Archive: Web

March 31, 2008

WordPress Admin Redesign

Over the weekend WordPress 2.5 was released, and oh what a release it is. The WordPress admin has had a complete facelift, a joint effort from Automattic, Happy Cog, and many individuals from the WordPress community, amounting to over 90 contributors. The new admin was re-built from the ground up, with clean markup and a shiny new design. I… more »

March 17, 2008

So Long, South By

Another South By Southwest Interactive has come and gone. This year’s conference was once again bigger than its predecessors, packed with the heaping portions of both really good and so-so content. I told myself this might be my last for a while, but now I’m not so sure; this was the best time I’ve had at SXSW in a… more »

February 20, 2008

New Zealand

Returning from New Zealand is a very sad endeavor. Not only do you get to endure a very long day—somewhere around 36 hours and involving numerous cars, planes, and sherpas—but you also must deal with leaving one of the world’s most beautiful countries. Speaking at Webstock (the impetus for the trip) was both an honor and a fabulous time. I’m… more »

January 23, 2008

Mucking Up the Fireworks

Anyone following me on Twitter will likely tell you I have a love/hate relationship with Adobe products, specifically Photoshop, the application I use the most. After all, Photoshop is chiefly an image-editing application, but like most people I know, I use it as fully fledged layout program. Unfortunately, this requires jumping through numerous hoops, leaving one a pitiful sobbing mess… more »

December 12, 2007

Gamma Gamma Hey!

Ah, perfect. This is the most brilliant design I shall ever produce. Everything is in order; all of the colors are amazing. If I died right now while sitting at this computer, even the EMTs will say to one another, “that’s the most breathtaking design I’ve ever seen”, as they pick my corpse up off the floor. Now, let’s just… more »

November 29, 2007

Flap ‘n’ Snap PSA

The prospect is simple: a slacken-jawed subject flaps their face to and fro as fast as they can while camera wielding onlookers snap a photo. Without fail, hilarity ensues. But as fantastically hilarious as it is, the practice known as “Flap ‘n’ Snap” hides a much more terrifying dark side. A few months back a friend was lured into a… more »

November 16, 2007

Avatar Icebreaker

Avatars certainly aren’t a new thing. They’ve long been a staple of pride and showmanship in forums all across the internet. I’ve never really paid much attention the avatars I use, generally just opting for a boring cropped photo or some version of my logo, and being pleased just to be done with it. With dozens of accounts across dozens… more »

October 25, 2007

Game On

Tomorrow I’ll be playing in Coudal Partner’s Layer Tennis, a rip roaring good way to spend a Friday afternoon. Here’s how it works: Two players swap a file (in this case, a Photoshop file) back and forth in realtime “volleys”, each player adding to and embellishing the previous volley. Each volley has a 15 minute time limit, so the action… more »

October 16, 2007

ALA Web Design Survey Findings

Months of work analyzing, crunching, writing, and designing the answers from nearly 33,000 people, and we finally have the Findings from the Web Design Survey. Some of the findings are very enlightening, but I won’t spoil anything here, you’ll have to read for yourself. We’ve learned so much during this process, not only about what questions to ask, but how… more »

October 11, 2007

The Spirit of Halloween

Holiday homogeneity (say that three times fast) is giving us a Valentine’s Day in autumn, rife with its own brand of dainty, must-have accessories to celebrate the same way as everyone else. As I walk down the streets around my neighborhood, I see more and more houses tarted up with the hallmarks of a touchy-feely holiday. Giant inflatable Halloween themed… more »

August 31, 2007

My Kind of Town

Another Event Apart has come and gone; Chicago welcomed us with open arms and cheezborgers as far as the eye could see. The event itself was great, packing lots of thoughtful speakers and attendees into one room for a giant mind meld. Later, we packed those same people into a pub (courtesy of MediaTemple) for more, er, melding, and later… more »

June 12, 2007

Bangers and Mash

As I sat in Gatwick airport this past Sunday, waiting for my delayed flight to Philadelphia to begin boarding, I sleepily said goodbye to London. During my short stay for @media, my body refused to adjust to the time difference, sending my slouch-backed and bleary-eyed through the conference hallways, inflicting my stupor upon the kind attendees. Even when I was… more »

April 24, 2007

Survey Says…

In addition to two great articles, Andy Rutledge’s Contrast and Meaning and Jonathan Follett’s The Long Hallway, the latest issue of A List Apart features the inaugural Web Design Survey. The survey seeks to answer questions about our industry to help us better understand what we’re made of: Designers, developers, project managers. Writers and editors. Information architects and usability… more »

April 13, 2007

Archival Quality

I can clearly recall one particular afternoon from my childhood when I went over to a friend’s house to play. I walked in the back door, as I ordinarily would, and encountered his mother standing at the kitchen table with the day’s newspaper, and beside it, a scrapbook. When I asked what she was doing, she said, “Today is… more »

March 30, 2007

Wicked Awesome

Alas, another An Event Apart has come and gone. Boston welcomed us into her bean-filled bosoms, helping us kick off the new whiz bang two-day format. I am pleased to say the event was probably our smoothest to date, due largely in part to our fantastic production staff, and wonderful attendees. I like the two-day format infinitely better than the… more »

March 15, 2007

Bye Bye, South By

Once again we arrive home from a whirlwind SXSW not quite knowing where all the time went. I laughed and learned with good friends I don’t get to see nearly enough, and met so many more new people who will have to tell me their names again next year due to my sieve-like brain. The conference itself seemed to… more »

March 1, 2007

AIGA Redesign

My, oh my, has it been busy around here lately. Now, I’m pleased to announce the redesign of the AIGA website! AIGA approached Happy Cog to redesign their main organization website early last year and we leaped at the opportunity to work on this site, knowing many of the ways we could help bring AIGA’s strong brand and presence… more »

February 20, 2007

Comhaltas Redesign

This is just a brief note to help announce the Happy Cog redesign of the website for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, an organization promoting traditional Irish music and culture around the world. I’ve written before about our two wonderful trips to Ireland to meet and work face-to-face with the people of Comhaltas, specifically our astute contact Breandán Knowlton. I’m not responsible… more »

February 7, 2007

Happy Cog Redesign

After the announcement of the new Happy Cog Philadelphia office we knew we needed to go back and spruce up the Happy Cog site a bit. Well, we managed to steal some time here and there to put one together, and it’s now my pleasure to present the new Happy Cog website! The design is very much one of… more »

January 29, 2007

Minted

Huzzah! Today is a big day for a close friend: Shaun Inman has released Mint 2, a snazzy update to his website stat tracking application. I’ve been helping out (alongside the other crumb-bums) with beta-testing for months now, and I can tell you first hand, this is a significant upgrade. To be honest, I didn’t know what more Shaun could… more »

January 22, 2007

You Say You Want a Resolution

The topic of screen resolution in web design has once again reared its ugly and multifaceted head. Jeremy Keith and Roger Johansson still say “nay.” Well, I’m saying “yay,” with some conditions. I know many people take a hard-lined approach to this, saying that fixed-width 1024px sites are wrong most, if not all, of the time. This post is… more »

January 11, 2007

An Event Apart Boston Registration Open

A new year is upon us, and it brings a new An Event Apart with it. We have moved to a two-day conference format, jammed packed with design and code, and attractive speakers. The first city we’ll be visiting is Boston on March 26-27, at the Boston Marriott Copley. Speakers include: Steve Krug, Dan Cederholm, Molly Holzschlag, Andrew Kirkpatrick, Cameron… more »

December 23, 2006

24 Ways To Impress Your (Web Geek) Friends

Ho, ho, ho! This year I was asked to pen an article for the annual web geek advent calendar, 24 ways. I chose to tackle a problem that pops up very frequently for me: matching colors from a set palette for elements in a variety of shapes and sizes. Often times, using the color hex value from a palette may… more »

November 14, 2006

Hide Your Shame

Another issue of A List Apart has been pushed out the door, this one contains a blendy technique for gradients, and a call to stick up for clients, particularly the difficult ones. But, this also marks another kind of day for A List Apart: the ALA Store is finally back and stocked with shirts, both new and old! Well,… more »

November 9, 2006

Remember The Alamo

Well, the last An Event Apart of the year has come to pass, and we are all back from Austin (just in time to vote). I’ve never been to Austin aside from during SXSW, and I must admit, it was odd to see the streets so empty. I walked out of our hotel and just sort of stood on the… more »

October 27, 2006

Trick-or-Treat

The candy bowl is full and we’ll be decorating our house this weekend. Horror films are usually playing at night, and The Misfits remain in heavy rotation. What’s that mean? Well, I guess it means we are horror nerds. But it also means it’s nearly Halloween! As always, here are your yearly batch of seasonal tricks and treats. On Screen… more »

October 10, 2006

Class Critique

About a month ago I found a referrer to my site coming from the blog of an Interactive Media class at Michigan State University. I noticed that one of the class assignments is to critique a given website every week, and lo and behold, my site was slated for the chopping block during the first week of October (previous sites… more »

September 20, 2006

Coast to Coast

I’ve just come back from yet another crazy bit of traveling in a short amount of time. Liz and I woke up before sunrise on Saturday to participate in the MS City To Shore Bike Ride (thanks again to my kind sponsors!). All told, we rode nearly 80 miles (the first 20 of which were in the rain). Luckily for… more »

September 8, 2006

Old Tech

My workhorse of an iMac is desperately in need of an uprgade. It’s a sturdy iMac G4 flat panel that’s seen me through many projects. My computer runs sluggishly at best, and I often have to quit all applications that aren’t of immediate use. I’ve come to the realization that if you wait too long to upgrade, then you might… more »

July 27, 2006

Thursday Ephemera

Letterpress Printing: Expanded Version The follow-up class to the Letterpress class I took this summer at UArts. It’s 10 weeks of typesetting by hand! Don’t worry if it’s your first time, the class promises to cover the basics and build up to more advanced techniques. If you are in the Philadelphia area, and have a love for type, I highly… more »

July 20, 2006

Learning from Atari

Last week my brother pointed me to this wonderful original commercial for Atari’s Pole Position. After gazing in amazement at the giant hand and the kid smiling as his mom blows up, it made me realize how few commercials are quite this eye-catching anymore. I don’t know if it was the custom song, or the belligerent and screaming announcer,… more »

July 14, 2006

Flickr Frustrations

I love Flickr, I really do, but man, sometimes it makes me yell at my computer. Whether it’s the inconsistencies in the interface, or the way I have to seriously concentrate to hunt down things like a particular feed, Flickr takes as much as it gives. The latest head scratcher: keeping tabs on group photo pools. When I look at… more »

May 1, 2006

Pretty Ugly

This is getting really old. At the risk of adding to the noise, I feel like I still have to speak up. As the design vs un-design debate rages on, there seems to be an increasing amount of generalization. What are you really fighting about? If the un-design proponents are right, do they win a bland internet? And if the… more »

April 28, 2006

Road Show

Today through the weekend I will be away as I travel down to Richmond, Virginia to sit in as one of the judges for the Richmond Show, the annual Richmond Ad Club awards. I don’t know if anyone from Richmond reads this site, but perhaps I will see you at the Show or at the inevitable party afterwards. It’s a… more »

April 26, 2006

In Progress: Site Design

Last time with “In Progress: Logo Design” we talked about the client project I’m working on with Cameron Moll for the design and rebirth of the National Gazette, a previously-defunct newspaper more than 200 years old. After some revisions, the client decided on the logo direction—which you can now see on the placeholder site—and we proceeded on to layouts… more »

March 29, 2006

In Progress: Logo Design

Without giving away too many details about how it happened, I’m currently working alongside the talented Cameron Moll on a client website for the rebirth of the centuries-old newspaper, the National Gazette. Cameron and I thought it would be interesting to write a little about the process behind the project, starting with the logo development. First a bit of… more »

March 17, 2006

SXSW 2006 Roundup (Yeehaw!)

I once again find myself sitting on a plane on my way back from SXSW and feeling a bit sad. This year was just as good as (and quite a bit larger) than last year. I find myself still marveling at the blur of people I was fortunate enough to meet, either by putting a face to a URL or… more »

January 24, 2006

Four Things

It’s a lazy day back to work, and I always love a good distraction. I blame Zeldman. Four jobs I’ve had: Dishwasher Waiter Bassist Designer/Art director Four movies I can watch over and over: Miller’s Crossing Predator Evil Dead 2 Transformers: The Movie Four places I’ve lived: Schwenksville PA Kuztown PA Topton PA Philadelphia PA Four TV shows I love:… more »

December 27, 2005

ALA In HOW Magazine

In February’s issue of HOW Magazine there is a special section devoted to Typography. In it, as part of an article entitled “Viva Verdana”, they chose to highlight the recent redesign of A List Apart, which makes heavy use of Verdana and Georgia. Among some dissection of specific styles from our CSS, we scored a screenshot and a kind… more »

December 13, 2005

Markmaking

Ok, so I finally decided I want to start using a bookmarking tool. I have a wealth of bookmarks from the past 8 or so years that I’ve painstakingly kept organized and categorized in a variety of browsers (Safari being the latest). This works out great, except for when I need to find something which I can’t recall the name… more »

December 7, 2005

Philly AEA, Come and Gone

Well, the An Event Apart train has run through Philadelphia, home of the glorious cheesesteak and land of brotherly love, and now passed on to find the next town. Because it was the first in this series of events, it was not without its fantastic hiccups; the Franklin Institute’s spotty Wi-Fi, the polar-like room temperature, and the frustrating uptime/downtime of… more »

November 29, 2005

AIGA Podcasts for An Event Apart

An Event Apart kicks off in Philadelphia in just under one week! As one of the event’s sponsors, AIGA has taken it upon themselves to podcast some interviews with AEA’s speakers and mine just went up on the site. For more insight on AEA check out the other interviews: Jeffrey Zeldman part 1 and part 2, and Eric Meyer part… more »

October 5, 2005

Mayhem

Because I have such a deep, deep affection for you all and this most blessed holiday season, I have collected a heap of bloody good links to get you in the mood. Feel free to add your own in the comments. Around the Web Friends: A few friends are dressing their sites up to celebrate this most festive season, Sutter… more »

September 6, 2005

An Event Apart

After many threats over the years, An Event Apart is now live. What is An Event Apart? Well, it’s essentially a live conference version of A List Apart. Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman will travel from city to city, holding intense, one-day learning sessions on the how and why of web design and web standards. What’s most interesting is that… more »

September 3, 2005

Pepper Makes Mint Better

Shaun: So, what do you think of ShortStat? Me: What, you mean after I finally got the damned thing installed? Shaun: *sigh* Yes. Me: It’s pretty cool. Shaun: … Me: I still tend to use Refer more often. All of ShortStat’s little scroll panes bug me. So went the usual exchange between Shaun and I about ShortStat. ShortStat 2,… more »

August 23, 2005

A List Apart Redesign

Well, the headline says it all. In the past few months I’ve had the pleasure of taking part in the latest redesign of A List Apart. It was a tremendous undertaking, and months in the making, but it’s finally live! I am responsible for the new design, but this was most certainly a group effort: Eric Meyer on CSS, Dan… more »

July 26, 2005

Wedding As Client

Where have I been? Why the sparse updates? In between loads of work, which I will finally be able to reveal soon, I have also been trying to plan a wedding… which is now just mere months away. Perhaps it’s the fact that it comes interspersed with client work, but sometimes I can’t help but think of the wedding as… more »

July 14, 2005

Blinksale

I been fortunate enough to be a beta tester for the soon-to-be-released Blinksale; a subscription-based web application from the nice chaps at Firewheel Design for creating and tracking client invoices. But not just any boring old invoices, beautifully designed CSS invoice pages and emails, customizable and collected under a master page for clients to view all their invoices. You can… more »

July 8, 2005

Philadelphia Standards Meetup

Last night was the first monthly meeting of The (reinstituted) Philadelphia Standards Organization. The group was originally organized on Meetup.com, but nearly disbanded once Meetup started charging monthly fees. Friend and ex-coworker Jeff Louella picked up the torch and decided to keep it alive. Philadelphia companies are way behind when it comes to web standards, as evidenced by this scorecard,… more »

May 31, 2005

Attack of the Show

I’m going to lapse into some heavy nerdery for the next few minutes (yes, possibly more than usual). A few years ago I discovered there was a channel dedicated to video games called G4 TV. At first I figured this would be pretty great, 24 hours of video games to flip to when nothing else was on… or sometimes when… more »

May 16, 2005

A Musical Baton

I’ve been passed a musical baton by Jon, and Meme Monday rolls along! Total volume of music files on my computer: 12.58 Gb. The last CD I bought was:
“Kick Out The Jams? by MC5. Song playing right now:
”Cut Self Not” by Faraquet Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me: “Birdhouse In Your Soul”… more »

May 13, 2005

Friday Frippery

I’m hot on the heels of a fresh Tiger installation, and happy to report all systems seem normal. On the whole, I am quite pleased with Tiger’s pungent new car smell, though it should be noted a few things appear to be a bit wonky. Some are confusing: like the seemingly random window chrome designs (of which we can add… more »

May 6, 2005

Ten Questions For Me

I’ve just received the Ten Question treatment from Mr. Russ Weakley over at the Web Standards Group. Find out all you ever wanted to know about me that a mere 10 questions could cover. Perhaps I even answer the most important question, “American Cheese or Cheez Whiz?” Who knows? You will just have to read it and find out. I… more »

April 12, 2005

Flourish for Zaadz

Zaad is Dutch for “seed”. Zaadz is a company that seeks to be the creative catalyst to others. They provide the technology and the means to publish and maintain a website so that you can do what you do best, create. Zaadz recently came to Cameron Moll with the need for website template designs (pretty much what you’ve come to… more »

April 11, 2005

Design In-Flight: April 2005

The latest issue of Design In-Flight comes out tomorrow (PDF excerpt). In addition to the high-caliber articles we’ve come to expect from DIF like “Acing the interview: Tips and techniques for success” by Khoi Vinh and “The more things stay the same, the more they change” by Molly E. Holzschlag; you will find another stunning cover by Kevin Cornell and… more »

March 29, 2005

Pigs Fly

The day you’ve been promised, then promised again, then promised a few more times, has come. The new version of Rob Weychert’s site has gone live. Mere years in the making, countless revisions and scraped comps (some of which were very nice), Rob staggers forth, triumphant. Besides being a good friend, Rob is also the torturous brains behind Virtual Stan.… more »

March 21, 2005

Typographic Glass Ceiling

Last week Microsoft announced six new typefaces which will start being bundled with Windows next year. The new faces are specially designed for screen usage; meaning an emphasis on readability at small sizes and the ability to scale up and not look like death (Verdana, I’m looking in your direction). The new collection is made up of two serifs: Cambria… more »

March 17, 2005

Roundtrip From Austin

Here I sit, home again, with South by Southwest weighing heavy in my heart. Over the last five days I met some amazing people, and finally put faces to many names. The magic of SXSW lies in the attendees, and this is the reason I only made it to one film. When you see someone, you simply go introduce yourself.… more »

March 9, 2005

Deep in the Heart of Texas

At first light this Friday morning, Rob, Rollo and I will be traveling down to Texas for South By South West (or “South By” as I am told people in-the-know call it). This marks my first trip to Texas, and even though I can’t partake in the BBQ, I am still excited. I will be speaking on a panel entitled… more »

February 16, 2005

Generosity is the Flower of Justice

I have just received some new mail from my old friend Converges Q. Liverpool. I must admit, sometimes I really don’t mind sp@m like this, great sender name and just a random assortment of funny quotes. It reads more like a manual for life if you ask me: Well! Bye He had decided to live forever or die in the… more »

February 8, 2005

Automation Will Kill Us All

It’s your company. You started it as a small idea and turned it into something people can’t live without. You know what’s best for your company and the best direction to take it. As such, you don’t really welcome outside influence or suggestions on the direction your company is taking. Your company has had the same logo for 10 years,… more »

January 24, 2005

2005 Bloggie Awards

Well then, it seems I am up for an award at the 2005 Bloggies. I can’t help but sigh after writing that because it sounds so silly. Bloggies. Despite gunning for “Best Asian Weblog”, I only managed to get into the finals for “Best-Designed Weblog”. I am pitted against some heavy contenders too, not least of which is a personal… more »

January 16, 2005

Inkfinger

Two good friends of mine, and two very talented artists, have just launched a new sketch blog called Inkfinger. This will be the new home to the beautiful work of Philadelphian design/animator Matt Sutter (also of Quadruped fame) and Baltimorian (and soon to be Philadelphian) illustrator Jennifer Nicholls—Niff to those who frequent this site. It has just begun, so you… more »

January 7, 2005

Design In-Flight

I have contributed an article entitled “Fighting Off Design Stagnation” to the latest issue of Design In-Flight magazine. The article deals with the problems designers and creative people go through as their career progresses like the pressures to remain current, competitive and imaginative. Luckily, I am friends with the talented Kevin Cornell and managed to convince him to create an… more »

December 20, 2004

Bearskinrug Version 5

The Bearskinrug of tomorrow… today! That’s right folks, Kevin Cornell, longtime friend and fellow homebody, has redesigned his site. Long gone are the iframes and comment pop-ups, paving the way for a more user friendly (and Kevin-friendly) experience. Now that he is a full time self-employed illustrator, Kevin’s main goals with this redesign were to focus more heavily on his… more »

December 14, 2004

2004 Favorites

I realize Jon may have beat me to it by a bit (we’ll just chalk that up to the time difference ;D), but I figured I would throw this out there anyway. It’s been a good year to have ears and eyes, so here is a brief celebration of the best of what the year had to offer. These are… more »

December 2, 2004

Speaking at SXSW

It’s official! I will be speaking on a panel at the next South By Southwest in March. The panel discussion is entitled “Does Design Matter” and will be headed up by Jeffrey Zeldman. Besides Zeldman, sitting in on the panel will be Joe Clark, Kelly Goto, Adam Greenfield, and myself. I haven’t really done much public speaking, especially not to… more »

November 3, 2004

The Heads of State

The Heads of State, some of the best designers around, have a brand spankin’ new site. Luckily, they’re friends of mine and they let me help out with the redesign. They were very frustrated at first from trying to find a new look for their site (as are most when doing a self-promo site since we designers are often our… more »

October 25, 2004

For Entertainment Purposes Only

Your guide to my tastes! This is how I like to get in the mood for Halloween. These are not best-of lists, these are just some of my personal favorites, so don’t yell at me if you favorite movie sucks and didn’t make the cut. Also, I don’t claim to be well read (or listened), so if you think me… more »

September 21, 2004

Found Typography at File Magazine

The kind people at File Magazine, in their never-ending quest to collect unexpected photography, have decided to republish some selections from my recent set of photos, Found Typography. Since you all love photography, I can only assume that you love File Magazine. So, you will want to go there and enjoy the photos all over again. I promise they are… more »

August 31, 2004

Hivelogic Redesign

Well, Dan Benjamin made mention of it a little while ago, but now it has come to fruition. I realize this is now bordering on old news, but the new Hivelogic design is live. I have always enjoyed Dan’s site and writing, so when I approached him about his dissatisfaction with his site’s design, I couldn’t help but jump at… more »

July 18, 2004

Real World Standards and the CSS Ballyhoo

I went to school with a lot of good designers. My school was a bit behind when it came to technology and wasn’t able to muster up a good base of interactive classes until after I had already graduated. I originally wanted to be an illustrator. I love to draw, but quickly realized I am much better suited as a… more »

June 29, 2004

Coudal Partners Redesigns

Coudal Partners have redesigned their website. Why, you ask, write an entire post about it? Why not just plop it in your oddities sidebar? Because it’s too damn nice for that (which is not to say the stuff in there is second rate crap). I adored the design of the old version. It was subtle, beautiful page layout, very reminiscent… more »

June 16, 2004

Aged Aesthetic

As a companion piece to Cameron Moll’s That Wicked Worn Look series, I decided I would chime in with a few kernels of knowledge. Though there are many types of worn aesthetics, as you can see by my site, I love the look of aged print materials. There is a history and esteemed nostalgia associated with old editions of literature… more »

June 8, 2004

Web Graphics and me

I would like to welcome myself aboard the Web Graphics team. There is already a wealth of knowledge contained in their site. My presence and sporadic tangental posts will surely muddy up that knowledge. Better head on over there and read up while the bar is still pretty high. Thanks for inviting me fellows!… more »

May 14, 2004

Line in the Sand

Ok, so Movable Type 3.0 has a pay structure now. It’s nothing to start whining about. Six Apart is a business. Good for them! They turn out a quality product that they have devoted their talents and energies to; they should be able to make a living from it if they can. Look past your wallet for two seconds and… more »

May 11, 2004

Sideshow Lives!

Behold! A new day brings a new website for you to munch on with your morning crumpets! I give you Sideshow. “What is this?” you might ask, coffee dribbling down your chin. Well, what you see before you is the culmination of years, yes years, of work. Now you may be saying, “Years? S’ok… I guess”. Until now, Sideshow has… more »

April 24, 2004

Image Replacement Replacement

Well, old Shaun “I’ve invented a maneuver” Inman is at it again with the release of his revised and revamped IFR (Inman Flash Replacement… yes, a little full of himself) technique. The idea is this: You already know how to lovingly craft your website with valid markup and CSS, you may even already know how to use methods like the… more »

April 22, 2004

The Way of the Master

Wow. So this is what life after “Growing Pains” is like. Kirk Cameron leads us through “The Way of the Master”. Someone actually threw a good bit of money at this for the Flash work… and obviously for the talent. I apologize in advance to any religious visitors. I will probably end up offending you in some other way later.Thanks… more »

April 18, 2004

Good, the Bad, and the Standard

There is some dissension in the ranks! Should standards pioneering websites not be recognized just because everyone has seen them? Aren’t some of the people you are trying to reach the ones who don’t use standards? They may be unaware still of what possibilities lie before them. Shouldn’t we put our collective good foot forward? The debate continues (scroll down… more »

March 22, 2004

Bears, Skins, Rugs

Kevin Cornell has (re)launched the latest version of his site, Bearskinrug.co.uk. This update comprises a better organization of Kevin’s eclectic work and sketches, and sets him up for a more conducive space to deliver his rants and objections on the world at large. Be a pal and go over there to convey your distaste for him and his stupid bear.… more »

March 2, 2004

Web Standards Awards

Hooray for me! I have won a Silver Star award from the Web Standards Awards (A competition much more fierce and bloody than all of the Academy Awards ceremonies combined) for this beloved site of mine. I am very honored and proud, as are all of the little kindergartners I “employed” to produce the site… but that is only because… more »

February 19, 2004

The New Netscape?

What the hell is so new about The New Netscape? Seems like they are offering the same slow, memory-hogging, program polluted browser as before, but now you are paying for a connection too! You say, “Well, it must be new, the word new is underlined”. Yow! Add to all of this a horrible Flash 4 style “program tour” that butchers… more »

February 11, 2004

Mozilla Firefox

There has been a flood of browser releases lately (a flood being relative). Two weeks ago Apple released Safari 1.2, last week the Omni Group released OmniWeb Public Beta 5.0, and this week Mozilla jumps back into the pool with Firefox 0.8, a renamed update to Mozilla Firebird due to trademark issues. Firefox is a terrific update to the lightweight,… more »

January 9, 2004

Some New Year House Cleaning

There has been much going on out there in the real world lately, even though there hasn’t been much going on here. So this is the time to unload a quick recap of all things of interest. Redesigned Sites Mr. Zeldman’s site has a new look…again. This one is our most favorite yet. Dan over at Hivelogic hates his newly… more »

October 26, 2003

Selected Readings and Miscellanea

I recently stumbled upon a collected gallery of covers from H.G. Wells’ milestone book, War of the Worlds. It remains one of my most favorite books (having also been about the second book I ever read), and this collection of covers cements it as one of the repeatedly best-designed books as well. Granted, I am partial to the old Sci-Fi/Pulp… more »

October 23, 2003

Search Inside the Book

Amazon.com implements a groundbreaking search feature today, Search Inside the Book. This new search method allows users to search through every page in every book. Astoundingly handy.… more »

October 16, 2003

Making Your PC Nearly Tolerable

I really am beginning to believe that the creators of Windows are off somewhere laughing at how absurd it is that they have made a fortune from an operating system that tries to do everything it can to work against the user. Have you ever tried to do anything with fonts other than the ones that came with your PC?… more »

October 7, 2003

Four Steps Back

Here we are again rooting for Web Standards (at least a certain portion of them), though this time with an unlikely ally, Microsoft(!). The very same company that wanted to make the internet run by its rules is now up against the wall, so to speak, from an unheard-of-until-now company, Eolas. It seems long ago, in a galaxy far far… more »

September 12, 2003

Now You Know

Exceptional websites (some new and some old) you should know about: bearskinrug - A brand spankin’ new redesign of the always obnoxious (but even more so as of late since you find yourself sitting next to him everyday at your new job) Kevin Cornell. My favorite part of the new site (which is sure to attract previous fans of the… more »

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July 1, 2003

Born Magazine

Its once again time for the latest issue of Born Magazine (a collaborative online creative magazine that puts artists and writers together)…but this time I was asked to take part in it. I worked with translators Zack Rogow and Hamida Banu Chopra on Indian poet Sahir Ludhyanvi’s Your Voice. Here is a description of the poem from the translators: In… more »

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June 18, 2003

Designing With Web Standards

Jeffrey Zeldman, the cool older brother of the internet, has written a new book called Designing With Web Standards. If you are anything like me (that being a design nerd who can write a few lines of code that may or may not work), this book is for you. It would be an understatement to say that this book is… more »

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April 29, 2003

The iTunes Music Store

Yesterday Apple (everyone’s favorite computer company) unveiled a new music service called The iTunes Music Store to coincide with the release of a new version of iTunes and a revamped iPod. The service allows users to download songs for 99¢ and full CDs for around $10 a pop. In addition to that, iTunes now supports the AAC format (Advanced Audio… more »

April 21, 2003

Speaking of Sketchbooks…

…Kevin Cornell, local exotic male dancer/exotic male designer, has posted his most recent sketchbook online. I can’t help but be a bit taken back by the girth of it all. He is too talented for his own damn good. If my sketchbook looked like his I would rule the world (or at least a small island off the coast of… more »

March 28, 2003

Flash Forward 2003, San Francisco

The winners and finalists are up for the latest Flash Film Festival. This one has some very nice entries, which is refreshing after the last few lack-luster festivals. Of particular note are: Art Rolito Land - Gorgeous Illustrations The Beauty of Details - Nice typography transitions and photography Educational CBC4Kids - Very fluid layout Typography WDDG - The typography is… more »