All posts by James

Freya contacted me looking for a new personal website early this year. Working with people to develop a personal website is always interesting, because it’s a challenge to make sure that the client’s idea of what they want, their personality, and the ‘feel’ of the website they are after is reflected in the finished product. Initial design concepts are rarely perfect first go, but through a consultative and collaborative process, a pleasing final product is always achievable.

Freya was a pleasure to work with and I am extremely grateful for the following feedback. Freya’s site can be seen online at www.freyamathews.net

12 March 2012

To whom it may concern,

James Morrell created a personal web site for me early in 2012. Its purpose was to showcase my work in environmental philosophy and to make some of my publications directly available, either by on-site content or by links to journals.

I supplied the imagery and content for the site, and explained to James the kind of look I was seeking. This was a different look from that of sites that James sent me as samples, but he listened carefully to what I wanted then offered successive approximations until I was entirely happy, the design itself evolving creatively throughout this process. James was wonderfully cooperative, receptive and patient in his approach to the task, creative in finding design solutions and very clear about what was and wasn’t within the limits of the design templates with which he was working. He had a clear time-line and stuck to it, and responded to requests and suggestions promptly.

In short, James was in every way a joy to work with, where this was in marked contrast to other experiences of web design I have had in the past, working with designers who either didn’t listen, didn’t respond promptly or were technically out of their depth.

I highly recommend James’ professional services.

Sincerely,

Freya Mathews

Professor Freya Mathews
Coordinator
Environmental Culture Research Cluster
Philosophy/CACE
Latrobe University
Vic 3086    Australia

I recently received this feedback from a long-term client of mine. It was nice to receive as a testament to a successful ongoing business relationship and a job well done. The new Speakers Ink website was launched earlier this month.

To whom it may concern.

I have known James Morrell professionally for about 4 years during which time he has worked extensively on website management and IT trouble shooting of all kinds.  I write this reference to vouch for James’ character and impressive work ethic  and to commend him to others, should they be fortunate in seeking his services.

James has always responded to all enquiries in a very timely and reliable manner, often going above and beyond to meet and exceed expectations.  His support and service has been truly appreciated whilst he has worked with Speakers Ink.  I have valued his input and professional advice as the business has grown and find him to be exceptionally reliable and trustworthy.

I feel extremely fortunate to have James as part of the Speakers Ink ‘team’ and hope that he will continue to provide IT support and assistance as and when required.

I have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever in recommending James.

I wish James every continued success in growing his own IT consultancy business and highly commend his services to you.

Director / Owner

Speakers Ink

Creating, or being part of a creative process is rarely a seamless activity. There are a number of factors that can make or break a project – particularly when there are numerous people involved in the process. Web Design and Development is one of the areas I have gained reasonable experience in, especially working with others to deliver a product. Throughout this experience I have worked with designers of all skill levels, different people liasing with clients, adapted existing sites into content management systems and designed for other developers. Each new project brings a new set of problems to solve in order to deliver the best result; however, here are my thoughts on what can help a project to run well when working with others.

Esentially, it all comes down to one point: every project has constraints

Each person involved in a project gets involved for different reasons. Maybe you are a designer with a keen eye for detail. Maybe you are a developer who values optimisation and clean code, or maybe you are a project manager who, at the end of the day, just wants the client to be happy. Not that all of these approaches are mutually exclusive, but generally everyone has a different focus. The key thing that determines which of these is dominant are the project constraints. Maybe its time, maybe its the budget – but theres always factors that determine how a project gets done, what gets cut and what makes it.

When working in a team during this process its crucial that everyone understands the constraints of a project, and understands the limitations and perspective of the other people in the team. Without this mutual understanding, projects can fall over or people leave disatisfied with the end result – something that no creative person likes.

Late last year some group members and I (see credits) put together this educational video on what happens to the body during Acute Radiation Syndrome.

This is the first time I have used Adobe AfterEffects. I was very impressed by its usability and features which made creating this video a lot simpler than in a program like Flash.

I don’t think ‘enjoy’ is the right word, but I hope you appreciate this video.