Owner: Sponge Project URL:http://www.spongeproject.co.uk/blog Join Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2007 07:38:36 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Thoughts, comments and general musings on website design and creation. Site statistics:Click here
Wierd 2008-03-06 11:12:19 Link thanks to Dark Roasted Blend
Contact Rob Mason for details on website design and build services in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Read more:Wierd
Bugger me: Mircosoft shocks the world and listens to the community 2008-03-06 08:16:00 I'm no fan of Microsoft, however I have to doff my cap to them. They've decided after all the flak and commentary they got, not just from me, from around the world, from big names in the game, to do a complete u-turn and do things right! No more IE-specific hacks. They've even released a beta version for us to test. Hurrah! Read more:community
, shocks
Vote for Wordpess… 2008-02-28 13:18:19 ...it's one of the best CMS/blogging platforms around, so what are you waiting for? While you're at it take the time to vote for the best web browser around: Firefox.
IAB get a new website… 2008-02-27 13:49:52 ...shame it can't do the basics! For those not in the know the IAB are a UK-based trade association for the internet marketing industry. They've just re-launched their website
with a new look and feel, which is not too shabby and also offers a mobile version.
Owning a hammer does not make me a builder… 2008-02-26 08:56:21 ...but apparently owning some design software does make someone a website designer! Freelance Freedom at FreelanceSwitch has done a great cartoon on a very serious issue which has been bugging me for a while. Read more:Owning
Memey-ness? 2008-02-26 04:29:28 Not sure Memey-ness is a word, but if Jack P thinks it is then that's good enough for me. :) Anyway, I think I am a random person in relation to Jack never having actually met him in real life, so here goes. Six random and totally unimportant things about me:
I'm wearing grey socks right now with orange toes and heals
I have a freebie Mr Benn DVD on my desk right now
My hair is blonde
I have a pair of very feminine wellingtons in the boot of my car
I have a BA Baracus / A Team van on my key ring
Beat that suckas!
Google may be great at building stuff… 2008-02-25 13:54:39 ...but they're rubbish at offering a consistent user experience (IMHO). When using services from one organisation as a user I expect or at least anticipate some level of consistency with things like navigation and layout.
However, Google
seem intent on doing their own thing product by product. Read more:stuff
Competitions…are they a good thing or not? 2008-02-21 09:36:42 For some people web design or website coding competitions can be a great way to get recognition for their work and where possible make some cash. Take 99Designs as an example. However, are they actually worth it?
I've entered a couple of competitions previously both of which I didn't win. Now I'm not bitter about it because in both of these a better designer was chosen and well done to them. But I do wonder whether the time spent on these competitions (because I have some time on my hands of an evening) was spent wisely? Read more:Competitions
W3C site in need of TLC? 2008-02-20 04:36:30 The W3C site bugs me. I know it's a small thing, but it bugs me. One word: bland. But why does it have to be this way? Quick answer is it doesn't. Some would argue that such organisations don't need funky sites, but surely some level of visual appeal is needed? Come on chaps, pull your finger out a re-design it!
Virtual Stan 2008-03-12 14:58:07 Old hat to some no doubt, but sometimes you're surfing around aimlessly and come across something truly amazing.
Virtual Stan allows you to take control of a virtual version of Jason Santa Maria. You can make him happy, angry or even sing a song (Roxstan is my favourite)! Truly aimless, but excellently well done by Rob Weychert.
How to convert an image to a vector? 2008-03-11 08:25:13 Not your every day question granted, but it's a question I ask sometimes when I don't have the original artwork or image source. Vector Magic basically allows you to upload an image in whatever format you have it in (currently supports JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, PSD) and exports it as a vector (EPS, SVG, PDF, and PNG).
The main benefit for those not in the know is that a vector image allows you to re-size or re-shape it with out getting the traditional blurred or jagged edges with non-vector images (find out more). Fantastic for a free service!
How to design beautiful websites 2008-03-10 07:42:53 I'm not going to give you that secret, however one great pace to start is by buying "The Principles of Beautiful Web Design" by Jason Bearid. I did and I'm very glad I did so.
As the design
of this site will attest, my design skills have a little room for improvement, mainly around the detail and polish. My hope was that this book would help me with some design structure and concepts on which to base my thinking.
Top web applications of 2008 2008-03-10 05:41:15 In an attempt to “discover the world's most popular web” the chaps at Carsonified launched a not scientific, but nevertheless useful survey at the recent Future of Web Apps conference. The results have been published and the winner is: Gmail.
My first guest post 2008-03-09 05:43:58 Rachael put out a plea for support with her new blog Rawrr. The aim is to offer web designers a useful repository of information and tips. So being the kind chap that I am, I obliged with a re-worked article of mine. Check it out: Rawrr » Web hosts.
Design Police | Bring bad design to justice. 2008-03-08 04:24:13 Brilliant! Design Police
- “Bring bad design to justice”! Lots of nice little Post-It note style cut-outs to plaster all over people's work if you don't think it's up to scratch. Please don't use it on my site :)
Advanced editor for Wordpress 2008-03-14 14:31:33 I'm constantly being surprised by the quality of the free plugins developed for Wordpress
. The latest to blow my mind is essential for anyone using Wordpress - TinyMCE Advanced.
Good Barry, sounds like a good service 2008-03-15 08:08:32 GoodBarry
essentially combines all of your website analytics, tracking, customer database and email marketing into one slick interface. I haven't tried it out myself, but the concept sounds great.
Want to protect your kids when they’re online? 2008-03-18 04:01:20
Then try Glubble. It's a plugin for Firefox that allows parents to control what their children see (or don't see) when surfing. Read more:online
The ultimate HTML reference 2008-03-23 13:31:46 A continuation from the previously mentioned CSS Reference, Sitepoint has now released their Ultimate HTML Reference, written by the venerable Ian Lloyd. It's another well-thought out and very detailed look at all things HTML and xHTML. Read more:reference
Guide to resizing test in your browser 2008-03-22 11:33:45 Changing the size of the text within our chosen browser
s seems to be a hidden and dark art to some, hence the prevalence of text-size widgets on websites. Personally I'm not a fan of them, as I think education is the way forward. You don't need the widgets as every modern browser has text-resizing functionality built-in. Sadly people don't know how easy it is. But Joe Dolson's guide to modifying font attributes through your web browser makes it child's play! Read more:Guide
Changes 2008-03-25 03:57:25 Apologies if you are viewing this site and can’t find stuff, can’t see images or are getting 404’s all over the place. I’m going through a re-design of the main site and blog, so please bear with me. Normal service should be resumed in the next couple of days, with a new design.
Banish bad web design books from your library 2008-03-30 09:54:00 This is a frankly genius idea. So simple, yet so effective.
Basically the Street Team over at Web Standards Project, ask you to print out a load of bookmarks. You then visit your local library and place the bookmarks inside any books deemed as breaking common crimes against the web, such as using table layout (shock!) [...] Read more:design
New look and feel 2008-03-28 06:36:04 The keener eyed will have noticed some changes around here recently. No not the technical hitches (damn htaccess files!). The new look and feel for Sponge Project!
Coins get funky 2008-04-04 14:26:05 Who says coins need to be a boring, standard design? Well not the Royal Mint by all accounts!
Link thanks to Ace Jet 170.
Contact Rob Mason for details on website design and build services in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
Success for a financial adviser website is clarity 2008-04-02 03:54:08 Clarity of voice and clarity of purpose. In other words, know what you want to say and say it in a way that is easy to understand. Clients will thank you and probably give you more business and/or referrals. Even your compliance officer will thanks you for making their life easier to review the content!
Read more:Success
, website
Getting naked… 2008-04-08 14:01:51 …my blog and website that is! For those not in the know it’s the annual CSS Naked Day. Basically it’s all about the web standards and semantic HTML.
Websites will still retain a good structure and hierarchy without any visual elements. It goes to prove that is you build the website right, the ability to [...]
1,000 years of Gloucestershire 2008-04-11 06:22:50 I’m slightly late coming to the party, given that it started in April last year, but better late than never! Basically the county of Gloucestershire is 1,000 years old and local government agencies, charities and other groups are organising a range of events to mark the anniversary.
Events include, amongst other things, arts, dance, faith, [...]
Latest project: NJP Hosting 2008-04-17 04:00:25 The brief for NJP Hosting
, run by Nathan a guy I know from over at Web Designer Forum, was simple: dark colours scheme for a new website hosting service, but at no costs must I use images of servers or computers. Hmmm. Cue some serious head-scratching over imagery.
Colours
I like to keep the dark schemes [...]
Glasses? 2008-04-24 14:48:10 Do you think Counc. Eileen Kinnear is wearing glasses? Read more:Glasses
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