Have you met Otto? Otto is a robot inside your Mac (OS X Tiger and above), and you may have ignored him up until now. OK, Otto’s not really a robot, but he’s the mascot for Automator—a program that (as you may have guessed) automates tasks for you. In its simple drag-and-drop interface, you can create “workflows” that run...
Many, if not most, freelance designers work from home to save on overhead costs. Even designers who work for agencies or larger companies may get the option to work remotely. If you tell someone you work from home, you typically get the response, “You get to hang out in your pajamas all day!” Or occasionally, “Wow, I could never...
In my recent post about the most exciting new features in Adobe Creative Suite 3, I mentioned Spry for Ajax, found in Dreamweaver. If you’re attuned to Web buzzwords, you might have found this intriguing… or you might have just glazed over it because, truthfully, it sounds scary. But, in fact, the Spry framework for Ajax exists to make...
If you’re a front-end Web designer, the programming and database work involved in setting up a full-featured e-commerce site is incredibly overwhelming. Add to this the fact that clients tend to want work done on the cheap and not pay extra for an experienced developer to create a custom e-commerce solution. In recent years, e-commerce solutions have become available...
Print designers are crazy about letterpress these days. Inked designs are pressed into paper, creating a colored imprint. The resulting look is typically very organic, handmade, retro, and minimal. It’s gained popularity through sort of a rebellion against high-tech, ultra-Photoshopped designs, and through the resurgence of the DIY crafting movement. Designers are using letterpress for business cards, invitations, even...
Web clients often ask designers to do some competitive research before beginning a project. But there’s only so much information you can get by searching sites with similar demographics. You might learn how their design looks, what kind of technology they use, and how they target customers, but do you know how successful the competition really is? Knowing the...
Everyone’s favorite software company Adobe recently released Creative Suite 3—a comprehensive update of nearly every industry-standard design app. I watched the launch announcement Webcast with aspirin at the ready. What were they going to do to my precious Photoshop? What programs would they axe due to their purchase of Macromedia? They surely wouldn’t make me give up Dreamweaver in...
