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in Friends, Inspiration, Interview, Uncategorized on February 21st, 2010
Just outside Chicago’s Humboldt Park at North Central Park and Potomac Avenue, I approached a somewhat clandestine warehouse where a burly man donning all the gear you’d a imagine a Hell’s Angel to have in his closet—plus the imperative lengthy grey beard—stood outside. He tugged on his golden retriever’s leash.
I’m not a dog person (you can blame my parents for never getting me one), so I instinctively took a step back for every one I took forward as the retriever leapt toward me with thick drool flinging from its mouth.
“Hot Glass?” the Hell’s Angel asked me.
“Uh…yeah!” I answered.
The Angel opened…
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Posted by
in Code, Design, Findings, Inspiration, Uncategorized on January 28th, 2010
Every so often I come across a company or community of developers (and designers) who put out great, inspiring, innovative work…for free.
I believe a big part of being an active member of any community, such as the “people who build websites community”, is to give back and provide people with the opportunity to learn and grow. On top of giving information and showing how things can be done and built, every now and then you come across work that is a notch above the rest.
Recently, I was browsing a popular design/dev website and came across this playground, built and maintained…
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Posted by
in Business, Featured, Findings, Inspiration on January 22nd, 2010
So what is content? It’s simple. It’s the stuff that goes on your website. The reason people come visit in the first place. The informative text, images, video, audio, etc… that keep people engaged and provide value to your users. You know, that stuff.
Content has to be one of the most important aspects to your site, right? After all, even if you have superb interaction, intuitive navigation, and stunning graphics, who is going to come to your site (and stay) without any worthwhile content?
Unfortunately, there are some who are disinclined to recognize the value of investing proper time and effort required…
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Posted by
in Code, Design, Inspiration, Reviews on December 29th, 2009
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,…
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Posted by
in Friends, Inspiration, Interview on December 17th, 2009
For full disclosure, I’ll admit, I am no comic book connoisseur. The closest I’ve gotten to reading comics are Simpson’s episodes with Comic Book Guy cameos and the most recent Superman movie. That said, I know a Clark Kent when I see one. And I met one last night. Ryan Browne is a total Clark Kent. On top of the fact that he sports way cool thick-rimmed glasses, there’s no way he doesn’t spin through revolving doors at the speed of light in order to change fast enough from his graphic design day job to super hero comic book writer…
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Posted by
in Design, Findings, Inspiration on December 8th, 2009
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…
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Posted by
charles
in Friends, Inspiration, Interview on December 7th, 2009
We sat down last week with one of America’s preeminent artists, David Garrison. Considered a master of pastel and oils, Mr. Garrison has exhibited in major galleries and museums across the United States and in Europe. He currently lives and works in Normandy, France during the winter months and otherwise lives in Iowa where he teaches pastel and oil workshops and pursues his own projects. We asked him what makes him tick, and how technology has played a part in his career and art over the last decade.
Q: Once you knew you were going to be a visual artist or…
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in Friends, Inspiration, Interview, Reviews on December 4th, 2009
As a recent University of Michigan alumnus, I’ve actually always considered Ann Arbor a kind of Hogwarts away from home – especially come winter when white snow and shimmering icicles dangle off English Gothic buildings in combination with bountiful pitchers of butterbeer – or Long Island Iced Tea – turn the campus into a magical winter wonderland. And although by spring the snow is melted, a clever and ambitious bunch of U of M students/alumni brought that Hogwarts feeling back to campus last April with their original production of A Very Potter Musical which was produced for one fleeting weekend…
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Posted by
in Business, Findings, Inspiration, Tutorials on December 2nd, 2009
One of the most challenging aspects of working in an advertising or interactive agency is managing sensitive agency-client relations. Taking clients down the path to creating a successful marketing message or making a recommendation that they may not agree with can be fun and exciting or it can be an emotional, difficult and even scary process. It seems like it should be easy. Clients hire us for our expertise in creativity, strategic direction and user experience. You are paying for our service, so why not use us to our full potential?
There is definitely something to be said for letting an…
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Posted by
in Friends, Inspiration, Interview on November 11th, 2009
Many will tell you that when you boil it down, the stand-up comedy scene belongs to men; an underground world in the dingy basement of some bar festering with beer and fart jokes. The ratio of men to women performing stand-up may be a bit heavily weighted to one side, but that doesn’t give one gender full reign over the funny world. Take, for example, (drum roll please!) Cameron Esposito. She’s a Chicago favorite, and she proves that it doesn’t really matter what sex she is. She’s funny. And without the fart jokes. Plus, she prefers whiskey.
Although Cameron got her…
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