I predicted last year that more and more designers will make the shift from “stylist” to “design strategist” and I still think that’s going to continue. Design is always increasing its value to community and business in terms of strategy and problem-solving. I know much of my own work is shifting this way and as more and more businesses clue in to the true value of creative thinking and problem-solving, we should see more and more designers make this shift.
I’m trying something new on a current project. On past projects, when I was in the thick of the design process, typically I would generate a batch of thumbnail sketches and distill them down to 1-3 refined ideas. Then I would open up Photoshop and create a full-color screenshot for each of the ideas. These screenshots would represent what the site could look like when finished. After obtaining client sign-off I would start coding the templates.
Read the rest of this entry »
Funny, and true.
One thing that has persisted throught the life of the hypertext-enabled web however, is the design cliché - trends or ‘memes’ that catch on amongst a large percentage of web users. We’ve seen dancing hamsters, Animated GIFs, the <blink> tag and Netscape Navigator all come and go - but what about the more recent trends?
Well, rats, I’ve only got three on this site (gradients, diagonals and shiny floor). My personal blog only has two (gradients and diagonals). I’ll have to try harder. At least drop shadows and rounded corners dropped off the list for 2006. I’ve got little tiny drop shadows under the text on the navigation buttons. YAY WEB 1.0! Both of my sites have tags, but only as part of the blogging software, and I’m using them more as just categories; I think the article is referring more to “tag clouds.”
More from the same site:
(Disclaimer: the above is meant to be facetious.)
I’ve been caught off-guard by a situation I did not anticipate and I’m seriously peeved. Back in December I was investigating potential new domain names for a new client. I confirmed that the most logical option was indeed available and notified the client. The client liked it but they did not register it right away and it has been snatched up by a domain speculator, perhaps even Network Solutions itself. After a bit of investigation it appears that you should not go shopping unless you’re ready to pull the trigger. Here are a few helpful links to explain the situation:
