more changes coming, but it felt good to get this one out the door. heh.
today we released a mini-refresh of the AddThis homepage, removing some of the stuff we had up there and slimming it down so it's a little more focused -- think it came out really well... i worked in the banner carousel, which is pretty popular and a nice way to add in some content without it taking up so much damn space.
it used to be pretty cool to see a company like Google putting up new logo's all the time, but after awhile it kinda got old... usually i don't even pay attention, unless it's something really cool like that logo pac-man game they had up — which was still the king of kickass logos, if you ask me.
so i was kind of surprised to fire up Chrome and see these exploding balls bouncing around my screen, only to slow form into the logo portion... of course it's interactive, so the balls go flying everywhere if you mouseover 'em and whatnot... it's just neat to see that Google is still playing around, or at least there's people over there that are still having some fun with it.
you still don't see many companies doing it, that's for sure.
interesting post from the guys at smashing magazine about the "brewing battle" between designers and the process we go about using in designing sites — In Defense Of Photoshop
Waves of change are currently rippling through every aspect of the Web. The iPad and other mobile devices are changing the way we access the Internet, while HTML5 and CSS3 promise to change the way we develop it. However, another storm is brewing that threatens Photoshop's throne as the application of choice for Web design. The battle suggests a fundamental shift in the design process from Photoshop to mark-up.
A militia of designers have assembled to launch this coup. Their propaganda is convincing, and their proposed successor is worthy, capable and sexy. Their cause is important, but their manifesto is flawed. The argument against Photoshop focuses on the effect of the final product. Photoshop can be used to create impeccable designs, but after hours of hard work, you end up with a static mock-up that is incapable of emulating the experience one gets when the design is converted to mark-up and viewed in the browser...
didn't see this one until the weekend, but it was damn interesting to read through it — especially the comments and how others are tackling it... personally, i don't see Photoshop going away anytime soon... i tend to prefer starting in photoshop, and then quickly go straight to mocking things up in XHTML/CSS... it's the way i've been doing it for years now and i don't see any reason that should change.
for anybody living in and around chicago, figured you might dig this if you haven't already seen it... design is pretty sweet, and you can order a shirt with the color based off which line you ride — pretty cool idea.
kind of hoping i see something similar for the DC Metro lines.
p.s. i'm a sucker for the big ass image backgrounds... been awhile since i've done that around here. hmmmm.
i've seen my fair share of rips, but this one of clearspring that just came to my attention seems completey worthy of calling out... man, this guy must have some serious balls, y'know? i don't know who he or she is, but they should be ashamed of themselves.
please feel free to drop them an email. *ahem*
Showcase Of Web Design In Poland
Vodka, pickled cucumbers and Pope John Paul II might spring to mind when someone mentions Poland. Obviously there's more to Poland than that. On the world map of design, Poland is marked by creative agencies that produce high-level design and employ some of the best programmers in the world. There's also a crowd of freelancers and visionaries who have received worldwide recognition.For the people I interviewed, Web design is life. The art directors and freelancers highlighted here work in all sorts of environments, and they answer questions related to our field. You'll have the opportunity to see Polish Web design from a number of perspectives — and to form your own opinion while browsing selected productions.
it's been awhile since i've blogged anything from the guys over at Smashing Magazine, and to be honest... haven't been visiting the site daily like i usually do — probably more to do with watching the World Cup matches, and generally feeling pretty consumed of late.... anywho, this post about polish web designers certainly grabbed my attention and i've been meaning to blog it for a couple days now.
good stuff, and some great polish artists showing off their work here.
we unveiled and released OExchange yesterday, and was pretty excited to see the response we got to it... been working on it for quite awhile, as far as the concept and nailing down the spec... for my part, i helped on the site side of things for the last couple weeks and am pretty stoked that it's now live — and not to be overly humble here or anything, but i think it's quite possibly the best looking "open protocol" spec site on the internet. heh.
you can read the spec or checkout the demo which helps explain the whole idea behind it... but in a nutshell, it's all about defining an open standard for shared content, so that all the sites and social networks that receive shared links/videos are speaking the same language... pretty cool stuff man.
Web Development For The iPhone And iPad: Getting Started
According to AdMob, the iPhone operating system makes up 50% of the worldwide smartphone market, with the next-highest OS being Android at 24%. Sales projections for the Apple iPad run anywhere from one to four million units in the first year. Like it or not, the iPhone OS, and Safari in particular, have become a force to be reckoned with for Web developers. If you haven't already, it's time to dive in and familiarize yourself with the tools required to optimize websites and Web applications for this OS.Thankfully, Safari on iPhone OS is a really great browser. Just like Safari 4 for the desktop, it has great CSS3 and HTML5 support. It also has some slick interface elements right out of the box, which sometimes vary between the iPhone and iPad. Lastly, because the iPhone OS has been around for quite some time now, a lot of resources are available.
I know that most discussion about the iPhone OS platform centers on native applications. But you can still create powerful, native-looking applications using HTML, JavaScript and CSS. This article focuses on three phases of building and optimizing your website: design, coding and testing.
Before we get into the three phases, let's look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of building a Web app rather than a native app.
another good article from the guys over at Smashing Magazine, with some good link'age to various resources for developing for the iPhone/iPad... funny enough, a friend was just talking about selling his iPad the other day and putting the money towards getting a new iPhone 4G when it comes out — saying that it'd just be more useful for him than having an iPad that he rarely uses... he basically said it was like the nintendo Wii when it came out, with lots of hype but now sits there in his livingroom collecting dust.
thought this was pretty sweet... gives you a quick glance at your fonts, and allows you to type whatever you want.
p.s. Free Designer’s Portfolio Icon Set (12 High Quality Icons)
(hat tip: jeff)
saw this one while scanning through some feeds — 8 websites you need to stop building, and being that i work at AddThis, i couldn't help but get a bit of a chuckle... have to say, i totally agree with people (re)building popular sites over and over... but hell man, that's been happening since the internet started to get popular and accessible — so whatcha gonna do, right? *shrugs*
i know it's been all over the web and design blogs for the last couple weeks or more, but it seemed like google finally flipped the switch for me and now i'm seeing the "new" homepage design tweaks and search results that i've been seeing and reading about — i have to say, while it's subtle, i'm really digging the design tweaks they've made... can really see it in the logo, and i'm loving the little CSS3 tweaks they're using on the buttons and inputs.
very nice work, google... still not sold on the search results, but maybe that's more because it feels like a big change for some reason... and i just feel like the it scanned better the other way, without all that crap on the left-hand sidebar.
on a sidenote, here's what jakob nielson has dropped his input on the iPad:
iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems.
"It looks like a giant iPhone," is the first thing users say when asked to test an iPad. (Their second comment? "Wow, it's heavy.")
after hearing about and seeing the Marvel comic book app for the iPad, i'm suddenly starting to waffle a little on my resolve on the iPad... because i can totally see myself subscribing and checking out monthly editions with one. g'damnit.
my boss was saying something about it just yesterday, and i didn't really get it until i saw it for myself... but it looks like google has started playing around with their search results layout once again — actually, i can't remember the last time they changed anything... other than maybe the very top portion awhile back.
i still don't see it when i pull up www.google.com in my browser and search on something, but quite a few other people are seeing it... personally, i don't really dig it all that much and it just reminds me of Yahoo!'s search results, which just look bad in comarison... too much shit on the page, not as easy to scan, and one of the reasons i've always liked google's approach.
(hat tip: mashable)
