By Jared White / August 4th, 2010
That’s what it’s all about in Web design. I suppose you could argue that it’s true in print as well, but on the Web in particular, we designers have to pay close attention to the interplay of color, font, and texture across a large number of pages, sections, and divisions. If you’re a designer, you probably think that’s a blinding flash of the obvious, but it’s actually shocking how many sites out there seem to pay little heed to any kind of coherence in these areas. That may be due to a site evolving over time (I’m sure work I’ve done isn’t perfect), or perhaps more than one designer was involved in different stages.
Some Examples:
You’re on Page 1 of a site and all the action buttons are blue. You go to Page 2 of a site, and all of a sudden there are action buttons that are green. Why blue on one page and green on the other?
You’re looking at a diagram that puts a metallic sheen on the elements. Then you go look at some similar graphical elements further down the page and they look plastic and glossy. Why are there two different textures on one page?
The headline font is Helvetica on the blog home page and then it’s Georgia on the individual post pages. Should all headlines across a site be uniform?
Now let me say this: I don’t think it’s bad to have a little variation. Variety is the spice of life. Sometimes you may want to consciously use a different headline font in a particular case for a different emphasis or emotion. Sometimes you may want to use a secondary texture on some elements to make them stand out. All I’m saying is: THINK! Use your head and really think through why you’re picking a certain color, font, or texture. Is it because it looks “cool” to you at the time or is it because of a specific reason that is consistent and integrous with the overall design of the project?
Pay attention.
Posted in Visual Delights | No Comments »
By Jared White / July 30th, 2010
I spent some time in the last few weeks researching and trying out various solutions for online invoicing, and I have settled on a popular one that has a fabulous interface. I’m quite pleased. I tried it out with a client after a recent project was finished, and it worked like a champ.
So now when you hire Siteshine for your next Web site project, you’ll be able to pay invoices online via PayPal (and thus via a number of funding sources including credit & debit cards). Just another way we want to make the design process as easy and straightforward as possible. Personally, I HATE checks and would prefer to use a debit card for all my transactions. Maybe you feel the same way!
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »
By Jared White / July 14th, 2010
Wow! I’ve been really surprised and delighted by the response we got to the video interview we posted a couple of weeks ago. Compared to blog posts or other things I’ve put online in the past, I’ve never had so many people I know personally respond and tell me they’d seen it.
So thank you for your feedback! I appreciate it.
Also, a big shout out to our Siteshine clients. Repeat business is something I value very, very highly, and I appreciate how supportive you have been over the years and even recent business I’ve received from you. Thank you.
I have an idea in mind for a future video which will show a bit of my workspace and what tools I like to use as I’m designing Web sites. I’ll probably post a bit about that ahead of time though. See you then!
Posted in On the Job | No Comments »
By Jared White / July 1st, 2010
Hey, this is a really fun milestone for us: we just posted a video interview that was recorded locally on the Windsor Town Green. I’ve been wanting to get video up on Siteshine since before we even launched, but it’s taken a while to get the concept and the time together. The background was a little bright but thankfully we got good quality audio. It’s always nice to be able to hear clearly!
There’s an important announcement about Siteshine in the video at the 2:30 mark and later some details on our goals and strategy, so please visit the Interview page and watch the video (or at least read the summary). Let me know what you think!
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »
By Jared White / June 29th, 2010
When a company blog isn’t updated for a while, it could be because of several different options:
(a) Everyone’s crazy busy around here. No news is good news.
(b) The company is going out of business. Bye-bye.
(c) Nobody has anything interesting to say. We’re boring.
I’m happy to say the second and third options have nothing to do with reality. We’re not boring, and Siteshine isn’t going anywhere. Anywhere but up, that is.
While I’m not proud to choose the first option, we really have been busy. Part of that busyness has been client projects. I’m doing some really interesting work for a book publisher right now which should be seeing the light of day sometime next month. I also recently completed my wife’s site for her massage business Healing Hands Massage which I’ll be posting on our company portfolio shortly.
There’s been more going on as well internally and right now I’m preparing some updates to our site and a video which will shed some light on recent changes and my vision for the future of Siteshine. I know that sounds vague, but all will be revealed later this week.
One of my goals is providing more transparency with how I conduct business and what I do in my capacity as Web Designer, so I will be putting more emphasis on that on our site and this blog as time goes on.
I want you to know I’ve never been more pumped about designing. My passion is to make things that have integrity and intrinsic value, and everything I do at Siteshine is engineered with that goal in mind.
I leave you with this inspiring quote:
“It is only by doing things others have not that one can advance.”
- General George S. Patton, Jr
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »
By Jared White / May 18th, 2010
ReadWriteWeb posted a summary of a speech by Jack Dorsey, one of the co-founders of Twitter. In it, Dorsey talks about some of the principles he’s learned in starting a wildly-successful company (Twitter) and another one that is still in the beginning phases but looks likely to make waves (Square).
I haven’t watched the entire video, but the summary is excellent. In the past, I’ve spent a lot of wasted moments agonizing over business ventures not panning out, but in more recent times maturity has taught me that if you take an idea, “draw” it out, and then put it on the shelf for a while, you’ll come to discover that it’s either a great idea — at some point it will make complete sense and be just the right timing to launch it — or a poor one best left forgotten.
I recently emptied out an old box with a bunch of software ideas from 5, 6, 7 years ago. It was depressing in a way, since I still haven’t released an actual software product, but on the other hand, I realized that all the effort I put into working on those as-yet-unrealized ideas has helped sharpen my skills and made me a better programmer, a better designer, and a better project manager.
So don’t sweat your dreams not coming to pass. The right ones will happen at the right times and the rest — to borrow a phrase from Jacob — is just progress.
Posted in Entrepreneurship | No Comments »
By Jared White / April 27th, 2010
Good news! 1stwebdesigner, a popular blogzine for the Web designer community, just published my second article for the site: Client Handling: Finding your Client’s Pain Points. As I state in my article:
In my years of dealing with a variety of different clients, I have noticed one curious trend. It is amazing how many other Web designers have left a bad taste in people’s mouths from previous experiences they’ve had. I think this boils down to two things: lack of experience and lack of awareness.
I want to cover the second point today. As a Web designer/developer, you have an amazing opportunity to shape your clients’ perceptions of what the Internet and online technology can do for them and their business.
Posted in On the Job | No Comments »
By Jared White / April 9th, 2010
Heh. I just read this great article by Umair Haque about how the concept of innovation as we’ve typically understood it (new features, new capabilities, new flavors, new styles, etc.) is starting to look less appealing than the concept of awesomeness, where you take something and do it a lot better, with more care.
I think the author is basically right. We can try to come up with all kinds of “innovative” ways of doing things and miss the fundamentals. Sometimes, I just want a really yummy cup of coffee and know the ingredients were grown in an environmentally-friendly and ethical manner. I want an awesome cup o’ joe. Simple.
Most technological gadgets trend towards being woefully over-engineered. Too much innovation, not enough awesome. It’s good to be reminded to strive for the emotion, the care, and joy of creating a product — even if the product happens to be a wooden chair rather than a spaceship.
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »
By Jared White / April 5th, 2010
1stwebdesigner, a popular graphic and web design blog, has published my first exclusive article (the first of many) called Amazing CSS3 Techniques You Can’t live Without. As I write in my article:
“CSS3, along with HTML5, is quickly shaping up to be one of the most exciting and useful Web technologies in years. In this article, I will be explaining some of the new graphics-rich techniques and properties available with CSS3. You will learn what is likely to be approved as part of the final spec, what is still a work-in-progress, and how to deal with cross-browser incompatibilities and lack of support in older browsers. Ready? Here we go.”
Check it out and let them know what you think!
Posted in HTML5 & CSS3, Visual Delights | No Comments »
By Jared White / April 2nd, 2010
I’m really excited to announce that I’ve started up a new blog called iPad Artistry, and I will be posting photos and a series of detailed reviews of the iPad beginning tomorrow when I pick mine up from the Apple Store.
While this is a design & technology blog, I realized that, as Siteshine is a Web design company, it would be wise to focus mainly on issues related to Web design and creativity. I will cross-link to iPad Artistry from time to time when it seems appropriate, and I do believe the iPad truly will be a driving force in the future of the Web. But if you’re not as much of a fanboy as I am, you can just stay here on NetNotes.
Check out my latest opinion piece on iPad Artistry and let me know your thoughts.
Posted in Gadgets & Gear | No Comments »
