News

Waaayyyyyy Behind

We apologize… profusely. We’ve been so far behind since the redesign. Family and clients must come first. But our love for beautiful design using Web standards just makes it impossible to drop the project forever. So please know that if you’ve submitted an entry, or two… or three… it may simply be sleeping in our overcrowded inbox.

Thanks for understanding.

admin | Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 7:28 PM CT | Comments (0)

font is dead, vive le style

I’m so ready for <font> to go away. This is one of the easiest things to get rid of from a Web page and save on code. font is dead, vive le style announces the good news. However, one comment says font has <font> has been dead for many years… well, nuh uh. Plenty of pages still use it.

admin | Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 11:38 AM CT | Comments (0)

Microsoft Expression Studio 2

One year after releasing Expression Studio, Microsoft comes out with its second edition with over 100 new features. Download a free trial.

• Expression Web 2 adds support for PHP and Adobe Photoshop import based on customer feedback.
• Expression Blend 2, in addition to Silverlight support, adds vertex animation and an improved user interface with a new split design/XAML view.
• Expression Design 2 adds improved exporting functionality including the ability to export slices.
• Expression Media 2 is a digital asset management solution that adds support for the latest file formats including RAW, provides geotagging functionality, and is supported by Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2008.
• Expression Encoder 2 allows creative and Web professionals to optimize almost any type of video content quickly for publishing on the Web, either in streaming video, rich-media advertising or other Web 2.0 projects.

admin | Friday, May 2, 2008 at 7:07 AM CT | Comments (0)

Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference 2008

New Riders authors — many of them whose names you’ll recognize — will present at the Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference, June 10-13, in Nashville, TN. Tempting to go as I’ve never been to Nashville and the line up looks great.

admin | Friday, May 2, 2008 at 7:04 AM CT | Comments (1)

User Interface Implementations of Faceted Browsing

“Faceted browsing is a powerful navigation tool for content dense sites–but not all browsing is alike. Mike Padilla explains the importance of remembering the users’ needs when creating this alternative to search to avoid pushing your audience down a path you didn’t intend.”

admin | Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 7:44 AM CT | Comments (0)

Add Drag ‘n Drop Functionality

Add drag ‘n drop to your web-based apps using Google web toolkit with a little help from Webreference. OK, so the content really comes from Google Web Toolkit Solutions, but at least you don’t have to pay for this information.

admin | Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 10:19 AM CT | Comments (0)

Reverse Ordered Lists

Top 10 list. Countdowns. Plenty of opportunities for a list that starts with 10 and works to 1. WhatWG blog explains how to do reverse ordered lists.

admin | Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 6:38 AM CT | Comments (0)

I Love Typography

Though I’m no a professional designer, I’m amazed at all the theories and advice surrounding the world of typography. Whenever I design my own invitations and such, typography captivates me. I Love Typography has passion for the topic and it shows.

admin | Monday, April 28, 2008 at 10:38 AM CT | Comments (0)

Web Directions North Notes

All Web Directions North slides and podcasts now online.

admin | Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 2:29 PM CT | Comments (0)

Pretty up Your Forms

I’m amazed how many sites still use tables in their forms when everything else is table-free. Even I can do it and I’m no pro designer. Get tips for prettying up your dull forms without a drop of <tr>.

admin | Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 2:43 PM CT | Comments (0)

Django

“Django is an open-source Web framework, written in Python, that allows you to easily and rapidly develop interactive, data-centric web applications.” Intrigued? Introduction to Django: Helping Perfectionists With Deadlines.

admin | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 1:30 PM CT | Comments (0)

How Things Have Changed in Usability

Jakob Nielsen’s useit column looks at 25 years of usability.

admin | Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 3:22 PM CT | Comments (0)