One of the definitive web design blogs on the internet, A List Apart , has released their annual survey. Its packed full of interesting and useful information that all web professional should be interested in reading. So what are you waiting for?
I read abcnews.com quite frequently and they always have some photoshops jobs that make me laugh, including the one above.
An eagle swooping down and picking up Britney Spears = Greatness.
The story can be read here.
In the digital age, everyone is tech savvy, and none more so than the current Miss America. I mean come on she has her own web browser for god sake. I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it, but it turned out to be true. Miss America, inspired by a bad encounter in a chat room when she was 13, has launched her web browser to keep the kids safe! What a sweet heart.
So how does this browser protect kids? Well it only allows the user to visit sites that are reviewed, pre-screened and approved by the Miss America web team.
Some of the other amazing features are: A fun and beautiful interface girls love, educational games that teach internet safety, and my favorite - an animated Miss America that offers encouraging words to your child.
I think its main selling point, only letting the user visit approved sites, will be its downfall. Perhaps it will work for children under the age of 8, but anyone older than that will probably need access to the more information than the Miss America web browser will allow.
In all honesty its a good idea and effort to help protect the young ones out there and its probably a better browser than I.E. I seriously doubt this idea will catch on, but perhaps it will shed some light on ways to implement stricter parental controls into browsers with a bigger market share. It will be interesting to see how many downloads the browser receives and to read the reviews on how safe it really is. Only time will tell if Miss American can take over the internet and get her face on every browser your child uses.
Have you ever been in that position where you’re required to design something that you really have no interest in? Well thats where I was this week. My place of employment wanted to create a special web page for a wedding magazine they are producing.
Seeing as I’m not really into the whole wedding scene, even though my girlfriend wishes I was, I had a hard time trying to create a meaningful and creative design. I wanted to outline the steps I took to help me get in the game and create a good design.
Step 1: Research, Research, Research -
Take a look at the competition or sites with similar content. You can get a lot of great ideas by seeing what other sites are doing. The point isn’t to just go out and steal someone else’s idea, but to get inspired by other great design. I personally believe you can never do enough research, the more you know the more you will succeed.
Step 2: Go crazy -
Sometimes the best way to come up with something original is to go in the complete opposite direction that you think you need to head. This is great starting point to generate ideas and layouts. It may not lead to the best design decisions for you project, but it will generate new and creative ideas.
Step 3: Ask for help -
Its hard sometimes, but asking for help is not a bad idea. I know I wish I had all the great ideas all the time, but thats is not realistic. Asking for help from another designer or non-designer can give you unique insight into how others perceive your design. It is important, however, to take all advice with a grain of salt though. You cant let your original vision be compromised by ideas from others, it is YOUR design and that can’t be forgotten.
So there it is, a few ideas I use for when I am stuck on a design problem. As with everything, these ideas don’t always work, but I’ve found these to be good go to techniques to generate ideas.
If anyone has any additional or different takes on this subject I’d love to hear them.
This isn’t your normal ping-pong table, this is its cooler, rebellious cousin. This table is called the Revolution and as you can see by its radical design, it will get more looks that green thing sitting in your basement. If you want to be the coolest table tennis player on the block you might want to considered getting the Revolution table. I know I’d feel like I could play as good as Forest Gump if I had one of these.