Crumbs from the Scone, Designer's Resources
It’s a warm evening here at the studio (thank god for air conditioning and ceiling fans). I was tooling around on a Flash project tonight and had an opportunity to reference a tutorial that I had saved from an excellent online resource for learning Flash so I thought I would take a moment and share it with you all.
Before joining the International Webmasters Association and taking their excellent series of Classes I began my “formal” training in Flash at the website of Jay Dyke, called “Cartoon Smart“. Jay has an amazingly cool site and, even at the point where I am about to begin my Advance Flash ActionScripting class, I still go back to his site to pick up pointers. His downloadable tutorials are very well priced, easily downloaded and extremely fun. His informal style makes you feel as though he is sitting right next to you but the information he provides is very useful.
I highly recommend this site to anyone interested in furthering their Flash skills.
Cheers,
Skip
Designer's Resources
I was doing some investigative research today on an HTML problem I was having when I came by this really nice article on web design psychology. Almost seems like a small bit of required reading for web designers as it hits on some important points regarding basic web design philosophy. Kudos to the people at Stylegala for the excellent information they provide. As web designers, we need to be cognizant of not only of the technical nature of our trade, but also the intangibles; good design flow, artistry and design impact. Well done to Andy Rutledge at NetSuccess on his article.
Cheers,
Skip
Technical Articles
Great find for Epson Printer owners
If you are like me, you own multiple Epson printers and absolutely love them. However, you may have also encountered an episode involving a cartridge that you know is full or nearly full yet the printer is telling you it’s empty.
Enter the Universal Chip Resetter from MIS Associates Inc. This handy and inexpensive (about $20 USD) device is a lifesaver when you consider the price of printer cartridges nowadays. Clip this on the cartridge and it will reset the chip so that the printer will read it as full. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
Cheers,
Skip
Designer's Resources
Let me start by saying I am a photoshop zealot. I love the program, can’t live without it. Wonderful piece of software.
Having said that, I was browsing around in the Adobe Stock Photo browser the other day looking for photos to use on a website project I am currently working on. I realized after looking through the licensing and pricing areas that the pricing is set up only for larger (minimum of 1 meg) files. Now this is useful for most print projects, however those file sizes are far too large for web use.
Having done some more digging and finding nothing to cater to smaller file sized purchases, I decided to contact my guru of all things Adobe… Mark Barnes.
Mark’s answer was uncharacteristicly short… “Nope, Adobe does not have anything in place for purchasing smaller file sized photos”… “However…” it was then I knew he was going to save me once again. He then mentioned iStockphotos. Let me just say that this site is wonderful! Not only is the interface excellent for browsing photos, their photo quality is excellent and their library is huge! But the best part is their pricing!
$1 for web ready photos
$3 for print ready photos
$5 for full page photos
$10 for full page bleed photos
$20/$40 for double page spread photos
Excellent! A real find that benefits both the designer and client in keeping costs down. I highly recommend a visit to iStockphotos.
Cheers,
Skip
Crumbs from the Scone
Poozles Fiber Art www.poozles.com
Pamela asked me to design a site for her that would exhibit her line of custom made fiber art pieces as well as giving her visitors a sense of the country setting in which she worked. The design elements and layout that I used reflect the aproachable and handcrafted aspects of the sierra ranch setting in which Pamela creates her unique works of fiber art.
Crumbs from the Scone, The Link Vault
Advanced Business Equipment Technologies, Inc. www.abetco.com
Paul Jensen and Sam Dumenigo were looking to upgrade their existing website as well as adding an ecommerce solution and online forms for existing clients to send in equipment information. This was a great site to work on as the various features were challenging to put together in a harmonious whole. I’m particularly happy with the results.
Crumbs from the Scone
September 2006- Shadowbend Studios has been accepted into the membership of the Golden Gate chapter of the Better Business Bureau. The BBB offers an online reliability report that you can access by using the following link.
Crumbs from the Scone
Samantha Miller (Map of the Heart)- www.samanthamiller.net
As any type of designer can tell you, sometimes we can fall into a rut regarding our design styles. Sam is one of those great people who can come to you and just knock you right out of that rut! She is a Berkeley artist of the first order and her wall hangings are not only delightful to look at but also powerful in their imagery. Sam came to me with a particular idea for her site and when it was all said and done, it not only bent some of my “Standard Design Practices” it succeeded in doing so with style and flair. Sam’s work is well worth a visit to her site.
Take Care
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Crumbs from the Scone
Potluck Events- www.potluckevents.com
Scott Miller of Potluck Events has been a long time client of mine and has also been great fun to work with. Here is a blurb from their site;
“As a firm specializing in the coordination and management of both philanthropic events and other special occasions, Potluck Events puts a creative touch on a familiar idea.”
Great company, great site, check it out when you get a chance.
Take Care,
Skip
