I was recently reading The Secret History of Star Wars and came upon an inspiring quote from Francis Ford Coppola to George Lucas:
Look, when you write a script, just go as fast as you can. Just get it done. Don’t ever read what you’ve written. Try to get it done in a week or two, then go back and fix it-you keep fixing it. But if you try to get each page perfect, you’ll never get beyond page ten!
I’ve never heard something from film that translated so well to web design before. There’s numerous times where I’ve started to create code and gotten stuck trying to get every detail just perfect. Yet, looking back, my best work has come from projects that I just got going on and revised over and over.
Note: While I’m not a Star Wars fanatic by any means, but the story behind it and George Lucas is very interesting. I recommend the read. The ebook is free.
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After a lot of thought and consideration I’ve decided to change the name of this site. For one, 36 Pixels sounds very similar to a few other designers out there, and beyond that it’s a little cold.
Enter KeiWi, which is taken from letters in my name. It’s short, easy to remember, and who doesn’t love kiwi fruit? I’ve been working on the new design for a little while now, when I have time away from my projects. It’s very similar to what’s up now with an improved color palette, an em-based layout, and some extra bits here and there for style.
Here’s a quick preview.
I hope to have it up in the next week or so.
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I’ve just released Sonny’s Hardwood Floor.
It’s a simple 1 page layout that incorporates a new logo, mission-statement for a banner, and expandable thumbnails for portfolio. The 3 color tile on the left was inspired by variations in natural wood from a photo of a sawmill.
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Photo by jurek d.
A common trend in design is layouts that are horizontally divided, but still have a set width in the center (this site for example). By that I mean they’re horizontally divided, but still have a set width in the center. It’s a great way to break up your design into distinct sections, without creating clutter. Here’s how to create one:First, create containers for each section you’d like to create:
<body>
<div id="header"></div>
<div id="intro"></div>
<div id="content"></div>
<div id="footer"></div>
<body>
Pretty simple. These are your full sections.Now, since you’re keeping the same color across the entire horizontal section, you’ll add another container, inside each section, that will only cover your actual content area.
<body>
<div id="header">
<div class="wrapper"></div>
</div>
<div id="intro">
<div class="wrapper"></div>
</div>
<div id="content">
<div class="wrapper"></div>
</div>
<div id="footer">
<div class="wrapper"></div>
</div>
<body>
And finally, some css to put it all together:
body { padding:0; margin:0; }
#header { background-color:#494949; padding:5px 0; margin:0; }
#intro { background-color:#CACAAF; padding:5px 0; margin:0; }
#content { background-color:#EFEFEF; padding:0; margin:0;}
#footer { border-top:5px solid #494949; }
.wrapper { margin:0 auto; padding:0; width:775px; }
h1 { color:#EFEFEF; }
p { margin:0; padding:10px 0; }
I’ve created an example html file as well: Horizontal – Fixed Width Layout Example
And that’s it. Add some style and whatever else you like to make it your own.
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Signals vs Noise points out an interesting article on creating a game plan for your workday.
A realistic to-do list makes a lot of sense. I make one each morning. But, one part got me thinking:
Ms. Morgenstern advises against checking your e-mail when you arrive at the office. She has even written a book on productivity called “Never Check E-Mail in the Morning.” She calls e-mail “the world’s most convenient procrastination device.”
This suggestion needs a slight change to apply in web design, or I.T. for that matter. Instead of ignoring your email upon arrival, skim it. E-mail is such a vital piece of communication for IT professionals, you’d more likely get fired for not checking it. But, skimming for important events and then moving on, would give you the best of both worlds.
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If you’ve recently upgraded OS X, and use your Mac for development, you may wonder how to get your previous MySQL install running on Leopard. The instructions are very easy. It was a great help.
Also, if you don’t like running MySQL at all times, like me, just skip the sections involving the .plist file.
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