WDI

Google Announces Doctype an Encyclopedia for Web Developers

Yesterday Google announced that Doctype, an encyclopedia for web developers, written and maintained by web developers is now available. Take a moment to read their own announcement. I’m sure this will become a valuable resource and tool for all of us:

“The open web is the web built on open standards: HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and more. The open web is a beautiful soup of barely compatible clients and servers. It comprises billions of pages, millions of users, and thousands of browser-based applications. You can access the open web with open source and proprietary browsers, on open source and proprietary operating systems, on open source and proprietary hardware.

Google has built its business here, on the open web, and we want to help you build here too. To that end, we are happy to announce the formation of an encyclopedia for web developers, by web developers: Google Doctype.

In its current (beta) form, Google Doctype contains dozens of articles written by top Googlers on topics important to all web developers: security, performance, caching, DOM manipulation, CSS styling, and more. It contains over 8,000 lines of JavaScript code: Google’s own battle-tested JavaScript library, released today under a liberal open source license. And it contains the beginnings of a test-driven reference of the open web: a reference of every element, every attribute, every DOM method, every CSS property, all backed up by test cases.

Well, not quite every property; at least, not yet. We’re still working on filling in a few of the details about the world’s largest development platform ever, and we need your help. And so we humbly offer this fledgling encyclopedia under a Creative Commons Attribution license, and we invite the web developers of the world to contribute to it. Sign in with your Google account and edit any page, any article, anywhere. Create new ones, update old ones, and help expand the world’s understanding of the open web.”

Posted in Ajax, CSS, Design, JavaScript, Tools, resources | No Comments »

Great Suggestions for Growing your Web Design Business

I found this article today at the SmallFuel Marketing Blog and it relates well to pretty much anyone who works over the Internet.  The article is called “How to Get More Business by Commenting on Blogs.” I would encourage you to read it and glean some useful tips and ideas for your own business. I especially think that the section entitled “Targeting Your Market” is especially valuable for web designers. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!

Posted in Internet, Making Money, Marketing | No Comments »

Lessons about Website Ownership and Management from Survivorman?

Sound like a far fetched comparison? It did to me too at first! However, as I read the article, I began to appreciate the author’s ability to draw parallels between the two. When you get a chance, read the full article and let me know your thoughts on the author’s points. I would enjoy discussing them with you.

Posted in Internet, management, websites | No Comments »

SEO Basics Reviewed

As a web designer, it’s important to know the basics about how SEO works. It’s important to know what is effective so you can incorporate it into your design process. It’s also important to know the basic steps that will help your client with their website once it’s live and running for all the world to see.

WebmasterRadio.FM has put together a great 10 part series that covers SEO and marketing in general. Here are the 10 topics that they cover:

1. Keyword Research

2. Competitor Analysis

3. Site Structure

4. Content Optimization

5. Link Building

6. Social Media

7. PPC

8. Statistics Analysis

9. Conversion Optimization

10. Keeping It Up: Sustaining Search Rankings and Increasing Conversions

The nice thing about using WebmasterRadio is that you can listen to this series instead of reading it. This means you can work and listen at the same time! Multi-tasking made easy, haha. I would encourage you to listen to it. It may be a good refresher for some of you and for others, invaluable information that you have not yet considered. Check it out!

**I like their logo too! Bright, eyecatching, and it contains their full website url in it. Nice…

Posted in Tools, Website Design Articles, resources | No Comments »

Good Rules for Freelancers

Whether you freelance full or part time, it’s a great way to earn an income. However, there are certain guidelines that are good for every freelancer to remember. Freelance Switch has a great article called “26 Things that Could be Holding You Back from Freelance Success.” I encourage you to read the entire article. While every point may not be applicable for your particular situation, you may find a few points that are valuable to as you continue to work as a freelance designer.

Please let me know if you find a certain point very relevant. Perhaps we can expand on the point here at WDI and develop it into a larger article. Let us know!

Posted in Graphic Design, Illustration, Internet, Making Money, Web Designers | No Comments »

Devlounge: 10 Common Mistakes in Redesign

It’s always nice to see a website get ‘refreshed and updated.’ However, when you are working on a client’s site redesigning and redeveloping portions of it, take into account the ten mistakes listed in this valuable article found at Devlounge. Do your best to make sure you don’t fall victim to one of these common pitfalls when putting your client’s redesigned website back into the public arena!

Posted in Design, Internet, Web Designers | No Comments »

Simple Web 2.0 Text Logo Tutorial in Photoshop CS3

Just put together this Photoshop CS3 tutorial for creating a simple, quick, Web 2.0 text logo. This is my first time so I hope it’s not too bad.

 I’d love to hear your comments and ideas for improvement.

Posted in Logos, Photoshop, Tutorials | No Comments »

Web 2.0 Logo Design Example

Here is another nice example of a web 2.0 logo design from stuffable.com. I like the rounded letters.

Posted in Logos | No Comments »

Well Written Web Standards at Max Design

As a follow up to the last article, I wanted to share this article suggested by Valik that he found. Max Design is a leading web design and development company based out of Sydney, Australia. Make sure you have some time to sit down and go through their web standards article, because it is extensive and very thorough. Their list of standards is laid out well and is obviously well thought out. In their own words:

“About the checklist
This is not an uber-checklist. There are probably many items that could be added. More importantly, it should not be seen as a list of items that must be addressed on every site that you develop. It is simply a guide that can be used:

• • to show the breadth of web standards
  • as a handy tool for developers during the production phase of websites
  • as an aid for developers who are interested in moving towards web standards”

This is a definite must read article if you are thinking of forming your own list of standards for your own web design services. As David Ogilvy would have said, this is definitely one of those magic lanterns to learn from, file away, and use again in the future.

Posted in Design, Graphic Design, Sandards | No Comments »

Design Laws…do YOU have them?

I read an article this morning over at a great blog called Design Sojourn about establishing design laws and it caused me to think about this for a few moments. I know that here at WDI (Web Design Ideas), many of our design laws are fleshed out in some of our larger articles. I also think that many of our readers can ascertain that we adhere to a high quality standard based on the sites we feature, tutorials we suggest, and other information we highlight here.

But, we do lack a definitive list…a ‘magna carta’ of sorts. So, my question is…do you have a set of standards that guide you in your design processes? We will be working to produce one and will publish it here. If you’d like to share your list or send us a link to your standards, please feel free. So, be looking for a set of design standards to be published here in the near future!

Posted in Design, Graphic Design, Sandards | 1 Comment »