I was lucky enough to meet some of the Product Development team at Facebook London, and have a tour of their brand new campus near Tottenham Court Road. They are one of the most innovative Product Development teams in the world, so it was fascinating to see how they work. — The Office The new Facebook London office is incredible, there is all you could ever want and so much more - from an arts and crafts workshop to an ice cream bar and games room.

Regardless of how good the underlying product is, it’s the design that the user interacts with. The design can either enable the user to get the most out of the product, or if designed badly it can even become a barrier to using it properly. Whilst every product wants to stand out in the marketplace, it’s sometimes this overwhelming desire to be unique that can actually be its downfall. — Material Design is a visual language developed by Google, which was introduced a few years ago. It defines the way in which apps should look and behave. Google developed Material Design to unify the user experience across all Google platforms, from operating systems and apps, to the new watches and…

Design often recognises the beauty in simplicity, from clean, minimalist architecture to flat design and shadowless UI. There is a misconception that simplicity is easy compared to complexity, but there is great skill in making the complex accessible to everyone by thoughtful organisation and reduction. — Leonardo Da Vinci once said that Simplicity is the greatest sophistication. It’s very relevant today, but what makes it so powerful is to think that he said this in a time when the art and architecture was so intricate and complicated, a long time before simplicity was fashionable.

Breakpoints are the screen resolution dimensions at which your website will adapt to better display the page content. It’s common to define and work towards the devices you’re targeting (iPhone, iPad etc.), but defining for products that are in use today can be a nightmare going forward. Instead, it is much better practice to let the content itself determine when it should adapt. — You’ve probably heard of the ‘Mobile First’ approach. Tackling the small screen design first is a good idea as it forces you to concentrate on what is really important. Once you’ve perfected your minimum view you can start to expand the screen size until a breakpoint becomes necessary.

Receiving a full brief and signed off copy before you start the design is the dream, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way. All too often companies lack the copywriting staff, or it just needs to be done ‘today’. But being able to craft the perfect copy can be almost as rewarding as nailing the perfect design. — Having been involved with plenty of marketing projects and ideas you probably know what copy works and does your design justice, and what just looks like sales filler. Although actually composing it yourself is still a challenge.

The golden ratio is something every designer should be aware of. Based on the Fibonacci number, the golden ratio is the relationship between two proportions, which is pleasing to the eye and looks right. It can be found in nature, in architecture (old and new), art, music, and in good design. — Using the golden ratio in your design work is easy, and it can help with instinctively pleasing page layouts and user interfaces. Often used by photographers, a rule of thirds is the basic principle behind the golden ratio. Instead of dividing your space equally, use thirds to create balance and…

Normal image files (JPG, PNG etc.) are made up of pixels and have a finite resolution before they start becoming grainy and pixelated. Vectors however, are made up of lines, shapes and points, and are instead saved as mathematical expressions. What this means is that they have perfect clarity at any zoom level, so they are ideal for large signage and logos. — Traditionally vectors have been seen as flat, two dimensional graphics. But with gradients and shadows it’s possible (although not easy!) to recreate even the most complex images to be photo realistic.