Thoughts on Design

I've been meaning to look up cheap alternatives to the design software I currently use. Photoshop is fantastic, but it's expensive. What can I use on my home computer cheaper? Or on a laptop just for the occasional touch-up? Before I had the opportunity to look this up, I found that someone else had saved me the trouble. Creative Alternatives and Resources It's a fairly comprehensive list of what's available for the designer on a budget... or with no budget.

Seth Grodin writes about logos and their meaning, or lack there of.

About thirty years ago, three companies dreamed up logos that have become so powerful, I don't even have to show you the images to get them to pop up in your head. - Continued

You need to go and read this. This is what a lot of design clients don't get, and a lot of designers too.

Go read Dan's post on A Different Approach to Design . It's well worth your time.

That’s when I realized I succeeded as an artist, but failed as a designer.

I always like to link to lists of resources for products and tools that I use. Here's some lists of Photoshop resources that are pretty good.

• The best photoshop resources & more! « VCC Graphics Technology
• John Nack on Adobe: Great Photoshop CS3 beta resources

Here are 31 Free Online Tests that you can run on your site. Test for validation, syntax, links, load time, etc. You can even check for who's linking to you, and your search engine optimization status. A great list of resources for web designers. How does your site fare?

h/t Church Communications Pro

As you can see, I changed the WordPress theme. Still fiddling, but since this site is rarely visited, I figure it wouldn't really matter. As in previous versions, the CSS and page structure is mine, while the PHP is a mish-mash of the two default themes and some of my own work. Hope you like it.

Update: It's change a couple of times now, and is currently using Drupal.

I've received several questions about css backgrounds in the last week or so. I've answered them as they've come in, but I thought a post on the subject was in order. Rather than reinvent the wheel, here's some CSS background resources that are already available.

• Digital Web Magazine - Web Design 101: Backgrounds
• CSS Background Properties
• CSS Tutorial - Background
• 24 ways: Naughty or Nice? CSS Background Images

Basement.org: The Richer Web & The Death Of Design

Each of these platforms have their pluses and minuses. And as we assess this or that platform we're left with an oddly empty feeling: what is all this stuff?

I'm constantly amazed by all of the new "best software ever" products that are available to web designers. We're expected to use the newest, biggest and best, in a constantly evolving of world of products. Five minutes ago I'd never heard of Product A, now I need to know it. I'm expected to completely ignore the fact that this product will be off the market and never supported again five minutes from now. Why can't I just design?

A must read for anyone learning CSS, or anyone who wants to know it better. 70 Expert Ideas For Better CSS Coding | Smashing Magazine. The Organization section is particularly good I thought.

Master Stylesheet: The Most Useful CSS Technique. I don't know about the most useful, but definitely in the top few. Few things are more frustrating than working your way through a CSS problem, only to find out the real problem was that you didn't clear some obscure CSS default styling.