Kenneth Tse Blog

I have devised a new theme switcher on my own website today. It's something I always wanted to have on the site to provide an alternative visual palette for users and demonstrate how easy a site's general make-up can be altered using various style-sheets and graphics.



Just like fashion, graphic design also moves with trend. What may appear to be modern, edgy or 'in' at the time can literally be unfashionable and dated overnight. Re-skinning my site has never been so easy.

There are several key reasons for this decision:

- To create several themes to suit a particular user's mood or to accommodate a potential client's business requirement
- To provide greater flexibility to update my site cosmetically at a whim
- To satisfy my creative expression with change
- To creatively challenge CSS boundaries

For designers and developers alike who are running their own website, many rarely update their site's overall appearance once it's up and running. There can be a number of reasons for this, for example: the complexity of the site's framework. For me personally, before I understood how to manually hand code in (x)html and apply style-sheets in CSS, it was the time invested for the general technical and graphical maintenance of a site that was discouraging.

This has all changed since CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) have become common practice in the world of "web design" and I have welcomed this advance with open arms. I became frustrated when my designs in photshop were not making a seamless transition from canvas to front-end development. It was at that point I realised I should take the time and initiative to hand code and make myself become a more efficient web designer for development. This has subsequently made me more appreciative and sympathetic towards the development process, equiping me with the right knowledge to effectively execute a functional and practical website. I cannot emphasise enough the importance for every designer involved in web to embrace and appreciate it's fundamental relationship with front-end design and development.

I will be adding more themes to my site over time.

I am pleased to have been officially appointed the role of Lead UX Designer for a further 6 months on a contract basis at T-Mobile, UK. I will fulfill this new and important position in a recent restructure to the online team to driving creative excellence and stability during the transitional period before the role is permanently assigned. In recent months, I have played a pivotal role managing the online creative, working closely together with creative partners to deliver a more coherent brand and campaign across all channels. I will also continue to support head of online experience, James Hoeksma to secure three permanent positions for UX designers to service and transform the site experience over the next 12 months to deliver world class web for 2010.

With the imminent release of T-Mobile's highly anticipated Google G1 mobile phone running on the much 'hyped' and talked about 'Android' platform. I was working against the clock under extreme pressure, with only 7 working hours to turn design around for development and deployment, a pre-launch registration page was required on the 'What's Hot' section on the T-Mobile's commerce channel to capture market audience and interest. The result has proved a magnificent success, for the 1st phase of the online campaign.

The subject title means 'I am studying Japanese' - I think, I am little rusty around the corners as it's a language which I have predominantly self taught and picked up along the way during my year out in Japan as a Creative Director at a company called Paradigm, an International publishing house in Tokyo, Japan. I plan to take the Japanese Proficiency Language Test Level 4, also know as JPLT in December 2008, in which I have already submitted my application for the test. The JPLT curriculum is recognised globally, with Level 1 being the most advanced and through to Level 4, being the entry level and would be the UK equivalent to GSCE.

T-Mobile is part of one of the largest mobile companies in the world. It's the UK network of T-Mobile International, a major branch of Deutsche Telekom AG whose subsidiaries and affiliated companies serve over 86 million mobile customers worldwide. T-Mobile International operates mobile companies in the USA, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Poland.

I am currently employed by German mobile network provider T-Mobile since April 2008, and appointed as their online user experience web designer reporting to James Hoeksma, Head of Online Experience. This is a contract position and will be subject for review during November 2008. I work as part of their online user experience team located at T-Mobile's head office in Hatfield, UK. Team members consists of user experience web designers, web developers, web producers, project manager, sales, business and web analysts and content administrators.