Personally I am in favour of keeping the name Windows 8.  It will match up nicely with Windows Phone 8 when it launches in the autumn of 2012, and it is a clean and elegent name as was Windows 7.

The 8 itself could be given many nice graphical treatments, but we need to remember that this is Microsoft.  Their track record of great branding is not that impressive.  As dull as I find Apple these days (apart from the gorgeous but overpriced hardware), and as boring as I find their naming convention of late (iSomething = iBoring), they manage the media and presentation in a way that always seems to impress.

So if not Windows 8, then what?

I have been following the forum threads and MaryJo Foley’s article on her ZDnet blog.

As a fan of the new UI, and even growing to like this multi-coloured approach to the Metro UI (compared to the single accent colour Windows Phone and Xbox 2011 UIs).

So to cut a long story short, here is a quick logo idea for Windows Metro.

*Open this link with Internet Explorer or Search “London Travel” with your Zune Software

A few months back, as launch details started being released for the new Windows Phones, Me, Michael and Levente began to realise our app idea was a bit too ambitious to have ready for launch, so we had to give some thought to what we should do. None of us wanted to compromise the original idea, so we decided to develop two apps instead of the one. This would enable us to have an app ready for launch, and to have a presence on the Windows Phone App Marketplace, allowing us the time we need to complete development on our fully featured app.

It was for this reason we made the decision to offer the simplifyed version for free, and to focus development efforts on having this free app ready. An added benefit with this, is the ability to recieve feedback on some of the UI elements, and more technical aspects of our app, which we could use to help improve the other app. One of the issues we came up against, is the unreliable nature of the Transport for London’s data services, which resulted in us having to completely re-write our web service which handles the transfer and formatting of the data from TfL, to our app. We also took the opportunity to implement Push Notifications in both the free and pro apps, for services chosen by the user.

So we now move on to our main project… London Travel Pro

With our first app now available to download, we move our focus onto our original project. We have been working with people from Microsoft UK, who gave me the opportunity in early October, to test both our apps on a developer handset, and to discuss some of the more technical aspects of the development and submission process, so thank you to Mike Ormond and Paul Foster for giving me that opportunity. I was lucky enough to also meet some of the guys who have been developing the pretty cool Graphic.ly app, and one of the guys responsible for Windows Phone marketing in the UK

I also have been talking to some people at TfL to ensure our app complies with all the requirements set out by their interlectual property team, and as such we have made a number of tweaks which I believe has greatly improved the look and functionality of the app, as well as ensured that we will have no problems in the future with complience – a problem many other apps for other platforms may find themselves experiencing, once TfL begin taking legal action.

So there we have it… Work continues, and if you can’t wait, we have a free app for you to use until we can deliver our pride and joy. We will be tweeting progress as we complete various parts of it, and if you have any feedback, problems, criticism or praise, please tweet us @londontravelapp.

Taking advantage of the Panoramic UI, and the fact that the Windows Phone design is based on transport signage and information design, what is better than a Transport Service and Information app to really get the most out of the UI.

So far, I have taken those mock ups and have really polished them, and slowly I am getting to grips with the development tools and platform, to create (and sometimes code up) the various pieces that will be needed for the app.  I have a volunteer on board who is coding up the data and web components that are at the heart of this app, but am still looking for people with Silverlight and C# experience who could help me ensure the various controls and code I am working on will work well, and make sure I don’t screw everything up.

If anyone is out there, willing to help us out, please do get in touch via email or twitter and if the app is a success, you will be listed on the credits/about page, with a link to your twitter or website, and if we are done before october, we may even be a launch day release!

Here are some sites where I have been talking about my app:

• Windows Phone 7 Developer Forums
• Windows Phone 7 Backstage Forums
• XDA Development Forum

It takes the best of the Zune, some ideas from the HTC Sense UI, and some stylings from the current Windows Mobile 6.5 interface. As this is what the rumours are suggesting. I will post my thoughts on the interface when details are shown later today, comparing them to the iPhone and Android OS’s (as far as the design is concerned at least).

And for a hint at what we may expect from Mr Ballmer later today, here is a clip of one of his most hilarious moments.

Windows Phone 7 Announcement at 2PM London Time

Overton Darts League

I was approached online to help come up with ideas for a logo which could be used by a community darts league.  They wanted something clean and simple for print and online use.  The italicised text and enclosure give a feeling of activity and movement.

The Centre for Forensic Neuroscience

This logo design was submitted to the site LogoSauce for a competition to design the logo for a UK based agency who provide legal expert witnesses in criminal trials.  I called it scatter-brain and the idea behind it was getting to the truth through the chaos.  The general shape was meant to reflect the shape of the human brain.

Station Web Hosting

This was another submission to a LogoSauce competition, and what’s more, it was a winner!  It started off as a very roughly conceived idea for the cord of a computer forming the letter S, but as it continued, it became more refined.

Inside Big Brother and Inside The X Factor

After the first year online for Inside Big Brother (previously BBUK Site), I decided to come up with some more permanent logos which could feature on both his sites.  I wanted them to be fun, and bold, but for both to convey a uniform style so you knew they were related.

After showing them to the webmaster, he eventually declined to use them, but I still think the designs are interesting, and so they are still going into the scrapbook for all to see.

Thanks go to Lee Seaman for being my usual sounding board for ideas, and suggesting a few ideas which led to these.

CMYK Print Services

This design was another competition entry to LogoSauce. As the name suggests, the design had to reflect the world of professional printing, so I designed using colours influenced by the 4 colours Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black.

The mark design is intended to represent the types of printing marks used as indicators on the printed page for cropping, and folding etc.

Fictional Zelda Movie Logo – July 2006

As you may or may not know, I am somewhat of a fan of the Legend of Zelda videogame series. I decided to look at one of the earlier logos used in the series, and re-created it (chips, and cracks included) in 3D. Once done, it felt a shame not to animate it somehow.

BBC Parliament Ident – August 2006

I had just finished some logo ideas for the BBC’s portfolio of TV channels. I decided to take the BBC Parliament logo design I made, and design animations and graphics for the channel’s on-screen appearance to go with it.

ITV News Titles – January 2006

When ITV announced that they would be changing their corporate logo, and re-designing their channels’ branding, I decided to dip my toe into the world of ITV, and design a new look for their news bulletins, as well as their studio.

This was a university assignment where we were asked to pick a subject from a list, which we would then work on finding a solution to the problems associated with it. I ended up choosing Noisy Neighbours and finding out the problems associated with them, before deciding on an advert to try to change behaviours.

View comments of this video on YouTube

Along with the advert I also had to record a commentary/presentation to explain the processes and research I did for the project

Another year, another identity refresh. Grunge was coming in as a Motion Graphic/Graphic design influence, and so I started to adopt grunge like features, now I go further into that visual language but not so sparse and clichéd as before.

View comments of this video on YouTube

In 2008 as business was going well, Darren came to me asking if I could provide him with an updated and streamlined brand which could be used online, but also on stationary, advertisements and even his car.

As most great designers know, Helvetica is the perfect font for getting a message across in a clear and non threatening way, so that became the basis of the logo design.  With the logo done, Darren began working on a revamped website and portfolio, so I offered some design advice and developed a bright colour scheme which would show the logo and typeface at its best.

Kierweb – Web Design and Computer Support

I seem to make a new ident for my work every year, and 2008 is no exception. This I think is my best yet, and has been designed from the ground up in HD. Please note that my rooftops ident makes a cameo appearance in the background!

View comments of this video on YouTube