Paul Burgess

Moby MP3 promo download with Play.com

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:31:00 +0100

I was asked to design and build a system that would allow Play.com customers who bought the new Moby album, to have access to an exclusive MP3.

Here is an outline of what I constructed:
When you buy the Moby album ‘Wait for Me’ from Play.com, you also get a unique 10 digit code emailed to you. If you enter that code on to a page on Moby’s website you are emailed a link which lets you download an exclusive mp3.

Your download link expires after either 3 days or 3 clicks, whichever comes first.

I built a custom system using PHP and MySQL that handled this process and also produced the pages for the Moby website.

» You can see the offer on play.com and the promo page on moby.com

Toy Life - Designer and vinyl toy website

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:20:15 +0100

I was asked to redesign the website for the designer and vinyl toy shop, Toy Life. I had alsobuilt the previous version of their site - and to help matters, the site is run by the talented Mr & Mrs Muju who provided me with the initial bare bones layout, which I turned into a Wordpress theme and site template.

The site’s main news/blog area is powered by Wordpress. In addition I built a custom shop with a Paypal payent facility, along with an admin area to add and edit shop items.

I also created a photo gallery which links into Toy Life’s Flickr account and creates a gallery from that, so they have full control over the site’s content.

I’m very pleased with how the site came out. It feels simple to use and it looks great, mostly down to the great logo and colour scheme supplied and it is also helped by the fantastic photography that has been added.

» Visit toylife.co.uk

Kleerup - official website

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:29:00 +0100

I was asked to design and build the official website for DJ record producer and drummer, Kleerup. Here in the UK, he is probably best known for his number 1 in 2007 called ‘With Every Heartbeat’ featuring Robyn.

The site features a journal for Kleerup and a news area, videos, discography, photo gallery, streaming music, event listings and an exclusive members area.

When building sites for musicians I ask myself ‘As a music fan, what would I want from this website?’, and I believe the answer is, obviously, music. That would be followed closely by videos and event details - so these elements are prominent with the music player and featured video in the sidebar throughout the site, and the events featured ‘Live events’ featuring high up in the navigation.

The site is built using a mixture of custom made code and admin areas, Flickr - which was used to produce the photo gallery and Wordpress for the blogs and site framework - it is fully updateable by Kleerup and his management company which gives them a lot of control and flexibilty.

» Visit kleerup.net

(It was a client request that this site be built on the same foundation as my previous work for Royksopp, hence any similarity.)

Urban Dirty laptop, iPod and iPhone skins

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:05:00 +0000

The wonderful people at Infectious have launched a range of skins for your laptop, iPod or iPhone using images from my texture photo website Urban Dirty.

There are currently 4 designs to choose from, Crusts n’ rust, Grimey grill, Got it on lock & Greenery - plus an interview with yours truly about how it all began, influences and vices.

I am so chuffed that these texture photos are getting used this way and it’s great to see them online alongside the likes of Jon Burgerman, Buff Monster and Stuntkid to name a few. I’m extremely grateful to Infectious for showing such an interest. Hope you like the skins, they look pretty fresh huh?

Delarge and Urban Dirty in Dutch Web Designer mag

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:15:07 +0000

Issue 13 of Web Designer magazine in Holland features Delarge as a ‘Hot site’ for 2009, standing alongside the likes of Smashing Magazine which is a great compliment.

in addition, their free CD has a nice selection of texture photos from Urban Dirty:

Official website for Röyksopp

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:18:50 +0000

A few months ago I was approached about producing a new website for the popular dance act, Röyksopp, and I am pleased and proud to announce that the site is now live and in full effect at royksopp.com

It was my intention to create a website that is a step forward from most band/musician websites you usually see which fall foul to the full screen pop up window/flash intros/music blasting scenario or look like a deformed MySpace page. I wanted to build a site that was easy to use, based on xhtml and good css and made use of other websites and services. I also wanted it to be a site that Röyksopp fans would a) find useful and b) be able to get involved in - thankfully my contact at their management company felt the same way.

A streaming music player and a featured video appear in the sidebar throughout the site, so you can get straight to some Röyksopp audio/visual action with no messing. There is a full discography of all their releases complete with artwork and music clips as well as an events calendar with embedded Google map of the location and the ability to add your own photos for the event to the site via Flickr tags.

Flickr is also used in the gallery where the official Flickr photostream is seamlessly integrated into the site, along with the Röyksopp Live Flickr group - again, allowing users to add their own photos to the gallery.

Fans can sign up as members which allows them access to discounted tickets and the ability to post comments in the news and on the journal, titled the Idle Hour Club, where the band post more personal blog style entries about their travels and thoughts.

There is also a comprehensive video collection which uses videos embedded from Vimeo as well as links sprinkled throughout the site to Röyksopp on other social networks such as Facebook and Last FM.

But enough talk, the best way to see how it turned out is to visit royksopp.com..

Web Designer Magazine feature

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:55:14 +0000

Issue 154 of Web Designer Magazine has a double page spread featuring me and some of my web work. I made it into the ‘portfolio’ area of the magazine’s ‘Creative Careers’ section, which features some screenshots and a has a few words about my path into web design and my approach to website construction.

Huge thanks to the Web Designer Magazine team and if you’re in your local newsagents, be sure to bag a copy.

Advanced Photoshop Magazine - France

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Issue 9 (February 2009) of Advanced Photoshop Magazine in France is packing 50 texture from my Urban Dirty website on their free CD, alongside 25 free stock photos from Photogen. This fact even gets bigged up in a blue bubble on the cover.

Dutch Advanced Photoshop Magazine - Urban Dirty textures on CD - January 2009

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:48:00 +0000

Following on from their appearance last month, 25 texture photos from Urban Dirty were included on the CD in issue 13 of Advanced Photoshop Magazine in Holland. International grimy love.

Urban Dirty in French and Dutch Advanced Photoshop Magazine

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:38:00 +0000

50 texture photos from my Urban Dirty website were included on the CDs in the Dutch and French versions of Advanced Photoshop Magazine in December 2008. Big thanks to the crew at Imagine Publishing for including my stuff once again!

Custom blog design for DeadDeadDead

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:55:00 +0000

DeadDeadDead is a new ultra-creative wing of Garage Studios. They asked me make them a super simple customised blog, and that’s what they got. I created a custom ‘skin’ for Wordpress and kept the design minimal, this one is just a means for the crew to publish what they are up to and let their amazing photos take centre stage.

» Visit DeadDeadDead

Urban Dirty on Web Designer Magazine CD

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:32:18 +0000

My free texture download site, Urban Dirty, made another appearance on Web Designer Magazine’s free CD. Last month, 25 photos came free with the magazine to help photoshoppers and website be-boppers get some gritty grime in their style.

My portfolio featured on Design Meltdown

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:40:06 +0000

Design Meltdown is a popular site run by Patrick McNeil for observing techniques, trends and examples of modern web design. This week, a feature on personal portfolios was published which included my own.

I’m honored to see my work up there, thank you so much Patrick for including me.

Urban Dirty textures in 'Advanced Web' magazine

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:47:18 +0000

The first issue of Advanced Web magazine came out in France last month, covering many aspects of working on the web from Photoshop art through to Ajax coding. To make it even more of a treat there were 80 photos from Urban Dirty included on the magazine’s CD.

My Dirtpress theme for Wordpress

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:27:00 +0100

I often use Wordpress as a framework to build websites on. Due to its versatility, it allows you to create custom designs or themes. I have created a Wordpress theme based on texture photos from my Urban Dirty website, aptly titled ’Dirtpress’.

Here is a screenshot of the homepage:

Whilst it may look quite heavy on the graphics, the theme itself uses only 4 images and is really quite simple under the hood. It has a few nifty features like highlighting the latest post and a transparent background image, but largely remains a very basic offering - which was the main idea.

Whilst many themes offer photoshop files and javascript libraries included in the download, I wanted people to be able to download Dirtpress and have it up, running and customised in a few clicks with no need for any other software or scripts.

Because of its simple nature, it’s also good for those who would like to build on it or who are new to Wordpress development.

I am very pleased with how it came out, and have a few more planned that follow a different design path.

The Dirtpress theme for Wordpress is available to download at Theme Forest.

Garage Studios website

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:08:00 +0100

I just just finished work on the website for a new photography studio here in Brighton called Garage Studios.

A venture run by Dark Daze, Adam Bronkhorst and fellow studio partner Matt, Garage Studios is Brighton’s biggest permanent studio and they are kicking out some tasty, tasty stuff.

The website features info on all their services, courses and studio space along with photo galleries, a blog and pages that the Garage staff can update themseleves.

I’m excited for these guys and what the future holds for them and look forward to seeing what they produce in the upcoming months. Good luck chaps!

Mockupr - Present your website mockups in a browser

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:55:00 +0100

Here’s another little idea/side-project of mine. I find myself emailing static image mockups to clients quite a lot. Rather than send them a raw image that will appear resized when they view it, I want them to see it full size, online, in a browser to get a real idea of how it will look.

Rather than making a page each time and embedding an image, I wanted a quick way to get the mockup to appear in a browser. So I built Mockupr. It’s very simple, you upload your image and it shows it in a browser with its own link.

In order to keep it simple and quick, I have avoided any sign-up / sign-in or password process by giving each mock up a unique unguessable and customisable link that you can email to your client. I hope some web designers out there find it useful, I know a few have already.

» Visit mockupr.com

Urban Dirty textures on Advanced Photoshop Magazine CD

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:38:00 +0100

Urban Dirty makes another appearance on a magazine CD. This time, Issue 48 of Advanced Photoshop Magazine has 50 photos included on the CD to complement the urban/worn effect design tutorial inside.

Interviewed for documentary about Miss Aniela

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:05:48 +0100

I welcomed Miss Aniela and members of a film crew from Spain into the HQ on the 6th August 08 to do an interview about Miss Aniela’s work, her website, Flickr and the internet. It was fun, although as is often the case with these things, I think back and wonder ‘why did I say that?’

I don’t know when the documentary will be finished, but when it is, I’ll slap up some footage.

My 'WordBurner' email newsletter tutorial on Nettuts

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:09:00 +0100

Nettuts is a popular tutorial website offering useful tips and tricks on web design and development. I wrote a tutorial on how to ‘Build a ‘WordBurner’ Email Newsletter Manager using WordPress and FeedBurner’ which was published on the site. I run through a technique to create and send email newsletters using the Wordpress blogging system combined with a service called FeedBurner.

The ‘WordBurner’ method was an idea that struck me when Miss Aniela asked me to provide her with the means to send out a newsletter. She already had a Wordpress blog which she was comfortable using and a FeedBurner RSS feed, so I combined the two to create this way of handling email updates.

This is the first tutorial I have written and I’m so pleased to see it up on Nettuts, the feedback seems positive too. Massive thanks to Collis for publishing it.

» Read my tutorial on nettuts.com