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

Hicksdesign Go to the source

I’ve been following the announcements of the new Windows 8 UI (and particularly ‘Metro’) this week with great interest. I think they’ve done a fantastic job with Metro, it really looks like a fresh start UI wise. One detail stood out in particular. In the screenshots I noticed that they’ve adopted the Open Share Icon in their UI. To fill you in, the Open Share Icon came about after the original share icon was purchased by the company that provides the ShareThis service. While still licensed for public use, some people felt this wasn’t in the spirit of the thing, and decided to create a completely open version instead . … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Target.com Redesign : Wow, how’d I miss this news about this? I’m pretty sure someone made an argument like this at some point in the design process — and won: Look, everybody uses the search bar or those big fat categories strung across the top anyway. So, why not have a little fun with the rest of the page? Update: For those asking, since it may not have been clear in the sarcasm: I’m quite impressed by the new design. … Read the rest here

Adactio Go to the source

After giving my language-centric talk at the Breaking Development conference I found it interesting to listen out for the terms that attendees and speakers were using to describe desktop-centric websites. Some of the adjectives I heard were: full site, standard site, regular site. Once again, I think that this kind of language can constrain our approaches to web design and development. In truth, a mobile site should be the standard, full, regular site; you can still go ahead and add more stuff for the desktop environment, but to think of it as the canonical instantiation isn’t helpful. It hinders our ability to think in a mobile-first responsive manner. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

A Farewell to CSS3 Gradients : Alex Walker: While the idea of programmable gradients is great, using them is seriously messy. Even in perfect-​​browser-​​utopia, gradients are consciously limited to rudimentary linear or radial application. You certainly can’t combine them, or make them contour a shape or anything useful like that…. In short, [CSS gradients are] a blunt instrument with cranky syntax and patchy support. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

We’ve just unveiled this parallaxified mini-site as part of Authentic Jobs’ 6th birthday celebration. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Michael Botsko on the site. I had my hands on the design, while he wrangled the markup. There are a few imperfect details remaining to be polished, but overall I’m really pleased with the end result. Lest I focus unduly on the design, allow me to encourage you to take note of the site’s message: I need your help… Read the rest here

Jason Santa Maria Go to the source

Made by Hand is a brand new film project and site from dynamic duo Keef and Mandy Brown . The short films focus on people who lovingly make things by hand. The first film looks at Brad Estabrooke, founder of Breuckelen Distilling Company, the first gin distiller in Brooklyn since prohibition. I’ve already gotten a sneak peek at the second film in the series and can say this is shaping up to be something wonderful. And don’t miss the beautiful site design by Mandy and Candi Ligutan . Made by Hand was created out of the belief that the things we collect, consume, use, and share are part of who we are as individuals… Read the rest here

Hicksdesign Go to the source

Here’s an interesting idea for improving bike lights and night time visibility. Revolights is a Kickstarter Project that places LED s in a ring around the wheel, timed so that it provides a constant beam lower down, lighting up the road around you: From the video, I’m not 100% convinced that they’re quite bright enough yet, but to be honest, I adore the effect. Tron light cycle comparisons aside, I’m just a fan of how they look when moving. I really hope this project gets some attention, funding and development – in a few years this might be the kind of thing that gets built into the wheel itself. Tagged: cycling , inventions … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

9/11 Memorial: Name Placement Based on Clever Algorithm : Linda Tischler, Co. Design: When the National September 11 Memorial opens this fall … friends’ names will be inscribed next to each other on the granite wall surrounding the Memorial Garden’s fountains. Their adjacency is product of a masterful bit of programming undertaken by the New York media design firm Local Projects, which took 1,800 requests from families of the 3,500 9/11 victims, and created an algorithm that let them be grouped by affinity: firefighters with firefighters, cops with cops, all the members of each of the flights, first responders, or just pals. Hoping to visit this memorial (or at least get close to it) later today. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

The New Design : Naz Hamid: Let’s say for a moment print design is on its way out — traditional mass magazines and publishing houses will shutter and move toward a screen-based medium. The current crop of designers coming out of school are ill-equipped to design for screens — especially screens that change as fast as they’re released. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Designers vs Coding : Frank Chimero, a relatively recent convert to HTML/CSS: Good design and good markup provide structure to content. Good markup is a fundamental part of good design: beautiful on the inside, beautiful on the outside. … Read the rest here

Jason Santa Maria Go to the source

Golden Grid System , a folding grid for responsive design. I’m not big on frameworks, especially when we’re talking about baseline grids, but this one is really well done. And I can get behind this sentiment from its creator: “Take it apart, steal the parts that you like, and adapt them to your own way of working.” Plus it’s a beautiful design to boot. Be sure to resize your browser a lot and play with the little grid reveal button on the top right of the page. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

HOW Interview with Yours Truly : Bryn Mooth interviews me leading up to this November’s HOW Interactive Design Conference in San Francisco. Speaking of, the early bird registration ends this Thursday, September 1. Save an additional $50 on top of that with discount code CAMERON. Hope to see you in San Fran. … 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

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Jason Santa Maria: Five & Ten : Jason Santa Maria, describing his site’s redesign (which launched on Friday): I decided to not let the design of my site become a barrier to writing here. The most important thing this site does for me is give me a creative outlet to play and write. Anything that gets in the way of that needs to get the boot. The result is a responsive, Tumblr-esque digest of things interesting to and written by Jason, with much more design sense than most Tumblr sites — including mine. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

There’s no doubt that employing a mobile first , responsive design approach to a new project is a wonderful way forward for many sites. I think the most exciting thing about seeing these best practices develop over the last few years is that it finally feels like web design. Finally. That we’re not designing sheets of paper that happen to be on screen. So yes, for new projects under the right circumstances a responsive plan is often the ideal… Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Visual Design is Not a Thing : Mark Boulton: Talking to and observing your audience is a fundamental part of graphic design research. In fact, it’s the first thing they teach you about communication theory: what are you trying to say, and who are you trying to say it to. So, you see, graphic design is not Visual Design. And given that the look of something — in my mind at least — can’t be considered holistically without the feel of it, or the use of it, then how can Visual Design be separated as not only a step in a process, but as a job title? … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Hiring: UI Designer at Big Cartel : I’ve used Big Cartel’s hosted shopping cart software to sell my letterpress posters going on four years now and, in a word, it’s superb. Made for designers, by designers. They’re looking for the right kind of person who wants to help artists make a living doing what they love. Work from anywhere in the U.S. (extra credit for being in the Salt Lake City area). You’ll help make me and 150,000 other users even happier. … Read the rest here