the look.

+, if I get any other evil scratches on the back now, i can just go down to the kitchen and scourer then away.

Mixed 06 > New Year, New Mixture

2009-01-08T21:10:00.001Z

A new year calls for a new mix. Been abit lazy and haven't really done much over christmas, but i thought it's time to wipe off the mince pie crumbs from my mixer and have a play about.

Download it direct here, listen to it online, or subscribe to my podcast with iTunes. Up to you!

The Tracks >

> Far och Son - Panik [Phatzoo Remix]
> Laywell - Rewind The Table [Club Mix]
> Static Rio - Static Rio
> House of Pain vs. Micky Slim - Jump Around [Tommy Trash Edit]
> Deadmau5 - Ghosts N Stuff [Original Mix]
> DJ Antoine - Figaro [Original Mix]
> Devilfish & Roel Salemink - Manalive [Jon Rundell Remix]
> Commander Yablo - Bus Stop
> Monosurround - Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock [Fukkk Offf Remix]
> Pulsedriver - Youth Of The Nation [Fox 5 Bigroom Mix]

RSA > Design Against Bicycle Theft Update > Cycle Tree

2008-11-19T11:05:00.000Z

Yesterday we presented our progress with the RSA project and pithead proposals to be entered into this years competition.

My first board showed research and how a user would operate the Cycle Tree. Locking and unlocking bikes would be achieved using any card with a magnetic strip on the back, as almost everyone carries at least one around at all times.

The second board realises the concept with a 3D model of the 'tree' concept courtesy of Mr. Adam Sadowski. An urban environment will suit the structure most, where it can merge with modern buildings and sculptures, but i still need to take a picture of a few locations around London to get the look i want.

With the end of the presentation came a list of names who's proposals will be entered into the RSA competition. Luckily one of them was mine, whoever i need to address a few safety issues of bike fall related deaths.

Mixed 05

2008-11-06T20:55:00.001Z

The latest mix of musical beats. Not as long as the others, but practice is good for your health.

Click the images below, or 'Download direct from here'

RSA > Design Against Bicycle Theft

2008-10-24T18:42:00.000+01:00

Here's my first presentation board for this terms RSA project. Its only a concept, but over the coming weeks I hope to refine the idea to something more credible.

The idea is to hoist bikes above the ground and away from the threat of vandalism and theft. I originally thought of hanging bikes from a tree, but then decided a metal structure would be more ideal, and act as an art installation too.

Mixed 04

2008-10-03T18:21:00.000+01:00

Time for a new mix i think. Finally got cue to work on the mixer so i don't have to guess where to start the next song from now.

Click the images below, or 'Right click' here to download the mix direct.

Touch Up My Aunt

2008-09-08T18:39:00.000+01:00

For my Aunts birthday (which is coming up in a few days) i decided to retouch a photograph of her when she was younger. The photo itself had seen better days, and being 50 odd years old i had to do quite alot to it. But it was all go practice, and let me try out a tablet i bought earlier this year.

aurora [Open Source DJ Mixer]

2008-07-10T20:23:00.000+01:00

Here's an absolutely brilliant design from a group of guys from America. Put simply, its a USB powered multi channel mixer, with two linear channel faders, a single a/b crossfader and eight backlit buttons. Twenty four backlit knobs allow you to control effects, and controllable ambient lighting enhances performances. Theres similar stuff to this available on the net and in shops, but the twist this mixer adds is that all functions are customisable, as the entire interface is controlled by Max/MSP. It can also be used with existing midi compatible software, but i just like the way this thing looks. If only my mixer looked like this. Love the whole Roman numerals and Greek Alpha and Beta symbols.

Check out their website and see how slick the whole thing looks. Very well designed and executed.

[aurora Flickr]

Duble F > Mixed

2008-06-16T00:02:00.000+01:00

After uploading a few mixes to djmixtape.net, i realised that after 2-3 months of the mix being online, it went offline, with no way of bringing it back. Its a great site but it restricts the users to only having 3 mixes live at a time, and each file must be smaller than 100MB.

This isn't a problem for me at the moment, but went i get some more time over the summer holidays, I'll probably want to upload more than a couple of mixes a month. A Plan B is needed. I did a little hunt, and found MyPodCast.com. Its a site that people who make regular podcasts to put on iTunes upload their files too. This is perfect for me, as its free, has unlimited storage and places the whole package in a blog format. You can even edit the CSS, so when i get some time i'll try and get it to look similar to this blog.

There's a link under "Fraser Plus" at the top right of this blog. You can SUBSCRIBE to my podcast from there. I recommend Mr. Craig and Mr. Russell to make one up.

Mixed 03

2008-06-14T23:26:00.000+01:00

My latest mix [14.06.08]. Still haven't managed to get the cue function to work, but ive tried to do a few different things during transitions. Two cock ups if i remember rightly, but have a download here anyway.

Mixed 02

2008-05-30T23:54:00.001+01:00

Heres my lastest mix if a mixture of music types. I finally got a new midi console this month to mix music on, but for some reason i'm having some teething problems with it. At the moment i can't cue up the next sound as the monitior function doesn't seem to work with the software setup. I've asked about it on forums so i'm sure it will get sorted soon, but for now theres no headphone functions. Theres a few cock ups, 1 cringe worthy but have a download here.

Honda Advert

2008-05-29T22:06:00.000+01:00

While i was watching C4 this evening the ads came on as they do in between shows, but this one was different. At first i didn't have a clue what was going on, the voice over man said something about people falling from a plane, then a banner slid onto the screen saying "Live ad from Spain". To the point, it was a Honda ad shot live from Spain.

"A team of elite skydivers attempt to form the letters H, O, N, D and A in sequence, within a three minute time limit.

Originally shown on Channel 4 at 8.10pm on 29th May 2008, this is the first ever truly live three minute TV ad shown in the UK."

Take a look at the ad on the Honda website. Good old Honda!

Shutdown Windows Faster

2008-05-28T18:07:00.000+01:00

Works a treat.

Start > Run, type Regedit.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
Right click on it and select Modify.
Set it to a value lower than 2000, 200ish.

Job done!

Fraser Plus

2008-05-28T16:32:00.001+01:00

To meet with the PPD requirements, I've added a new list of sites on the right hand side of my blog. Portfolio is where i will home past, present and future projects, Music will be where i post mixes and discuss tunes and My Del.icio.us is where i taste good.

GTA Etch-a-Sketch

2008-05-12T18:53:00.000+01:00

Found this on one of my favorite sites b0g. Some people just have too much bloody time on their hands. Great skills though.

Village Fete : RC Snake

2008-04-24T13:40:00.000+01:00

Today was the first time our group got together and decided how to grab the project by the horns. As project boss man, i looked at what issues needed to be addressed, and how best to deal with them. As a group, we then chose who's skills would be best used in specific areas. Everyone in the group seems enthusiastic about the concept, so this should be a pretty pleasant project.

If you have no idea what this project is all about, heres a few slides of the initial presentation, and a link to the Project Blog .

Mixed 01

2008-03-25T15:56:00.000Z

Some of you may know that i take a keen interest in music, and like trying my hand at mixing the stuff. Its a sort of hobby on the side, which i've enjoyed for a few years now. I've been the dj at a few friends parties, but now i decided to upload my mixes to a free mix hosting website djmixtape.net. I insist you go ahead and give it a listen. It would be great if you could give me some feedback too. I'm still practicing so its not prefect, but i love doing it so check it out. Download It Here.

Sprayed!

2008-03-06T13:54:00.000Z

Finally Pirate Press has defaced the streets and sprayed a message onto a pavement close to college. Heres a few pictures of how it turned out.

XNA Creators Club

2008-02-22T19:23:00.000Z

After lauching the service earlier this week, Microsoft have allowed members of the public to produce and share games they make via Xbox Live. If you have an Xbox Live account and a HDD you can download the XNA pack which will allow you to play 7 demos over the next 15 days.
So far i've tried two games, Culture, where you control a beam of light to make flowers grow in a world, and Jelly car, where you drive a squishy car over a squishy world trying to reach the exit. I was pretty impressed with both, as they play quite solidly and have a really cool style to them.
Being told in an email from one of our course leaders that we will be using this XNA platfom next term looks like it'll open up alot of options. Exciting stuff.

Instructables

2008-02-13T17:53:00.000Z

Most of you have probably seen this website, but for the ones that haven't heres a link. I first saw it early last year, but only just found it again. Theres money saving ideas, tips, tricks and a whole lot of other interesting stuff. Worth a look.

VE: Development process

2008-02-09T16:43:00.000Z

I've finally settled on the idea of arrays of rings to form pipes to travel along. The images below show a few lengths of 'pipe' arrange in a way that will allow the user to make decision on the path taken, but they are still all straight. I've search the net to find ways of bending the 'pipes' so it curves well (unlike the modifiers i've tried). Idealy i would like to make a sline and mount the rings along it, to make a pleasant curve. But the little bugger won't let me. Any ideas, please let me know.

Next step is to add more rings, add some shapes to create sounds and lighting effects(???) and find out how to pleasantly bend the rings.

The different coloured rings play a different sound when traveled through.

The start of making a start

2008-01-20T21:08:00.001Z

Haven't been on here for a real long time, so i feel i should post on this sabbath day.

Still need to start my sketchbook for this VE project and decide what direction i want to take, but i have an idea. I think either...

Wirey stuff: a mess of cables and pipes, with a different sound and colour linked to each. The user choses which path to take, and can affect the cables and pipes using a joystick. Moving up and down on the joystick could make the pitch of the sound bend, and left and right could change the path.
Circuit board: a board with a circuit on. The user would follow the circuits into resistors, fuses and stuff like that to get different sounds and effects.

I don't have a bloody idea how i'm going to do any of this, but i live in a land of hope and dreams. If i fail, i'll use my play blocks and stack of rings. Might even photoshop some kids into it.

Done and Dusted.......Almost!

2007-11-28T23:12:00.001Z

Well, 2 pints of water, a biscuit wrapper and a crisp packet later and my reports done. Full to the brim with bollocks. Still got to make a start on the sketchbook but I don't care for that. Only 11 hours and the Berlin project is complete. Can't wait to give a wave to my group with my left hand and a middle finger to the project with my right.

Photoshop Mock-ups Of Our Structure

2007-11-19T14:54:00.000Z

Here are two mock-ups of the dome our group has proposed to build. After about 4 or 5 weeks of the project, this was the first piece of work i did. I don't even think i picked up a pen before this. I'm a changed man now, and i've decided i might do some more work during this project. We'll see.

Interaction Aspects....

These are a few concept ideas for a Michael Jackass style moonwalking disco dancing pavment. Not too sure if it'll work but who cares. I don't

Wowza

2007-11-19T12:25:00.000Z

Wow, i've finally made a blog. I've pulled my finger out, and i'm going to start my project logs. If i remember, i'll post my work and thoughts about the day on here. I just hope my finger doesn't go back in!