06/2007 Article Archive

  • June 30, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Bumptop Desktop: What To Do When You Find Out You've Been Living in a Box

    To give credit where credit is due, I saw Bumptop on Cameron Moll�s blog. This is a great example of how we can become stuck in a one dimensional way of thinking when it comes to design. You�ve probably heard the story of the woman who cut off an inch around the edge of her pot roast before she cooked it because that�s the way her mother did it and her mother�s mother did it. When her grandmother is confronted with the question of why, she tells her granddaughter that she simply never had a pan big enough to fit the whole roast. When I saw the Bumptop demo I imagine I felt about the same as that woman did when she found out she was wasting good roast. In web design, as technology and bandwidth go up, we should always be looking for new ways to �fill the whole pan�. If you don�t, someone else will. Watch the Video

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    • 907 Views
  • June 30, 2007 in Product Reviews

    If You Want Professional Online Video Content Try PodTech.net

    The chaos cloud that is YouTube and most other online video content providers can be very interesting… for a little while. But ultimately, on the viewing end of things, we enjoy well produced, well informed content. PodTech.net has a little more of that sparkle we expect from trusted content providers. It also speaks to a niche audience that wouldn’t have a chance for a spot even on a cable network with hundreds of channels. It’s worth checking out and if you make the web developer blog rounds on a regular basis, you will probably recognize a few names as you browse through the latest videos.

    • 1 Comments
    • 900 Views
  • June 28, 2007 in Business & Process

    Blurring the Lines Between Life and Work

    Traditionally (or at least for the past 100 year or so) there has been a very clear distinction between home life and work life. I won’t get into all the cultural implications of that mindset but suffice it to say that I’m glad things are beginning to change. I am learning to view my work as a vocation rather than a career — something that my parent’s generation never had the joy of experiencing. For them, unfortunately, you were either a hard worker or a bum. Now, I admit that some separation of the facets of your life is important but I think you will find that the more you view them all as an extension of a single goal, the more fulfilling the whole process becomes. Here’s a photo of my father-in-law with our new daughter during one of my spur of the moment work/vacation trips in the middle of the week. I love my job!

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    • 820 Views
  • June 25, 2007 in Design Inspiration

    Are Splash Pages Really the Devil?

    Well, one look at my home page (Liquid Design Media) and you probably already know how I feel about the question. But the issue is much more complex than that. The new web 2.0 generation of designers has told us to reject the splash page as an unnecessary barrier between the visitor and the information they want to see. I would agree with that assertion in most cases and, in fact, I very rarely use splash pages. However, there are some instances where I would highly recommend a splash page. Generally, the higher the art factor in the content of the site, the more appropriate a splash page is. I the case my web site, though, I feel like the splash page helps direct visitors more effectively to the content they are looking for. The point is that you shouldn�t let the latest trends dictate the direction you take on a site. Do what works best.

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    • 881 Views
  • June 21, 2007 in Business & Process

    Website to Earth: "I am not a brochure!"

    Recently, I’ve been starting meetings with prospective clients a little differently. Right off the bat, I tell them not to think of their website as a brochure. For some reason this concept sparks a big "ohhhhh" moment for a lot of people who aren’t in the industry. A brochure is static, difficult to change, and updated once every few years. Sound familiar? More than once I’ve found myself lost in a maze of sentence fragments and nonsensical rambling trying to explain how the web has changed in the last couple of years. It’s a hard issue to convey concisely. Take it from me and don’t try to tackle it head on. Just say, “Your website is not a brochure and if you treat it like one, you won’t be getting the most out of it.” For most of the business owners you will run into, their website is the most effective and efficient tool they have to communicate with, track, and serve new and existing clients. Doesn’t sound like a brochure to me.

    • 0 Comments
    • 905 Views
  • June 19, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    What To Do When a Friend or Charity Needs a WebSite and You Just Can't Say No

    If you�ve been in the web design business for very long you know how frequent requests for free work can be. Charities need websites, your friends are constantly coming up with ideas that need websites, relatives need a family reunion website, and the list goes on and on. I�ve found that the best way to deal with these kinds of requests is to decide in advance how many free projects you will work on per year and stick with that number no matter what. Otherwise, your business can easily get smothered by all the great causes. Also, don�t forget the myriad of free tools that can get your free loading clients up and running really fast with minimal effort. My personal preference is to use and feedburner.com to create a quick custom blog. With a few minor tweaks to one of blogger�s built-in templates and a little time configuring feedburner, I can have a pretty nice looking website with some very impressive features. Here is one that I am working on right now. It has taken me a total of three hours to get it where it is. Not too bad!

    • 0 Comments
    • 837 Views
  • June 14, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Midessa Mashup - An Experiment in the Power of Stealing Stuff

    I’ve been talking a lot recently about different tools that can be used to mashup various types of content. A few weeks ago I decided to try a little experiment based on some of these mashup concepts I’ve been going on and on about. I set out to build a central news site for two closely situated cities in my area. The catch is that the site had to rely 100% on other people’s content and code. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds. There were a lot of times when I was dying to break my own rule and jump in there and start writing PHP code. I didn’t, though, and the ad free mashup result is at MidessaMashup.com. I designed the site as much for other developers as for the communities that the site represents so there are tips and explanations scattered throughout the site. Enjoy!

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    • 845 Views
  • June 12, 2007 in Design Inspiration

    Stock Photography is Out

    I know it�s really easy to just go to a stock photography site and pick out a quick stock photo for your project but you may be hurting yourself more than you realize. Yeah, it looks good, but stock photography is easy to spot and gives a disingenuous vibe. People buy from people, not models. I would recommend forming a relationship with a local photographer and including their fee as part of your web projects. Here is a photo taken by my partner in photography (leavethecamera.com). It looks good but it also looks real. It�s the best of both worlds and it only tacked a couple hundred to the cost of the project. Well worth it.

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    • 941 Views
  • June 6, 2007 in Business & Process

    » Protecting your ideas is overrated » Simple and Loveable

    » Protecting your ideas is overrated » Simple and Loveable As usual, Simple and Loveable is right on the money. Generally, aspiring entrepreneurs believe that their unique idea is what will make their business great, when actually it’s process by which the idea is thrust into the marketplace. Case in point, I have a client who is a photographer (leavethecamera.com) with a “unique” approach to selling photographs online. Sure enough, as soon as he launched his business, there was a local copycat. He freaked out at first but after I gave him some encouraging words, he calmed down and the copycat fizzled out in a couple of months. It was his dedication to his clients and his commitment to his idea that made his business rise above… not the idea itself. So share share share!

    • 1 Comments
    • 824 Views
  • June 5, 2007 in Business & Process

    Get a General Idea and Run With It

    It would probably make me sick if I knew just how much time I have spent in preparation of projects with Liquid Design Media. Detailed proposals and flowcharts can become black holes that just keep getting bigger and I wave bye-bye to them long ago. Don�t get me wrong, it�s important to manage the expectations of your client, but leaving some things up in the air can be a great benefit to you in the long run if you under-promise and over-deliver. If you must prepare a presentation for a client, use other people�s web sites to demonstrate points and build screenshots of the interface if you must. This method is much more tangible to the listener. They won�t understand everything that is going on in your head anyway so give them something that they can see and touch. Follow this advise and you will see what a beautiful job being a web designer can be.

    • 0 Comments
    • 877 Views
  • June 4, 2007 in Business & Process

    How Ads Really Work: Superfans and Noobs | fortuitous

    How Ads Really Work: Superfans and Noobs | fortuitous This is a great article about internet advertising. A big chunk of it centers around the new Google Analytics hit tracking program. I’ve used it and I can honestly say that I am impressed. They have added some very interesting reports like “Visitor Loyalty” that I have already found very helpful.

    • 0 Comments
    • 904 Views
  • June 1, 2007 in Design Tips & Tutorials

    RoundedCornr: Rounded Corner and Gradient Generator

    RoundedCornr: Rounded Corner and Gradient Generator Let’s face it. Rounded corners are cool and square ones just ain’t so cool. So, you can use PhotoShop to painstakingly build each rounded corner, or you can just use a little CSS from roundcornr.com. I know that this is a tool that I could use daily at Liquid Design Media.

    • 2 Comments
    • 1690 Views