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Ze Frank

In choosing a topic for this months newsletter, I thought why not write about our favourite web funny man – Ze Frank?

What does he do exactly, well, in his own words: “I suppose you’d call it, “Intellectual Comedy.”
Ze Frank has been called many things – Web Extraordinaire, Pioneer in the digital world, Internet Impresario, the list goes on….and to add to that, Ze Frank is also good looking, intelligent, funny, but most importantly, nice, as gathered by his catchphrase, “This is Ze Frank… thinking so you don’t have to”. He has an uncanny ability to reach out to his audience in a warm, empathetic manner, connecting people in a world that is becoming more and more impersonal through digital communication.


Above: Ze Frank: “By the way: Thank you. Without you I’d just be a weirdo, talking to myself”

His accolades are extensive, ranging from website creation, which has received several rewards, to community projects, to his very own show, guest lecturing at prestigious institutions, filming videos on a regular basis for Time Magazine, speaking at popular conferences such as TED and yet somehow still finding the time to reply to his fans personally with empathy and warmth.

All these accomplishments could make many of us feel a little overwhelmed, and Ze Frank is a man of many talents, but also a man who willingly shares his talents with us, makes us laugh, makes us think and most importantly, makes us believe that anything is creatively possible. He makes the web fun and is arguably one of the most entertaining, insightful and smart online entertainers around. But the most important thing is that he’s connecting people through creativity and emotion, shown by his most recent moving talk for TED


Above: Ze Frank’s moving talk for TED

Living a fairly quiet, though interesting life, Ze Frank only rose to fame in 2001 when he created an online invitation inviting all his friends to his birthday. The difference was in the invitation. His dance moves weren’t something to forget, and before you could blink again, the friends had forwarded it onto all their friends, creating a chain reaction which resulted in a huge rise in popularity. Suddenly his pet project, the website was receiving a whole lot more attention, with its clever, tongue in cheek posts and deceptively simple appearance, entertaining online audiences across the world. So it wasn’t a surprise when it was voted “Best Personal Website” by the Webby Awards in 2002, going onto receiving prestige by no less than the Time Magazine crew for “50 Coolest Websites” in 2005, and his website is indeed cool. His simple, yet humorous Flash games are endlessly entertaining, however, the difference comes in through his online “projects”, aimed at bringing people together through zany challenges, such as the “toilet paper as clothing”, and the “placing of bread on opposite ends of the earth” competition (a resounding success). Ze Frank truly has an astounding way of getting his audience involved, drawing out our innate creativity, playing with it, encouraging it and best of all, accepting it in whatever form it comes in.


Above: Ze Frank

Ze Frank does not only operate under the radar though, he came out, so to speak, with his own show called simply, Ze Frank style, “The Show with Ze Frank”. It was a 3-5 minute program that ran for exactly a year, which involved Ze and the audience collaborating and sharing views on a number of subjects, including media and current events. Games and challenges were often thrown in for some extra spice. Ze Frank never planned his shows, always relying on inspiration, and his audience to provide him with the fuel and improvise from there. Not one to put creativity in a box, he encourages all forms of it, believing it to be highly personal and unique to each individual.
Between projects, this highly creative and busy man still finds time to get involved in various other causes, such as serving on the advisory board of Bazaarvoice and Buzzfeed, and guest lecturing at the The Royal College of Art in London as well as The Pratt Institute. Mr. Frank also provides client consulting, and has been an artist in residence at MSN. He frequently appears at annual technology events such as the TED Conference and Pop!Tech. Last but but certainly not the limit nor the least, he has filmed a series of videos for Time Magazine, all highly insightful with his trademark sense of humour and empathy.

We’ll say it again – Ze Frank is a gem: smart, funny, accomplished and empathetic… and wise. In that spirit, as he would say: “Don’t swim upstream baby. The future is right where you were!”

Acrobat Workshop – A resounding success

On a sweltering summer day in November, publishers and creatives alike joined Friends of Design for a much anticipated workshop on the newest design developments, in particular, the release and new improvements on the ever popular Adobe Acrobat (X), as well as to discuss future trends in digital design.

Above: Our School Director, Eva, giving insights into Adobe Acrobat X.

Eva Csernyanszky, School Director, popular Adobe speaker and expert in all things digital design, led the workshop and guided attendees through the various new applications on the new Acrobat. However, the clincher was the hype around electronic and digital publishing and the possibilities thereof. Exciting examples were demonstrated from Wired magazine, Popular Science, Time and Sports Illustrated – all pioneers in this brave new world – opening up brand new ways of thinking and giving the audience plenty of fresh ideas to ponder.

Above: Our School Director, Eva, presenting to invited industry guests from the field of publishing.

Feedback has been fabulously positive, ranging from quotes such as “Wow! Thanks for sharing those examples!”, to “Thanks for your commitment and remaining ‘cutting edge’ relevant”. All we can say is thank you for attending, it’s always lovely to see your familiar faces and catch up on the latest news. Speaking of news, should you wish to get “in the know”, please feel free to download digital assets from Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (i.e. Overlay Creator, Content Bundler and Indesign Plugin).

Above: Workshop participants enjoying a break.

With all that in mind, you cannot afford to miss out on our next workshop!

Join us on Monday 29th November from 1:00pm – 2:30pm at 186 Bree Street to talk about “Improved Web Integration – Flash Catalyst”. Anyone who is already in the web design field that needs an update will benefit greatly from this workshop. We will also review the new services and software features on web applications in the new Adobe CS5.

Book your seat now before it fills up and RSVP to info@friendsofdesign.net
We look forward to seeing you, as ever.

Adobe® Illustrator™ for Fashion Design

Do you, as a Fashion Designer, want to be able create digitally original, distinctive and unique designs? Feel that hand drawings are no longer cutting it, so to speak? Want to be able to work with flat drawings, working drawings and storyboards easily? Wouldn’t it be great to have a program that could do all this for you and much, much more? If your answer is “yes” to any of these questions, look no further!

Adobe® Illustrator™ is definitely the superior tool for creative pro’s, due to its flexibility and versatility which gives it an edge in the world of fashion, design, lifestyle and advertising. It has become an important visual element in these fields and many more, lending to and enriching content in many publications such as magazines among others.

We will show you how to make the most of Adobe® Illustrator™ as a Fashion Designer, using the vast array of easy to use tools such as the drawing tool, colour controls and expressive natural brushes. We will also show you how to use Illustrator™ to increase efficiency, saving you time and allowing you to reach your target audience in an effective and precise manner. With the combination of Adobe® Illustrator™ plus two introductory lessons in Adobe® Photoshop™, beautiful and compelling designs can be created to result in a new, more complex visual language.

In today’s hectic, deadline-driven world of design, any tool that increases output and enhances efficiency is invaluable, as well as being able to come up with original designs again and again. This is all possible using Adobe® Illustrator™, so don’t delay, book your seat now and secure your success!

Adobe® Photoshop™ for Interior Design

Want to have the freedom to work more easily with your interior images, customizing and tailoring them to fulfill your client’s requirements? Wouldn’t it be great to create numerous versions of interior space, adjusting it accordingly with efficiency and ease? Want to present your client with images that leap to life before their eyes where attention to detail and extraordinary colours create visually unique and exciting designs? Adobe® Photoshop™ is the ideal tool for this and much more, adding value to your toolbox as an interior designer.

As an Interior Designer, using Adobe® Photoshop™ together with your traditional AutoCAD, your images are edited with great ease and efficiency, delivering your original idea with breathtaking precision. Extraordinary results are achieved using the groundbreaking and easy to use creative tools. We will show you how to make the most of these tools to insert, edit and replace your images, prepare presentations, mock up your concepts by adding artificial lighting, and layer images to build composite images that display your design with original clarity. This ultimately saves you time and increases output whilst giving you more freedom to work with your design and give the client exactly what they asked for. In addition, we will show you how to use Adobe® Photoshop™ 3D to create strong visual effects, and most importantly, increase flexibility and creative freedom when presenting to your client.

Adobe® Indesign™ for ePublishing

Although still in its infancy, the technology used for displaying content on devices such as tablets, Iphones and Ipads, is available to traditional designers and layout artists using Adobe® Indesign™.

Following in the footsteps of online publishing pioneers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, we explore the opportunities and restrictions when preparing literature such as books and novels, newsletters, and even newspapers for online publishing using Adobe® Indesign™ and the new ePub output format.

Keep up with the times, and join Friends of Design in applying essential techniques such as styles, forcing page breaks, adding metadata and exporting for ePub format and more.

Adobe® Web Updates

Upskill your creative team and boost their productivity with our software upgrade training, guaranteeing you and your clients peace of mind when handling complex creative briefs and projects. Handle the newest versions of Adobe® Dreamweaver™ and Adobe® Flash™ with ease, and walk away confident with new tools such as Adobe® Flash Catalyst™ to add to your toolbox. Don’t delay, book now and take advantage of our new spacious professional facilities and knowledgeable trainers who will show you how to make the most of Adobe® Creative Suite 5.

Adobe® Print Updates

Upskill your creative team and boost their productivity with our upgrade training, guaranteeing you and your clients peace of mind when handling creative briefs and projects on newer versions of your favourite tools. Handle the latest versions of Adobe® Photoshop™, Adobe® Illustrator™ and Adobe® Indesign™ workflows with ease, and walk away confident to tackle the tools and handle the most complex of tasks. Don’t delay, book now and take advantage of our new spacious professional facilities and knowledgeable trainers who will show you how to make the most of Adobe®’s latest creative suite tools.

Adobe® Acrobat X™ Collaborative Workflows

Most people are under the impression that Adobe® Acrobat X™ is just a PDF Creator and reader. However, Adobe® Acrobat X™ is so much more than that.

Are you looking for new ways to share and collaborate with your colleagues and clients on important projects? Wouldn’t it be great to manage workflows more effectively, increase productivity and ensure reliability and consistency? With Adobe® Acrobat X™, this has never been easier. Using groundbreaking collaborative tools, sharing, commenting and reviewing is phenomenally improved. We will show you how to use Adobe® Acrobat X™ to achieve all this and more, making the review and markup process quicker, smarter and more cost effective resulting in a higher quality of work in less time. In addition, the need for extensive paperwork is effectively removed, with review tracking. And the ability to share and collaborate on files across local area networks, online or via email. This in turn benefits both your company as well as the environment. With all this to look forward to, don’t delay, book now to ensure your seat!