I’ve talked about this in the past on this blog. I was reminded of this debate from a past professor who re-blogged a post by Frank Chimero. So, should designers be coders? The answer is, “Yes, to an extent.” I say ‘to an extent’, because we can’t expect a web designer to be able to […]
Designers don’t make things look ‘pretty’
What do designers do? Make things ‘pretty’ and ‘put a new coat of paint on something’, right? Wrong. A designer is someone who communicates visually through various mediums. This could be through print design, web design, and especially wayfinding design (the design of directional signs in our environment). The end result is hopefully something that […]
Samsung Acclaim – my new phone
It’s no iPhone, but it’s still pretty awesome. Of course, my last phone was a flip phone with absolutely no internet access. This is the first phone US Cellular is selling that has Google’s new Android OS. Being from Google, it integrates really well with any of your google accounts – gmail, youtube, voice, talk, […]
A very cool new WordPress plugin.
Jeffrey Zeldman (@zeldman), self-proclaimed web standards guru just tweeted about a WordPress plugin for adding a Facebook ‘like’ button to your individual blog posts. So, of course I clicked through and checked it out! I instantly installed it on my blog here and tested it out. I absolutely love it. It seems that most people […]
Creative Improv launches new website
Check out the live ‘Path of Principles’ website We (Creative Improv) recently launched a website for the national Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity. It aims to provide a home for their lifelong membership training program. This project focused on their program, prospective audiences and social media links. We gave specific attention to outlining key information via […]
Think Google. Think iPod.
Just because something looks good doesn’t mean its useful. And just because something is useful does not make it beautiful. — Joshua Brewer Think Google – amazingly simple and useful, but not beautifully designed. There is a difference between usability and beautiful design. It can be ugly and usable or it can be beautiful and […]
What makes a website great?
I recently read this on CSS-Tricks: There are websites that we visit because we have to, but we wouldn’t get an account with. There are websites that we have accounts with that we would never participate in. There are websites we participate in that we don’t enjoy. There are websites that we enjoy but don’t […]
Politics & Effectively Using the Web (part five)
In part five, I take a look how Obama is getting out the vote and viral advertising. I’ve decided to change this post slightly from what I described earlier. I’d like to focus purely on Obama and his various websites and viral advertising. YesWeCanSong.com The first time I had ever heard of the term ‘viral advertising’ […]
Bad design by design, Branding, Design Concept/Ideas, Politics, Redesign, Usability, Viral Advertising, Website Design
Politics & Effectively Using the Web (part four)
In part four, I take a look at the recent website redesign by John McCain and compare it to his previously all black website. Beautiful Design I believe I’ve said this on my blog before. This presidential campaign has largely been about change. Most significantly, a change from really horrible design in political campaigns to truly […]
Politics & Effectively Using the Web (part three)
In part three, I continue my discussion of McCain and his ineffective use of the web. This is part three of six. Excluding 50% of Americans John McCain’s website does not have a ‘Students for McCain’ webpage. In fact, last Spring he had only three people group webpages: Lawyers, Women and Veterans for McCain. But still […]