The opportunity to work with the great people at McSweeney’s and play a part in determining the future of a publishing company that has inspired me for many years is very, very exciting.

Of course, this means that I am no longer considering any new freelance projects or consulting work. Please direct any enquires of this nature to the awesome guys at Spoiled Milk.

This is their first mobile app and is a digital version of The Annual, a yearly retrospective of the best work in visual communication from the fields of advertising, graphic design, digital media, packaging, music videos and related media. The print version is also released today.

The application concept, design and development was done by me.

The work is arranged by the date on which the project launched or first aired. Those deemed to be of outstanding merit are featured in the Best in Book section. As well as a text summary and full credits, each project includes a selection of high-resolution, zoomable, pannable images. Where appropriate, the project is viewable on YouTube or the web. With a favourites section and option to share via email, Twitter or Facebook, the app can be used to quickly build up a personal inspiration book.

“Father of Lies. The griffins were gone. She was born for love. What is the money to me? He heard a chilling baying. She met him at the door.
He galloped down a side alley. Come and sit down here beside me. Its pincer arms crunched together empty. Then he was alone. He’s about done the job now. I’m nothing by myself. Has your rum come? It is so dark.
But Crombie was already whirling. Was it edible? Something grotesque poked into the room. One way or another. He heard a groan. There was no more to see. Xanth is a perfect Demon. The coral accedes. The shield sank a bit.”

Firstly, I have launched a whole new version of my personal website. Hopefully it provides a better representation of what I do than my previous blog-only based site. I hope you like it!

www.russellquinn.com

Secondly, I have been working with McSweeney’s, the indie US publishing house, on an iPhone application. It has just launched and you can find out more about it here:

www.russellquinn.com/mcsweeneys

So, my recent decision to move away from full-time duties has been a difficult one to make. The reasons are simply that I need to take a break. After devoting so much of my time and energies to Spoiled Milk over the years, it’s important to me that I take some time out now – an extended sabbatical if you like – to work on some other projects and explore other interests.

This doesn’t mean I am leaving completely. I will remain a member of the board of directors, as well as assuming the new role of Technical Consultant. Our Zürich-based technologist Christian Vollenweider will take over the Technical Director duties and continue steering the ship along with David, Casper, Frederik and the rest of the team.

There are many exciting times ahead for Spoiled Milk as we enter the next phase of our development. We are no longer the new upstarts on the scene, but now find ourselves as an established part of the web, design and creative markets. We will strive to continue building on this story, while still promoting our core values in usability, intuitiveness and feeling.

Speak soon!

Russell.

[Post originally published here on the Spoiled Milk blog]

However, I got all tied up in my pseudo-analytical nonsense and so it still remains unfinished. Therefore I come to you with nothing, but this simple apology and a couple of snippets of personal news.

- Spoiled Milk have launched their new identity and website: www.spoiledmilk.dk

- Spoiled Milk Zweigniederlassung (the Swiss foreign branch) is now up and running and recruiting for iPhone and Ruby on Rails developers (More information). Andreas will be joining us at the start of September.

- I am now settling into a new Swiss life at Klingenhof in Zürich with Lucy. It’s very nice being here with her. Our first few months are mainly pictorially documented at Flickr.

- I will be DJ’ing for the first time in Zürich on Friday, 26th of September at Abart before and after The Futureheads play.

- I will be in Berlin from the 1st to the 4th of September for RailsConf. Let me know if you’re attending too.

I promise to return soon with some more rambling posts, in the meantime my Twitter is probably where I’m writing the most.

Anyway, I am pleased to launch the latest iteration of my website today. It retains the content of my previous blog, but with a fresh new design (with thanks to Casper), a little more information about some of the projects I’m involved in and big hopes for the future as I attempt to angle the content more towards a discussion platform.

For those of you reading this via the RSS feed… now is the time to actually visit its home. For those of you browsing by… syndicate here!

By last Monday morning I finally hit the jackpot: shooting cramps, nausea and a tender spot right by my appendix! After an emergency appointment with my doctor I was duly shipped off to Bispebjerg Hospital for 24 hours of blood tests, ultrasounds and CAT scans. After everything very serious and mildly serious was ruled out, the final verdict was an inconclusive guess that maybe a hernia operation I had three years ago had become aggravated. Oddly it turned out that said operation was exactly three years ago to the very day. I can’t help thinking that some guarantee ran out.

“Bispebjerg Hospital was designed by the architect Martin Nyrop and covers 48 acres. During the German occupation of Denmark 1940 to 1945 in World War II, the hospital treated those illegally resisting the occupying forces, harboured jews and helped transport about 2,000 of them to safety in neutral Sweden.”

An hour after leaving the train station at Sølrod in a westerly direction, I was beginning to regret not bringing a map. The area is a hotchpotch of tiny villages and vast open countryside. All I had to go on was a brief glimpse at Google maps twenty minutes before I left home.

I decided to stick to the roads and just enjoy the exploratory walk. During a total walking time of four hours, I remarkably managed to not only find the anticipated kalkgrave, but also to navigate myself to the distant village of Karlslunde and a bus journey home. The only upsetting part was that by the time I reached the quarry, the light was too disappointing for any photography or excavating.