Cool links of Today
June 7th, 2008
This one in particular stands out for me today; Lego repairs I wish more people took such an active role in their public spaces!
My Blog
Two cool links
June 6th, 2008
This one comes from BoingBoing.net via Larryfire, but I couldn’t find the original on Larry’s site, and proves Whipple’s maxim that good advertising doesn’t have to be dumb or crass to be interesting.
And the second link is a slightly charming story about how a tricky problem can be handled elegantly and with respect.
Web Design whilst offline
June 3rd, 2008
I’ve just moved flat so I’m offline for a bit. When you work mainly in dynamic server script like PHP that leaves me a bit stuck. But there are still plenty of things to be getting on with.
1) Resources, resources, resources:
Nows the time to crack on with those resources you allways need. Generic (and common specific) backgrounds, icons, stock photos. All of these increase your toolbox, and whilst you might not need them, when you do, you’ll thank the gods you did the work and saved yourself some hassle and some money. As an ancillary benefit you can upload them to various stock sites and make some money off of them.
2) Improve your understanding:
There’s no denying that manuals can be pretty dry reading, but now might be the time to refresh yourself with those big old documents. Read through the CSS spec or whatever language is your thing. Remember these can be downloaded a lot easier than lots of tutorials, and if you’re already fairly competant it’s likely the specifications will be more useful. Don’t just stay confined to languages though, explore the help files of the applications you use (Dreamweaver, Illustrator etc).
3) Identify your weaknesses:
Often we’re too busy hurtling through whatever project we’re working on to stop and think about how we could branch out. It’s only when a client requests something that’s outwith our remit that we hit a stumbling block, and sometimes lose a client. So maybe now’s the time to work out where you want to expand your knowledge and set goals in that direction, even if you can’t actually work in it. Think about things that would naturally extend your skill set. A good way to do this is to look at job listings for positions you don’t think you’re ready for and see what they want. If you’ve got two out of three languages down, make an effort for that third and you’ll be pulling in the big bucks in no time.
4) House keeping:
Besides going through and commenting your work, now might be the right time to look at components that you find yourself using over and over. In a perfect OO (object oriented) world we’d all restructure things reguarly, but with deadlines looming sometimes we just hack it together. Go back through your code and see if there are any cool elements that you could seperate out.
5) Seek inspiration:
If you’re on the design end of things, use the time to get inspired in other ways. Visit museums, take photos, sketch, paint, or watch weird movies. But don’t just do these things. Take NOTES! Actively reflect on them and why they make you feel a certain way. How the colours interact. All the good stuff.
Hope this helps, and remember you don’t have to work all the time, but there’s no time when you can’t work.
Some works in progress
May 26th, 2008
I’ve updated my Web-design section of my site to show two sites that I was working on. They’re only at maybe 50% but it should show you where they’re headed. Hopefully it’ll also be good motivation for me to get some more work done on them
Radio Blackout
May 25th, 2008
Sorry for the silence. Things have been busy at home. Settled again now though so stayed tuned.