If you’re asking, ‘Where is Dirk+Weiss!?’, then this may satisfy your curiosity, we hope. Truth is, we are the busiest we have ever been. Maybe a clear sign of a rebounding economy? We have been busy working steadily with our clients to provide the best solutions possible.

Since May, we have broken new ground with our website client from India, and are almost ready to launch a brand new website for them. We have also been in talks for a few new Apple iOS apps with local companies here in Boston, that range from utilities to more advanced experiential applications.

On a more technical note, we have gone 100% HTML5 and JavaScript in lieu of Flash for web and mobile based projects. While we believe flash can still have appropriate applications, the ever growing sector of mobile devices and platforms has shown it’s demand for such lightweight, open programming environments. And at the end of the day, we are looking at solutions for our clients that can range from computer screens to mobile devices, maximizing return on investment, as this is the road we are all on as consumers.

As the summer continues, we are preparing for a busy fall. We have some projects in the pipeline, and are working on what seems like a million things all the time. In addition to all the new projects that we are working towards, Matthew White of DW is working hard expanding his teaching experience over at the Art Institute of Boston @ Lesley University and Bunker Hill Community College teaching marketing and design classes.

Stay tuned to dirkweiss.com for a fresh, new, fast, efficient look coming soon. While the economy is rebounding, we all still live in an environment where trimming the economic fat is a necessity. If you’re unsure who to contact about your new design or marketing project, just give us a ring.

Matthew White of Dirk+Weiss will be co-presenting with Environmental Science professor Scott Benjamin at the ‘13th Annual Massachusetts Community College Conference on Teaching, Learning and Student Development‘. This conference is being held this year at Bunker Hill Community College, in Charlestown, MA.

The project to be presented is a digital lab, used in professor Scott Benjamin’s science classes at BHCC. The lab’s subject matter is understanding Evolution by Natural Selection. Matthew worked directly with Scott to translate a previously analog lab, comprised of seeds, paperclips and bits of paper, to a Flash driven, interactive experience.

The process of creating this lab involved collaborating with Scott on every step, from graphic design to Flash Actionscripting.

The results of translating the lab to digital media, has proven to be quite successful. Scott has collected statistical data from his students, including pre and post lab usage. Based on his testing, Scott sees a definite increase in concept retainment after students have used the software. Matt and Scott will split the presentation between the design and development process (Matt), and the statistical data and impact of this digital lab in the classroom (Scott).

The 13th Annual Massachusetts Community College Conference on Teaching, Learning and Student Development happens on April 9th, 2010 at Bunker Hill Community College.

We are pleased to announce the new interactive website for Matthew White of Dirk+Weiss.

The site contains a collection of ideas and projects, and is loaded with lots of information and connections.

This new site is built in Flash, and contains information graphics, video, marketing, web development and graphic design.

Creator Jason Stevens asks Matthew White of Dirk+Weiss a series of questions about what and how we do, what we do. Here is our response to our questions.

Read all the responses from other designers.

“Small Talk: 3 or 4 questions to 150 designers”

[DIMT] What does an iphone app look like during development, what’s the file type and what are the major components?
[DW] In a nutshell, during the development stage, Apps are code. But, thanks to Apple’s XCode environment, iPhone Apps have two overall parts: XCode (Under The Hood) and Interface Builder (The Look). The file extension is .xcodeproj until the building stage when they are packaged into .app files.

[DIMT] How is it there are 120,000+ iphone apps, plus those for other mobile devices, are apps easy to make?
[DW] First and foremost, Apps are lucrative if you know how to make them, and sell companies on having them. At this point in the game, to make apps, you need to know the CocoaTouch (Objective C) programming language. Could be a hurdle for some, but in the reality of things, that is no excuse. I am a designer, and I continue to learn code. Its not difficult, it’s actually quite logical. There are websites and forums out there that have thousands of developers sharing code and project files for learning. If you have time, you can learn to make apps. PLEASE do not go buy a $40+ book at Barnes and Noble. Just last week I watched a YouTube tutorial on how to incorporate horizontal finger gestures into my app. We all know Apple is known for there easy to use applications like iMovie and iPhoto. I would put money on the next iLife series having an iApp program so anyone can make Apps (ugh…Apple tablet…ugh). Speculation only of course.

[DIMT] Apps are just a portion of your business under your technology focus, what else is keeping you busy these days?
[DW] Designers that need programmers, and business that need results. Like I said, I am a designer that does development. There is ample value in being able to drive on both sides of the street, and clients know it.  I would also say that clients (a.k.a the people and business of the world) expect graphic designers to be able to at least talk about current web solutions right off the bat. If this is not the case, you can appear a bit antiquated. In our case, we find clients almost never request print design. Apparently this is a trend for not just us but lots of designers. In addition to clients, we also work on new initiatives for Dirk+Weiss that include our weekly Podcast, workshops, and of course iPhone Apps. I also am an Adjunct Faculty member at the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) @ Lesley University, teaching design and marketing related courses.

Graphic Design is about 90% thinking, organization, and reasoning, and about 10% making of objects. Design colleges are great at teaching how to make great design, but sometimes fall behind in the everyday components that Graphic Designers must use, in fear of hindering the creative process.

Starting October 24th, 2009, Matthew White of Dirk+Weiss will be teaching a pre-college class at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

The class, titled Graphic Design Techniques, is a college credit course for high school students seeking to learn more about a career in graphic design. Typically, students would look at magazines, posters, and books; and topics such as type, image, and form would be addressed. When making my syllabus and course materials, I really thought about what Graphic Design Techniques are in the 21st century.  Instead of the typical topics that you find in every college level graphic design curriculum, I decided to take a more eventual, and collaborative approach.

Here is a pull-quote from my class syllabus:

“Now more than ever, designers must realize the value of versatility. A designer’s skill set can influence all aspects of society. This course transcends traditional design techniques to explore contemporary design thinking.”

For example: Instead of showing stylized examples of graphic design, and lecturing about typography and the tools of designers, the class will collaborate and on projects and make pitch presentations to the class. While at the same time, learning Design Techniques such as:

• art vs. design
• designer collaboration
• connections between ideas
• design(ing) research
• reading the client
• presenting your work
• and more…

But what about type? Image? Form? Composition? How can a student design a class project without knowing about the rules of type?! Well, it’s not that those items will not come up in class. It is a graphic design class after all.

If it is a question of making pretty, and perfect examples of graphic design, then seven weeks is not a substitute for a design BFA. So emphasis will be placed on using whatever methods apply to the individual student, to design a solution for each project at hand. If a student is comfortable with illustration or photography, then use illustration or photography!

Since the course is only seven weeks, I would not expect a student to learn all about type, image, and composition, as well as learning a lot of the tools that make  ’Graphic Design’ happen. Also, if the students do decide to pursue a career in Graphic Design, they will take four years worth of classes that will teach them those fundamentals.

Also, I was thinking about how to connect my course content to the students, and possibly others. Why not share my course materials with the world? So, in leu of using the college online learning environment “Blackboard”, I have chosen to post all class materials, projects, and external media to a Facebook fan page, specifically designed for this class. Im sure Blackboard is a great tool, but it’s cumbersome nature as far as posting links with images, YouTube videos, and photo galleries, seemed to be a hurdle that I wanted to avoid. The students are already on Facebook, so why not bring the class materials to an environment that they already understand.