Entries Tagged as “Design”
Apple's Obsession With Removing Buttons
It seams that as of late, Apple has been obsessed with removing buttons from their devices. They are acting like the crazy parents obsessed with removing all sharp corners from their house when they have a child. Was Steve Jobs attacked and injured as a child from a rogue button?
In the last two years Apple has been grooming consumers for a buttonless revolution. The iPhone, though having buttons itself focuses more or non tactile usability. Earlier this year we saw the laptops go buttonless. Now the iPod Shuffle.
I personally did not care much for the buttonless laptop. I felt the system did not work as good and needed more time being tested for usability. Apple has always been on the forefront of design and usability and being able to put them into the same package has always been a strong point for them. This time around I am not so sure. I know I would feel more comfortable recommending an last years model to someone purchasing a laptop for the first time.
The 3rd generation iPod announced today really makes me wonder if it's really necessary to reinvent the wheel? Unless of course your making a better wheel. Maybe I am being quick to conclusions as I have not actually seen the new iPod Shuffle but let me point out a few things that I noticed right away. A few things that have me concerned about this product.
Why on earth would you take the buttons off of the device and put them on to the headphone cord? I don't know about you, but I personally think the earbuds are mediocre at best. The first thing I did when I got my iPod was buy some real headphones. Putting the controls on the cord just means that if you buy a shuffle you have to stick to the earbuds supplied until third party manufactures catch up and ship an alternate product. No doubt you will have to pay a premium for them to boot. Do we really need another iPhone headphone debacle? Didn't we learn something from this or do we need to do it all over again.
→ Respond NowTags: Design · Software · usability
Donating to Homeless Women and Children
I'm not one to volunteer all to often. There are however a few times when I set some time aside for a worthwhile cause. Like helping homeless woman and children get back on their feet and turn their lives around.
I recently offered up my web design services to help Women's Empowerment, a local not for profit organization that does just that. Help Homeless women and their children get back on track.
Many who know me well, know that I am fairly critical of the homeless. So it may at first appear odd why I decided to volunteer my time to help them. The whole answer can be a long one, however the short and possibly surprising answer is that I spent most of my childhood and teen years being homeless or forced into a less than normal living arrangement. My brother's and I were casualties of a lifestyle that we had no control over. Like I said, it could be a long story. One that I will spare you from here.
My motivations to help were based largely on helping the children. In this case, to help the children you have to help the mother's too. So it just made sense to me to support the group.
Project Background
When approaching a project like this, I wanted to make sure the members at Women's Empowerment could update the site without knowing HTML or have additional software like Dreamweaver or Contribute. Instead I opted to use the free open source web software called Mango Blog. It's a great blogging tool that I have been involved with for the last few months. Using software like Mango Blog, I was able to quickly develop a simple website and push the limits of what I know about the software to do more than it was intended.
It was a fun challenge to undertake. Especially doing the design and code in just over a week. A true testament to the speed and flexibility of a great application like Mango Blog. I think the end result turned out quite well despite having to cut a few corners in order to make the launch deadline.
Have you donated your services to a group you feel is worthwile? If so please leave a comment below, and If you donated a website please leave a link. I would like to see what others are donating to.
→ Respond NowTags: Design · General · Mango Blog
10 Pixel Grid System
950 Pixel BlueTrip Grid:
Since publishing this article, I have since moved to the BlueTrip CSS framework and modified my original 10pixel grid to work with the 950 pixel grid layout used by BlueTrip. It's a minor change and you can do it yourself easily. However I just thought I would make it available for download to make your life easier. Download the BlueTrip 10 pixel Grid Photoshop Template
960.gs 10 Pixel Grid System
David Perel and I share a common thought process when it comes to creating layouts. Keep it simple and keep it flexible. We both believe in a 10 Pixel Grid System. For some time I have thought about writing a framework similar to 960.gs, but have determined that it's just too much work, and I am not that motivated. So instead I thought I would just share my Photoshop template with you.
Once you have the file open you should see the Guides, if not, press cmd+; to turn them on. If you want to add some additional structure to your design, then you can also turn on the Photoshop Grids (cmd+') The default grid overlay does not work al to well with our template so open up the photoshop preferences (cmd+k) And go to the "Guides, Grid, Slices & Count…" tab.
In the Grid section change the Gridline to every 60 pixels and the subdivisions to every 6. This will give you a nice 10x10 pixel grid for your document.
→ Respond NowTags: Design · Freebies · Photoshop
25 Unique Gift Ideas For The Person That Has Everything
Christmas is around the corner, it will be here before you know it. Sometimes finding the right gift can be really difficult for those on your list that already have everything. Here is a list of 25 truly unique (downright odd) items that are I am sure they do not have.
→ Respond NowTags: Design · Inspiration
ColdFusion Auto Gallery
Creating a photo gallery can be time consuming for even a handful of images. Auto Gallery is a quick and dirty photo gallery tag meant to solve one problem. Automatically generating photo galleries from a folder of images and thumbnails. Team up autoGallery with Photoshop's Batch automation tools and you have a very quick gallery of images!
If your the type of person that just can't wait, here is a demo and download link.
→ Respond NowTags: ColdFusion · Design · Freebies
