Jul
Book Review: Don’t Make Me Think
Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think was a great starter book on web usability. The tagline “A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability” is a most suitable one. I would recommend this book for anyone who has anything to do with web design: designers, developers, marketing managers, even company CEOs.
Krug goes through the reasons why web usability is important, specific ways to improve a site’s usability, examples of live sites and how they can be improved, ways to perform user tests, and more.
Jul
Yahoo! Homepage Redesign
Lovely surprise when I opened up my browser to Yahoo! today, a brand new homepage design! I relly don’t even use Yahoo! except that I like those random bits of news on their homepage that amuse me when I first open up my browser.
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Jul
Geocities is Closing Oct 2009
This morning I went to check my email and I received one from Yahoo!
Dear Yahoo! GeoCities customer,
We’re writing to let you know that Yahoo! GeoCities, our free web site building service and community, is closing on October 26, 2009.
On October 26, 2009, your GeoCities site will no longer appear on the Web, and you will no longer be able to access your GeoCities account and files.
GeoCities may not be the most glamorous thing on the web, but it is where I (and many others!) first started out. It used to be the best free web hosting space out there with the least amount of ads but the best specs. Granted, my very first website was so full of animated gifs and background music that it took forever to load, but GeoCities gave me the opportunity to learn and grow as a web designer. It gave me a place to discover what HTML was, allowed me to experiment.
I haven’t used GeoCities for many many years, but it surely will be missed. I am saddened by the fact that others will not be able to use its services to grow as I have.
Jun
Book Review: Really Good Logos Explained
Last month, I decided to start building my personal design library by purchasing one design related book a month. Why only one? Simple answer, design books can be quite pricey. Anyways, I’m going to try and read each book within the month and before I purchase a new one. If that works out, I’ll give my thoughts here.
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Jun
Jun
Faith on FormFiftyFive
I almost did a cartwheel (except that I can’t do cartwheels) when I saw that the work of Paul Sych was featured on FormFiftyFive. For those of you who don’t know, Paul Sych is a professor at the York University / Sheridan College Design program in Toronto, Ontario. The above image is a poster that he beautifully designed for the department.
I haven’t had him as a prof yet, perhaps this year.
Jun
Twitter News Ticker for WordPress
Over the last few years, Twitter has become a very popular marketing tool and more and more people are integrating their Twitter updates onto sites outside of Twitter. This tutorial will teach you how to display up to 20 of your latest Twitter updates in a fading news ticker on your WordPress blog. This is an elegant alternative to using a Twitter Badge and takes up little room on your site.
May
Wonderlust Photos
As promised, here are the photos from Wonderlust. There was some very nice work this year. Below is a sample of some of the stuff that was there. If you missed out, be sure to catch next year’s! (It’ll be my turn!)
May
YSDN Grad Show 2009
Busy day today! I just got back from this year’s YSDN Graduate showcase, Wonderlust. The work was amazing this year! I’m very upset that I didn’t get a chance to see all the work, since I got there late. But not to worry! There is still one more day! I’m going back tomorrow to see the ones I missed.
Tomorrow is the last day to see the work of this year’s graduates. I definitely encourage everyone to go! It is at the Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto, and admission is free! You can also buy yourself a spiffy button, which are a perfect token. I’ll have photos of the show up in a few days.
May
Wonderlust
Wonderlust, YSDN’s annual grad show is next week! I’m not graduating yet, but I definitely want to show my support for this year’s graduates who have had to go through quite a lot this year, what with the York strike and all.
The show runs from May 10 – May 12, 2009 at the Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto. For more a preview and details, visit the Wonderlust website:
http://www.apassionatecuriosity.com
Admission is free, so come show your support!