I know I’ve posted about it once, maybe even twice, but table-based web designers (myself included)… your days are numbered. I’m always surprised when I see so many web designers using tables for layout, but I can understand it. Most designers started with tables, and while tabled layouts are so inflexible, they’re quick and easy to create. Making the...
New York magazine recently ran a story for its Spring Fashion 2008 series called “One Is the Loveliest Color.” It features interviews with five different New York residents, each of whom wears only one signature color… all the time. There’s a shoe designer in blue, musician Stephin Merritt in brown, and my personal favorite, “The Green Lady.” New York...
Given how ubiquitous Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver have become, it can be easy to forget that Adobe has other offerings. If you create live presentations of your work, interactive training pieces, knowledge bases for your colleagues, or if you conduct web conferences with clients, some of these lesser-known tools are worth a look. Here’s a peek at what each...
While I firmly believe that words and pictures are in most cases all you to need to explain a concept, assuming you know it well, I’ll admit that video tutorials do serve a certain purpose. Some ideas and techniques, like layers and use of the Clone Stamp, just make more sense when you see the action unfold on a...
Remember when designers had to choose between Illustrator and Freehand, or Dreamweaver and GoLive? That was before Adobe acquired Macromedia. Today, there are fewer options. But Apple is trying to change that, at least in one category. Currently, there are currently two pro-level, post-production applications for digital photographers: Apple Aperture and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Aperture was first released in...
If your sweetheart is a graphic designer, it’s quite possible that he or she loves not only you but also Helvetica. Developed in 1957, Helvetica is the ubiquitous, sans-serif typeface that captured designers’ hearts almost immediately upon its release with its perfect, neutral letterforms. There’s no sense in being jealous of your sweetie’s love for Helvetica. It’s everywhere, from...
Apparently not all of Adobe’s products are as essential as Photoshop and Illustrator. This month, Adobe announced that it will cease to operate its relatively new service, Adobe Stock Photos. The Adobe Stock Photos service was introduced in 2005, but it wasn’t heavily promoted until 2007, when Adobe released Creative Suite 3. The service provides users access to numerous...
In a post earlier this week, I shared with you some tips on moving from one web host to another. Today, I’ve got more advice for you. Altogether, it should make this tricky process more than manageable. 5) Prepare for the propagation period. When I make a switch, I always change a few things on my home page. For...
If you’ve been paying attention to the current US presidential campaigns, you’ve probably aware that “47 million Americans are living without health insurance.” If you’re a freelance designer, you may very well be one of those people. I know lots of freelancers who take their chances and go without health insurance. One of them now owes $30,000 in hospital...
Recently, the company that hosts my website charged my credit card for a full year of service. It was the result of a glitch in their software, and it affected a great number of their customers. Some people’s accounts were overdrawn, and there were many other financial mishaps. I’d been considering a move to new web host for a...
