For a lot of the projects we are working on here at Hellotank we are having to design for mobile devices as well as desktop and laptop screens. We’re heading towards everything we design and build for web being responsive –  in other words, creating web content that will work on any screen size. With new devices appearing almost daily and with them new screen sizes, the old days of designing purely for 1024 x 768 monitors are gone, so we have to rethink the way we design and come up with something more flexible.

It can be quite hit and miss when you’re trying to preview your designs on an iPhone. JPEGs auto scale to fit on screen and appear to be compressed. Trying to get a visual to fit to the screen width without scaling AND still allow you to scroll vertically, as you would a regular web page proves to be a bit of a challenge.

Finding a definitive resource on designing web content for mobile devices can be tricky. I’ve spent a long time scouring the web looking for concise, accurate and straightforward information on what size things should be when designing for a mobile device – specifically the iPhone Retina display. This article on Smashing Magazine is probably the best I’ve seen to date.

But it’s all so overblown. I just want to know a simple way to preview my designs accurately on my iPhone. Through reading other people’s experiences online and a fair bit of trial and error I’ve come up with a workflow that suits me and will hopefully be of some use to others.

This is by no means a definitive guide. This is just a nice simple way for previewing your designs on iPhone etc quickly and accurately. If anyone has any suggestions or improvements to this then I’m all ears.

Designing a website for iPhone Retina Display

Goes without saying but you need: Mac/PC with Photoshop, Dropbox, iPhone for previewing

1. Set up a Photoshop document at 640px x 960px @72dpi resolution
2. Design using vector shapes where possible

When you’re ready to preview on your device:

1. Save a copy of your Photoshop file as a PDF
2. Drop that PDF into a folder in Dropbox on your Mac/PC (I have a folder set up called ‘iPhone visuals’) that I just drop everything in
3. Open the Dropbox app on your iPhone/iPod Touch and locate the file you’ve just created
4. Et voila! Accurate previewing, no unnecessary compression, fits to width and allows vertical scrolling

• Broadband/wifi already setup – just bring your mac/pc
• Rates inclusive of Broadband, utilities and rates
• Shared meeting room
• Secure building, fully alarmed
• Quiet, light and roomy workspace
• Fantastic location in Cardiff Bay
• Shared kitchen with dishwasher, microwave, fridge etc
• Price on application

Give us a shout on mail[at]hellotank.com or on twitter [at]hellotank for more information if you’re interested.

Hellotank has been delighted to be involved with Cardiff Women’s Aid over the past year to help with their ‘Women’s Rights Education & Advocacy Project’.

Yesterday was a big day for the project with a launch event in the Pierhead building, Cardiff Bay. Championing the cause are Finance Minister Jane Hutt, Julie Morgan AM and Ospreys, Wales & British Lions rugby star Adam Jones. The project aims to challenge gender inequality and domestic violence and has already recruited and trained 42 female volunteers.

Hellotank created the branding and marketing materials (including the banner pictured) which are helping the project gain publicity and raise awareness. We hope this goes on to be a huge success and are very proud to back the campaign.

More information on yesterday’s event can be found on the WalesOnline website here: http://bit.ly/ILLZKx For more information on the project itself visit the Cardiff Women’s Aid website: http://bit.ly/Jgn5o6

Cardiff Women’s Aid asked Hellotank to be involved with their latest project – ‘Women’s Rights Education and Advocacy Project’. Of course, we jumped at the chance to help this worthwhile cause.

We worked closely with the lovely people at Cardiff Women’s Aid to create the branding and a range of printed material to promote their campaign. They were keen to get away from the stereotypical, gritty, hard hitting imagery and tone of voice associated with traditional women’s rights campaigns. We went for a lively colour palette coupled with strong, simple illustration and clear, elegant typography.

They were pretty pleased with the results:

Great service; exceeded expectations. Hellotank understood our vision perfectly and transformed it into a very strong, fun and vibrant brand for our project. They showed great flexibility to accommodate our needs; they were a pleasure to work with. We’d definitely use them again!

Claudia Donati | Women’s Rights Leader, Cardiff Women’s Aid

Read more testimonials here

It's strange when people pass away that you don't know but they've had a profound effect on the way you live your life. It's not until now that I've realised how much of my life has been influenced by Mr Jobs.

Ok, so I'm not the only one that uses Apple kit for my day to day work, but it goes further than that. As a designer, Apple stands tall for many of us in the design community as one of the world's truly great brands.

The Apple ethos of creating things that are a joy to use as well as being visually stunning is what many of us working in digital design strive to achieve every day.

Apple proved to the world that things can work brilliantly and be beautiful. CEO Steve Jobs was the talisman that pushed Apple forward, constantly breaking new ground and changing the way we live our lives in the western world. A true innovator. You only have to watch one of his great keynote speeches to see what we'll all be missing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBhYxj2SvRI).

Making things that more usable, more intuitive and more beautiful than anything we'd seen before. Things that we didn't even know we needed until we started using them, and then we couldn't live without them. I'd wager that Apple played a large part in this great stat too:

53% of young people would trade their sense of smell for technology

The Apple brand is stunning, the mark is timeless. Always ahead of the game - the iMac, the iPod, iPhone and iPad, iTunes. All amazing inventions that changed the way we communicate and consume our digital media.

Always striving for more and a true great of our time, Steve Jobs will be missed.

hellotank and Mr Marc Jennings (aka www.theundercard.co.uk) have literally moved up in the world. We’re still in the lovely Black Sheep building, slap bang in the heart of Cardiff Bay. Only now we’re in a beautiful, light and airy studio on the top floor.

We’re still in the process of kitting it out with the essentials (vintage console, mechanical robot toys etc.) but already it’s a great place to work.

2 desks available now!

So now we’re looking for 2 nice people to share this space with us. Ideally, 2 people working in a similar creative field so that we can create a collaborative working environment. We are a two graphic designers, working on branding, print, web and digital. We have 2 desks available immediately. Here’s the setup:

• Broadband already setup – just bring your mac/pc
• Rates inclusive of Broadband, utilities and rates
• Shared meeting room
• Super secure building, fully alarmed
• Quiet, light and roomy workspace
• Shared kitchen with dishwasher etc
• Price on application

Give us a shout on mail[at]hellotank.com or on twitter [at]hellotank if you’re interested.

An epic adventure: 2 people, 4 continents, 10 months and countless incredible experiences. Who could forget the Chinese shower cubicle of DEATH or the ABBA bus in Fiji? A photo journal capturing the essence of adventure in this 154 page, one off hardback book printed by www.bobbooks.co.uk. A personal project by hellotank. All photographs by Hellotank.

For the awesome new contemporary/parkour/breakin’ fusion dance piece by HLDT, hellotank was called upon to create their promo bits and bobs. Great pics by Dan Green.

In need of some promo cards, Hellotank created these ice breakers. Simple and effective conversation starters. Great prints from moo.

Hellotank was commissioned to create a brochure to market the new pieces by HLDT. Bridging the gap between contemporary and urban dance, Hellotank created this 4 page A4 brochure.