Have you ever thought about how many customers you lose by having a slow site? And I’m not talking about file size only, as we rely on browser capacities to understand our code, we need to consider the processing time also. (more…)
Since WP 3.1, we’ve had post formats. Most people don’t know what that is and most developers don’t make use of this great tool.
You should know about it since we’ll probably have a great increase on post formats usage with the upcoming WP 3.6 version. There we’ll find a better post formats UI, and certainly a big incentive for users to understand and use it accordingly. (more…)
Every day we have new and better browser versions. Real browsers (like Firefox and Chrome) have reached their 20th version a while ago, and the awesome features list is just increasing. On the other hand, we as developers must ensure that our products work fine in older browsers (but not IE6 kind of older), since many paying customers can be using IE8 (or 7?) or even slower machines that don’t allow you massive JS or HTML5 work. (more…)
Just like every other element of web design, color palettes follow fads that are constantly evolving. This year’s color trends are as diverse as they are compelling; brights and neons combine with greyscale to add some zing to clean, modern styles, while pastel palettes lend a softness to playful, cartoony designs. And from one end of the line to the other, color blocking in any hue has been enthusiastically employed. (more…)
Prior to selling my web agency last year and starting uGurus, a new venture to help web professionals become more profitable, I pitched a lot of website projects. Unfortunately for a lot of freelancers, I was the “other company” that the customer decided to move forward with. Like Beatrix vs. Master Pai Mei, it wasn’t a contest. If the title of this post led you to believe that I was going to outline a fair and balanced tit for tat, you might want to adjust your sitting position at this time. But…if you think my #1 competitor, as an agency, was other agencies, think again. (more…)
It’s easy to get caught up in the private world of web design, spending too much time playing with the latest CSS tricks, or flipping through the coolest design showcases. You start forgetting that your work isn’t all about being on the cutting edge and snagging a web design award or two. The reality is that the latest and greatest design trends are irrelevant, and sometimes even alienating, to the majority of audiences. Unfortunately, that kind of work is often only appropriate for an audience of other designers, and those projects are rare. (more…)
I often read about designers who cannot stand freelancing yet continue to use this path for solid income. I suppose there is nothing wrong with hating your job, but some designers actually enjoy freelancing. It is not a career choice that many people would keep for decades. But it does offer a unique lifestyle of working on various projects and studying new trends. (more…)
Birthed in May 2010 in an article by Ethan Marcotte published on A List Apart called “Responsive Web Design“, this device-independent design philosophy has spread like wild fire amongst the design and development community. Evidence of the larger business community embracing responsive web design began in 2011 with notable redesigns of Starbucks, Time Magazine and Boston Globe websites. It’s no surprise given the rapid increase in the number of different devices used to surf the web – phones, tablets, handheld gaming devices, consoles, refrigerators and who knows what else in the near future. Our recent article “21 Fresh Examples of Responsive Web Design” highlights some fantastic websites that showcase the beauty and capability of Responsive Web Design. (more…)
Web design isn’t what it used to be. Web design used to be a fixed process. Except for some browser quirks here and there, and for the regular lockdown of creativity of course, it was a fairly straightforward operation. It used to be the defining of a canvas and as long as we kept the design within the 960 horizontal pixels of a grid, everything would be safe and sound. (more…)
Want a better website and don’t know where to start? Or, do you think your website changes are out of your control?
Many website owners think a better website means a complete overhaul – a brand new website. In some cases that may be true, but in my experience a couple tweaks can make the difference between bland and beautiful. (more…)
