Ahhh… the dreaded idea of getting a job. After several years of being tied to a desk, wearing a uniform and doing everything someone else’s way, I’m definitely enjoying this newfound sense of freedom that comes along with not having a job. Of course not everyone is as lucky to be able to not work, and eventually the day will come when I either have to or want to get back to the grind, but for now I’m just taking it day by day.
Of course any passionate designer would go stir crazy not working on something for this long, so in the meantime I have been filling my schedule with various student and other personal projects. Just enough to tide me over and keep me busy (when I want to be).
Since money isn’t really a driving factor for me, I do plan to do some “pro-bono” websites this summer and fall for friends and family. Once those are under my belt, along with the lessons learned from their construction, the most logical direction to go in would be to roll into freelance -- where I will most likely end up. My own hours, my own concepts, my own glory (or failure). Sounds like my kind of deal.
Pay for a freelance designer is completely based on their own drive. It’s how well they market themselves (something I will need to brush up on…) and how well they can manage their time. No more getting paid for watching YouTube videos at work…
Another advantage – you can do it from anywhere. Want to spend summers at your lake house in Wisconsin? Sure, pack up the computer and go. And there’s also the joy of avoiding the morning commute. No more rush hour traffic.
Someday I’ll get serious about working this all out, but right now just isn’t that time. It all sounds great, and it’s the direction I’m sure I’ll be going – I’m just in no rush to get there.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Firefox crowned victor in this battle.
I will admit, before I started getting too design savvy, I was one of the many people who was reluctant to try out Firefox despite the urgings of all my tech-y friends. In my mind, IE worked just fine so what was the deal? I don’t really remember what initially caused me to cross over – whether it was sheer peer pressure or IE displaying something (now not-surprisingly) wonky – but after some research I am left kinda wondering what IE is still doing out in the marketplace. According to browser usage statistics, not a whole lot anymore.
IE’s rates have dropped significantly over the past couple of years. Due to what? Probably the fact that their software is severely behind the times with current web technologies. If web designers need to code separately for their pages to display correctly within IE, that’s a sign that they either need to get with it or step out. Well, in my opinion at least.
I will say that I do still have IE installed on my laptop. Primarily to check for these discrepancies when I’m coding, but (very occasionally) I’ll sometimes pop it open if I’m in a hurry and just looking to grab something real quick. I’ll give them a small hand for their quick startup time. But that’s where it ends. Firefox has the market nailed. Not only are they current with the changing technologies, but all of their add-ons really allow users to customize their browsing experience.
Next browser trial will be Google Chrome, which is creeping up there in statistics also. While they appear to be just as good with displaying webpages (and quickly), I’m not sure on their customization – one of my favorite features of Firefox.
IE’s rates have dropped significantly over the past couple of years. Due to what? Probably the fact that their software is severely behind the times with current web technologies. If web designers need to code separately for their pages to display correctly within IE, that’s a sign that they either need to get with it or step out. Well, in my opinion at least.
I will say that I do still have IE installed on my laptop. Primarily to check for these discrepancies when I’m coding, but (very occasionally) I’ll sometimes pop it open if I’m in a hurry and just looking to grab something real quick. I’ll give them a small hand for their quick startup time. But that’s where it ends. Firefox has the market nailed. Not only are they current with the changing technologies, but all of their add-ons really allow users to customize their browsing experience.
Next browser trial will be Google Chrome, which is creeping up there in statistics also. While they appear to be just as good with displaying webpages (and quickly), I’m not sure on their customization – one of my favorite features of Firefox.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Type (in the right hands)
As a print designer at heart, I have always had a strong interest in typography. Bad font choices make me shudder. While, of course, it is definitely a subjective thing, some people can do some real damage with a long list of type options in their arsenal. There really is no need to litter your Microsoft Word documents with Comic Sans and Brush Script just because you can. It's not creative, it's just tacky. A little restraint goes a long, looong way.
However, when in the right hands, magical things can happen with type. Check out these little gems, which you can see featured along with other examples at inspiredology.com :
Options in web typography, which used to be nonexistent when browsers first debuted, are now becoming more available (or I should say, are TRYING to become more available) to designers. There are a lot of different ideas (and concerns) floating around right now. The biggest hurdle is how to make the fonts available to the designers for on-screen delivery to the viewer without being able to be downloaded, which would leave our fabulous font designers broke and living on the streets. No bueno.
There have been a couple attempts, like Microsoft's EOT, to get around this problem. But it was never fully supported by the type foundries and never picked up by the majority of browsers. On the other hand, there are some work-arounds that will allow some fonts to be used (using @font-face), which is now becoming widely supported by browsers but still leaves vulnerabilities for font pilfering.
While all this gets worked out, a handful of sites have stepped up in the interim (and I'm sure they hope to stick around a little bit longer…) to allow licensing of fonts that they host and designers can tap into using the @font-face property. The majority of them are pretty well stocked, opening tons of options for web typography. But it comes with a price. One of the most well known of the bunch, typekit.com, offers the service for between $7-$49/month depending on bandwidth usage and the number of fonts you want available. Oh, and they limit the number of sites you are able to use the fonts on, also dependent on your level of subscription.
While the lure of having these fonts at my disposal was tempting at first, in retrospect I'm glad I didn't jump the gun and pop in my credit card number (as I am often so guilty of doing…). I really think I would only would use it for decorative text, not body copy, so image replacement works fine for now in these instances until a more solid solution is worked out that doesn't require another monthly subscription. Until then, basic web safe fonts are good with me.
However, when in the right hands, magical things can happen with type. Check out these little gems, which you can see featured along with other examples at inspiredology.com :
Options in web typography, which used to be nonexistent when browsers first debuted, are now becoming more available (or I should say, are TRYING to become more available) to designers. There are a lot of different ideas (and concerns) floating around right now. The biggest hurdle is how to make the fonts available to the designers for on-screen delivery to the viewer without being able to be downloaded, which would leave our fabulous font designers broke and living on the streets. No bueno.
There have been a couple attempts, like Microsoft's EOT, to get around this problem. But it was never fully supported by the type foundries and never picked up by the majority of browsers. On the other hand, there are some work-arounds that will allow some fonts to be used (using @font-face), which is now becoming widely supported by browsers but still leaves vulnerabilities for font pilfering.
While all this gets worked out, a handful of sites have stepped up in the interim (and I'm sure they hope to stick around a little bit longer…) to allow licensing of fonts that they host and designers can tap into using the @font-face property. The majority of them are pretty well stocked, opening tons of options for web typography. But it comes with a price. One of the most well known of the bunch, typekit.com, offers the service for between $7-$49/month depending on bandwidth usage and the number of fonts you want available. Oh, and they limit the number of sites you are able to use the fonts on, also dependent on your level of subscription.
While the lure of having these fonts at my disposal was tempting at first, in retrospect I'm glad I didn't jump the gun and pop in my credit card number (as I am often so guilty of doing…). I really think I would only would use it for decorative text, not body copy, so image replacement works fine for now in these instances until a more solid solution is worked out that doesn't require another monthly subscription. Until then, basic web safe fonts are good with me.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wonderful World of Color
When used without purpose, color has the power of breaking even the best designs before the viewer even has a chance to consciously interpret the meaning of a message. However, when used with purpose, it can subconsciously tap into the viewer’s psyche and project feelings that (hopefully) reinforce your message.
Often times, color can say things that words cannot. Or at least, they can be more effective at doing so. For example, one of the best-known examples of color psychology in corporate branding is the UPS logo. Their use of the same dull brown shade for the past who-knows-how-many years isn’t an accident. It’s not a sign of a company needing to catch up with the times. It is, in fact, an intentional use of the color – they’re using the power of color psychology, knowing that brown projects feelings of reliability and stability.
Without even using statistics, customer feedback or anything else to sell themselves, simply by using the power of color they have already subconsciously positioned themselves as a reliable company that you can trust. Definitely not by accident.
UPS is by far not the only company to tap into this psychology. Warm colors have been associated with stimulating hunger. Now think about Campbell’s soup. McDonald’s. Or most Italian restaurants. Now think about day spas. Blues and greens, known as calming colors, dominate here.
Below are more feelings associated with color, some more subconsciously rooted than others:
(Blue) Sky, Sea, Water, Religious feeling, Peace, Faith, Stability, Melancholy, Trust, Loyalty, Wisdom, Tranquility, Integrity (Red) Fire, Love, Passion, Energy, Revolution, Anger, Power, Debt, Danger, Heat, Warning (Green) Money, Growth, Environmentally Friendly, Fertility, Envy, Spring, Freshness, Stability, Loyal, Healing (Yellow) Energy, Sun, Happiness, Cheery, Creativity (Orange) Joy, Sunshine, Creativity, Determination, Success, Encouragement, Energy, Autumn, Construction (Purple) Royalty, Power, Nobility, Luxury, Spirituality (Brown) Conservative, Stable, Outdoors, Fall, Earth, Organic
(Courtesy of Judy Litt, Visual Accents Design)
There are several tools available online to help designers use these ideas to their benefit. One of my favorites is COLOURLovers. There are TONS of examples of great (and some not so great) color combinations in their palettes section. Often times I am inspired just by browsing some of the examples found here. I have had varying degrees of success with their color match tool, but most often what I use is the text search. Try typing in some keywords associated with the feeling you want to convey and you are sure to come up with something that suits your needs. Since it calls on user created names, it will miss some of the more obscurely named palettes, but it is often helpful in at least generating ideas if nothing else. Think of what you would expect for the following, and then try it out to see what it comes up with: technology, winter, organic.
Often times, color can say things that words cannot. Or at least, they can be more effective at doing so. For example, one of the best-known examples of color psychology in corporate branding is the UPS logo. Their use of the same dull brown shade for the past who-knows-how-many years isn’t an accident. It’s not a sign of a company needing to catch up with the times. It is, in fact, an intentional use of the color – they’re using the power of color psychology, knowing that brown projects feelings of reliability and stability.
Without even using statistics, customer feedback or anything else to sell themselves, simply by using the power of color they have already subconsciously positioned themselves as a reliable company that you can trust. Definitely not by accident.
UPS is by far not the only company to tap into this psychology. Warm colors have been associated with stimulating hunger. Now think about Campbell’s soup. McDonald’s. Or most Italian restaurants. Now think about day spas. Blues and greens, known as calming colors, dominate here.
Below are more feelings associated with color, some more subconsciously rooted than others:
(Blue) Sky, Sea, Water, Religious feeling, Peace, Faith, Stability, Melancholy, Trust, Loyalty, Wisdom, Tranquility, Integrity (Red) Fire, Love, Passion, Energy, Revolution, Anger, Power, Debt, Danger, Heat, Warning (Green) Money, Growth, Environmentally Friendly, Fertility, Envy, Spring, Freshness, Stability, Loyal, Healing (Yellow) Energy, Sun, Happiness, Cheery, Creativity (Orange) Joy, Sunshine, Creativity, Determination, Success, Encouragement, Energy, Autumn, Construction (Purple) Royalty, Power, Nobility, Luxury, Spirituality (Brown) Conservative, Stable, Outdoors, Fall, Earth, Organic
(Courtesy of Judy Litt, Visual Accents Design)
There are several tools available online to help designers use these ideas to their benefit. One of my favorites is COLOURLovers. There are TONS of examples of great (and some not so great) color combinations in their palettes section. Often times I am inspired just by browsing some of the examples found here. I have had varying degrees of success with their color match tool, but most often what I use is the text search. Try typing in some keywords associated with the feeling you want to convey and you are sure to come up with something that suits your needs. Since it calls on user created names, it will miss some of the more obscurely named palettes, but it is often helpful in at least generating ideas if nothing else. Think of what you would expect for the following, and then try it out to see what it comes up with: technology, winter, organic.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Art Directing the Web
There’s a lot of exciting talk lately about “Art Directing the Web”, or basically taking more of an interest in the artistic presentation of content on websites instead of having each boring, bland page look just like the last.
Now, you might be asking WHY this is exciting. Well, for one it will allow me to merge my passion for creative design with the current technologies. And with the big emphasis coming from leaders in the industry, it really is only a (short) matter of time until real change is seen.
AND, since the majority of my prior training has been tailored toward print media, this is allowing me to expand. Industry-wide it will create more of a need for designers in web-related jobs – SCORE!
Having worked with a big content management system in the Air Force that kicked out page after identical page, I think there definitely is a need and a means for creating content that is unique and engaging. Even within the bounds of CMS. It’s about thinking outside the box, experimenting and pushing the limits.
Okay, so that’s all great and all. But, being true to my nature, I always have to weigh both sides. CMS is easy. A monkey can post something online in seconds. And so can a design-challenged person – or even a client, perhaps?
While this isn’t good for me, companies that are looking to do more with less will (and do) see CMS as a way to have a web presence without a lot of web knowledge. It gets set up by a pro, they get a 20-minute training session and then it’s turned over to some grunt to “run”.
Clearly I’m not a fan of this method.
But I can see the appeal for employers who don’t realize that the more engaging their website is, the better their stories will be told. For those who don’t realize that it’s not so much about quantity anymore (especially with the amount of stuff already out there) as it is quality. Anyone can tell the story – and odds are that someone already has. But who can tell it the best? That’s who’s gonna catch the reader.
The web-art direction concept is definitely a step in the right direction.
Now, you might be asking WHY this is exciting. Well, for one it will allow me to merge my passion for creative design with the current technologies. And with the big emphasis coming from leaders in the industry, it really is only a (short) matter of time until real change is seen.
AND, since the majority of my prior training has been tailored toward print media, this is allowing me to expand. Industry-wide it will create more of a need for designers in web-related jobs – SCORE!
Having worked with a big content management system in the Air Force that kicked out page after identical page, I think there definitely is a need and a means for creating content that is unique and engaging. Even within the bounds of CMS. It’s about thinking outside the box, experimenting and pushing the limits.
Okay, so that’s all great and all. But, being true to my nature, I always have to weigh both sides. CMS is easy. A monkey can post something online in seconds. And so can a design-challenged person – or even a client, perhaps?
While this isn’t good for me, companies that are looking to do more with less will (and do) see CMS as a way to have a web presence without a lot of web knowledge. It gets set up by a pro, they get a 20-minute training session and then it’s turned over to some grunt to “run”.
Clearly I’m not a fan of this method.
But I can see the appeal for employers who don’t realize that the more engaging their website is, the better their stories will be told. For those who don’t realize that it’s not so much about quantity anymore (especially with the amount of stuff already out there) as it is quality. Anyone can tell the story – and odds are that someone already has. But who can tell it the best? That’s who’s gonna catch the reader.
The web-art direction concept is definitely a step in the right direction.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Email Address Update
Got my email address set up for the new site. You can now reach me at: christie@cjdesignstudio.com
Still nothing on the site yet, but making progress. Slowly, but surely.
Still nothing on the site yet, but making progress. Slowly, but surely.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Looking Forward.
As I mentioned before, I’m taking a Web Design II class at school right now. Because this is my one semi-creative class this semester, I’m pretty excited about this one. Now, I didn’t take a Web Design I class, but instead have more self-taught myself what I do know with HTML. That, and I’m a wiz at Dreamweaver… lol. But, I digress.
The thing I love about this class is that instead of starting out at the VERY beginning where we’re learning all the boringness about what tags and tables are, I feel like I’m learning stuff that I will actually benefit from. If I’ve missed a little along the way (from the Web Design I class), then that’s where my resourcefulness comes in – aka Google.
Another exciting thing about this class is that most everything I have studied so far has been graphics – more concentrated on the aesthetics and geared toward print design. But when thinking about careers in the industry and the future of where everything is going, web is where I need to be. So this class, and the others that I am lined up to take, are going to give me the skills I need to really put everything I have learned thus far into use. And in a way that will be in much greater demand now and in the coming years.
I am hoping that this class, with its emphasis on mechanics versus aesthetics, will help me become more proficient with raw code. Also, I am looking forward to working with some things that I have little to no prior experience with – CSS, WordPress, etc. Finally, I’m excited to learn about the newest developments in the field, such as the huge strides in social media. And how I can take advantage of those to put myself and my designs in a better position for employment.
Looking at the lesson plan and in talking with the instructor, the class seems to be based on current trends and information, so I am looking forward to (finally!) learning some relevant information that I think will really help me in my career.
Cheers to money well spent!
The thing I love about this class is that instead of starting out at the VERY beginning where we’re learning all the boringness about what tags and tables are, I feel like I’m learning stuff that I will actually benefit from. If I’ve missed a little along the way (from the Web Design I class), then that’s where my resourcefulness comes in – aka Google.
Another exciting thing about this class is that most everything I have studied so far has been graphics – more concentrated on the aesthetics and geared toward print design. But when thinking about careers in the industry and the future of where everything is going, web is where I need to be. So this class, and the others that I am lined up to take, are going to give me the skills I need to really put everything I have learned thus far into use. And in a way that will be in much greater demand now and in the coming years.
I am hoping that this class, with its emphasis on mechanics versus aesthetics, will help me become more proficient with raw code. Also, I am looking forward to working with some things that I have little to no prior experience with – CSS, WordPress, etc. Finally, I’m excited to learn about the newest developments in the field, such as the huge strides in social media. And how I can take advantage of those to put myself and my designs in a better position for employment.
Looking at the lesson plan and in talking with the instructor, the class seems to be based on current trends and information, so I am looking forward to (finally!) learning some relevant information that I think will really help me in my career.
Cheers to money well spent!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Home Sweet Home.
Welcome to the new blog that will be home to all my current design work and notes. Previous entries have been moved to this site so everything related can be found in one spot. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Back to School. Again.
Note: Republished and removed from Accidental Inspiration blog.
For one of my classes, Web Design II, we are required to set up a website so we are able to post all of our work for review/testing/etc. Since I was sort of wanting to abandon my old host anyway, I decided to look around a little.
Previously I used Hosting4Students. This was at the suggestion of a past teacher in another one of my classes. It did it's job for the time being, and for now I am going to leave the site in progress (or should I say also abandoned...) that I created for that class: christieann.com. Someday I may come back to it, but for now I just don't even want to mess with it.
Back to hosts... I still have quite a bit to learn about the different options of hosting services, but some of the requirements for the class were that it could handle PHP and MySQL. Another reason I could justify purchasing another host! :)
So I poked around a little bit, but word of mouth is always the best seller for me. Our instructor mentioned that he uses ICDSoft.com. Checked it out -- affordable and seems very universal. PHP and MySQL? Check! And purchased.
I could have just transferred over the domain I guess, but that seemed like too much work for the moment. Instead I started poking around for the domains available... Since this is going to be a primarily work-based site, I thought I would go in that direction. (christieann.com was chosen with the idea that I would later change it to a personal site once I got a work one established.)
First idea was initials combined with some sort of graphic-y reference. After a couple different tries -- cjdesign.com, cjgraphics.com, etc. -- I settled on cjdesignstudio.com. For now that will work. I'm guessing once I'm married (and that's still up in the air... no date set yet) I might want to change that, but for now I'm still clinging to the maiden moniker.
Done and done. Now just to start getting stuff up so I have something to show...
For one of my classes, Web Design II, we are required to set up a website so we are able to post all of our work for review/testing/etc. Since I was sort of wanting to abandon my old host anyway, I decided to look around a little.
Previously I used Hosting4Students. This was at the suggestion of a past teacher in another one of my classes. It did it's job for the time being, and for now I am going to leave the site in progress (or should I say also abandoned...) that I created for that class: christieann.com. Someday I may come back to it, but for now I just don't even want to mess with it.
Back to hosts... I still have quite a bit to learn about the different options of hosting services, but some of the requirements for the class were that it could handle PHP and MySQL. Another reason I could justify purchasing another host! :)
So I poked around a little bit, but word of mouth is always the best seller for me. Our instructor mentioned that he uses ICDSoft.com. Checked it out -- affordable and seems very universal. PHP and MySQL? Check! And purchased.
I could have just transferred over the domain I guess, but that seemed like too much work for the moment. Instead I started poking around for the domains available... Since this is going to be a primarily work-based site, I thought I would go in that direction. (christieann.com was chosen with the idea that I would later change it to a personal site once I got a work one established.)
First idea was initials combined with some sort of graphic-y reference. After a couple different tries -- cjdesign.com, cjgraphics.com, etc. -- I settled on cjdesignstudio.com. For now that will work. I'm guessing once I'm married (and that's still up in the air... no date set yet) I might want to change that, but for now I'm still clinging to the maiden moniker.
Done and done. Now just to start getting stuff up so I have something to show...
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