11/2007 Article Archive

  • November 30, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Digg Me! Oh, Please, Please, Please!

    Digg is a great concept. In my opinion, it has made the single greatest contribution to the awareness of the difference between traditional media and the web. Because of Digg, we are now able to comment and vote on just about everything. For these things, Digg, I thank you. You have made the task of spreading the good news of the web much easier. Now, all due credit having been given, I would like to point to a little mess Digg has created.

    • 5 Comments
    • 1946 Views
  • November 28, 2007 in Design Tips & Tutorials

    How Bad Pagination Ruined Blockbuster's Cool Web 2.0 Site

    Ah, pagination... we use it so often we forget it's even there. We glide gracefully from page to page taking every click for granted. That is, of course, until we are jolted back to reality by a site that has it all wrong. Bad pagination can make you do and say things you ordinarily wouldn't dream of. It's absolutely infuriating.

    • 1 Comments
    • 3577 Views
  • November 26, 2007 in Business & Process

    5 Reasons to Use "5 Reasons" in Your Blog Post Title

    By now it's no secret that advertising "five reasons why..."in a blog post title is an effective technique for enticing clickthroughs. Advice pointing to this tactic is rampant in the blogosphere and, I have to admit, I've used the technique myself a time or two (not counting this post). But the technique has transformed from a cool little trick to an all out internet phenomenon.

    • 2 Comments
    • 1831 Views
  • November 23, 2007 in Design Tips & Tutorials

    Simple Animation With CSS Is The Next Logical Step

    Webkit recently posted an article on their blog Surfin' Safari describing a new set of CSS functions currently in the works. The purpose of these new functions is to allow animation using simple CSS attributes. Vitamin's comment about the venture was "Now I don't know why you'd want to, but hey, you can". I couldn't disagree more.

    • 0 Comments
    • 1484 Views
  • November 21, 2007 in Web Design Worldview

    Effective Web Site Design: Understanding Unity and Diversity

    There have been thousands of books and articles written outlining, explaining, and defining the elements of a good web site design. Many usability experts even go so far as to dictate the acceptable size of various common web site elements down to the pixel. Everyone has their "fool-proof" checklist of parts that, when added together, should total up to a great web site design. Honestly, I'm glad it's not that simple. We're looking at web design like addition or subtraction when, in reality, it's more like poetry. The sum of the parts is not equal to the whole. With that in mind, I'll move on to the main point.

    • 2 Comments
    • 2191 Views
  • November 19, 2007 in Mirificam Press News

    Even More Changes to Bits O' NewMedia

    I've been very pleased with the success of the new design for Bit O' NewMedia. It's been out there for a little over a week now and most of the adjustments I've made up to this point have been minor. But over the weekend, I got the feature bug...

    • 3 Comments
    • 1095 Views
  • November 16, 2007 in Design Inspiration

    Smashing Magazine's Free Font List

    Typography is important but quality fonts can be expensive. I found Smashing Magazine's list of 40+ free fonts a very helpful resource. Here is a list of free fonts that don't look like they're free.

    • 21 Comments
    • 5588 Views
  • November 14, 2007 in Business & Process

    "Company Blog" Sounds Scary and Risky

    Blogging is perhaps the most misunderstood word in my everyday vocabulary. If you are the type of web designer that makes a habit of persuading your clients to start a company blog, then you know exactly what I mean. Some of the reactions I've gotten to this suggestion have been down right comical. "Well, I don't want just anybody adding pages to our web site." "Blog... Yeah, I think I've heard of that. But we really want to stay out of politics." "A company blog would be great! Let me get my tape measure." Okay, that last one may be a little exaggerated but you get the picture. One of the most dangerous enemies of client communication is industry lingo and, Believe it or not, it can be a deal breaker. The more time you spend explaining geeky words and phrases to a prospective client, the less time you have to present the core concepts that will help their business or organization be more successful on the web. The solution to the problem involves a simple retooling of the language we use with our clients. For example, instead of "company blog" I've started saying "company news". With that seemingly insignificant change in wording I've eliminated fifteen minutes of explaining, arguing, and re-explaining. As a result, the meeting goes more smoothly, the client feels more and ease, and the chances of my success are increased dramatically.

    • 0 Comments
    • 950 Views
  • November 12, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Investing in Design is a Good Choice in the New Millennium

    Throughout the history of humanity and up until just a few short decades ago, the everyman has had little opportunity to enjoy, appreciate, and participate in the world of design. The work of the artisan and fine craftsman had to take a backseat to more basic needs. But as we have learned to more effectively harness the created order for the good of humanity, a society has emerged that has more time to ponder the products of the right side of the brain. This phenomenon has caused the value of the artist and designer to rise to a level never before experienced. As Daniel K. Pink wrote in his 2005 book A Whole New Mind, the right-brained population may very well hold the keys to the kingdom in the generations to come. I think this statement is supported by stories like this one from UX Magazine in which they describe their successful investment in a list of companies providing exceptional user experience. In no other medium of expression is this concept more evident than the web. A design can make or break your business and the businesses of your clients. So keep working on your design skills. Even if you are a programmer's programmer, you can increase your economic value by becoming more design literate.

    • 0 Comments
    • 1366 Views
  • November 9, 2007 in Product Reviews

    Div Counter: A Fun Little Web App That's Unnecessary

    I ran across this cool little web 2.0 web app the other day called Div Counter. Sounds interesting, huh? Basically, it allows you to enter the URL of a web page which it then analyzes and spits out a chart showing the number various opening and closing HTML tags. Just for fun, I tried it on a couple of my sites. Naturally, they all had a perfect balance of opening and closing tags which made me beam with pride. Then suddenly it dawned on me that Div counter is the perfect example of a web 2.0 app just for the sake of a web 2.0 app. The reason my sites have perfect tag balance is that my HTML editor turns tags red when I forget to close them. Duh! In the end the only real application I see for the Div Counter is a quick and dirty way to point a self-righteous finger at the competition for not balancing their tags well. Still, it's oddly alluring. Here's the analysis for Bits O' NewMedia.

    • 1 Comments
    • 2269 Views
  • November 8, 2007 in Mirificam Press News

    The Transformation is Complete!

    As promised, the transformation of Bits O' New Media is now complete. Looking back on the posts over the last six months or so was the original inspiration for the change. I think the new design is more in keeping with the general vibe of the blog. Also, there were some features I wanted that the Tumblr blog software just didn't offer. Anyway, here it is and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

    • 2 Comments
    • 1008 Views
  • November 6, 2007 in Business & Process

    Bubbl.us - Online Flowchart Application with Some Much Needed Simplicity

    In the past, admittedly dragging my feet, I've been put a position where I've had to research flowchart applications for clients. I've never really liked flowchart software. In my opinion using complicated flowchart software to plan a project only delays starting actual work and, by the end of the project, show us how arrogant we were to assume we could foresee every possible pitfall. In short, the benefits of planning for two hours tend to be about the same a planning for a week. The efficiency curve drops dramatically somewhere early on in the planning phase. That being said, planning is still very important. We should be looking for tools that make the planning process more efficient (especially for those of us who are planning junkies). Bubbl.us is definitely one of these tools. A Flash based (so passe, I know) free online application, Bubbl.us presents an intuitive set of tools to create fast and easy flowcharts and share them with the world. That's it! No junk features. I definitely recommend it and hope that the creators stick to their original vision as the pressure mounts to complicate the wonderfully simplistic tool.

    • 0 Comments
    • 1100 Views