I was fortunate enough to stay in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean over Christmas, a truly unforgettable experience I’m glad I had the chance to do before the islands are inevitably lost to the waves some time this century (a fate shared by similar low-lying islands in the Pacific).

During the trip I visited Rasdhoo in Rasdhoo Atoll, a colourful and friendly fishing village/island that has cleverly taken advantage of the passing tourist trade with guided tours and numerous souvenir shops. Scattered around the island were some unusual net-covered frames, which I assumed at first to be a kind of rack or storage system. But after seeing someone sitting in one I realised they were actually seats for public use. Given the frequent rainfall and abundance of spare/old netting (since most of the village’s income is from fishing), a net-chair is an amazingly resourceful, economical, and effective design solution. Formed plastic chairs are relatively expensive to produce, and have a habit of retaining water after heavy rain; two problems elegantly solved by the net-chair. Great design in an unexpected place!

My ‘AlphaBetas’ modular typeface gets it’s own 3-D browser made using Flash and Papervision3D, and it also works with blue/amber 3-D specs.

Go to http://www.benstevens.co.uk/projects/alphabetas to play and learn more about how I made it.

From today, a new clock screensaver is available to download for free from the VectaNecta page on my site.

“‘Oscillate’ is a conceptual version of the traditional clock. Visually, it takes the form of a compass where each line represents a quarter of a standard clock face. Three coloured vectors pulse in quick succession to reveal the time.”

Download Oscillate screensaver from here for a limited time only

This might seem quite petty and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but the figures soon add up. Making a quick calculation using figures found on the web, using my computer alone will generate about 280kg of CO2 this year:

iMac 20″ (Mid 2007) power consumption : 200W(1)

Average daily usage : 10 hours
Average weekly usage : 50 hours
Average annual usage : 2,600 hours

iMac power consumption per year = 0.2kW * 2,600 hours = 520kWh

CO2 emissions per year = 520kWh * 0.537(2) = 279.24 kg CO2

Sources:
(1) iMac (Mid 2007) – Technical Specifications – http://support.apple.com/kb/SP16
(2) Green Company | Simple Carbon Caculator (figures via. Defra) – http://www.nef.org.uk/greencompany/co2calculator.htm

So I intend to make a number of pledges to reduce my environmental impact and become more carbon-neutral. I acknowledge that they probably won’t cover my total carbon footprint by any means, but at least it’s something.

More details about my green pledges be published soon at http://www.benstevens.co.uk/green

A quick overview of the new stuff:

Navigation

The new site menu is Flash-based with an XML back-end for easy updating (there’s an alternative static HTML version for iPhone and older browsers when Flash is not supported). Each menu item has a sprite underneath with a simple triangle drawn using vector intersection points (see Vector class from Killswitch Collective for non-CS4 users). Then it’s down to TweenLite and the Elastic easing class to handle the ‘springy’ opening effect. Tint values are retrieved from the XML, and they also transition using the Elastic class. Simple, and fun to play with.

Work

The recent work page features only a grid of thumbnails with rollover info for now. Larger screenshots of work will be coming soon.

Feed / Links / Studio

Nothing much changed from the old site here. Added a page to tell you about my studio. More content on that page soon, perhaps I’ll add a webcam or something interesting. I am am keen to collaborate with other creative individuals so just drop me a line if you’re interested.

VectaNecta

I’ve been inspired by the guys at ustwo™ studio, particularly by the asethetic of their innovative Flashion™ concept and by the 80′s arcarde style of the Matt Rowe site I recently worked on (design by Form UK). The creative direction of the ‘VectaNecta’ project (VectaNecta = “Vector Nectar”) is yet to be finalised. Watch this space for more info.

Rock Constructions is a stage-set design & construction company based in Lincolnshire, UK. They’ve been making stages since 1979 for concerts, fashion shows, conferences, and many other high-profile events.

The new ‘Rock’ identity was designed using a geometric triangular grid to reflect the company’s stage-set construction credentials. The word ‘Constructions’ is typeset in AlphaBetas typeface by Ben Stevens.

Their new website is now online at www.rockconstructions.co.uk

Just finished work on the official website of music producer-extraordinaire, Matt Rowe. He’s famous for producing many Spice Girls, Amy Winehouse, and Sugababes hits. The site is online now at mattrowe-music.com

Update 06/06/09 – Featured in the July edition of Computer Arts magazine.
Update: 25/4/2009 – Featured in the May edition of Creative Review magazine.

Credits

Flash development: Ben Stevens
Build by: rehabstudio
Design & art direction: Form UK
Sound: Matt Rowe

To better organise my time and efforts between freelancing, private clients, and self-initiated projects, I will conduct any future work in the following manner:

• This web site (BenStevens.co.uk) will be used to promote my Flash freelance services and publish the cool work I’ve undertaken for digital agencies;
• Ben Stevens Design (www.benstevensdesign.com)
  will offer interactive / graphic design services to private clients seeking innovative digital media solutions;
• Supernova (www.supernova.me)
  will be used exclusively to publish details of self-initiated projects. More details on this at a later date.

I want to thank all readers for following my progress via this blog over the last year, and invite you to follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/benstevens) for more frequent updates and banter.

I’ve just finished work on the new KangaROOS Global web site, designed and directed by the guys at Rehabstudio.

Being one of the first Flash Papervision3D web sites I’ve developed I’m very happy with how it has turned out. Chances are that if you’ve seen an interactive spin-able 3D globe on the web it’s probably done in Papervision3D (or something similar) – so there’s nothing too ground-breaking there. But combined with cool bouncy 3D lines that rotate with the globe and time-sensitive information such as localised weather conditions, you’ve got quite a nice site on your hands.

The site downloads live weather information from an RSS feed based on your current location, which is calcuated using your IP address. Even the site’s artwork changes after dark.

The site also invites visitors to upload images of the ‘contents of their pockets’ – since KangaROOS’ trainers cunningly feature mini-pouches for storing loose change and little bits of paper with your home address on (if you’re aged 30+), or an ingenius way of smuggling narcotics into clubs if you don’t have a home address, or any loose change.

The new KangaROOS Global site can be visited here:

www.kangaroos.com