Posts in "design"
Mar 25 ’08
Filed in design, web technology
Before I launch in to this, let me just say that, really, there's no universally right way to choose the ideal web designer. There is no idea web designer. There's just the best way for you, and the best web designer for you. I hope that the thoughts I lay out below help you to clear up your right way is.
What you know
Some clients approach me saying that they want a website. Some say that they want a website that looks nice. Some say they want a website that performs functions x, y and z. Some say they want a website set in 12pt Verdana with a background that's exactly this shade of green, on a 960 pixel grid. And written in PHP with a custom CMS, please.
There's nothing wrong with any of these, although the last client always tends to give me pause, for reasons I'll discuss at the end of the article. I like to think of hiring a web professional the way I would hire a contractor to work on my house. Because, really, that's what you're doing: you're hiring a contractor to work on your digital house. Not all contractors are the same. They produce work of differing quality, in different styles and at different prices.
The problem for most home owners/clients is that the sheer number of choices is overwhelming; they don't even know where to start. If you want a contractor for your house, there's a very clear geographic constraint on the choice — the contractor must be in the same place as you, so they can come to your house to do the work. But with the web, that's not true; we're all just one e-mail away from each other. (6 degrees of separation? Hah!)
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Dec 10 ’06
Filed in design, site administrativa
Although this page went live a little while ago, I've just gotten around to writing it up. A scientist at the University of Santa Barbara contacted me about making a
professional page for her. I've
added it to my portfolio. I'm particularly happy about the image at the bottom of the page behaves: use a big screen and make your browser window wide. Very wide.
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Aug 30 ’06
Filed in design, ephemeral
When I was a kid my family lived in Geneva for 5 years. It was a formative time in my life, and I still think very fond thoughts of the Swiss. I've always thought of them as a rather typical European country, but smaller, more quaint and with a much more closed and provincial mind-set. However, over the years I've learned that they have a rather interesting sense of art and design, one that is much more prominent than in many countries. Their influnence on graphic design is unmeasurable: take Helvetica, for instance. The Swiss really helped make modernism.
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Aug 05 ’06
Filed in design, operating systems, ruby on rails
Why do people flip out over RoR? Primarily, because it's fast. It's so fast to develop new applications in RoR. But why? What separates RoR from any of the other frameworks out there? The approach that defines RoR is "convention over configuration," and that's where much of the speed comes from. I had an epiphany this morning: "convention over configuration" sounds familliar. That's why I use a Mac. Read the rest …
Jul 16 ’06
Filed in design, site administrativa
Another client site went live recently: Goleta Valley Holistic Health Care. I've put a page in my portfolio about it. I wish them the best of luck with their new business.
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May 26 ’06
Filed in design, site administrativa
I've just completed a new site for a local artist named Jessica Reichman. She approached me with a pre-existing web site that had gotten beaten with an ugly stick and then left unfinished. It failed to highlight her personality or her work. The new design does both. You can see my little writeup in my portfolio or you can just go visit the site to see what it looks like.
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About the author
Brent Miller is the owner and principal web designer of Foliosus Web Design LLC in Portland, Oregon. He enjoys food, plants, and the color green. If you are interested in hiring him for web work, please contact him.
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Plant of the day
Cordia sebestena (Boraginaceae); Geiger tree or Zackopte
Fresh photos
