Every now and then designers get bored. When we get bored, we usually make stuff. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes is just plain stinks. This time, I made a couple backgrounds I really like so I figured I’d share them for anyone who might also appreciate them.

I didn’t make any of the illustrations, I basically borrowed some illustrations from things I’ve bought or downloaded. You really have to see these full size to fully appreciate them.

Here they are, click on the thumbnails to get larger versions.

Skull & crossed swords with a pirate ship in the misty background

Mix Tape.

Nintendo Gameboy Game

One of the cornerstones of successful web design is being able to easily navigate a page within a website easily with no surprises. These days visitors have a short attention span and an even shorter tolerance for a website not working correctly. We can’t really get away from it, in these days convenience is key and any way you can make your site easier to navigate and information a quicker read, the happier your visitors will be. This seems obvious on first glance, but in my travels online, it seems like many designers forget this simple mantra.

The Problem

Take for instance one simple place with a lot of room for improvement, the previous and next buttons. These buttons are pretty damned common on blogs and image galleries and seem pretty self-explanatory so you would think they were pretty much all the same, right? Not as far as I can tell. It seems obvious to me that we need a convention for this often over-looked and commonly last minute addition to the navigation.

Now, let’s get into the nuts and bolts of it. From what I’ve seen on most blogs, when you’re on the landing page, which you could technically call either the first or the last page, the button says Previous while the Next button is greyed out or not shown. Why? Well, when you’re considering the sequential nature of blogs, it makes sense to consider the latest post the last post and every post before it was “Previous” to it. This is logical, but doesn’t make sense from a navigation point-of-view.

A better way to approach this issue is to look at it as we would a magazine, newspaper, or book. As English speakers, we read left to right and when we’ve cracked the spine on any reading material, we flip the pages from our right to our left, unless you’re one of those people who flips to the last page to spoil the whole book for yourself, but that’s another story all together. If this is the case, if you imagined your blog like a magazine, and people were reading your latest post first, where would you put your latest post? The first page, right? If this is the case, then your viewers would go to the NEXT page, not the previous.

Also think about how you would list the pages of your blog, 1 2 3 4 5 and so forth. and it would probably look something like this:

PREVIOUS  1   2    3    4   5    NEXT

This seems obvious to me, but I still find myself in the middle of a multiple page blog and have to pause to think, do I click previous or next? What did I click before? Or I’ll click on next and it will take me to the page where I just was. This is way too much work for a visitor to have to go through and too much for someone to think about. It’s not about dumbing down, it’s about giving our viewers which we rely on and easier and more enjoyable experience. The less they have to think, the better they’ll feel.

A Solution

Frustratingly, WordPress defaults to  « Older Entries meaning well intentioned designers take this cue and simplify it to simply Previous. We can’t really fault these guys, they meant well, but it’s a common mistake that takes the logic the WordPress developers had in mind and flipping it so it doesn’t make as much sense anymore.

There are a few ways to put the right code on your page, and they’re very easy.

The first and probably easiest way is suggested by WordPress. (They even mention the disconnect between the default and how it should function, imagine that!)

So here’s how it works:

At the bottom of the page you want this to show up in, put this code:

<div class="navigation"><p><?php posts_nav_link(); ?></p></div>

You can wrap it in a div so you can apply styles to that div. This is a basic code, but you still have to add some pieces to make it look the way you want. Now, figure out what you want to separate the buttons, along with what you want the buttons to say, Next, Next Page, Click Here To Continue Through My Blog Of Multiple Pages, whatever. Now, here’s a breakdown of where to put these parameters:

<?php posts_nav_link('separator','prelabel','nextlabel'); ?>

Here’s an example of how it would look with a vertical line character “|” and Next and Previous for the parameters:

<div class="navigation"><p><?php posts_nav_link('|','Next Page','Previous Page'); ?></p></div>

It’s as easy as that. Now go forth and make your blog make more sense.

I just discovered the beauty of working with WordPress shortcodes and the the frustration that can come along with it. If you’re building websites for clients, it can mean the difference between repeat calls about them breaking code in the backend and the peace and quite of a satisfied client who knows how to edit their content.

If you’re working with shortcodes, you’ve no doubt come across phantom <br> or <p> tags. WordPress automatically adds these in with the wpautop() function. These tags can effectively break your carefully coded content and cause you hours of frustration, not to mention calls from your clients.

Fortunately for you there’s an easy fix to the problem. We could just do away with the wpautotop() function, but that would cause a lot of other issues within the visual editor, a big problem when working with client sites. However with a simple php function we can eradicate those return and paragraph tags in your carefully coded shortcode content. In your theme’s functions.php file before your shortcodes, insert the following code:

function parse_shortcode_content( $content ) {

    /* Parse nested shortcodes and add formatting. */
    $content = trim( wpautop( do_shortcode( $content ) ) );

    /* Remove '</p>' from the start of the string. */
    if ( substr( $content, 0, 4 ) == '</p>' )
        $content = substr( $content, 4 );

    /* Remove '<p>' from the end of the string. */
    if ( substr( $content, -3, 3 ) == '<p>' )
        $content = substr( $content, 0, -3 );

    /* Remove any instances of '<p></p>'. */
    $content = str_replace( array( '<p></p>' ), '', $content );

    return $content;
}

									

And then add this line into your shortcode function or functions:

$content = parse_shortcode_content( $content );
									

Voila! You’re done. Now go test your now finally working shortcode.

Thanks goes to Donal MacArthur for this incredibly useful bit of information.

As designers, we’ve all been there, we build a comp in Photoshop were incredibly happy with that we’ve spent a good amount of time color proofing only to save it as a JPG, open it in our browser and it looks dull and washed out. It gets even more complicated when you’re working with another designer and you’re both getting completely different colors and can’t agree on which is right.

The solution is frustratingly easy and will help you gain back countless hours of frustration and anguish. Not to mention, it’s also much easier and better than simply turning off any color management in Photoshop, crossing your fingers, and hoping for the best.

The Simple Solution

Photoshop comes with color settings for most anything need you could throw at it, so there’s no complicated color management settings you need to dial in and save. Using this quick guide, you’ll have your working space fixed in less than a minute. Here are the three steps you need to follow to get consistent colors across your programs.

Step 1

First we need to choose our color settings. Go to your menu bar and click on Edit -> Color Settings.

When this window comes up, you’ll be greeted with a slew of options. Don’t worry, most of them we won’t touch and the most important one is right up top. Under “Working Spaces” you’ll see a drop down-box for RGB profiles, select the sRGB IEC61966-2.1profile. Under “Color Management Policies” make sure the RGB drop -down saysConvert to Working RGB, then hit OK.

Step 2

Now go to back to your menu bar and click on View, and select Monitor RGB. That will make sure Photoshop is displaying your work using the color profile we selected earlier. If you have a document you’re working on open, you’ll notice a slight color shift.

Step 3

Now click on View again in your menu bar and make sure Proof Colors has a check mark next to it. If not, click on it and you’re done!

There you have it! Just imagine, all your frustration was a few short clicks away from being solved. Of course, even with these color settings correctly implemented, there will inevitably be some inconsistencies across different devices, monitors and programs. Much of this you can’t help, but for the sake of having a working file that displays almost exactly what you’ll be seeing online, this fits our needs well.

I’ve created template files for starting my websites each with the sizes of the image, the guides in the right place for a variety of styles and sizes of websites, and my color settings all correct. I will post how I created my template files in another post soon, but in the meantime enjoy your correct colors!

This portfolio site works fine in theory. The pages load, no major errors, my work shows, etc., but I haven’t been happy with the design of it. Don’t get me wrong, this site has gotten me many clients, but it’s just looking old and tired. This design was only supposed to be a temporary one until I could build a new one but it lasted much longer than I meant it to.

Well, now I’m building a new one. I’ve built the design of the site, now I just need to polish it and code the sucker. Check out a preview here. Obviously the design needs some more work and I need to build the other pages, but the bones are there.

You probably also noticed the header is “Call Me Chaz” instead of just my name. I’m changing the business to Call Me Chaz as a more informal, friendly, and approachable calling card with my same business savvy, no bullshit approach to work.

I’m a serial procrastinator. I always have been. My Dad always said to me “Always put off what you can easily do today, tomorrow might be too late, right, Chaz?” In the past few years I’ve made leaps and bounds in learning not to fall into the traps so easily afforded by instant gratification at the sacrifice of work, but it’s always a work in progress.

Like a fine chianti with spaghetti, my procrastination also pairs well with a fear of success. At least, that’s how I’ve always defined it. I have had some great ideas and written some great business plans, but just when I’m about to hit the button and let the ideas live, I freeze. I don’t know why.

I’ve been going to therapy for years now for various things in my life, the two aforementioned issues included, and I have spoken with her about this at length. But I had a revelation in the car this morning: I don’t have a fear of success, I have a fear of the responsibility of success. I’ve always said, what if I can’t meet demands? What if I dissapoint my customers? What if my great idea isn’t as great as it seems? Well, my therapist had a good point: “So what?” It’s been said before that you learn more from your mistakes than your successes, so I should embrace those possible stumbles and falls and take them as a learning opportunity.

What seems like an obvious correlation in writing never really connected in my head and how it feels like I’ve just dropped a medicine ball I never knew I was holding. Being a freelancer in the design and advertising business obviously requires a great deal of responsibility, as does living on your own and being independent, but taking on a responsibility for other peoples’ satisfaction is never something I considered, nor wanted, admittedly. Of course, this is unavoidable in the my business and being an entrepreneur.

Now that I’ve identified the problem, I can lay to rest many of my insecurities, throw those hurdles to the sidelines, move ahead with my life and career, and stop putting my great ideas on the back-burner.

What do you do when you have a great idea? Do you run full speed ahead not listening to dissenting opinions? Do you ask your closest friends and confidants and hope they think it’s a good idea? What do you do when you encounter opposition?

I used to have great ideas and run them by other people, only to have them say things like ‘Google already did it’ or ‘How will you compete with [insert huge corporation or busines here]?’ Not anymore.

I had a great idea, a phenomenal one. I had an idea that would catapult my skills into the mainstream and make reading RSS feeds a much less painful and a much more enjoyable experience. But when I ran it by two people who’s opinions I trusted in the hopes they would shower me with encouragement, I got comments like ‘iGoogle does it already’ (which led to a nickname of Mr. iGoogle) and ‘there are already too many rss readers out there.’ I should have just gone forward with my concept in the face of such discouragement, but I didn’t and the other day I saw MY idea done by someone else: introducing Times.

As annoying, anger inducing, and demoralizing as this experience has been, it’s also taught me an important lesson: Follow your heart and instincts. (similar, but not exactly like one of my favorite lyrics of all time sung by Hot Water Music: “Live your heart and Never Follow”)If you have an idea or concept that you think is great and you really want to create it, by all means ask for advice and bounce ideas off your friends and collegues, but don’t get discouraged and stop when they say negative things about it. Find someone who likes the idea and encourages you or go at it alone and say screw convention and negative people who said you would fail. Google and Apple are great examples of success in the face of screaming opposition.

I know you have all missed me, I haven’t posted on this blog in a while. I’ve been extremely busy with a myriad of projects and even a trip back up to Philly. Plus, having a girlfriend means I don’t have my evenings to myself anymore. That’s a good thing, I’m not complaining!

So, without further ado, here’s the news:

I Moved to Orlando, Fl

I love Philly, I really do, but after 10 years of living in the north, I’m more than a little sick of winter. Before you start calling me a southerner, or saying things about me having thin blood, let me clarify. I don’t HATE winter, I just wish it would last a few months shorter. In a perfect world, I would move down here for three or four months until the snow and bitter cold subsided. Too bad I’m not rich or I’d seriously consider it.

It’s not all mouse ears and hot summers, my parents live down here, many of my clients are down here and my girlfriend likes Florida much better than the North. So far we’re happy, but if anything changes, we’ll let you know!

I’m Switching To WordPress.
I’ve had this blog with Blogger.com since the beginning, but honestly I’m getting sick of the lack of options, the not so great template system and simply put, I’ve found something better. I’ll be posting a longer list of reasons soon.

New Clients + Work
Since moving down here, my work schedule has picked up. I’ll be posting updates on this as well.

There are an increasing number of sites offering contests for graphic design services from logo designs and branding systems to print design to full service websites. In theory it sounds like a good idea from a client’s perspective: you get a good website or logo for cheap and the added benefit of many different takes for the same project, right?

Wrong. Let me tell you why:

A. You’re not hiring designers. The “Designers” on these sites offering up their versions are not professionals. Now I’m not saying there aren’t people who create real designs for real clients, but there is a prevalence of hobbyists and “part-time designers” meaning you’re getting amateur work.

B. You’ll get poor work. Now there is the slight chance you could get decent, not appalling work, but chances are, you won’t. The work you will get from these types of contests isn’t good. You won’t stand a chance at building a good brand or successful website from any of the designs you would get.

C. You’ll end up paying more in the end. Maybe not right away and I don’t mean to that designer. The costs of poor design are more than just monetary. For one thing, poor design usually translates to customers that your product or service is cheap and therefor will break or won’t work therefor meaning a loss of revenue and no brand loyalty. The other side is that eventually you will have to pay more to design something worthwhile and rebuilding a site that doesn’t work right is ALWAYS more expensive than doing right the first time.

So now that we’ve established that design contests are bad for clients and for the work, let me explain why they’re bad for the graphic design industry:

A. The value of our work is diminished. Simply put in business terms, if you can get a product for cheaper, it will seem more appealing. But you’re a good designer and will give them better work, right? Well, tell that to the client who says, “Well I can get it for $250 over on this site, so thanks, but no thanks.” This attitude diminishes the value of our work and sets clients expectations much lower than what they should be.

B. They are submission based and there’s no promise of being paid.What I mean by that is this: in the 20+ or so submissions, yours will be only one submission of many and for all the work you’ll put in, there’s only a small chance you’ll be picked and get paid. There is also a prevalence of people starting contests, getting submissions and saying, “None of these are what I was looking for” meaning no one gets paid. Obviously, that’s bad.

C. Plagiarism. This is by far one of the worst pieces of the entire puzzle. Imagine you working long and hard on a logo for a company, having it approved and you’re paid what you’re worth only to see a crowd-sourced logo as some cheap knock-off of your design. It happens far too often on these sites and there is no policing nor feeling of responsibility on the part of these so-called “designers.”

My advice to you is this: if you are a client, do yourself and favor and support the industry, spend the extra money and get what you pay for. If you are a designer, steer very clear of these sites and encourage others to do the same.

More information

www.no-spec.com

www.davidairey.com/logo-design-contests-bad-for-business

Positive Space-sitepoint-contests-an-update

(read the comments on this one, kudos designers): Licensartcom-logo-design-competition/

In a search for a project management system that would help me to better inform my clients, keep them in constant contact and allow them to see exactly where the project is, as well as keep track of deadlines and files, I’ve found my solution: Basecamp.

It’s built by 37 Signals who also make some great small business software, not all of it I need. It’s a great system and really easy to use. It’s making my client interaction and explaining the process of design and advertising much less nebulous for my clients, and helping to keep the project on task and schedule.

If you’re interested to see how it works, become a client and get a free* demo.