Web Design Culture (Archive)

Page 5 of 6 (51 total articles)
  • 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!

  • 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!

  • May 31, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Local Video

    This is a video posted on my local newspaper�s web site. Low budget, low quality, but it�s hilarious. Great job stepping out of the box.

  • May 28, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Go Light on the Convergence, Please!

    I have owned a Palm Treo 650 for about two years now and I have to admit that I have been extremely impressed with functionality and features of the phone. It�s easy to set up emails, play games, get GPS info, and even surf the web (a little). In short, it does everything that it promised it would and more. But after I got sick of playing the games, and tired of trying to surf the web on a tiny screen I realized that I really wasn�t using any of the features other than the basic phone. I finally deleted all my email info off the phone because I didn�t like getting interrupted every time someone sent me something. So if you want to hold on to some peace in your life, I would suggest grouping like activities together into blocks and getting rid of your convergent device. It will make you more efficient and less annoying. Sorry iPhone.

  • May 15, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Download Movies Legally? No Way!

    I recently bought a Mac Mini on Ebay and hooked it up to my home television. Of course, after getting everything set up and networked and all that fun stuff, I started looking at options for downloading movies legally. If anyone out there is in the middle of this process now, let me save you some time. There is nothing good out there. The services that have a good selection have high prices and the ones that have reasonable prices have a poor selection. That�s the bottom line. Why would I pay $10-$25 for a download that�s not even DVD quality when I can get the same thing on DVD for much less? I know that it doesn�t cost more to facilitate a download than it does to print package and ship a DVD. So what gives? Hollywood desperately needs to rethink it�s online distribution strategy. They�ve made it difficult and expensive to do it legally so people are going to do it illegally. If you�re not convinced, check out this article on PC Magazine�s web site. It goes into more detail. PC Magazine Article

  • April 25, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    A List Apart Survey

    When A List Apart asks us to fill out a survey, we do it and we don�t ask questions. Seriously, though, I am excited to see what the results are. http://alistapart.com/articles/webdesignsurvey When A List Apart asks us to fill out a survey, we do it and we don�t ask questions. Seriously, though, I am excited to see what the results are. http://alistapart.com/articles/webdesignsurvey

  • April 19, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    Web Site Designer - The Most Fulfilling Job Ever

    I had a moment yesterday where I started to contemplate my vocation and wonder whether or not I would have or could have been happier had I chosen a different path. I thought about other jobs that require talents and skills similar to mine and I came to this conclusion: My job at Liquid Design Media is the most fulfilling job ever. It�s that simple. There is no other job at any other moment in history that could afford me the flexibility, creative license, and happiness than where I am right now. In the future, we will probably come to expect these benefits from every job and in the past they were out of the question. But right now they are fresh and exciting. I find myself more and more at the center of company strategies as the world migrates to the web and every day presents a new and interesting challenge. What can I say?

  • April 1, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    New Media is Like Ice Sculpting

    This is an interesting and somewhat depressing analogy of the creative work done in the new media arena. We work tirelessly to produce beautifully structured designs and layouts that will slowly melt away over the next few years until finally they are completely discarded and replaced. This is great for business because it produces a never ending steam of new and exciting work. But at the end of it all we will be a generation of artist with no attic of canvases waiting to be rediscovered. As technology progresses past compatibility our work will be forever lost.

  • March 26, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    "Clean Design"

    Could someone please put an end to the phrase �clean design�. It just dawned on me how sick I am of people using that term. I just want something clean�. well what I really had in mind was something really clean� I�d really like to do a clean design on this project. It doesn�t help anyone better visualize the desired outcome. It�s totally meaningless!

  • March 23, 2007 in Web Design Culture

    SXSW 2007 Video

    SXSW interactive 2007 (via halcyonstyn)

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