In the grand scheme of my profession, that being a Web Developer, I would still consider myself to be a rookie. I have been developing web sites and getting paid for it, for around 3 years; however, I would probably say that I have been doing it “professionally” for around a year and a half. Even with my “rookie” status as a web developer, I do consider my talents to be very respectable, especially for the relatively short period of time I have been doing it. One thing I have noticed since I began my career is the difference between,…
Read MoreArchive for the ‘Design’ Category
A “new era” of web design…poster design
I can’t really put a finger on when it happened, but at some point in the not so distant past, web design broke through a pretty major glass ceiling. Up until this point web design was bound and constricted to what web ( and physical ) technology would allow it to do. Web technologies started with table based layouts, web friendly fonts and tiny display resolutions. It then progressed to CSS, web standards and the integration of application and interaction design. Now, with HTML5, CSS3 and new javascript methodologies, we are able to build creative and inspiring websites that are…
Read MoreNike ‘Delicious Is…’ Contest launches today!
We’re excited to announce we’ve completed work on the new Nike Women’s Training ‘Delicious Is…’ Contest and it is set to launch today! The micro-site is loaded with interactive features that allow young female athletes the chance to upload photos and text, vote and review all other entries. We also handled all creative and copywriting too!
You can check it out here: http://www.highschoolsports.net/nike-delicious-is-contest/
Read MoreAn Event Apart: Chicago 2009 – Web Form Design
I had the opportunity to attend An Event Apart: Chicago 2009 this past week+ (thanks Ted & Charles!) and was fortunate enough to catch Luke Wroblewski’s presentation on web form design.
I was pleasantly surprised that one of the most boring topics on paper was actually one of the most interesting of the conference. I don’t know if that’s a testament to Luke’s work or an indictment on the rest of the speakers (who were, in my estimation, pretty mediocre…save Dan Rubin) but I’d rather not dwell on the negatives of the event (for now).
As a designer, the form page has always…
Read MoreDesignFridge UK honors billupsdesign.com
We love our friends across the pond! DesignFridge UK has included billupsdesign.com among its best Web 2.0 sites of 2009. That’s a pretty nice tip of the old derby. If you have time, visit DesignFridge UK, and see their entire gallery of 2009 outstanding web sites designed and developed in html/css. To view our feature page, go here. Thanks, gentle people!
Read MoreCreattica features our web site!
Thank you to the good folks at Creattica who recently featured the Billups Design web site as an outstanding example of interface design and HTML/CSS practices. You can visit the page here: Creattica feature page. We are already meeting many new people because of this prestigious feature posting and we’re excited!
Read MoreTaming Firefox’s Button Element
Recently I came across a little cross browser bug concerning the “button” element that caused some headaches between Webkit browsers and Firefox. The button element can be a great tool that is generally under utilized. It offers many more flexible options than the “input” element and degrades more gracefully than the “a” element. A great writeup can be found on the Particle Tree blog (Creators of the amazing form creation tool, Wufoo).
The problem I was encountering was when I was adding a span inside the button for design resigns and realized that no matter what I did Firefox was adding a…
Read MoreCreative spaces or How I learned to stop worrying and love our studio
Here at Billups Design, we’ve been decorating and configuring our new offices. It’s been fun and challenging. During the process, I found this very thoughtful and insightful blog entry on the art of decorating a creative agency. To read the article in whole, visit Whistle Through Your Comb.
What struck me most was his thesis that an agency shouldn’t spend mountains of cash to ‘communicate’ creativity to clients and new recruits versus creating a space that ‘promotes’ creativity. Glass walls, expensive lobbies, fixed furniture, ultra clean areas – not promoting creativity. Whiteboards, floating fixtures, movable divider walls, common areas, and even…
Read MoreAdobe Flash Catalyst Looks Promising
FC. Is that a new Adobe icon we should all get used to appearing on our computer dock?
Adobe recently unveiled take two of Thermo at Adobe MAX 2008, this time under the official release name of Flash Catalyst. There’s a video here (on Abobe labs) for those of you who have yet to see it.
If nothing else, Adobe Flash Catalyst looks like a promising bridge for designers who have limited to mid-level knowledge / experience working with Actionscript. As I continue to work through AS3, I think one of the big challenges for many flash designer developers (those who both design and code their sites)…
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