Merry Christmas
December 7, 2005
Why I Love Amazon.com
November 8, 2005
Here’s just one more reason why I am a loyal Amazon customer.
When buying a book last night I noticed this message next to one of the credit cards I have on file with Amazon.
And no, it’s not even an Amazon credit card.
Keeping Busy with Busy Forms
July 30, 2005
I finally got around to figuring out Blake Scarbrough’s Busy Forms, and it took me quite a while. Once I started getting into the code, I decided I wanted to implement his form checker script too. Of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I worked long into the early morning to get it just right.
First I wanted to change a few things with the code. Then I decided I should combine all the javascript into one file which meant combining bits and pieces of code and getting them to play well with each other. Since I am just learning the basics of javascript, this took some time, but I finally got it.
All my time was not spent working with code, however. After finishing my own contact form, I decided to spruce up the form at Awaken America too. I took me a good chunk of time to design and animate this loader graphic and even more time to figure out that a lone anchor tag was tripping up Internet Explorer.
You can see the fruit of my labors on my own contact page, and the contact page over at Awaken America.
The ONE Campaign
June 23, 2005
Every single day, 30,000 children die, needlessly, of extreme poverty.
On July 6th, we finally have the opportunity to stop that shameful statistic.
Eight world leaders, gathered in Scotland for the G8 summit, will be presented with a workable plan to double aid, drop the debt and make the trade laws fair. If these eight men agree, then we may become the generation that made poverty history.
But they’ll only do it if enough people tell them to.
We don’t want your money — we want you!
Visit these sites to find out more:
Amazon.com Redesigns
April 30, 2005
I went to Amazon.com tonight and noticed a rather significant redesign. Here’s a list of some of the bigger changes.
- The product search and A9 web search are now placed much more prominently in the masthead.
- Navigation tabs have been enlarged.
- The six category tabs have been replaced with a single tab marked “See All 31 Product Categories” which pops open a window listing all 31 categories when rolled over. Amazon’s main product pages are now a click away on every single page.
- The Gold Box and the advertisement in the top left corner are both gone (good riddance).
- The “Your Account,” “Wish List,” “View Cart,” and “Help” buttons have been changed to plain text and “View Cart” has been shortened to “Cart.”
- The Amazon.com logo has become a tab replacing the former “Welcome” tab.
It looks like this redesign is only being tested with frequent customers because when I visit the site in IE (which I rarely use anymore) I get the old version of the site.
Something else worth noting is the change in the way product category tabs are used. It used to be that each product tab, with its own color, was added on to the right of the six permanent tabs. Now these tabs all have the same color and are placed between the personalized store tab and the 31 categories tab.
So, the question is, could this be the culmination of what we saw last October when Amazon was tweaking their masthead? If so, will they stick with this version? And when will it be used for all customers?
Here’s a nice before-and-after:
My First Print Piece
March 1, 2005
Awaken America (whose web site I recently redesigned) needed a poster for their upcoming Church Leaders Conference. Volunteering for the task, I made a quick sketch of what I was looking for then moved straight Illustrator. But after about an hour’s worth of work I realized I was getting nowhere. So at this point I went back to my sketch, made some revisions, and then began scouring the internet for inspiration and slowly my ideas began to come together. I knew I wanted something elegant but attention-grabbing. For color, I went with blue because this is the color of the organization’s web site. The white steeple and sharp Futura font kept the poster looking neat and clean. Speaker’s names were highlighted in bold as were several other important points. The Church steeple came from iStockPhoto and was just what I was looking for. All in all, this was a lot of fun to make and I think I learned some good lessons about designing for print. View bigger version.
Awaken America Site Goes Live
February 3, 2005
The Awaken America web site I’ve been working on for so long is finally up and running. I made a couple small graphic changes in the last few days and added all the updated content they had. I do need to confess, however, that there is one small design element that I tried in vain to keep from going on the final site. I won’t tell you what it is, but I think it will be pretty obvious. In any case, it’s done and it looks pretty good. See it here: AwakenAmerica.org.
Contemplating Yet Another Redesign
January 22, 2005
I read an article at a newly discovered web site tonight that got me thinking. It got me thinking about the purpose of my little web site here and rethinking its design. What particularly caught my interest with this article was this statement by the author about redesigning his own site:
Visitors clicking through the site will likely spend a very short time on each page. The homepage is what needs to tell them what the rest of the site is all about. If the homepage is a blog, they’ll assume it’s a blog site. If the homepage profiles the portfolio, they’ll know it’s a portfolio site. That’s pretty simple.
This being the case I decided to take some time to figure just what the purpose of this site is. Here’s what I came up with, in order of importance:
- To test things I’m learning
- To showcase the various sites I’ve designed
- To occasionally highlight something amusing or interesting I’ve found on the internet
- To post mine and others’ pictures
You’ll quickly notice that when comparing this list to the design and structure of this site, they don’t match up. The homepage is filled with content that is supposed to be updated regularly, yet because that’s not my main intention with the site, these are often neglected. The result is that the things I want to bring attention to are left in the background and overlooked.
The first question that must be answered now is what must be done? There are several things in my mind that need to be changed. First, secondary material needs to be removed from the homepage. This means removing articles like the one you’re reading as well as the sidebar. Second, the homepage needs to be dedicated to my work. There should also be a short explanation of what this site is. Third, I think a new design is needed in order to give my portfolio prominence.
The second question that arises is when will this all take place? Answer: your guess is as good as mine. Possibly over spring break — and no sooner. However, I have gone ahead and made one change in preparation for the coming redesign. The “Archives” section has now been renamed “Notes” because this is where I will keep notes on the amusing and interesting things I find on the internet.
Does President Kerry live here?
January 30, 2005
One sunny day in 2005, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he’d been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, “I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry.” The Marine replied, “Sir, Mr. Kerry is not President and doesn’t reside here.” The old man said, “Okay,” and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry.” The Marine again told the man, “Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Kerry is not President and doesn’t reside here.” The man thanked him and again walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same Marine saying, “I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry.” The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Kerry. I have told you twice already that Mr. Kerry is not the President and does not reside here. Do you understand?”
The old man softly answered, “Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.” The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and replied, “See you tomorrow, sir.”
Jesus: The Reason for the Season
December 24, 2004
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:30–33 (NKJV)
Site Redesign
December 4, 2004
I finally got tired of updating my old design. The code was messy and hard to work with and besides, I thought it was ugly. So here’s a fresh new design I whipped up last night. It undoubtedly won’t be permanent, but it should last longer than the old design. I also think I set a new record with this design. From start to finish, it only took about 6 hours. Overall, the design’s a little flat, but it will improve with time.
Update: Photo gallery has now been converted to new design.
Merry Christmas... Cards
December 3, 2004
I stumbled upon Andy Budd’s Christmas Card article today and it inspired me to make a card for my family. Here’s a sampling of some of the designs I came up with:
A Little Late
November, 2004
This is a bit too late for Halloween, but scary just the same.
Read this first
This is a car advertisement that was never released. When the film crew finished filming the car ad, the people who edited it noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist.
They also noticed that the soundtrack had a strange low pitched sound as the mist appeared and disappeared (make sure your volume is turned up).
The ad was never put on TV because of the unexplained ghostly phenomenon frightened the production team out of their wits.
Watch closely as the car comes from behind the trees about halfway through the commercial. Watch closely and you will see the white mist crossing in front of the car, then follow it along the road…real spooky!
This will be shown on a TV this fall on a special investigations show. Watch closely.
Site Update
October, 2004
I made some small changes around the site this week, some of which are more noticable than others. A navigation bar has been put up top (a long overdue feature), a handful of wise sayings have been spread throughout the site, a couple browser bugs have been fixed, and last but not least, my Portfolio has finally been added to the mix. Enjoy.
New Contact Page
October, 2004
The new contact page is up and running. It’s short and sweet and all run by some nice clean PHP. This is my first use of PHP and I love it already. If you’re wondering about a certain technique used in my form (like how I made the fields change color) then put my shiny new page to use and email me.
Gallery Preview
September, 2004
A sneak preview of my Photo Gallery has been posted for your viewing pleasure. I know you’re all terribly excited about this and you’ve been waiting patiently to finally see these stellar photos, so here they are. When you’ve seen all there is to see (and there’s not much at this point) drop me a line if you like what you see.
Welcome
September, 2004
Welcome to my new home on the web. The purpose of this site is to showcase and test some of my web-related design work. As the site matures it will grow to include a photo gallery, a list of web design resources, and of course a page where you can donate to my noble cause. Thanks for stopping by.