May152010
A business card I designed for my parents.
This is a business card I designed for my parents. They are “RV-ers” so this was fun way for them to be able to give their travelling friends their information. The seagull has always been significant to my pops and both my mother and him are into trains and lighthouses so this was a little bit of everything they are into.
Jan202010
This was one if my first forays into flash. I had just gotten an LG Dare and so when given an assignment to create an animated ad in flash this seemed like a great choice.
Sep152009
This was a class project to design a website for a real client in Adobe Flash. The client had some stipulations such as, we were to use their logo and color scheme and they wanted a particular image used for the background image. They had a set size and wanted particular pages created. This is my first site created entirely in Flash.
Click here to visit site: Avila Surfboards.
Sep142009
This was a project whose goal was to produce an Adobe Air Application using Adobe Flash. It integrated video, Flash, and Air technologies. The final product is a fully functional Air application meant to introduce viewers to my portfolio.
Click here to download: (Disclaimer… this application must be downloaded and installed to view.)
airProject.air
Sep142009
This was a project where, as a team we were to redesign an existing Application based website. Our intent was to redesign any number of residential rental listing sites. This one is specific to Amador county but will eventually be available anywhere. I specifically worked on the usability (testing and application.) The design and PHP was done by James Hills.
Sep142009
Wow! They didn't think that this would be offensive?!?!
Here’s the commercial ad… BTW the Spanish government is trying to get this pulled in Spain right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwpNQWrD8PY
Really? Nobody through the many steps that a design goes through thought that this might offend a few people? This would be pretty damn funny if they hadn’t made the “Luchador” a small person. But seriously, this is a stark reminder that what some people may find funny, others might just want to hunt you down in a large group with pitchforks and torches! I can’t help but think about our recent talks about market research and user testing. A commercial goes before a bunch of people before it ever makes it to air and a poster gets seen by a lot of people before it goes on display in public. Did they think to ask the Spanish community to look at this? I am honestly stunned when things like this happen this day and age. How’s about you?
Sep142009
Ok, why am I showing you an apple? Who ever thinks about lighting when building or designing a website? Actually, quite a few people do and it makes a big difference. As one who sometimes struggles with getting going and where to go once I do get going this was a nice article about how thinking about how lighting works in the real world can make a website really pop, or give it that wow factor, or even be good enough that people don’t even notice it (which is when you know you’ve really nailed it!) Check out this article from the always great Smashing Magazine.
Sep142009
This topic came to me by way of a new blog recommended by Melissa (yet another great recommendation, thank you Melissa!!!) Jason Robb of UI Scraps brings up a very basic yet valid point. A poignant point if you will.
Redbox fails on the small but nice touches.
In his blog post: Redbox makes me think Jason points out that on their checkout form, Redbox indicates your credit card expiration date with the full month names in the drop down list. I started thinking that a lot of sites do this but the good ones usually don’t. All credit cards have a 4 digit expiration date on them, but their site makes you choose the month name instead. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Dude, that’s being pretty damn picky no?” Well, actually, it isn’t. It reinforces the most basic element of designing for the web. Think about your users!
Jason even asks the question, “Hasn’t someone on their web team ever used a credit card before?” This is a great example of the kind of questions you (and all developers) should ask when first starting out designing a site.
The list goes on and on but don’t overlook even the most simple of questions.
Sep142009
Sites like Facebook and Myspace are getting people busted left & right.
People are getting fired and relationships are getting ruined because of pictures, status updates, and comments. People aren’t getting hired because more and more companies and hiring managers are checking up on people’s profiles online. I know this isn’t new but this recent article by Jake Widman on Computerworld talks about this and brings up some good privacy issues that come along part and parcel with social networking. I personally liked the quote, “Don’t do anything on Facebook you wouldn’t do in an airport.”
Sep142009
Taking the Guesswork Out of Design
This article from A List apart brings to bear a very simple yet detailed plan for designing a site. We’ve been told a thousand times as students to plan out and set goals. But this article lays out a groundwork that is easy to follow and understand. It also gives good reasons why you ought to do these things and how both the client and other design team members can benefit from this style of planning.
Attention maps? You’ve got my attention.
The article brings up the use of attention maps. This is a great planning strategy. It’s a visual map of your prioritized list of topics. This leads into actual page layout as well. It will help you visualize what should have the best real estate on your page. Also, the use of sliding scales to define opposing design traits is a great idea that allows people to quantify ideas. Instead of saying things like, “This looks too crazy.” It allows you to show how “Crazy” you might think something is. Great tip! Check out the article y’all.