Blog (page 36)

#FOWD Day One Review

This is my first year at Future of Web Design so I was unsure what to expect but secretly I knew it’d be pretty awesome. What a learning experience. Below is a bit of a brain dump so I don’t forget, but I think everyone can benefit from these notes – the ideas were so strong they […]

Attending FOWD 2011

Only two days before this year’s Future of Web Design! I’m excited, thanks to the fine folks at Smashing Magazine I’ll be attending both seminar days. Say hello! I’m not a fan of the two track structure as I’ll have to miss some talks live (though I’ll be able to catch them online later). I’m going to skip […]

The Responsive Design Secret

Responsive website design - what technique should we use? …there’s the three fixed sizes approach - little (320px), medium (700px) and large (960px). There’s 100% fluid, 100% fluid with media queries for one or two stages smaller, or 100% fluid from 320 up. Or fluid with a min & max-width. Fixed at 960 with a separate domain […]

Truly great websites are not created on a computer

There is a perception of the Website Designer busily working away, headphones on, brief in lap, mouse at hand, pushing pixels while striking a balance between their own artistic license and the client’s demands. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Great websites are not created on a computer, and they’re certainly not designed by the […]

Why I’ll never be out of a job

The 15th Annual Webby Awards winners were announced today. Now, I’m not one to be cynical (and I’ve pledged to avoid negativity) but I’m completely perplexed at some of the design related choices. Many of the awards are purely content based which I’m not interested in, but this won Best Navigation/Structure: The Webby Awards winner for Best […]

Design and enjoy it

I design websites all day which means I’m one click away from the design community. Participation is rewarding but exposure can be difficult to control. On a good day it leads to inspiration that keeps me up at night in awe. Other times I’m left feeling like a mighty small fish. At worst I develop a […]

Simplicity and Sexy Buttons

I’ve mentioned simplicity a few times before but I thought I’d expand on this concept within web design as it’s such a fundamental part of my process. Simplicity in Aesthetics Although aesthetics are perhaps the least important aspect of website design they are initially the most noticeable, at least for demonstration purposes. Let’s consider four submit buttons: The first is […]