The ever-changing culture of web design has grown into a wild array of sub-standards. Over 20 years now designers from all over the world have contributed their brilliant ideas to the World Wide Web. Software is often an afterthought from the consumer’s end, but when you’re at the front lines this topic is very important. In the realm of Operating Systems it breaks down into 3 core groups: Windows, Mac OS X, and various Linux packages. For the sake of [...]

Having spoken with many freelance web and graphic designers over the years, I can say I have heard some extraordinary tales. The path from freelancer into single business is an arduous one. It proves to be extremely rewarding and will offer many benefits to those willing to stick it out until the end. A freelance operation is no different from any other. Sitting down to plan out a marketing strategy, operation times, scheduled work, and other tasks is just the [...]

Most web designers aren’t very familiar with SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is the process of ranking specific web pages as high up in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Positions) as possible. It’s understandable, web design and SEO are only loosely connected. The only time when SEO enters the mind of a web designer is usually when they’re writing the HTML and considering the relevant tags to use. It’s also understandable because most web designers work with local clients, or [...]

Speculative, or ‘Spec’, work is in hot debate at the moment in the design industry. Design contest websites in particular have created a furore of debate over freelancers working initially for nothing, instead hoping that a client likes their work enough to want to pay for it. What is Spec Work? Speculative work is where you agree a price, but the client pays in full upon acceptance of the work. In other words it is where you submit full completed [...]

One of the first things a child is taught when they are growing up is a proper daily hygiene routine. This matter is stressed heavily throughout a child’s formative years because these routines are one of the few things that a child will take with them into adulthood. Of course things in the routine will change, and or be altered, but the framework that was built back when one is a child will stay with them for the rest of [...]

In the real world designers and developers are constantly battling it out over projects. Between two lighthearted developers are the crew who simply make website work while designers add flair and vibrant edges. The two perform very specific yet important jobs which harmoniously combine to create amazing web pages. Often times, however, bickering can ensue leading to arguing and lost time. All client work from small-scale operations to large design firms is very important and must be treated as such. [...]

The web is a monster that’ll devour all the time and energy you give it, and then some. The sheer amount of time-wasting opportunities that are literally a click away makes using the web surprisingly like walking through a minefield. You’re hopping online to quickly gather some resources for your next design, or to research a new technique – and before you know it, hours have passed by with you getting nothing done except watch funny videos. How to combat [...]

Website navigation is our common communication system between all other web pages. Interlinking through unique identifiers (URLs) has worked for decades. If anything navigation links have been with the basics of web design since the early days. Through advancements in digital arts and design we have seen new practices bubbling up everywhere. Accessibility has turned into a major concern for Internet browsers. With more users on their mobile phones and tablet devices it’s important to develop a navigation around common [...]

For those that don’t already know, autoblogging is much like it sounds. It is a term that was coined around 2006 to mean that a computer can do the job of a human blogger automatically, by using robot to go to the web an acquire content to be published on the owners site. Sounds OK in principle and could be argued that in a way such products as Google News is an autoblog, because all that it does is listen [...]

Nothing’s more frustrating than not getting clients. You know your designs are good. You write really concise and sharp emails. Your people skills are impeccable. Yet no matter what you seem to do, you just can’t get many, if any, clients. Or you get desperate and start accepting what you can get. Why does this happen? Why do some designers seem to be turning away clients left and right because they already have more than enough ideal clients to work [...]

Web standards are in evolution and continuing to refine how we structure our content. There are many open source platforms which allow rapid prototyping and development of new features in just a few days. As web developers it can be difficult to keep up with such fast-paced times. Luckily with the rise of advanced standards we’re seeing less requirements to create amazing website layouts. No longer are you required 8+ hour coding sessions just to churn out a product draft. [...]

Lower-quality clients suck. All they focus on is how little they can pay. They make unreasonable demands for the amount of work they want you to do and how fast they want it done. And they’ll inevitably ask you for designs that you don’t really enjoy creating. Does this sound familiar? Then chances are you have suffered from working for clients like these. We all have at some point, especially when starting out. So how do you avoid working for [...]

Ah, the great apostrophe, much loved, much maligned and much misunderstood. This little piece of punctuation is so highly regarded, that some folks have become Gatekeepers of the Apostrophe, guarding this misused, and descriptive part of punctuation, with a vengeance. Educating the masses against using apostrophes in ways that are not conducive to good grammar has become a passionate life’s work for punctuation aficionados. Pop Culture Misuse To grammar specialists, one of the most prominent examples of the misuse of [...]