Blog of website & interface designer, Darran Morris.

Some incredible new tools have been created for Jobspeaker, the online job search management tool and Poly has played a key role updating the design of the site to allow for the new tools.

The homepage has received a makeover to market the new functionality and to reflect the change in priorities for the application. The addition of a new Firefox plugin which allows you to save and forward jobs is a big shift in focus for the service.

A clear and easy to use area was created in the site to manage saved jobs. Users can now update the status of each saved job to reflect the stage of their application/interview/job acceptance process.

Jobspeaker is evolving fast to become a major player in the online job search market and will be undergoing many updates in the next few months to add more power to an already impressive toolkit.

iLeads and iFiles iPhone app icons

Two great apps have just been released and app-bits has designed the shiny logos to market them on the App Store.

The first is iLeads by Bartizan Connects. The company has an app that works something like the fishbowl full of business cards at networking events, but your own personal fishbowl where you can retrieve your leads afterwards. After a few concepts and iterations, and some real care gone into the glass effect on the bowl so that it is recognisable in all sizes, the icon above was produced.

The second icon is for iFiles by Imagam. The company wanted something to represent the ability to share files, so we came up with the idea of three users holding hands. This is then presented on a swishy yellow leather folder. Posh or wha’?

Head on over to the work section on app-bits.com to see more detail and sizes.

Got some more free stuff for you! Drop over to app-bits and you’ll find some free icons designed specifically for use in the tab bar in iPhone apps.

All I ask is that you drop me a line, or give app-bits a mention if you use them!

Download the free icon set here.

For apps.ie, app-bits, and a bunch of other material I have been creating, I needed a nice vector based Android phone to display work on the device. I set about illustrating a T-Mobile G1.

I thought this may be handy for other designers and developers to use, so here you go.. A free, downloadable vector based psd of a G1 phone. Enjoy!

Been busy lately. Really busy. With two sites coming out one after the other this month and more designs in the pipeline, there’s no rest for the wicked.

Apps.ie has just been released to the public, fortified with twenty developers, 36 apps and counting. The site is a showcase for the incredible iPhone development talent in Ireland. Its a place for users to find Irish based apps also.

The site has a minimalistic, clean layout with neutral grey tones to show off the work done by the developers rather than the site itself.

The site is based on a CMS, but has added functionality to support the developer logins, where they can manage their app listings with ease.

As usual, there’s a small case study in the work section of the site, go check it out!

Update: Apps.ie featured in an article on the Sunday Business Post, but the article is not online (yet).

Quick post to announce the just released our new icon and UI studio: app-bits. We created a place where we can sell icons for mobile/web/whatever you like and also our UI design services targeted at mobile app developers.

A unique feature is the one-off app icons that disappear off the store shelf once purchased. This ensures that the app that uses the icon will have a unique identity.

We’re giving stuff away for free too! There’s a freely downloadable icon set for use on the iPhone toolbar.

We have a short case study in our work showcase.

Update: app-bits is now featured on WebDesignIre and CSS Mania!

Just finished work on user experience and design for the beta of Jobspeaker. Its a brand new, exciting web app that allows job seekers to search for and rate recruiters in their area. Really proud of this work, it has been a really intense final two months pulling the brand, UI and the design for the web app together.

It’s free right now for job seekers, but there is still a ton of new features and functionality to be added to the app. When it all comes together, Jobspeaker should be a force to be reckoned with on the recruiting scene!

There’s a short case study now in the work section of the site, I’ll be creating a more detailed version soon, so check back to read more. You can view Jobspeaker here. While you are at it, why not sign up to really check it out?

So, it’s been a little quiet on the blog front lately, but we have been very busy. Besides working on a big project at the moment, (more to come on this later!), we also just moved office.

We’re very excited about the move. You can now find us in the bustling Temple Bar district. We are in the Temple Bar Cultural Trust building on East Essex Street. Its a lovely old brick building, but its bright and modern inside. Temple Bar makes a big change from the quieter Dundrum, and it really gets us closer to the action.

Every so often Poly wants to give something back! Here’s a little desktop background for y’all.. I know its bizarre but I got a little Knight Rider inspired and thought Poly should have its own big rig to drive out of down the M50! You can download it here if you like it (1600 x 1200).

Our designs for the new Android app, Crowd Pleazer have just been finalised. Its a fun soundboard style application for Google Android phones where users can download and rate sounds on their phone. No messing around, its that simple! We had  a bit of fun with this one :)