Design

For Those Using Ancient Software

There’s no reason why anyone should be using Internet Explorer these days, and the numerous articles from the mainstream press and security companies have been a testament to that.

Therefore, I’ve put up a message to anyone still using ancient software, namely those using Internet Explorer, and AOL, that they have a choice to easily upgrade their software. This message is only viewable if you’re using Internet Explorer. If you’re not seeing the message, congratulations, you’re not stuck in the Stone Age of the Internet.

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Why I Hate Designing Websites

Don’t get me wrong, I love designing websites, but providing the service to random strangers is what I hate. While talking to Erik (kartooner.com) about why we do what we do, and building standards-compliant designs, I realized a few things about my attitude about designing websites for pay.

I killed Designtopia, my site offering my web design skills as a service, because I got sick of people telling me to use marquee or blink text which are a usability nightmare for any website design, or to do anything outside what I know is the right thing to do with designs. I got sick of people emailing me and telling me to use a bright green font on a white background, which as you probably know, is very, very difficult to read.

I’m very picky, and I don’t want to make non-standards compliant or unusable website just because they pay me to. My goal is to make the web a friendlier place, not continue to facilitate 1995-like conventions that hurts the web, more than anything else.

Too many people think that because they paid you to do a design, gives them the right to email you everyday and make you do small changes on the site that you don’t like, that’s not what I do as a web designer.

You don’t tell a plumber who comes in how to fix a toilet, and you don’t tell a cabinet maker how to do his job either, so why do these people feel they can tell you what to do with their site? They don’t know better, they don’t know about usability, typography, whitespace, etc. As web designers, we’re trained in what works for a website the best, what will produce the best results, and what will help companies the most for their business. We employ tricks and semantically-correct conventions to ensure search engines like Google understands the content and gives a thumbs-up, thereby giving the site a better ranking and more exposure.

This is why I hate designing websites for random people. I’m lucky in that the past couple of projects I’ve worked on with Erik were with people that understood our talents and let us do what we do best. That’s why I figure as long as I stay amongst people who love standards-compliant designs, and work with people that want us to do our best, I’ll love designing websites.

Colorblind Thinker

Last night I came up with an idea for a site that I think would be really useful, so yea, I’m on another kick to make a website, and as a result I’m brainstorming on what the design will look like, philosophies, and so on.

My first step is always trying to figure out what colors I want the site to utilize. While perusing an interesting new site I discovered, ColourLovers, I realized that I can’t think in colors. When I try to envision the site using the colors I’m looking at, I can’t do it too well. Which leads me to believe that I’m a colorblind thinker. I think I have to develop a hands-on approach when it comes to finding the colors I want to use. Isn’t that a catchy title though? Colorblind thinker.

Site Updates (Again)

Okay, I lied, I decided to change the layout entirely, although the color scheme and some presentation remains the same. Thus I dub this revision of goodblimey.com as 2.5. The major change I made was highlighting what I’m listening to with a larger album cover. Since music is a big part of my life, why not emphasize it in my design?

A couple of changes, as you may have noticed. The sidebar is now on the right, before it was on the left. No particular reason for this, just thought I’d keep you on your toes.

The other change is the addition of the awesome Now Playing section in the sidebar, that shows you what’s playing at the moment on my iPod or iTunes. If it doesn’t change, then I have it on pause. If nothing shows up, then that means either my computer is down or iTunes isn’t running.

This is a neat way for you to see what is currently being piped into my ears the moment you visit the site. Oh, and if you buy the album on Amazon, or the song on iTunes, I get a commission, so that’s a nice bonus. Click the ? link for info on the plugin.

Pitchfork New Design For 2005

It’s disheartening to see a website you’ve grown to love go from good to worst in design (thankfully the content will always be superb.) When they announced the redesign, I was excited. An improved Pitchfork that is easier to use, maybe? My hopes were high, but the unveiled redesign has left me bummed out. The design is even harder to use, it is disjointed, over-usage of pixel fonts, no selection of character encoding, the code is a verifiable nightmare, and the color chosen, while interesting, just doesn’t fit well with the site’s image. Don’t take my word for it though, check it out for yourself.

Designed by Some Odd Pilot their portfolio seem to have sites that look alike in layout principle (see site1 and site2 menu), and there’s no web standards to be seen. Maybe next time Pitchfork Media go with a redesign, they will go with a better web design studio.

Something To Chew On

Here’s something to chew on, regarding web standards, and why web designers worth their salt should learn it, use it, and love it.

Good Blimey is a simple website, it really doesn’t get much traffic at all. On average, around 200 hits a day. Yet it has a Google PageRank of 6 out of 10.

3DGPU is a more complex website, and I coded it in standards compliance with heavy use of CSS. On average, it gets 160,000 hits a day. 3DGPU has a PageRank of 5 out of 10.

NVNews, which is a site similar to 3DGPU, uses the old school method of coding, tables, HTML 4, not very standards compliant. Rudimentary use of CSS. I know they get more traffic than 3DGPU, according to Alexa’s information. Yet they have a PageRank of 4 out of 10.

Consensus? While GB isn’t very popular, Google loves the site more than two more popular sites, because of web standards. Interesting, yes?

First Anniversary - New Redesign

Notice anything different? Yep, a brand new look. I was really not liking the previous design. I tried too hard, and it didn’t come out the way I wanted. I’ve realized that I just don’t have a knack when it comes to graphical layouts. So I decided to stick with what I’m good at; keeping it simple, sleek, and neat. It only took me 4 hours to put together. There’s a few things I still need to go over, but this should be the final look of things from here on out.

Good Blimey! is now 1 years old (it was started on October 5th, 2003.) In a year, I’ve learned a ton, especially when it comes to design, met a lot of great friends online, and discovered that breakdancing midgets is a scary sight, indeed.

For this theme, I decided to give it a lighter, more humorous feel. I’m a person full of silliness and laughs, why not embody that in my own personal blog? The colors are soothing, and there is plenty of whitespace to ensure easy reading.

I hope you like it too. Any feedback is welcome.