Since I've started taking the metro to work, I've garnered a bit of "free time" that I've never had before. At first, I would listen to my mp3 player to help pass the time, but that began to get old really quickly. Also, with certain recurring riff raff going on in close proximity + with the recent reports of electronic theft, I wanted to make sure I had full attention of what was going on around me.
So, I started reading more. I realized that, over time, I would need to refer back to the articles I've read, but couldn't remember where to find it. Because of this, I drafted a blog post with a list of all the articles I've read so far, but after thinking about it some more I decided to create a twitter account that would house all of these articles by posting one link per twitter update.
Monday, November 30th, 2009 marks the third annual International Blue Beanie Day in Support of Web Standards. Show your support to help make the internets a better place.
I posted a new web design project on my portfolio site. We just launched the site this week. You can check it out here.
--- National Community Church's lead pastor Mark Batterson recently published his third book Primal + asked Bittersweet Creative Group to design + develop a microsite to go with it. I designed a layout which, upon site reveal, would immediately evoke an earthy, dark + mysterious mood, but juxtaposed the luminous warm tones + textures from the cover design to help bring light to the composition. ---
It's not just for the focally-challenged anymore...
If you haven't yet noticed, trends regarding type size on the web have been reversing in the last few years. We used to think bigger type looks juvenile + that smaller displayed better—for example, setting body copy to Arial 11px, or even using tiny bitmap/pixel fonts in Flash-based sites—especially because our browsers didn't allow for much back in the day of tiny 640 x 480 screen resolutions. Not to mention, using smaller text to be able to establish hierarchy between headings, sub-headings, body copy, + disclaimer notes on top of keeping important content "above the fold". Project after project we've tried to push smaller, "cleaner", pleasing-to-the-grid type to our clients + yet have always been requested to go bigger for legibility's sake.
"Can we see it bigger than Verdana 11px?"
If designed properly, using 14-16px type for main content doesn't seem to look so "clown-sized" these days. The NYTimes.com has been using this on their articles for awhile now. It's a trend that seems to be more the norm to help improve online readability, to cause less strain to the eye, + to help some of us avoid from having to use the key command shortcut 'COMMAND/CTRL +' times three to zoom into our browser content. It helps that the commonly used screen resolution is leaning more towards at least 950px of usable width to accommodate a type size closer to our browser's default type size, which is set to 16px.
Check out the case study by Oliver Reichenstein mentioned within the blog article link below. The visual comparison really puts it into better perspective. Also, read the comments following the article for other points of view. Something worth thinking about when considering layout options for a new website project.
Really, the moral of the story is: Use big type for good, not evil.
Relative Readability Why go so big on type? There's a short answer and a long answer...
For all you iPhone [or Android, or iPod Touch] owners out there who haven't been able to view Flickr videos on their advanced mobile browsers, well, now you can.
Last week, Flickr released several upgrades to their mobile site m.flickr.com, + most notable of updates is being able to watch Flickr videos on your mobile phone. There is a catch though... They stated on their December 4, 2008 blog that this feature would only apply to videos uploaded from that day forward.
One thing I'm confused about... Flickr videos are generated using Flash software, which feature is apparently not supported on the iPhone as far as I know. [Please, correct me if I am wrong]. According to this Wired article, Apple will not allow Adobe Flash software to run on the iPhone simply because Apple's Terms of Service agreement prohibits it. The clause that states it in the agreement is as such:
An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise,
No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple's Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s).
Now with that said, how is it that Flickr is able to have their users view their Flash-enabled videos on their iPhones? If you are reading this + have an iPhone, please try to view this random guy's flickr video + see if it plays on your iPhone. Since he uploaded his video on December 7, 2008 the new mobile site upgrade should apply.
Who knows why it took Google this long to give Gmail users the option of customizing the default look of their online email interface, but I'm glad they finally came around. They've got all sorts of colour palette themes to please almost every individual as well as more elaborate landscape + illustration themes.
One theme to highlight would be the "Terminal" theme simply because it is an ode to the nerdery + successfully taps into certain users' nostalgia. But, I see it more as a quick 10-second chuckle, + then I'm over it. Because if you actually chose that as your theme you would have the hardest time reading your mail. Unless you enjoy hurting your eyes with #00ff00 type.
With some of the themes like "Mountain", you can also customize by country +/or region. These themes change during the day based on the location information you provide to Gmail to correctly time these changes with your local sunrise, sunset, and/or weather.
Of course, I just had to choose the "Ninja" theme for my interface. I mean, how could I not? While viewing in Ninja theme mode, the star icons are replaced with ninja stars! Ninja stars! Can't go wrong with that.
Quite embarrassing considering folks like apple.com are guilty of this. At least it's an easy fix if we just pay attention to the little details. Plus, who really sets their browser's default bgcolor to anything but white anyway?
In any event, it really should be part of our so-called "best practices" regardless if you think this is a big deal or not. Read more back + forth here.
+++ GROUP INFO_ Underwear showing (web design) Websites that forgot to specify a background color.
It's surprising how many web designers forget to specify a background color. To check for this, set your browser's default background color to magenta, or something equally piquant. Then visit websites. You may be surprised.
Ahoy everyone! Today be th' day t' be nice t' yer fellow pirates o' th' world. Come join us as we become one wit' th' laughin', pilferin' blokes in yer special neck o' th' woods.
This is my journal. I am a full-time interactive designer + freelance photographer with immense love + respect for art, travel, food, technology, + music. Back in 2000, when I first began writing my musings online the content was solely based on my life experiences. Over the years I've meandered from writing on the introspective side + found myself expressing various thoughts, ideas, + interests through photography-inspired posts with little to no narrative. Though, when I tend to think aloud I share them on Twitter. The entry style may have changed, but this site still serves as my chronological journal of random occurrences, introspective or not.
I love{ sketching, design, photography, good typography, XHTML, CSS, constant education, staying current, being with the mister, family, preserving social ties, respect, islands, all things music, plucking guitar strings, sushi, henna mehndi art, photo booths, house hunting, Zumba dance, Body Pump, video games, road trips, rice, spicy food, nature wandering }
For all you iPhone [or Android, or iPod Touch] owners out there who haven't been able to view Flickr videos on their advanced mobile browsers, well, now you can.
Of course, I just had to choose the "Ninja" theme for my interface. I mean, how could I not? While viewing in Ninja theme mode, the star icons are replaced with ninja stars! Ninja stars! Can't go wrong with that.
Feeed me, Seymour. 
