I totally agree with Andy that it makes a lot of sense to show clients HTML/CSS/JS prototypes rather than static visuals, but I’m not sure how to reconcile this with the needs of our clients, as well as our resources at Blue Flavor. For us, the trouble with interactive prototypes is twofold:
In short: I totally agree with Andy, but saying “we should do interactive prototypes instead of static design visuals,” is the easy part. Figuring out how to actually make that work within your business model is harder. If you can pull it off, awesome. Visit site »
Wow. It’s absolutely astonishing — and frankly, appalling — that the Wall Street Journal, a respected business publication, would pushing such a steaming load of shit as this article. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen something so incredibly stupid in a serious publication in my entire life. Wow. This really sums up everything that sucks about our industry. Visit site »
Matt’s got some great tips on freelancing. Many of them apply to me, as well, even though I’m not a freelancer. Now that I’m working from Kansas City, at home and away from the Blue Flavor office, I’ve found many of the same things to be true; in particular, “dressing for work,” and have a clean, organized workspace. I admit I don’t really dress in work clothes, but I do get up, shower, shave, and put on clean, fresh clothes. It really makes a difference, compared to sitting around in your boxers with greasy hair the shadow you got at five ‘clock — a week ago. Visit site »
A List Apart has posted the second annual Survey For People Who Make Websites, an attempt to gain and analyze information about web professional’s demographics, qualifications, salary, and more. I took it, and you should, too. Visit site »
Although I wouldn’t consider any of these revolutionary (we did almost all of the at the Journal-World, they’re definitely good tips for any newspapers adding comments to their sites. Visit site »
Richard puts out a call to font foundries to stop fretting about web font embedding and find a way to make it work in their favor. Noting that by the end of the year, around 30% of web users will be able to view embedded typefaces, Richard says:
Font foundries could license their fonts for embedding and serve those fonts only to registered websites, using their own hosted system or via a trusted third party.
Word. Visit site »
As a follow up to her post earlier this week, Tiff has a new blog post that details how we estimate potential projects. It also goes hand-in-hand with a pricing guide page that Keith posted today. Visit site »
If this is accurate, I can only say a big congrats to all my awesome friends at Digg. You guys totally deserve it. Woohoo! Visit site »
Tiffani’s short and sweet post about a potential client’s budget (as it relates to early talks with an agency about your project) has kicked off a nice discussion on the matter. Visit site »
Apple has publicly apologized for the disaster that was the MobileMe launch, as well as the misleading use of the word “push,” and given subscribers a free 30-day extension to their service. A nice gesture for what was, indeed, an ugly string of screw-ups. I especially like the letter’s copywriting: no-bullshit, sincere, to the point, and personal. We all know a lot of companies would have taken a “our Terms of Service clearly indicate that we can not guarantee our services,” sort of approach. Well-done, Apple.
Now that things are running smoothly, I’m really liking MobileMe a lot. Not having to put my iPhone in its dock all the damn time to ensure I’ve got my latest contacts and calendar events on all my device is really a sweet thing. There’s no doubt this is a better service than .Mac for iPhone owners. I’m not sure it’s an improvement for those who just want to keep multiple Macs in sync — but, whatever. Visit site »
According to a growing number of people on Twitter, Apple is having problems with its in-store activation process. Couple this with the botched MobileMe rollout, and this launch isn’t looking good for Apple right now. Here’s hoping they get it all resolved in short order.
A nice piece on how to be a good client for a designer. Visit site »
Great video of Malcolm Gladwell talking about the challenge of hiring in the modern world. While some of his sporting examples are a little questionable, I completely agree with the basic premise that the combine, and other similar measures of performance in other industries, are inherently flawed. I would add, too, that I think the way we promote people to management in the United States is idiotic. The idea that someone who performs very well in his/her job makes them a good candidate for a promotion to management is flatly absurd. The skills needed to be a great manager are drastically different — and in some cases, at odds with — the skills needed to be a great worker. Visit site »
Really, really great piece by Andy on what sort of skills one needs to be a good and employable web designer in the industry today. You’ll note that Andy’s list of skills focuses on understanding the foundations of design as a craft (as well as basic communication, interaction, and business skills needed by a professional in nearly any industry), and not on individual design packages such as Photoshop or Dreamweaver. To that point, this quote at the end is particularly interesting:
…you may find that there are plenty of job listings where the job requirements are described as, “must be expert with Photoshop and Illustrator…” or something long those lines. Ignore those job listings; they’re placed by inept and sick companies looking for decorators, not designers. Take a job with a company asking for a Photoshop expert and I promise you’ll never be allowed to engage in design.
Andy might be over-exaggerating a little bit, here — I wouldn’t say every listing that mentions Photoshop and Illustrator is absolutely a bad gig — but his point is very sound. Such a mention is definitely a red flag. If you’re being hired as a designer, your employer ought to be much more interested in your ability to design than your expertise with a particular software package. And if they are more interested in your expertise with a particular software package, it’s probably because they really want you to be a Photoshop jockey, not a designer. Visit site »
Wow. This is absolutely fantastic. I can only hope that one day I’ll be in a position to resign from a company, knowing full well my resignation will be leaked onto the interwebs, and I have enough wits about me to compose a letter even half as amusing as this one. If that day ever comes, I’ll know I’ve made it. Kudos, Stewart Butterfield. Visit site »
In part three of Keith’s ongoing series of post about working with Blue Flavor, he talks in detail about how best to empower our designers and get their best work out of them. I think many potential clients do have a misguided perception of how the relationship between client and designer should work, and Keith aims to quell some of those misunderstandings. Really good stuff. Visit site »
Besides the afore mentioned piece from Ms. Bolton, there’s also a great piece from Mr. Boulton in the latest A List Apart. Mark talks about fostering ideas. He notes that the brilliant moment of creative inspiration is rarely a great idea in and of itself — it needs to be honed and fostered, and he presents some suggest on ways to facilitate that process. Visit site »
Keith wrote a really nice and thorough piece on how to engage Blue Flavor, if you might be interested in talking to us. He talks about how we scope, estimate, and charge for projects, what kind of projects we want (and don’t want), and how both sides can be successful in the early stages — and this is only part one of a series. Visit site »
My buddy Sarah has been ranting about this for a few weeks now, and she’s finally put it on her blog. I totally agree with her: 90% of the time, a text message, e-mail, IM, or voicemail is the right form of communication. It’s not that often that you really need to talk to me on the phone. As such, Sarah wants a data-only plan from her wireless provider. Sarah and I have both been bitten in the ass by massive overage charges on SMS messages — all the while using a miniscule percentage of our voice minutes. Give us an unlimited data-only plan, and we’ll be happy to pay by-the-minute for the few voice calls we do make. Visit site »