I find my success rate with tracking my scroll position of long form content less than 100%. Page flips, on the other hand?  I have never lost my place … Page flips, when done right, are more usable than infinite scroll.

Dude has a point. Note: he’s talking about scrolling on the iPad. Not iPhone.

If you think people using iPhone OS devices are an important segment of your intended audience, you can no longer build a Flash-dependent web site. And if you don’t think people using iPhone OS devices are an important segment of your intended audience, you’re probably wrong.

Another good, in-depth discussion on the Flash/no-Flash on iPhone and iPad and what this move means for web designers/developers everywhere.

It’s not easy to make a great, simple intro video to your product. But Square really managed to pull it off so well. Have a look!

Opinions will be formed, rightly or wrongly, within seconds of laying eyes on your site before they even have a chance to put your code to use. So before you go hiring a crack team of code monkeys, make sure to reserve some roster slots for design all-stars.

Or as I see it: no one will drive a car with tons of good features if they can’t figure out how to open the door. So I’d say that it carries a little more importance than engineering, maybe 60% to 40%.

“It’s just a big iPod touch” is the new “less space than a nomad”. The Mac had a great run, but this is the end of the desktop OS.

I don’t generally agree with such grandiose statements on principle, but I tend to agree here—it feels like it is the beginning of the end for the desktop OS. Will I be typing updates on a desktop 5 years from now? Totally doubt it. For most folks, I’m sure this is going to be a great replacement for their desktop. For pixel geeks like me, we’ve got a bit of a wait ahead of us.

(Quote via @atebits)

Today’s so-called cloud isn’t really a cloud at all. It’s a bunch of corporate dirigibles painted to look like clouds. You can tell they’re fake because they all have logos on them. Real clouds don’t have logos.

Good things to keep in mind, friends.

(Be sure to read the PDF)

“Come on, Steve, just think—think, dammit—you’re running out of time,” the exhausted CEO said as he glued nine separate iPhones to the back of a plastic cafeteria tray.

(via The Onion)

I think my head almost exploded from how great this was. A sexy typeface + Lady Gaga parody = just perfect. Enjoy.

In the software world, the first, second, and third versions of any product are really pretty good, because everyone can use them. Then companies start adding more and more stuff to keep their existing customers happy. But you end up dying with your customer base, because the software is too complicated for a newcomer.

- Jason Fried in INC

An all-around good read, full of gems like that.

Information Is Beautiful posted some great infographics about Twitter and its usage. I make no secret of my love for pretty charts and the like, so I found these to be pretty fun.

Read on for the full graph about peak days, hours, who’s a loudmouth and who’s a lazy tweeter.

Jackie Lay does some really great typographic animations from a Tom Waits song. Slick work.

(via @lemonbar77)

Seriously!

And further demonstrates my love for TED and the genius people who speak there. The idea of being able to make it even easier to learn about products you’re purchasing, take photos among a myriad of other benefits just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Reservation: not into the idea of putting a chip into my brain as stated at the end of this talk. It short circuits enough on its own.

I’ve recently discovered Stereogum’s site, and found they had a great article wherein Trent Reznor talks about good things to do when you’re creating your band’s site and marketing your upcoming record. Among other things, he mentions the benefits of giving away free downloads of your music as a way of building your fanbase and email list, and that you should understand and take advantage of all the social media sites you can.

There was one thing in particular which is worth restating when it comes to bands’ sites:

…Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace – it’s dying and reads as cheap / generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don’t autoplay). Constantly update your site with content – pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time.

The whole article’s really worth a read, especially if you’re an indie musician who’s trying to get their music out to everyone.

I’ve launched two sites in the last little bit that take advantage of those: a site for musician Brooks Wood and a site for Houston-based Leyendecker Landscape. In both of these, I’ve tried to take advantage of some great CSS features for those browsers that can handle it and just letting those that can’t ignore it. In this demo, I’m focusing on the form elements since they’ve always tended to be boring.

I’ve attached a link to a working demo of the forms with a brief explanation of how I did what I did. Read on for more.

One note before we get started: Firefox 3 supports some of this, but Safari 3 and 4 support much more. I’ve included things which Firefox 3.5 supports, just so those users can have a little fun, too.

Easing the transition

When a user focuses on any of the fields or the submit button, I’ve added a transformation that will magnify the input area, similar to a magnifying glass and ease it in/out for Webkit users. Here’s the code:

-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-out;

This smoothes the transition from the normal state of the form to its active state. As of the Firefox 3.5, the transition property isn’t supported. You’ll want to add this onto the main element, in this case we’ve added it to the input tag.

Scaling the elements

Both of these will scale both the input area and the text within it to be just a little larger than they were before the user clicked into them.

-webkit-transform: scale(1.2); -moz-transform: scale(1.2);

I’ve added a few more lines of code for some additional styling, such as border-radius to smooth the edges of the field elements. You can view all that information in the source of this page, but here’s how to smooth the edges of an element:

-webkit-border-radius: 6px; -moz-border-radius: 6px;

Styling the submit button

I’ve also done a little work on the submit button, which is a little more complex.

background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, from(#fff), to(#fff), color-stop(0.5, #ccc));

While I’ve also added border-radius and a few more goodies to the submit button, the part which creates the gradient is above. It creates a color gradient that starts at the top left of the element and goes to the bottom of the element. The gradient starts with white, goes to silver halfway and then back to white at the bottom. If you wanted to adjust where the gradient goes to silver, you can change the color-stop value to something like .25 for 1/4 of the way down, or .75 for 3/4 of the way down.

So what should be in a good agreement? Here are a few things:

• Who the agreement is between and what you’re doing
• How much and by what means you’re being compensated
• When and how you’re to be compensated with a schedule
• When you’re going to deliver what you’re being paid to do
• The scope of the project
• Copyright and ownership
• Who to call if things go technically wrong
• What happens to the work you create if something goes wrong

This article from 24 ways is a great reference and is geared towards web design and development. Even if you don’t do web, it’s a great place to start for any creative service.

MediaInspiration has a pretty nice—and very meaty—terms and conditions (PDF link) form that’s a little more general but has some great tips.

You should also have a look through the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook. It covers a lot more than agreements, such as pricing, legal and ethical practices.

It also doesn’t hurt to have a lawyer read through your contract, just to make sure you aren’t leaving out something obvious.

• Open your favorite FTP program and navigate to where you host your Wordpress installation.
• Once you’re there, navigate to wp-admin/includes/blogger.php and edit that file.
• Look at line 918. It should say $parser = xml_parser_create_ns();
• Change that line of code to the following: $parser = xml_parser_create(); (You’re basically removing the _ns from there)
• Save your changes and try to import your entries again. Should work like a charm!

Here’s where I found the solution.

I’ve always loved the RSS Screensaver for OS X. But I wanted to have a version of it without any of the text, so I went in and made one and came up with a slightly different color scheme.

If you’d like it, you’re welcome to it. Below are both the link to download and some brief installation instructions.

Here’s how to install in a couple easy steps:

• Download and unzip the sphere.zip file
• Open Macintosh HD » Users » Your User Name » Library » Screen Savers
• Drop the unzipped file into that folder
• Open System Preferences » Desktop & Screensaver
• Look under “Other,” find and select “Sphere”
• Enjoy!

General disclaimers: I’m not responsible if this murders, maims or otherwise does something damaging to your computer (it won’t, I’ve been using it for a while!), and this screen saver requries OS 10.4 or greater to work. Sorry Windows and Linux folks.

An interview Spicy Web Designer did with me for their site went live over the weekend. In here, we discuss the latest fashions, give hair tips and talk about juicy gossip! Or, we might’ve just discussed a few geeky things and how I got to be where I am today. You’ll just have to see for yourself.

I keep wishing that I’ll find more games that are fun and meaningful that aren’t your typical run/shoot/level up/save the girl/die games. Don’t get me wrong, those are a great time. But after playing the same formula for years and years, it’s great to find something different.

That said, I found one after listening to a segment on indie game developers on NPR’s “Future Perfect.” The game’s called “Passage.” The entire game is maybe 2 minutes long, and is probably just as powerful a game as I’ve ever played. It’s a simple premise, you’re a guy walking through life. You can pick up a wife or go it alone. And you get to see the impact of the choices you make. Bonus: it’s free!

Fun illustration by Rosa Pomar.

I found an interesting article on Techmeme this weekend too, entitled “The Australian cancer that will kill the internet.” The article focuses on Australia’s attempt at censoring the internet for their users, the people’s endeavor to block it and why it matters for the rest of the world.

My two cents on the matter: despite all the bad things that are and will be on the internet, having a third party mandate what I can and cannot do or see is a terrible and slippery slope. I fully support the idea that the Internet should be uncensored and unfiltered by any government or company. If anyone wishes their internet to be censored, rather than enlisting their government why not look into something like Net Nanny or Cyber Patrol?

Monday

I got the photo “Zombies” from Ruipalha’s photo stream, the quote from The Picture of Dorian Gray. The quote reads:

There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.

Tuesday

Tuesday’s was a pretty fun one. The quote was from Joanna Field and reads:

I began to have an idea of my life, not as the slow shaping of achievement to fit my preconceived purposes, but as the gradual discovery and growth of a purpose which I did not know.

Here’s the original photo.

Wednesday

Wednesday’s photo took me to the beach and brought me to some fun medieval type. I had fun playing with the type. Here’s the quote:

When you meet your antagonist, do everything in a mild and agreeable manner. Let your courage be as keen, but at the same time as polished, as your sword.

Thursday

Thursday’s cover was a little interesting, The title of the article was “Inside Wants Out,” which happens to be the name of an early John Mayer song. Here’s the photo, as well as the quote from Ambrose Bierce:

Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.

Friday

I had lots of fun on this, and was really lucky to find this photo. It was pretty fun working with it, and the rest of the content was pretty much golden! Here’s the quote from Dante Gabriel Rossetti:

The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.

Let me know if you end up continuing this exercise, I’d love to see your results!

But in the meantime, I keep on the lookout for ways to grow in our current economy, and I’ve seen a few posts with good ideas on how to do it. I’ve read about keeping your current clients very happy, improving your game while you’re not doing client work and lots more. The ones that have hit me most are the ones though were ones about sharing and passing on work to other designers.

Airbag’s “Goldfish” article really sums it up:

To those who own their own business: I challenge you to push harder. If you need $50k to keep your family under house and home then do everything you can to bring in $150k. Chances are you won’t make the larger goal, but you’ll do far better than selling yourself short and it’s likely that you’ll need extra resources to finish all the work, help from people who are looking to supplement lost income. I’m not talking about going through the process and stress of actually hiring more people (there is a good reason why the IRS created the 1099 form). Don’t turn away any work that comes through your door. Get it. Grab it. Take it—as much as you can— and network with the people who are ready and willing and have the skills you need. Team up, and conquer.

Another good read is A List Apart’s “Filling Your Dance Card in Hard Economic Times.” Have a look at this excerpt:

If your agency or company is doing well, do your best to help unemployed colleagues get new jobs or freelance work. Make introductions within your network. Help job seekers with their curriculum vitaes (CVs) and above all, show a little love. (Just dropping someone a line to say “hi” can make all the difference.)

With that said, if you’re looking for work, please send a link (either in the comments or by email) to your portfolio. I’m going to try and pull in as much work as I can and I’d be happy to pass along work to other designers. And yes, I’ll still throw in a reward if you send someone my way.

If you’re a Photoshop or other kind of image making nerd, you may enjoy this.

1. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
   The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
   The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3. Go to http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
   Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use Photoshop (or something else!) to put it all together.
5. Post a link to it and share with your friends!

I love my moleskine. I also have a bit of a penchant for some nice Helvetica.

So to the genius who came up with putting the two together, I want to give you an internet hug. This thing is gorgeous.

Oh how I wish I could buy one. But sadly, I don’t think any more are for sale. But you can check out more photos and drool over this at Nubbytwiglet.

• an iTunes gift card
• an Amazon gift card
• a credit for design work with me

The amount you get on the card or the design will vary based on the project, so I can’t tell you how much you’ll get in advance. But I’ll make sure it’s worth it for you.

I think this is a lot more usable than a plethora of checkboxes or the multiple select menus in my opinion. I’ll definitely make sure I implement this in my next project.

I love information graphics, that’s no secret. After Obama was inaugurated, I found the full text of his speech and made a Wordle with it and put it into a desktop for you.

You can download the background here.

What’s Wordle? It’s a really sweet service that makes word clouds and gives prominence to the words that appear most often. With this, you can see the words that appear most in his speech and get a feel for the overall tone and message of it. Go have a look at their site!

Enjoy it and share it with your friends!

I came across this fun screencast video. It shows off Leopard’s features, but what’s about it is that it’s more like a nice take on a music video. There’s also a Windows version if you’re into that after the break.

I really love packaging, but it’s an area where so many companies go into excess and it becomes wasteful. That’s why I was especially happy to see Newton Running’s latest shoebox.  It’s exactly what a shoebox should be: simple, minimal and green. I hope to see—and help—more companies going towards this.

The talented people at TDA Advertising made this up for the Newton folks. Bravo for both!

I’ve added support for Cooliris on my site. It’s a fantastic way of browsing images, and I thought it would be perfect for browsing through my portfolio.

Cooliris is free and works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and iPhone!

So go get it!

I want a reason to visualize data like this. And then eat it. This pie chart is really made of chocolate!

Note to self: find client in chocolate industry. Right now.

Last week I was fortunate enough to get in on the fun that is Boxee.

Boxee is a free media center application that will dig through your computer (and any networked hard drives!), organize all your music, videos and photos. It even works with lots of photo sharing services like Flickr!

The real fun begins when you get to watch video—you can stream video from Hulu, CNN, Comedy Central, MySpaceTV and more! (And as of right now, there aren’t any commercials in the Hulu streams.) Mega bonus.

Anyone else a member? What do you think about it?

Daytum is a great, geeky site that lets you create fun little charts. It’s currently in private beta, and I was happy to get in on the action. I’m still figuring out how useful it can be for me, so right now lots of my charts are just fun little bits of pop culture. I’m very much okay with that.

I think it’s great that you can enter sets of data and then chart them in different ways on the fly. Nice job, Daytum!

Have a look at my site and if you’re so inclined, visit Daytum’s homepage and apply for the beta!.

After much planning, thinking and a little swearing I’m thrilled to share my new portfolio site with you. It features design work, photography and some other goodies!

In the coming weeks, I’m going to be adding more work as well as other fun enhancements. I believe you’ll be pretty pleased with it all.

Have a look at the new site!

One of the things I like the most about the OS X Dashboard is how it can help with your productivity. I wanted to share a three really handy widgets that can really help you get your designey things done quicker.

1) Lorem Ipsum

While I think you would do well to use actual copy wherever possible, sometimes it just isn’t an option. This widget can easily create a word, phrase, sentence, paragraph or custom length lorem ipsum phrase with just a couple of clicks. Super handy! (Download Link)

2) Measuring Block

I’ve also found this really fun widget called Measuring Block. It’s a scaling transparent grid that has pixel measurements in the lower right corner. It’s been invaluable to me when I’m trying to quickly measure an element for a comp. (Download Link)

3) Kuler

In addition to the other widgets, I’ve got a speedy way to find an inspiring color scheme. Kuler (pronounced cooler) is Adobe product for color scheming. It also has a really neat widget that automatically pulls the highest rated color schemes from the Kuler website (which is also fabulously designed). (Download link)

Do you have any widgets you use in your design process? Which ones? Sadly, I don’t know any for you Yahoo! widget folks, suggestions welcome!

If you’ve got a few minutes, why not crank up this interview? Jason Fried (of 37Signals fame) sits down to answer a few questions about working habits, the structure of his company and how not hiring a PR firm can be a good thing.

(via O’Reilly)

I’ve discovered this fabulous plugin called Cooliris, and have spent endless amounts of time toying with it. It’s a browser plugin that allows you to scroll through and view lots of images in a gorgeous, interactive 3D wall. Being an image and usability nerd, I’m really impressed with how it works and how simple it is to use.

You can launch a Google Image Search, browse Flickr, Facebook and lots of other websites. You can even enable your own site if you’d like. I personally was very happy to find that out, and am going to be including that in my upcoming relaunch.

Cooliris is free and works with Firefox, Safari and yes, Internet Explorer. They even have an iPhone application! So you literally have no excuse for not getting it and enjoying a new way of browsing the web.

Go have a look around their site.

Also in the coming weeks I’ll:

• be relaunching a portfolio stuffed with new work and goodies.
• moving to Los Angeles
• promise to blog more. Really!

If I can help out on a project, or you know someone who needs a good designer or photographer, send them my way won’t you? hello [at] joshuamauldin [dot] com

(You can also get this shirt at the Chop Shop)

I was greeted by a friendly email this morning from the good folks at YouWorkForThem saying they’d redesigned. They’ve really improved their UI and ease of use for the site. The image previews are a little larger, but it’s even easier and smarter to navigate within the inspiring samples they provide. Go take a look!

A great, thoughtful poster that blends typefaces’ names with movie names. I only wish they listed all of them on the site AND that it wasn’t sold out! 2001: A Monospace Odyssey is brilliant.

I want one. Seriously.

(via Monster-Munch)

• Design
• Photography
• Heh
• Movies & Music

You can make 3d environments that you can explore with only a simple digital camera. I’m hoping to try this out soon! It looks really sweet. Nice one, Microsoft.

From the article “What if Modern Advertisers Created the Stop Sign.” It’s so funny to me, mostly because it’s true.

Apparently, they do exist!  Go get yours from MiiSculptures (who also took this dapper photo)!

Now, if that reality distortion field he generates would get rid of the buzzing in my earbuds.

I love how this works.  Telescopic Text ©:  It’s like a contextual “more” link so you can get more details where and when you want them.

Now, to apply this to every website and bleedingly long blog post AND have it work in reverse. That’s the trick, dear friends.

I’m glad some smart designer offered up a guide to solving this “problem.”  Current Configuration has kindly let everyone know how to properly hang a toilet paper and they have lots of neat (read: funny) graphics for supporting their case.  They even provide you with a printable brochure!  I love nerdy little information graphics, and this is a great addition to the collection.

So…are you an over or under hanger?

I want this for my room, and maybe I’ll share it with future children!

Heading to North Carolina for a week, so updates will likely be non-existent.  See you soon!

Either way, it’s heavenly.

While designers still should try and provide alternative content for non-Flash users, this is one big step in solving the Flash dilemma. 

This video is a a really fantastic—and a little humorous—look at how we’re shaped into thinking linearly and steered further away from creative thinking as we progress through school.  Do enjoy!

Check it out!

Saw the new Indiana Jones today, it was pretty fun!  Corny, but it was really an enjoyable time.

Unrelated:  you should check out Boeing’s 2008 Environment Report.  No reason. ;)

Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend!  See you next week!

If you don’t know about OLPC, you should definitely find out more on them.  In a nutshell, they have a goal of making sure every child has a laptop so that they can learn and explore their world.  Here’s their site.  

I love a good t-shirt like no other. � I also love it when the things I buy help other people outside of the person who sold it. � These companies help various causes when you buy their pretty awesome and cheap shirts.

Rosa Loves has some great shirts whose designs benefit various causes. � When a donation goal is reached for that shirt’s particular cause, the design is retired. � I love their stuff!

Be+cause clothing does about the same thing, and they have lots more than just shirts! �

Check them out, buy a little, and do some good in the process!

That being said, when you have clients approaching you for design work to refresh their site, you should never look at it as just a visual facelift.  Repackaging the same old thing time after time just works out to be, well, the same.  You need to make it your goal to make it better, otherwise your client’s site may not reach its full potential.

When you’re redesigning a site, you should look at it more as “refreshing” it.  Help the client redefine, clarify (or maybe even just define!) their goals.  Find out what’s working for them, and what isn’t.  If they’re unsure about that, get what you can and make it work. 

It’s a big help to talk with your client and discuss a design direction.  Getting in tune with their ideas at the outset is a big help in gaining an understanding of what they want, and will help build some trust between you. 

Get them to do some research on their own, look at competitors’ sites, and get an idea of what they want.  If a client comes to you with what you think is the tackiest, nastiest site you’ve seen and they say they like it, try to get really specific with them about what they like about the site.  Sometimes in these eyesores are great ideas, they may just be really poorly executed. 

I really recommend reviewing all the information on the site, too.  Sure everyone’s anxious to get to designing, but it’s worth it to take the time to do this.  Reorganizing and restructuring it can be a big help for both users and search engines.  Better information structure equates to a better experience for the users, higher search engine rankings, and more money in the client’s pockets.  Everybody wins!

Of course, this is just a drop in the mythical bucket of what is involved in refreshing a website, but it’s definitely something to you get you thinking about what else you can do better to help your client reach their goals.

After working through mountainous To-Do Lists which seem to keep coming in Basecamp—which is amazing for collaborating on projects online—it’s nice to see that the lists do end up ending! 

I feel like 37Signals should make something congratulatory that happens when you complete a list like a good old lolcat:

A couple links for you:  given the busy political season, all the foreign affairs the US is involved in, which seems more unlikely to happen?  That The President appear on Deal or No Deal?  Or that the Presidential hopefuls would appear on Monday Night Raw? 

If you guessed one over the other, you’re wrong.  Because they both happened: 

• Dubya on Deal or No Deal
• Obama, Clinton, and McCain on Raw

An interesting and somewhat depressing look at some movies being remade that you likely haven’t heard of just yet. � I can’t believe they’re looking at remaking Conan. � I know it went to TV, so why would there be a need for a remake? � Also, I’m pretty sure there are lots of amazing new scripts out there so I wonder why no one would take these out for a spin.

Hot on the heels of adding video to their site, Flickr have added a code site which lets you browse through some of their open source goodies. � I know the API site has been around for a while, so it’s nice to see that it’s more public-facing now.�

Perhaps more entertaining: � make your own Pinhole cameras! � It should be known that I have a camera fetish, and on top of that it’s tough to take a pass on making your own pinhole cameras! � I’m glad the folks at Corbis did this! � Check it out!

First, you need to make sure that you’ve got your Mac configured correctly. � Head over to System Preferences and click “Sharing.” � Once you’re in Sharing, make sure you’ve got “Web Sharing” enabled. � Be sure to take note of the ways you can get to this, paying specific attention to the first link. � In this example, we’re going to be using http://10.0.1.10/. � Yours will vary, so pay special attention to the 4th set of numbers in this URL! � And please keep in mind that this is only viewable from computers connected to your network, so your friends across the world won’t be able to see it.

�

Next, you want to open up Finder and navigate to Macintosh HD* | Library | WebServer | Documents (*=or whatever you named your hard drive!)

Here’s where you’ll be placing all of your documents to test. � You’ll see a lot of stuff already in this folder, and that’s ok. � That’s all the Apache documentation that comes preinstalled on your Mac. � You can make a new folder in the Documents folder and call it “ApacheDocs.” � Then you can just move all of those files you see into your new “ApacheDocs” folder. � It won’t affect anything by moving them, it just makes it easier for you to get in and move around easier.

The important thing to know about this “Documents” folder is that it is now acting as the main (or “root” if you’re nerdy) level of your new web server. (And if you’re curious, yes, you can actually use this to host websites that people outside of your local network can see.)

Next what we’ll do is open our favorite text editor. � I love TextMate personally. � I’ll just make a new HTML document really quickly and call it index.html, and save it in the “Documents” folder.

After that I visit my website (http://10.0.1.10), and lookie lookie! � I made a websites! � Now I can finish building out out and then copy these files straight over to my live website and I’m good to launch!

A few notes about this web server is that it’s mainly meant to handle basic HTML and Javascript. � It’s not equipped to handle PHP, Ruby, and advanced things like that out of the box. � You’ll need to install and activate them on your own if that’s what you want. � It’s totally possible to get them there though. � Check out this tutorial on adding PHP to your Mac if you’re interested, or this one on Ruby on Rails.

Enjoy, and please feel free to ask any questions. �

Here’s an “image” some online genius created of Homer Simpson image made entirely with CSS. � The cool thing about this image is that there are absolutely no images involved. � It’s all CSS, and totally amazing. � How someone comes up with an idea like this is beyond me, but completely blows my mind. � Yay for CSS and for this guy’s creativity.

Also, I found this image of some train tracks in Frankfurt that I thought was pretty interesting. � The complexity of all of those tracks is pretty neat, and also pretty hard to believe that it’s real. � I’d hate to be the guy who pulls the wrong lever day and derails/reroutes all the trains. �

I saw this on Peleg Design, an Israeli product design studio. � They have some beautiful work, especially this reflective Tic Tac Toe board. � How awesome! �

It’s pretty safe to say I’d like one.

Normally it’s 90 bucks at my local Apple Store, they offer it for $28.  Makes me wonder WTF is up with Apple’s “modest” markup.

There have been a few examples recently of really beautifully displaying information. � I came across this video tonight and was really into it. � The way all the information was presented was gorgeous, and it didn’t hurt that it was set to a pretty nice tune. � It’s by Royksopp, and called “Remind Me.” � If anyone knows who designed this, please let me know. � Thanks!

It also should go without saying that the opening credits for Stranger Than Fiction were gorgeous too, but I’m sure you already knew that. � Here’s a link� on MK12’s site in case you forgot how they looked.

Warning: � little language here.

I can understand if you want to cater to a specific audience. � Not to state the obvious, but when you cater to a specific audience, you leave out lots of other potential visitors and customers, and if it’s a site like a portfolio or e-commerce, that means you’re going to lose customers.

Instead, you should be friendly towards the majority and work within the accepted standard screen resolution of 1024×768. � Yes, we know your site is mega-fresh and super awesome with lots of neat Flash eye candy, but you should still design it and build it to function in a normal window. �

On that note, here’s what I do. � I’ve been designing sites that have a width of no more than 950 pixels, and have had a lot of luck with it so far. � Sometimes height is also a concern, depending on the site. � If it a concern, I usually make a guide at 600� pixels� to make sure all the most important information is above that line. � (A horizontal guide at 600 pixels compensates for all the toolbars and whatnots people add onto their browsers.) � That way you don’t tax those browsers below 1024×768 screens too hard, and seems to fit nicely within the current standards.

What do you do when designing websites? � Do you care about standards, and what do you do in consideration of them?

Stefan Sagmeister as a designer has work I have admired for quite some time. � It wasn’t until I started listening to some great design podcasts with Debbie Millman (also in the film) that I became more and more interested in him. � I was also fortunate enough to hear him lecture.

The new film talks a lot about his latest book “Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far,” which is chock full of good bits for designers—and non-designers. � I’ve always liked hc’s films on the big designers, they’re always shot so well, and never seem to be anything but great. � It’s definitely worth a look, check it out!

I feel strangely honored that super new browsers are crawling my sites! � If only I had been so lucky as to have the iPhone browser crawl my site before it was out (it did happen to a few, I don’t have an article link handy, sorry.)

Anyone else had these run through their sites?

Seeing as yesterday was April Fool’s, I thought this might’ve gone right along with that whole bunch of nonsense: � Pizza Hut apparently became Pasta Hut yesterday. � I wonder why a company that’s been around for so long would just up and change names.

Apparently to lessen any kind of potential brand confusion, they pretty much just kept everything under one roof and changed a couple letters. � Eh, alright. It would have been great to see something a little more fresh for them, though. � What do you think about it? �

On the same note, there were some other pretty good ones that were actually a joke:

• The BBC reported on flying penguins (YouTube link)
• Ford Motors apparently “redesigned” their identity
• A trailer for a Zelda movie was released

He started off discussing his work for the music industry, which is how I was introduced to his work. � He’s done some really incredible, well-conceived work. � Turns out, he had 2 main timeframes for working on them. � One is that he would take three months on a project, and another 3 hours one morning. � Incredible. � I’d love 3 months to do a record package.Most of the evening was spent discussing his most recent book “Things I Have Learned So Far In My Life.” � There were about 20 of these gems. � Stefan took a year off from working with clients, experimented with design, and wrote most of these. � It’s hard to pick out the best ones, they were all great. Not that anyone is here for a life lesson or anything, but what you read here carries over nicely to your everyday life too. Bonus!

He’s also got a� website dedicated to this, and you can contribute things you’ve learned too! � Check it out!

However, the folks at� burdastyle� are talking about free patterns for making your own stuff. � Not bad, but I have to admit, I was hoping for nerdier! � This makes me want to go watch some Project Runway.