Well I find myself at the 5th entry in my series of websites that are amazing yet do not have the web 2.0 aesthetic. I like many other designers have fallen to the addictive properties of commandshift3.com which has allowed me to find such an amazing set of sites and share them here with you. For more amazing websites check out the other four posts in the series that can be found here 1, 2, 3, 4. Notice: I am aware that the web 2.0 term was created to describe the advanced interaction between software and users. This article however addresses the aesthetic that has accompanied most web 2.0 applications and as a result filtered down into websites in general. bfish http://bfish.free.fr/   Industry... 

While trying to build out my online freelancing presence (which, as a side note, is still in progress), I’ve often been confronted to this obvious conscience case: What can I do to look appealing for the industry I’m working in? Once, while discussing about this with a friend, he simply told me “Why don’t you just be yourself?”. This advice may look obvious concerning our relationships and social life (we all know that trying to fit in schemes and groups without convictions is the best way to be misunderstood and not appreciated for what we are). MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY BEING YOURSELF But in the business jungle, we often forget the emotional part of our work. Are we... 

October is over and with it came another great group of websites. This months selection of websites does share some common traits, vibrant colors, tons of texture, and some great typography. Regardless of the technology used, this months collection of sites shows that elegant design is more than possible on the web. http://www.stopchildlabour.eu/africatour2008/ http://www.casioexilimlab.com/ http://dc2009.drupalcon.org/ http://www.farmrio.com.br/ http://www.hilfigerdenim.com/ http://www.housingworks.org/ http://www.mattdempsey.com/ http://www.veboolabs.com/ http://www.warszawska-jesien.art.pl/08/ http://www.redbullxfighters.com/    More →

Recently I was turned on to the website “Stuff White People Like,” which is amazingly humorous and according to Newsweek recently picked up a $350,000 book deal. In the spirit of the site I thought it might be fun to craft a list of things that designers like. 25—Ampersands, Em Dashes, Old Style Figures 24—Holding up Posters for Portfolio Shots? 23—Manifestos 22—Blogs 21—Blind Embossing, Die Cuts, Foil Stamping 20—Filigree 19—LetraSet™ 18—Twitter 17—Grids (And Breaking Them) 16—Mad Men 15—Graphic Novels 14—1960’s Typography 13—Modern Furniture 12—Microbrews 11—Radiohead 10—Letterpress 09—Conferences on Creativity 08—Threadless Merch 07—Designer... 

I am relatively certain that early on in my life I came to the conclusion that easy things are boring. I think my first memory of such an event has to be the Game Genie I owned for my Nintendo. Yes it made the seemingly impossible Metroid conquerable, however it also sucked the thrill out of the game. To the point that pausing to go grab a Sunny D was pointless, as I wouldn’t die even if the flying lava fish things hit me. NES flashbacks aside, I think there is something to be said for taking the harder route, gratification that would otherwise go unknown. HARDER DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN MORE STRESSFUL Many people avoid taking the more difficult path because they assume... 

Sometimes you have a client that in any other circumstance would be a perfect one, however they insist on putting every decision up to a committee. They are most likely only choosing to do so because they want the best possible outcome. Who can really blame them? Ok you can, but their need for a great outcome is exactly how you can get through this project and still produce some amazing work. Read on to see my tips for working with a committee. The answer is perfectly simple; multiple agendas. When dealing with multiple stakeholders each has something they wish to gain out of the project. If we can make sure that these agendas are not hidden and go addressed, it is actually... 

Well, this week has been a busy one for me filled with project proposals and new business meetings. However, I did find the time today to step across the street from our offices to visit the Wired NEXTFEST at Millennium Park that is taking place from now until October 12th. I only had a few moments to visit the event but I wanted to share an exhibit that really caught my eye today. Xerox is a corporate sponsor for the event, and they are promoting a number of their new technologies, but it was their environmentally friendly solid inks that really won me over. I had heard about solid inks in the past, but never experienced anything like Xerox’s, and definitely not hands on. Apparently... 

I am not normally a Boing Boing reader, but the video they posted yesterday of Matt Webb’s presentation from the Copenhagen Reboot conference really blew my mind. Matt discusses the role of the designer in the 21st century, which quite obviously is changing at such a rapid pace right now that any insight is extremely valuable. In the presentation (after the jump) Matt brings up the concept of the “macroscope” which I feel is the fundamental piece of knowledge gained from his presentation, and subsequently the subject of this article. What is a Macroscope? If scientists use microscopes to see the small pieces of a larger whole, designers use their “macroscopes” to... 

I read a great article today by Jeremy Adam David on his blog entitled “What I Hate About Becoming a Designer” and it really had me thinking. Would my life or the life of other designers have been easier if I had selected another profession? In college I debated for some time whether I should go through with being a designer. I even decided to take a sales internship at one point because I though it would be easier and the pay was better. Jeremy points out some things in his article that designers often joke about, such as not being able to enjoy a movie because you hated the opening credits, but is what he playfully references the truth? REASONS I ALMOST AVOIDED BECOMING... 

I recently ran across the article Do not download WordPress themes distributed by 3rd party sites on the 5thiryone blog. Apparently there are a number of 3rdparty free wordpress theme sites that are popping up all over the net that are including malicious code in the themes. What does this mean? Basically, the sites are placing small snippets of code in the themes that could potentially open up your server for their Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. This is very bad for your as a webmaster because not only does it waste your precious bandwidth, but it can also get your ip banned and cause numerous problems with your hosting possibly even getting your hosting canceled.  More →