Webdesigninformer.com

Andy Budd Go to the source

Over the last few years I’ve noticed a strange and disturbing trend amongst web practitioners. There was a time—not so long ago—when passionate individuals would blog about their work for no other reason than to share their discoveries. The more prolific of these individuals built up an online reputation and became seen as experts. Some of the more articulate ones were asked to write books or present their thoughts at conferences, and received a modicum of success. After years of sharing their knowledge freely, some were able to capitalise on their notoriety by securing jobs at interesting companies or setting up small agencies. A few even managed to make a living off publishing books and speaking at conferences, although how they managed this is anybodies guess… Read the rest here

Hicksdesign Go to the source

Most people think that the opposite of play is work (especially in the corporate world) but the opposite is boredom or even depression. Great article about the design consultancy IDEO , and how they use a culture of play to support creativity. Comment on this … Read the rest here

Andy Budd Go to the source

There’s a lot of nonsense being written about conferences at the moment; so as a regular speaker, organiser and attendee of both free and paid for events, I thought I’d redress the balance. First off there is a big difference between community driven events and professional conferences. I started a free monthly event called SkillSwap way back in the early naughties and know a stack of people who run similar events now. These FREE events tend to rely on local speakers (who typically don’t charge), community organisers (who work for free), venue donations (usually from companies or community groups) and the occasional spot of sponsorship to pay for beer and pizza. These FREE events have grown from small local happenings into large community events like HackDay , BarCamp and Design Jam … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

My Neighbor, Steve Jobs : Lisen Stromberg: While Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal and CNET continue to drone on about the impact of the Steve Jobs era, I won’t be pondering the MacBook Air I write on or the iPhone I talk on. I will think of the day I saw him at his son’s high school graduation. There Steve stood, tears streaming down his cheeks, his smile wide and proud, as his son received his diploma and walked on into his own bright future leaving behind a good man and a good father who can be sure of the rightness of this, perhaps his most important legacy of all. /via Hacker News … Read the rest here

Hicksdesign Go to the source

James Styring, an Oxford-based cyclist and cycling campaigner (he runs Cyclox ), wrote about my conversion to cycling in his column for the Oxford Mail. Thanks James! Comment on this … Read the rest here

Jason Santa Maria Go to the source

In episode 2 of Off Book , typeface designers Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones outline the importance of selecting the right font to convey a particular feeling. Graphic designer Paula Scher talks about building identity in messaging, while Eddie Opara uses texture to create reaction. Infographic designers Julia Vakser and Deroy Peraza map complicated data sets into digestible imagery, mixing color, graphics and type. There is a moment towards the end where Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones have a John and John from They Might Be Giants thing going. … Read the rest here

Jason Santa Maria Go to the source

This year marks my site’s tenth birthday online, so I’m celebrating with a new design edition. This is number five! I noticed something with my last site a little while ago. The custom designed articles I was posting (and that I loved to post) were keeping me from writing more regularly. It had nothing to do with the time involved to design those article, I usually kept things simple and got to be pretty fast at it, but more the presentation that bugged me. In order to post something, I felt it couldn’t be short or just a quip on a topic, it had to be substantial. I fell into a design trap I unknowingly set for myself. … Read the rest here

Jason Santa Maria Go to the source

Lovely new Vintage series covers for Oliver Sacks designed in-house by Cardon Webb. via John Gall … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Elliot Jay Stocks’ Mac Setup : His setup is almost identical to mine, as are his sentiments regarding the Air: As I said when I originally blogged about my plans for a cloud-centric Mac set-up , it’s all about the extremes: the biggest possible iMac and the smallest possible Air. Many people can’t understand why I went with an 11” Air, but in my opinion, a 13” defies the point of getting an Air in the first place. People forget that the 11” Air has a horizontal resolution of 1366 pixels, which is just 74 pixels narrower than my old friend, the 15” MacBook Pro. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Amazon’s Kindle Cloud Reader : Neato. An in-browser reader. Now I can read my Kindle books on every piece of Apple hardware I own. Update: @ nicjohnson informs me they’ve already got Kindle for Mac in the App Store, while John Gruber explains why a non-native web app is probably a response to Apple’s new rules . … Read the rest here

Hicksdesign Go to the source

Another wee cycling update. It’s now been 6 months since I claimed that I wasn’t interested in being sporty, owning a Road-only bike (I wanted to ride something ‘chap’ and retro), and that I would never touch Lycra with a bargepole, let alone my body. All that’s changed – I’m now riding a proper road bike (that I’m trying to make as modern as possible), in lycra and wearing SPD shoes. What a difference it all makes though! After a lot of discussion on Twitter on normal shorts vs bib shorts, I got a pair of the former from Shutt Velo Rapide . which are really comfy and no comparison to when I was trying to ride in jeans. I’m realising the advantage of bibs though, as I get do get a cold patch on my back. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

On Competing with Circles : Dhanji R. Prasanna, former Google+ engineer: Now, I’m not saying that Circles is the one killer feature to bring down facebook — not at all. What I am saying, however, is that [Google+ and facebook] are not playing on an even field. Like Microsoft and online Office, it is incredibly difficult for facebook to make fundamental changes to their product suite to answer competitive threats. It is for this reason I feel that Google+ has a genuine shot at dethroning facebook. Read the full article for an interesting look at the development of the Circles concept and Facebook’s “unwillingness” (Dhanji’s words) to change substantially enough to combat it… Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

I’m happy to announce the release of the latest shirt to hit the SimpleBits Shop… the Amp Tee is available for purchase, like right now . The creative brief for this shirt would’ve gone something like this: Draw an ampersand. Make it musical. Refine its shape, but leave it imperfect for a handcrafted finish. Print it big on a heather black, super-soft, 50/50 shirt from American Apparel. Wear it with pride. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Most Common iPhone Passcodes : Hint: 1234. This isn’t actual iPhone passcode data, but instead passcode data from an app called Big Brother Camera Security whose “passcode setup screen and lock screen are nearly identical to those of the actual iPhone passcode lock.” (From what I can tell, Big Brother is an app not unlike Hidden of This Guy Has My MacBook fame, but for iPhone.) There’s some irony here to behold. Users of the Big Brother app track those who use their phone without permission. And how did Daniel Amitay compile the Big Brother passcodes being used? By quietly, albeit anonymously, tracking users of the Big Brother app. Apptly named… Read the rest here

Hicksdesign Go to the source

Daniel Bogan asked me a few weeks ago about what hardware and software I use, as part of ‘The Setup’. My interview is now live , but looking back my responses sound a bit clipped! Sorry about that. I also mention how I’m waiting for cloud services to mature. Since the interview, Apple announced iCloud, but this still doesn’t go far enough yet, and as I mention, it’s as dependant on the networks used to access it as much as the server serving it. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

Today! Ethan Marcotte ‘s brilliant book for A Book Apart is available for purchase . You need to go buy it. Responsive Web Design is not just an assembly of technologies, but rather a new way of approaching designing for the web. To say this book is important would be an understatement. I had the pleasure of doing the technical review of the book. Doing a technical review of anything Ethan writes is bit like trying to find an out-of-place note on Sgt… Read the rest here

Adactio Go to the source

Jeffrey , Mandy and Jason have created something very special with A Book Apart . This lovely video from the good folks at Mailchimp does a nice job of capturing the spirit of this publishing enterprise: Needless to say, I was incredibly honoured to write the first book they released . But my little contribution was but a harbinger of what was yet to come. I am John The Baptist to Ethan’s Jesus Christ. … Read the rest here

Andy Budd Go to the source

There’s an interesting debate happening in the world of mobile design at the moment. In one camp we have the “nativists” who believe that the best mobile experiences are tailored to a particular device. These are the people focused on creating platform specific mobile apps and mobile websites. Then we have the “universalists” who believe in the “one web”, a place where all content and services can be delivered to multiple devices through the same URL. This division is causing me a bit of a quandary. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

So I’ve been learning the banjo. At the beginning of 2011, I set out to learn something new—something that had nothing to do with pixels, browser bugs, typing, or angle brackets. I’m not calling it a resolution, as I can’t think of another resolution I’ve ever followed through on completely. But I’ve fallen through on the banjo. Specifically, clawhammer banjo, which is an old time style of playing without finger picks… Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

I’ve had a BlackBerry PlayBook for about 24 hours now, and I’m fairly impressed. If history is any precedent, I’ll probably not make time for a full review, so my review in a tweet will have to suffice. The PlayBook was purchased to round out the devices I use for testing , specifically adaptive/responsive web design in this round of testing. Capturing screenshots is critical for sharing the results of my testing with the developers who assist me. Thankfully, taking screenshots on a PlayBook is a snap… Read the rest here