This weekend I plan to try out my Yudu machine for the first time. I’ve been nervous, not sure why, but I’m gonna bite the bullet this weekend and try to print a couple of things. If all goes well, I’ll have some things to share next week. Wish me luck! |DBK
Trying out Yudu
Comments Off
Wild
Comments Off
How do you capture the tone of an iconic children’s book, a highly anticipated film and a new novel, while maintaining your own aesthetic? Ask Rachell Sumpter. Her book cover illustration forDave Eggers new book, The Wild Things, fuses all three. She matches the mischief of a young person with the sophistication of a grown artist. This cover makes me want to howl!|DBK
Periodically
Comments Off
Matt was kind enough to send me images and some information about his screenprinted typographic posterdesigned to look like a periodic table. I’m digging the metallic gold ink. Thanks, Matt! |DBK
Helvetica vs. Arial
Comments Off
Will the real Helvetica please stand up? Anyone feeling up to challenging their typeface identifying skills? Take this quiz by Ironic Sans. I’ll be honest, it’s harder than it looks… I only got a 16 out of 20. [via I Love Typography]|DBK
Have You Seen What Thesis 1.6 Can Do?
Comments Off
Thesis is my software project, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I’d love to show you what it can do! The latest version has been met with tons of enthusiasm, and people have been saying some really awesome things about it. Check out this video I made, and I think you’ll understand why
Head over to DIYthemes for more on Thesis!
Website Checklist: What You Need to Get Your Site Launched
Comments Off
I find checklists useful when I’m planning a new project on a big scale, and let’s face it: a lot of websites fall into the category of big projects!
I’ve compiled this checklist to assist anyone who’s planning to get a website for their business or professional activities. It helps to have the steps clearly outlined, because not every stage is necessarily an obvious one. My last design checklist proved very helpful to many people, and I hope this one will be just as useful.
Web Host
Not the same as your Internet Service Provider (ISP) although some ISPs offer web hosting as an additional service. A web host will provide space on one of their servers to house your website. If your site is especially large or likely to draw high volumes of traffic the web host can often provide a virtual private server at an additional cost.
Domain name (DNS)
Your web address e.g. google.com. No one owns a domain for life; they can be purchased year by year (or in a block of several years, which can be cheaper). If you don’t renew your domain, you’ll lose access to it until you purchase it again. For example, I’m not the first person to have owned traceygrady.com and I was fortunate that it became available just as I was seeking a domain for my website! It’s common to buy a domain through a web host or specialist domain reseller.
- 10 Tools For Finding, Registering And Managing Domain Names at Smashing Magazine
- 12 Excellent Tools for Picking a Domain Name at Six Revisions
Target audience
The internet is a medium for communication; to get the best out of your website, you’ll need a very clear understanding of who you want to communicate with online. It also helps to find out what your target audience wants: information, problem-solving, entertainment, broader shopping choices? This is an excellent place to start when working on your website strategy, and is very helpful with the next section on your website checklist:
A purpose for getting on the web
What functions will your website serve for you or your business? A site which is used as an additional marketing tool and point of contact has fewer requirements for setup than, for example, an e-commerce site, web forum or online gallery. Make a list of all the things you want your site to do and provide. It’s important to do this very early on, before any work gets started.
A budget
You should not expect to pay less than four figures for a quality website. Be prepared to do some research into web design and how much it costs.
Content
Text, images, logo: have these ready to go before your designer starts work, and you’ll have a very smooth-running process. It can help to start by considering what your target audience will be looking for on your site. This will help you decide what pages your website will need, and what content will be necessary to fill those pages.
Content Management System (CMS)
Years ago it was necessary to pay someone or train someone in the coding skills required to update information on your website. Content Management Systems now allow people to update their own sites without any specialist training. The most popular CMS platforms are open-source (i.e. they can be used and modified free of charge). WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are examples of these. Expression Engine is another highly regarded CMS but for most users it’s only available for a fee. Alternatively, some web design/development companies create their own CMS exclusively for their clients’ use.
- CMS Toolbox at Designm.ag
- Top 12 Free Content Management Systems (CMS) at Spyre Studios
Theme
A theme sets a distinctive look, structure for the chosen CMS for your site. A theme is almost always an off-the-shelf product: every site which uses the same theme will receive the same look and structure, which they can keep as is, or choose to have customised by a designer.
- 40+ Magento Themes for E-Commerce Websites at Designm.ag
- 40 of the Best Premium Drupal Themes at Design Reviver
- 100 Amazing Free WordPress Themes for 2009 at Smashing Magazine
Web design
Customises the look, structure and some of your website’s functions. A good web designer can work with your chosen theme to create a look for your site which is unique and perfectly suited to your professional or business needs. You’ll also lose the generic feel of your theme’s original design if you use a designer to customise your site.
- 15 Incredible WordPress Theme Customizations at Freelance Folder
- 30+ Enticing Blog and Archived News Website Custom Designs at The Design Cubicle
Web development
Customises your website’s functions to an advanced level. Many common web functions (e.g. calendars, image galleries, slideshows, tabbed navigation) can be provided by your chosen theme, plugins designed for your CMS, or via your web designer. If you need unique or proprietary functions on your site, you should get these custom-coded by a web developer.
Other Useful Considerations
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
A good web designer will optimise your site for SEO, but the work doesn’t stop there. Regular updates with new content, inbound links and calls to action to encourage visitors to explore your site in greater depth than just the page they land on: these are the fundamentals for effective SEO. Some people choose to bring a marketing professional on board to help boost their SEO.
- WordPress SEO – The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Theme Search Engine Optimization by Nathan Rice
- How to Attract Links and Increase Web Traffic – The Ultimate Guide at Copyblogger
- Search Engine Optimization for Local Business Results at Traffikd
Social media
Setting up a Facebook page, a twitter account and other relevant social media can draw visitors to your site, so long as you are prepared to invest the time into using social media regularly and engage with your visitors properly.
Offline marketing
Update your printed promotional and corporate materials to include your web address: these include business cards, stationery, signage, advertising and anything else which bears your logo.
Updating your browser
If you’ve been using the same version of your web browser for a few years, it’s a good idea to update it now. This is especially the case if you’re using Internet Explorer version 6 or 7, any version of Netscape, or any other browser which is at least five years old. Updating your browser won’t make a difference to your new website, but it means you’ll get to view all of the work in the conditions for which it’s best optimised.
Related posts:
- One thing blog designers must have
- Beijing 2008 website
- Design checklist: What clients should provide their designer
A Monday Chuckle
Comments Off
My dear husband spotted this gem for me. It’s fun to start the week with a little chuckle. [via The Daily Dish] |DBK
A Simple Golden Lettering Effect with Photoshop Layer Styles
Comments Off
A reader requested a tutorial on how to make the gold effect I’ve used on the Creative Curio and Extras titles. It’s a pretty simple technique, but like most things, it takes time and experimenting with different filters, layer styles, layer modes, etc. to get the right look.
The gold lettering that I’ve created actually only uses layer styles. I’ll show you them below.
First, you have to get your shape/text. You can see that there is a lot of variety in the width of my letters and you’ll need this when we apply some of the layer styles later on.
For the fill color, I used #927847 or 146R, 120G, 71B.
Inner Shadow
Next, for some depth, I applied the Inner Shadow layer style.
These are the settings I used:
Blend Mode: Multiply (default)
Color: Black (default)
Opacity: 17%
Distance: 2px
Remember that your shadow distance will depend on your resolution. Since this is for web, the resolution is 72px, so the 2px distance is sufficient. I almost always lower the opacity, too, because I want my shadows to blend, not stand out and say, “Hey! I’m a shadow! Look at me!”
Bevel and Emboss
“But real designers don’t use Bevel and Emboss!” I hear you cry. Oh, just like they don’t use gradients, eh? In the right hands, all of these tools are useful. But that is what they are, tools. You have to know when and how to use them to get the end results you have in mind. Here is an appropriate place to use Bevel and Emboss.
Style: Inner Bevel
Technique: Chisel Hard
Depth: 301
Size: 2
Angle: 117 degrees
Altitude: 69 degrees
Highlight: Color Dodge, #faecb4, 54% opacity
Shadow: Multiply, #000000, 22% opacity
I also used the Contour layer style to darken the gold color a little more. You can decide if that’s what you want for your gold look (I think it looks good without it too).
Contour: Cone Inverted preset
And there you have it!
—————————————-
Thanks for subscribing to the Creative Curio feed! You can pick up your free subscriber gift, a handy cheat sheet of common Photoshop shortcuts, by going to the PDF Download Page. You are most welcome to read the articles and comments that helped create this PDF and contribute more if you have some!
Thank you for being a loyal Creative Curio reader. Since you like the content I publish so much, why not tell a friend?
Money or Efficiency? Know Where to Place Your Focus
Comments Off
Somehow, society has been perverted to the point that we think crap can be turned to gold, so long as it makes money. Worse, the venture capital and corporate acquisition culture has brainwashed us all into thinking that in the end, the payoff justifies the means.
That’s all bullshit, people. There are no substitutes for efficiency and sustainability, and nature proves this time and time again. For some reason, humanity continually repeats its mistakes of the past by going against the rules of nature, but in the end, these rules always prevail.
Better to know the truth and to act on it than to be misguided by the prevailing trends of the current age, don’t you think?
