Thanks to the wonderful world of “Web 2.0″ we have recently witnessed a proliferation of web applications, offering services from mapping to social bookmarking, photo sharing to user generated video. For a web developer one exciting aspect of this new breed of web apps is the ability to extract data from them by means of an API (Application Programming...
Constrained by language. If my language doesn’t have a way to express the thought or feeling that I really want you to understand, I borrow a word or phrase from another language. We’re all used to that. But when it comes to using design applications, we just can’t do that (at least, not very easily). If I want to...
Today my projects required me to use both InDesign and QuarkXPress, and I began to feel a little bit bilingual. I can’t claim to be bilingual in any other sense, but I’ve noticed that those who are truly bilingual will sometimes have moments of forgetting that they’re speaking one language and use a word from a different language: forgetting...
I believe that applications and operating systems shape the way we think. It’s only natural that people take the path of least resistance, and in the design world that means using tools that are easiest to use. You can see it in the evolution of the appearance of magazines, advertisements, and everything else that uses words and pictures. Compare...
Today at the Conference on World Affairs, I attended a panel session on how our language is changing. And something occurred to me: because our industry is now actively using two page layout applications, graphic designers are becoming “bilingual”, for lack of a more appropriate term. To work effectively, we need to know how to use both QuarkXPress and...
The big trend right now in web design is what is often referred to as the “Web 2.0-style.” It includes large fonts, gradients, the word ‘beta’ and gloss. As a designer it’s good to learn and be able to utilize these trends but be careful not to become the trend. One of the things I always enjoy hearing from...
Whenever I’ve hired a freelancer, my biggest concern has been getting in touch with them at critical times. With an employee you know exactly where they are – in your office, and when they are there – during business hours. This affords some level of comfort for when a rush job or critical change comes in. A freelancer on...
The title may not sound web design centric but I swear I’ll tie it altogether. Web designer’s live and die by the Internet. We seek out and view numerous web sites for inspiration and to see what the “competition” is doing. Most of us pay our bills online, shop online, have “friends” online we’ve never actually met and we...
With CSS becoming more prevalent in web design (thank goodness!) there are things you can do in design that was much more difficult to accomplish using tables. An area that is often overlooked for design is the sites’ footer. There is no reason not to think of footer design in the overall design of a site. Below are some...
There are many things blogging can do for a web designer—it shows your knowledge and expertise in the field, it helps you make new contacts with other designers and developers and most importantly it will improve your own writing skills. I have made several contacts with other designers I admire because of my blogging and being able to bounce...
