· Makes sense... (March 2005 )

Jason Fried has been making a lot of sense lately. Jason, along with his colleagues at 37 Signals, is right on the cutting edge of information architecture and design. They're who I'd like to be (or at least work for). In the linked article, part of a 'Getting Real' series, he argues for smaller, leaner business in order to facilitate a more adaptive, flexible company. And I couldn't agree more. Go read it....

· I need an illustrator... (January 2005 )

So last night, I decided that - since I don't already have enough projects on the go - that I'd like to take Edmonton Splendour to the next level, and do a Harvey Pekar-like thing where I work with an illustrator to create some stories. There's already a few to start from that I'll end up expanding. Anyone interested?...

· A little rant about branding (January 2005 )

A rant about branding...

· Navigation? (January 2005 )

This is an excellent article on how to deal with "navigation blindness". Most web development projects put a lot of effort into the design of navigation tools. But fact is that people tend to ignore these tools. They are fixated on getting what they came for and simply click on links or hit the back button to get there. So, given this, the article discusses how to design a site that gets people to the information they need, while also giving them the opportunity to look around....

· If an architect were a web designer (October 2004 )

This is one of the funniest things I've read today (swiped from Ufies). It's a letter written to an architect, as though he were a web designer. It seems like parody, but let me tell you, I've had more than one conversations along these lines....

· And it's about frickin' time, too. (September 2004 )

New staticred design!

· That wicked worn look (July 2004 )

post for home.

· Need focus study volunteers (July 2004 )

Hey guys! I need three people to do two UI focus groups this week. One for a client website, and another for timestamp. Here's my requirements: All experience levels: I need both experienced and "normal" web users to do the first study. Able to give 3 hours this week, on this Wednesday and Friday, or possibly next week. At least one woman, and at least one person who is not in a technical field. (And at least one that is) Not currently working with me on a contract :) Willing to fill out an online survey about the two sites What do you get in return? I can't afford to offer monetary rewards, but I can offer a guest spot on this very site. You and your fellow survey volunteers will be given control of the blog's posts for a day. I'll also give you access to timestamp, once it's ready for multiple users, or the PHP source code so you can use it on your own server. If you're interested, leave a comment and I'll get back to you....

· Because I'm insane. (June 2004 )

REDESIGN!

· Also... (April 2004 )

Sneak peek at a new site design.

· Collab project (September 2003 )

OK, so here's the idea, and it's decidedly analog. I want to do a collaborative notebook, preferably with people in a different city (or even better, country). It'd be a combination of freestyle writing, doodling, and ephemera (don't you love that word?), and you'd have to start sending it around. Before sending it around, you'll need to find a way to scan your contribution in and send it to me. It's kind of like the 1000 journals project, but there's only one journal. If you're interested, leave a note in the comments and I'll get back to you. The more interesting the application, the more likely I am to choo-choo-choose you. :)...

· logotypes (June 2003 )

Need a vector version of a company's logo for a review / article / neat mod? logotypes likely has it....

· Art Depot (May 2003 )

Stefanie Nagorka is turning the home improvement world on its ear. Stefanie is criss-crossing the United States, visiting Home Depots and creating sculptures in the aisles. "I'm sort of subverting that reality," Nagorka tells NPR's Susan Stone, during a trip to a Home Depot outside Baltimore. "And understanding that's it's really up to the individual and what they do with the materials. Everything doesn't have to look the same."...

· transparent PNG files... (January 2003 )

A List Apart: Cross-Browser Variable Opacity with PNG: A Real Solution Good hack for using alpha transparency with IE5 and above....

· good read... (January 2003 )

The Glass Wall [PDF] - Redesigning the BBC....

· audience poll (December 2002 )

There's been an interesting thread on one of the mailing lists I'm on. Basically, there's a debate about how useful the RESET button is on an online form, and if it should even be used at all. What's your thoughts on the reset button? Is it useful, or is it a nuisance?...

· it took forever, but... (December 2002 )

It took forever to get there, but my new design for work went live today. Let me know what you think (Netscape 4 users need not apply - there's still some kinks to work out)...

· that's a monster I can deal with (December 2002 )

FontMonster - free fonts for Mac & Windows....

· Building Accessible Websites ()

Joe Clark is publishing his book, Building Accessible Websites, online on a chapter-per-month basis......

· Call for submissions (November 2002 )

I've got the itch to create a chapbook, which means good things for some writer out there. Here's the thing. I want to design and print a small chapbook of poetry or short fiction. I'm looking at 24 pages tops, with small (SMALL) distribution. Except I need some writing to do it. The chapbook would be graphically heavy, so the text should be well under the above page limit (at LEAST half). Poetry would work best, if following a theme, but short fiction should work quite well too. I'll work closely with the author to make sure the images used are acceptable, and will request that the author shares any printing costs (design is done pro bono). The lucky author chosen will be given full credit for their work, and will have it produced in a small print run and in an online version. If you're interested, please contact me at webmaster@nasty.cx with the subject "Make me a chapbook."...

· Government sponsored coolness ()

CBC Radio just got a hell of a lot cooler....

· why you need press checks (November 2002 )

Found on Davezilla, this is why you need to look at proofs....

· We are the 32-oz. Big Gulp of Typography! (November 2002 )

The Post Typographic Manifesto Typography is dead!...

· cool! (November 2002 )

Twexus offers a very interesting concept in website design: The more you visit Twexus, the more of Twexus there is to visit. Essentially, as you view more parts of Twexus, it unlocks new parts of the site....

· can you spot the Flash? (November 2002 )

This page is the worst use of Flash ever. Can you see where they used it?...

· For those who might be learning Flash (November 2002 )

ARSEiam A bunch of experimental Flash files - many with source....

· tsilli (October 2002 )

* tsilli * Great personal project site. Mental not to start doing design stuff that's *not* work related....

· attn: SanFran designers (October 2002 )

Got this note over the webdesign-l list, and thought I'd pass it along:...

· Online Project Estimator (September 2002 )

Bjork.NET - Project Estimator Neat little tool to have in the toolbox, though according to the rates it's suggesting, I think I'm not charging enough! :)...

· scope creep... ()

A List Apart: Scope Creep...

· bleh! (September 2002 )

Had a really good idea today that I'd love to use for a staticred redesign (hey, it's been awhile, ok?) - and not sure if I should use it, because it'll be a mirror of what I'm doing for a work project. Harrumph....

· answer to a question... (August 2002 )

Adobe Streamline 4.0 - because somebody asked how to convert images to vector art. Basic howto: scan in drawing, run through Streamline, place file in Illustrator....

· it's been awhile, ok? (July 2002 )

Yup, it's been awhile, so I'm contemplating a new logo and design... (K will kill me.. she's been bugging me to make a site for her for weeks now). Here's something I came up with for a logo idea... thoughts?...

· logoed (July 2002 )

logoed. logo inspiration Great collection of logos. The site was created to inspire designers trying to create new logos......

· Can you make it bigger? (July 2002 )

Can We Just Make the Logo a Little Bigger? In short, no. Read the article for a great write-up on the importance of a corporate logo. And another good article from the same site: For the Love of Grammar....

· learning flash... (June 2002 )

Flash Introduction @ w3schools.com...

· Charretting (June 2002 )

Charette Porfolio of Architectural Designs - Masterplanning presents Architecture at it's finest - A Charrette is basically the design equivalent of Extreme Programming (XP) - a rapid-fire conceptual and creation process involving a group of designers. XP worked pretty well for some of the old crew at Merilus... I wonder if a charrette would work just as well for Creative?...

· a quandry... (June 2002 )

I'm working on a product demo, and I'm not entirely sure which is the better way to go... HTML or Flash. The project is going to be distributed both through the web as a standalone tour, and on CDROMs... so I honestly don't know which is the better way to go... thoughts?...

· I bet I'll regret this... (May 2002 )

For a limited time only, I'm opening the doors for Canadian Electronica artists to get free print design work done for them. If you're interested, drop me a line at webmaster@nasty.cx. I'm also open to other design work, for a small price. ;) Check out my portfolio for sample work....

· ugh! ()

I just had to write an email to a design company my former employer contracted for some design work from time to time... It seems they used one of my designs in their portfolio. This irks me greatly. The letter I wrote was extremely polite, requesting they remove the original work, but allowing them to retain the derivative work on their site (more than generous)... but the fact they're claiming my work as their own bugs the heck out of me. Hopefully, they honour my request and I don't have to seek further action. I'm burned out enough by the former employment situation, I don't need to get into a fire-fight about it now. In the meantime, I now have to hunt down the VP of Marketing for my last job, and beat him for giving them the design in the first place. Grr! And from K: "Foolish mortals. they shall be flushed down to hell on my discarded floss!!"...

· I always wondered who did those... (May 2002 )

Chances are, even if you're not a design geek, you've come across Susan Kare 's work......

· need a hand... (May 2002 )

Anyone have good Flash tutorials on hand? I'm going to have to pick it up over the next couple of weeks, and could use some good links to tutorials to get things started....

· Did I mention... (May 2002 )

Did I mention that there's a cover design contest being held at nasty this month? Go here for more information....

· Back with a vengeance (April 2002 )

Kaliber10000 is finally back. (link updated to proper URL)...

· ad-storm. bring copy. (March 2002 )

The Ad that's currently storming Ontario. I'm really happy with this two-pager, currently marking its territory in the GTA area, through a reseller called Mantralogix....

· Ladies and gentlemen... start your engines! (March 2002 )

I opened up a design competition on iStockphoto.com today... the general theme is "the ordinary and the extraordinary"... go take a gander, and send me something!...

· rollovers ()

A List Apart: CSS Rollovers - really basic stuff, but something people just don't think about enough. ;)...

· Photoshop Tutorials (March 2002 )

PS Workshop Set of Photoshop tutorials... got some more? Leave them in the comments....

· Nice morning surprise. (March 2002 )

Digital Web Magazine - Features: A Designer's Guide to Making Your Own Stock Photography (for non-photographers) Excellent article, which gave me a bit of a surprise...... (thanks Bruce - great article)...

· vive le design revolution! (March 2002 )

inertia :: stock.xchng.02 - another free royalty-free photography site....

· and another thing... (February 2002 )

Anyone who works with / employs a web developer who uses CSS should read this rant. Thanks again to foz for finding the link....

· themes? what themes? (February 2002 )

Computer News: OS Themes Are Only Skin Deep Great read that Del threw me... *looks at themes on this site, goes back to work...*...

· for the record... (February 2002 )

I really, really, really hate design by committee....

· your users are not you. (February 2002 )

Digital Web Magazine - DigiSect: When Design Motivates Great column on the pitfalls of motion design (flash)...

· how to kill those nasty extended word characters (January 2002 )

Textism » Resources » Word HTML Cleaner I also find that Changing the layout to Web Preview also seems to be an effective way to get rid of the invalid characters....

· ooo... quite the mixup. (January 2002 )

Someone's losing their job for this error....

· I like the speedy no-brain method best... (January 2002 )

Joe Jenett has posted some ways to break brain-block....

· my MT template... (January 2002 )

want my MT template?...

· wrote... (January 2002 )

Now this is a cool project. MINNEAPOLIS, January 01, 2002 -- Welcome to Wrote! The start of a new year brings the birth of a new web site that features the old. This is a place for all things said and done. What was news in the past is now a strangely fascinating trip into the good old days. Each story is culled from old newspapers from around Minnesota by yours truly. I hope you find the stories as whimsical, insightful and macabre as I do....

· I wonder how to submit.. (December 2001 )

37signals > Design Not Found - great site that logs little UI annoyances and kudos from other websites....

· oo! shiny thing! (December 2001 )

Neat... cbc.ca has done a nice redesign! Looks good, guys....

· and the winner is... (December 2001 )

Design Rant - fantastic article on why you should make webpages according to the W3C Recommendations... simply fabulous...

· coaxing the machine (December 2001 )

A friend of K's in Edmonton posted an excellent article about learning to program called Coaxing the Machine. Go check it out......

· which are you? (December 2001 )

A List Apart: The Bathing Ape Has No Clothes Another good article, this one talks about the difference between designing and styling... and I think foz will even agree with some of the points in this article....

· youngpup (November 2001 )

youngpup.net is pretty damned cool. The amount of Javascript running that site, however, is scary. It'll even remember your 'window' settings when you go back to a section. Freaky....

· An Entirely Incomplete List of Things a Non-Illiterate Designer Should Know Before Being a Designer: ()

A List Apart: Reading Design contains this splendid list: An Entirely Incomplete List of Things a Non-Illiterate Designer Should Know Before Being a Designer:That text will inevitably be read before it is looked at That words themselves make remarkably effective clip art That the self-conscious layering of messages usually subtracts more value than it adds That the practical value of white space towers over its value as a design element That the deep symbolism of a design decision, referring perhaps to a treasured memory of the designer, is irrelevant to the person attempting to glean something from the work That print designers who gauge their work on the screen, and web designers who gauge their work exclusively on their own machines, are arrogant in their disregard That the physiobiology of reading is one that demands easy points of exit and entry That simply paying attention to the design of type, or distinguishing it as "fine" or "invisible" or "classical" is like making a big deal about putting salt on a boiled egg That letters are not pictures of things, but things That words are not things, but pictures of things That arbitrarily altering (or allowing software to alter) the shapes of letters, and the spacing between letters and words, is done at one's own risk That emphasis comes at a cost That overstating the obvious can be effective, but not all the time The precise point at which a quantity of information no longer requires assistance to be differentiated from another The knowledge to back up design decisions clearly without falling into a fog of hidden meaning, or so–called “creativity”...

· ubb no more! (November 2001 )

Snitz Forums 2000 is a free alternative to UBBS/W3Threads... SO ditch those $300 license fees and check it out. Wim pointed out that this is ASP only, so ignore this entry (Unless you're already using ASP). ;)...

· The independent web... (November 2001 )

Bi-polar thoughts on the WWW - a good essay on the Independent Web...

· What Would Jakob Do? Nothing on this website, that's for sure... (November 2001 )

Apparently, Jakob "If it's not Amazon, it's crrrrrrap!" Neilson has come out with a new book entitled Homepage Usability, Designers everywhere are cringing at the evils contained within the book, such as his damnation of PBS's website for -- of all things -- being consistent in its looks between its online and broadcast presence. Personally, I'm more offended by his misuse of the word "homepage." Since I started my first homepage in 1995, the term has always meant 'personal website.' Commercial websites were just that -- commercial websites, not "homepages." Guess I'm just old fashioned that way....

· wheee.... (November 2001 )

The Webmaster Forums | Direct discussion with the webmaster community...

· heck with it... (November 2001 )

aw, heck with it... just go read the whole darned thing (digital-web.com)....

· a new look at web pages ()

Digital Web Magazine - Tutorial: What's happening? A new look at Web pages...

· flash site (November 2001 )

Normally, I really hate Flash sites. bluehaus is an exception to the rule....

· HTML style manual ()

For personal reference: BCR - Web Site Style Manual...

· (October 2001 )

I don't know when it happened, but praystation is back....

· What will the winners wear to the webbies this year? (April 2001 )

Webby Award nominees announced - ah, if only I could be part of the select few, the elite of the web..... bah, never was one for cliques, anyways. ;)...

· Font Freak, Fonts A page (April 2001 )

Font Freak, Fonts A page 1 - for own reference...

· Glenn Davis: What's next, grammar flames? (April 2001 )

You know, I almost could have forgiven Glenn Davis for breaking apart Astounding Web, if he hadn't been such an asshole with this quote:If you're done with your pissing now, Dave, you better zip up. You know if you trim that back a bit you can gain an optical inch. Your wife will think she's got a new man.--You Know Who...