Posted on: August 2nd, 2010 by Paul
“Everything that can be invented has been invented”
Quote anecdotally misattributed to Charles H. Duell, Commisioner, US Patent Office, 1899
Apparantly a misquote, sometimes the web can feel like this at times. You work on a idea you have just thought of, only to find it already exists.
Whilst working on something for http://10k.aneventapart.com/ – an event where you can submit a little web app which is no larger than 10k, I did a bit of googling to find the exact same thing has already been built.
Colour Palette Creator
After seeing Andy Clarke’s post ages ago about creating colour palettes, I thought it would be a great little tool to have – and the 10k event was the perfect opportunity to make it. But I was beaten to it: http://slayeroffice.com/tools/color_palette/
And again…
A while ago I had the idea of a neverending book idea, where everyone can add a sentence to continue the book. Yep, already been done.
The same goes for website designs. I saw a blog design with the identical look to one of the rejected mockups for this blog. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t take mine further than the PSD stage; good job too.
Why am complaining?
Most of my ‘ideas’ are just that – they never get past a quick doodle in the Moleskine. I should be grateful these people are building my ideas!
Back to the drawing board
So once again, I am thinking of things to make for the event. Lets build it quick before anyone else does!
Posted on: July 30th, 2010 by Paul
After talking recently about the pros and cons of building your own CMS with a colleague, and especially the time that goes into building one. Is it really worth it?
Now I must state that as primarily a designer, the developer role doesn’t come as easy to me. The main reason I use Wordpress on this blog is that is was so quick and easy to set up.
However with speed being a major factor with mobile web, Google rankings and the complexity of Wordpress, I’m pretty sure that a billy-basic CMS would load a lot quicker. But do people really care?
Reality probably means that I’ll stick with Wordpress, upgrade to v3 and be able to write blog posts like I am now on my iPhone.
So, have you ever written your own CMS, or wanted to, or do you think that off-the-shelf systems are more than capable?
Posted on: July 25th, 2010 by Paul
This site has, it seems always remained in a state of flux. In it’s current ‘version 3′ guise I have never been 100% happy with it.
The many redesigns are usually due to me getting bored with the site. My skills and design knowledge have improved and a personal brand redesign along the way have changed the look also.
Part of the problem comes with a lack of purpose for the site. Although a designer I don’t have much of a portfolio on the website – mainly because I am currently in full-time employment and do not show any work I do during office hours. The site also isn’t a promotional tool either so it only exists to be a place to blog and host experiments.
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Posted on: June 15th, 2010 by Paul
Having coded in many languages, and recently when using MooTools instead of jQuery, i’ve come to realise that most actual programming is pretty language agnostic. What I mean is that most languages do the same thing, just very differently, but it is how you contruct your code that makes you a good programmer
Chances are, if you are good at jQuery you will be pretty good at MooTools (after learning the new declarations etc). The same goes for in a larger extent SQL/MySQL/Oracle or ASP/PHP/Ruby etc.
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Posted on: June 3rd, 2010 by Paul
This post has come from a quick bit of experimentation, trying to centre align list items.
The design called for centerally aligned list item links, and there could be 3, 4, 5 or more links. Initially I was stumped as to how to create this effect. I had considered a left margin to create the illusion of centre aligning for each possible number, but I knew there was a better way. I’m always aiming for a solution that works in the older browsers too, and this includes IE6. I don’t know why I do it to myself, especially as it apparently only has less than a 5% market share nowadays.
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Posted on: May 28th, 2010 by Paul
This is just a quick post to promote the new HigherSites website.
http://www.highersites.co.uk
We’re a web design company in Somerset, and although I have only recently joined the team in April, I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far – working on some great sites with an awesome team!
Posted on: May 26th, 2010 by Paul
In an ever-changing web world, new technologies are constantly evolving. With the emergence of alternative font display systems, new CSS effects and the increased uptake on modern browsers, designers are using these new techniques more and more. Add this to a sprinkling of current design ‘trends’ such as the noise filter, and pixel perfect line details and it makes for some very similar looking websites.
It is inevitable then that these new and shiny capabilities will catch a web designer’s eye (especially after years of browser constraints) but are we turning our eagerness to use the latest styling techniques into a world of monotonous and similar designs?
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Posted on: May 16th, 2010 by Paul
So, things look a little different here!
After a long period of inactivity, due to a new job, and other things the site has sat a little dorment. I thought it was time for a change, and after many, many revisions I decided to finally design something. So, after a few hours of work this weekend – here it is.
I’m hoping to tidy a few things up over the next week, and I will follow that up with a more indepth blog on the designs that didn’t make it.
If you do notice something weird, feel free to post a comment. It hasn’t been browser tested, but bear in mind that things may look a little funky for the next few days.
Posted on: March 19th, 2010 by Paul
I thought it was about time I experimented with some CSS3 multiple backgrounds so I decided to play around with a wallpaper design I worked on in September.
My experiment uses a top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right png gradient on the HTML element, with a repeating png overlay on the BODY.
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Posted on: February 22nd, 2010 by Paul
A couple of recent designs have left me wondering whether we should be ’showing our workings’ and display the grid at all, whether subtlety like Jina Bolton’s Sushi & Robots or something more elaborate, like Analog (note: press Alt+G).
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