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Technology & Design

Posted in Graphics, Learning, Websites on June 4th, 2009 by James – Be the first to comment

It is amazing to watch a child grow up with technology as normal while the older generation is still figuring it out how to adjust to it. My one year old spends most of the day pushing buttons, opening doors, or trying to take things apart. Hopefully, that desire to learn how things work will last a lifetime. I can only wonder what the future will be like. The world is changing fast. I wonder if anyone predicted that information would be so accessible though the internet. It is simple to learn so many things that previously were confined to trained professionals. Websites and online tools allow you to manage your banking and investments, publish a book, sell your original music and much more.

Open access to vast knowledge has eliminated the traditional barriers to entry into many fields of work. Web design is a field that has no such barriers. Anything you need to know about web design is available online and can be self-taught. Many professionals started out tinkering and then developed their new skills into a career.

Why it is valuable to pay for professional web design if it’s so easy to do?

  • Time: Web design basics are simple, but it quickly gets complex and takes a lot of time to develop professional level skills.
  • Experience: Like any profession, there is immense value in practical experience.
  • Standards: Professional web sites should be built to web standards. These standards are a benchmark that separate professionals from amateurs.
  • Style: This aspect is subjective. Generally, professionals have a higher quality of aesthetic style.

So if you need a professional website, hire a pro. If you’re a technology sponge, start learning and soon you may have a new career.

Rock Stars of the Web

Posted in Learning, Websites on May 27th, 2009 by James – 1 Comment

Intel has a commercial portraying Ajay Bhatt, co-inventor of the USB, as if he was a rock star. Check it out:

If the web industry had it’s own rock star commercial it would have to feature Jeffrey Zeldman or Eric Meyer. Both are well known for starting the movement to create standard practices for web sites and making sure browsers supported those standards.

  • Zeldman is the co-founder of the Web Standards Project (WaSP), started A List Apart and his own studio, has authored several books and lectures on the topic of web standards. He was recently called “the godfather of web standards” by .net Magazine.
  • Meyer is famous for his standards evangelism at Netscape, authoring numerous books on CSS, and lecturing on CSS and web standards.

The official web standards are maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These standards have become an integral part of professional web development, thanks to the pioneering work of Meyer and Zeldman. Standards ensure a website’s audience is viewing the site as the designer intended and also provide a benchmark for quality work. Thanks rock stars, rock on!

Further Reading:

Designing with Web Standards

Jeffery Zeldman

Eric Meyer

Eric Meyer

Browser Wars, Part Deux

Posted in Animation, Design, Photography, Websites on May 13th, 2009 by James – 1 Comment

Remember when everyone had AOL, prodigy, or Compuserve? Those were the days of the original browser wars. Internet Explorer battled it out with Netscape Navigator while websites proudly displayed badges to support their chosen weapon.

browsers

While that debate has faded, there is a new browser war going on, this time it’s Web Designers vs. Internet Explorer 6. You don’t have to look far to find blog posts by designers and developers using vile words to describe IE6. For the un-initiated, IE6 has issues displaying websites built to current standards. This makes make building websites that work for the majority of users much more difficult. Advancements have been made by Microsoft in subsequent releases of IE 7 & 8, but there are still far too many users that have not upgraded to modern browsers. Most power users have moved on from IE to Firefox, Safari or others that are built to facilitate standards based web design, but the IE6 contingency is unfortunately too large to ignore.

What’s a designer to do? Some have taken elitist stance of serving an empty page to IE6 users with a message to upgrade. Others provide a stripped down text only version of their site. This may be justified from the designer’s perspective but isolates IE6 users, many of whom are stuck with it by enterprise IT departments. Sites that must cater to a wide audience go through the tedious effort of adding IE6 specific tweaks to make things work. These tweaks add extra cost and complexity to the development process, resulting in increased distain for the enemy browser.

Some interesting new approaches have emerged that are gentler than the forced methods and bring needed attention to the issue. IE6update.com and pushuptheweb.com have devised tools that attach a message to your site that is only viewed by users of IE6. This message suggests the user upgrade their browser to get the maximum experience. I prefer this kinder approach to bringing users up to speed instead of punishing them for being out of date.

ie6update

pushuptheweb

Despite these methods, IE6 isn’t going to die as fast as designers would like, so we have to deal with it for now. It helps to reminisce about the progress that has been made in the past years thanks to the web standards movement. Be glad we are past the time when every site had a flashing “under construction” graphic, and a 56k modem was cutting edge.

More info:

Photography

Posted in Design, Learning, Photography, Websites on February 15th, 2009 by James – Be the first to comment

I love photography. Life would not be nearly as fun without cameras. Photos can quickly explain a product, express an quality of a company, or provide personal connection to an experience. When designing websites or printed materials, I utilize both stock and custom photography.

Stock photography is an easy and inexpensive way to get high quality images on a huge array of topics. Instead of hiring a photographer to take specific pictures you can quickly find numerous examples online for a fraction of the cost. An example would be the three stock images I selected for the intro page design of Omni Law Group. This firm was seeking a graphic representation of it’s marketing message. The challenge with stock photography is selecting the right photo from the expanse of options. An overall vision of the project’s styling goals is required in order to ensure a cohesive result.

Omni Law Group

Stock Photography - Omni Law Group

Custom photography is best for specific photos, such as a portraits, product shots, projects, or capture events. I recently assisted entrepreneurs at BhatiaOne with custom package designs. Once the designs were printed, I photographed the finished products for use in their marketing presentations. This was a cost effective way to quickly get a new product to a professional level, ready for presentation to buyers. I have also worked with several professional photographers whose talent, training, and experience provide amazing results. The quality of the photography directly impacts the quality of the overall design.

Product Photography - BhatiaOne

Product Photography - BhatiaOne

Stock and custom photos can be a strong design element on web and print media. Creating a cohesive appealing design requires careful selection of photos and coordinating design. The end result can be a powerful image, worth thousands of words.

Custom Flash Animation

Posted in Animation, Learning, Websites on February 6th, 2009 by James – Be the first to comment

I recently completed an elaborate flash animation now online at endfossilfuels.com (see “What is a Carbon Offset?”). Working with a script developed by my client at Comcast Spotlight SF, I developed a set of themed icons which were animated to narration and sound effects. The resulting animation is an effective sales tool which educates website visitors about carbon offsets.

Custom Flash Animation (Click to Play)

Custom Flash Animation (Click to Play)

Current Projects

Posted in Design, My Projects, Websites on January 16th, 2009 by James – Be the first to comment

jcd_screen

I’m currently in the process of creating CarletonDesign.com (this blog is part of it) as my new portfolio site to replace jrcid.com.

I can’t wait to convert the design to CSS/HTML so I can insert the new content. I have some great ideas. Now that the design concept is settled, I’m finalizing textures and colors.

I also have been working with Eric at E & J Design on the next version of LEEDstudy.com. Check out that design, it’s still a work in progress.

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