Big brands go mobile – even if they don’t know why

smart phone

The list of brands out there with an app has a lot of girth to it, and is growing faster than a snotty little girl who just ate the 3 course dinner piece of gum. Unfortunately, not all of them are doing something unique, usable, or even all that interesting, and ends up being another … Read more

3 months of .NET, PHP and a new job in Portland.

Has it really been 3 months? Yeah, I guess it has; almost. It’s been crazy, really crazy. I have been busier at work than I have in almost 2 years, which in this case was long overdue and much needed. I’ve been spending my days converting a custom .NET site to run on the WordPress … Read more

Navigating the changing IE landscape

Now that the IE 9 beta is available, people have started popping up on some of the stats of a few of the websites I maintain, and this is proving to be just as troublesome as just about every other new release of IE. The thing I noticed right off the bat, in fact it … Read more

The art within the craft

What makes something art? Anyone who has ever been around artists, or is an artist has had this discussion at least once. What is the difference been an artist and a craftsman? This conversation has a tendency to become very pedantic, and often times makes the one arguing for art come across as a pompous, self-important … Read more

REWORK : Essential reading for… everyone.

Rework is one of those books; you know the ones. The kind of book that opens your mind to ideas. Changes your attitude, and brings you a clarity of thought that you have not had in a while. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (you know, the guys who started 37signals?) knocked this one out … Read more

Online tools for web design & dev that you might actually use

Everyone has their favorite tools and services, and there is no shortage of lists telling you what you could or should be using, but this is my list. Some of these I have been using for a long time others are new additions, but provide value to my online development process. Basecamp Basecamp is one … Read more

HTML5 for Web Designers – A Book Apart

A couple of weeks ago I dropped some coin to get my copy of HTML5 for Web Designers by Jeremy Keith, and it arrived at my door on Friday. The first book in the “A Book Apart” series from the folks over at A List Apart is an excellent introduction to HTML5 and covers more … Read more

Mercedes, Hyundai and Malaysia Airlines are now sportin’ iPads

With the instant popularity of the iPad, and the fact that there are over 2 million of them out there in the wild, it’s no surprise that companies are jumping on these devices and putting them to work to get people excited about and purchase their products or services. Hyundai is equipping their Equus with … Read more

Notes about Facebook advertising

Unless you’ve been stuck in some sort of time-warp (or you’re my Dad) over the last few years, you’ve been on Facebook and seen all the ads being served up on your home page, fan pages, and everywhere else. The Facebook ad server is a pretty robust beast for Marketing types to be able to … Read more

Why developers suck more than Flash

Flash has always been an easy target. It doesn’t matter if you are still quoting Jacob Nielsen’s 10 year old shellacking on Alertbox, or if you just can’t get past the still (unfortunately) present skip intro button, Flash is the favorite whipping boy of the intarwebs. The reality of it is that Flash is a … Read more

Website Killswitch – Freelancer tool or unethical tactic?

I’ve been making a living as a web designer now for around 8.5 years or so, and I have to say this isn’t the first time that the idea of having a killswitch has crossed my path, but seeing CSS Killswitch showcased in the first Smashing Magazine newsletter lends credence to an idea that I … Read more

2D codes market gets crowded with proprietary marks

2D codes are becoming more mainstream here in the US, and there are more and more instances of them popping in your daily life. The problem is, most people still have no idea what they are or how to read them, and having half a dozen or more different types isn’t helping. The newest code … Read more

JavaScript libraries – jQuery or Scriptaculous. What’s your flavor?

I didn’t really intend to start my week by ultimately working up a simple comparison of JavaScript libraries, but like many things, the end result is not always what the initial outcome was planned on becoming. My latest project at work is building a small music site which will be a content managed portal for … Read more

Web design & the other dude’s code….

As a corporate designer part of what I do occasionally is wade through other peoples code and fix it. Not that this is my favorite thing to do mind you, but we buy 3rd party solutions as bolt-ons from time-to-time, and that means those solutions get to be molded into the corporate brand, transforming it … Read more

Camouflage pattern generator

I’ve been on a pretty good run the last several days as far as a creative streak at my day job. Working through several new designs for banners, product animations and wallpaper designs. One of these led to the idea of having a camouflage background to build on, but I couldn’t find a pattern I … Read more

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