the singularity of being and nothingness
Archive for April, 2008
On Becoming a Better Web Designer, Part Deux
Apr 28th
A month ago, or so, I reflected upon my journey toward becoming a better web designer. In that post, I dwelled mostly upon time-saving practices such as creating organized folder structures, labeling Illustrator layers, etc.
Another point, however, was about avoiding becoming completely consumed with solving specific problems as they are encountered. I noted that although there are some problems that have to be solved before progress can be made, the vast majority of hang-ups can be saved for later when a fresher perspective (or possibly a new bit of learning gained through doing other things) might make the answer more clear.
I think this is a gigantically important point, and I want to expand upon it, but from a different direction. In my first post, I was talking mostly about code–but what about actual concept development?
When it comes down to it, good design is–on a high level–of course about the user. A good design must facilitate an easy-to-use and a rewarding and enjoyable experience. While a lot of this occurs in layout, how users interact with code, etc., there is also an important part that small details play in contributing to a successful visit.
It is these details, after all, that More >
Spry's Rating Widget
Apr 16th
For a new project I'm working on, I will need a mechanism for users to vote on certain pieces of content. Now it turns out that there are a billion and one ways of doing this, with an additional billion sets of frameworks. I was quite overwhelmed by the number of choices, so I've been putting it off for a while now.
Yet fortuitously, a couple days ago I was browsing the Spry docs and noticed two very promising words: Rating Widget.
Surely this cannot be what I'm looking for, could it? Ah but it was!
Recently, Spry updated its growing library of widgets to include a standard "star" rating system. Like it's other widgets, the rating widget comes with a single css file and a single javascript file. And also like other Spry widgets, it is completely simple to implement.
Assuming you have referenced the css and javascript files correctly, here's all it takes to set up a star rating system:
<span id="myrating" class="ratingContainer"> <span class="ratingButton"></span> <span class="ratingButton"></span> <span class="ratingButton"></span> <span class="ratingButton"></span> <span class="ratingButton"></span> <input type="text" id="ratingValue" name="dynamic_rate"/> <span class="ratingRatedMsg">Thanks for voting !</span> </span>
It's so simple it's almost laughable. But it gets much better. Like all More >
Unobtrusive JavaScript…Duh!
Apr 15th
As I develop more applications that leverage JavaScript–both for data manipulation AND for superfluous effects–the more I come to realize the inexpressible need for finding as many shortcuts as possible. Without exception, as my JavaScript becomes more involved, so the complexity increases exponentially. To remedy this, I've started relying on frameworks such as Adobe's Spry, mooTools, jQuery, etc. to make my life easier for everything from element selection to major effects processing.
However, probably the biggest time-saver is making a concerted effort to make my JavaScript unobtrusive. What is this, you say? Well, by no means does it have a solidified meaning. However, a few principles are core to any definition.
The first is the idea of abstracting the functionality of JavaScript (be it data handling or effect processing) from the design layer on which the functionality is placed. In short, this means that the HTML markup of a site (and its corresponding CSS) should not be dependent on the functionality of JavaScript; rather, the functionality of JavaScript should be "pluggable" into the markup that it finds.
Now of course, this is all-too-idealistic. There is never a scenario in which markup and functionality are mutually ambivalent towards one another. However, the More >
Big Thanks to Everyone!
Apr 5th
This post will be short and sweet: In the week since the relaunch of singularityconcepts.com, I have been inundated with incredibly encouraging responses from an unbelievable number of people. The reaction to the new design has been overwhelming, and I am very humbled by the kind words that people have shared with me, as well as the design galleries that have featured my design.
Because I want to especially thank the design galleries that have featured this design, I want to include links to each gallery that gave kudos to the relaunch of singularityconcepts.com. All of these galleries feature extremely talented designers, and I am incredibly humbled to even be mentioned. Please take some time and check them out.
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