fadtastic - a multi-author web design trends journal

Get out of a Creative Slump

Andrew Faulkner — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:45:18 +0000

We’ve all been there. We’re creative people but suddenly the creative juices have stopped flowing. We want to work and output some killer material but it just isn’t coming. Phil tackled the subject a while back, but I thought it would be interesting to bring you a few of my ideas.

(Graphic) Design

Probably the hardest part of the process if you’re lacking in creativity. The worst thing to do is to just plough on and put something out there when you’re in a lull. You’ll regret it as it won’t be your best work. So…

Meet your heroes
First of all, read an article or two written by those who inspire you. You might not be able to get yourself going but a few strong words from your heroes could do the trick and motivate you to get that design out. For me, reading about others’ creative processes works a treat. Or a well-written article on the hows and whys of design. Hell, if both parties are up for it and are local, why not meet for coffee to get rid of your troubles for a while? Maybe talk about an issue or two within your design. See what other designers did about problems you’re facing.
Get a fresh perspective
As I hinted at above, it’s not always the design that you’re working on that is the issue, sometimes it’s your perspective. The design may be fine but if you’re in a negative mood, you won’t be happy with it. Talk over your work with someone (even if they know little about design) and ask for constructive criticism. Soon you’ll have formed a ‘to-do’ list of items you want to add/edit in your design.
Get away
Move away from work for a moment. Maybe you need a little creative distraction to get you going again. Do something creative that doesn’t have any critics, deadlines or constraints. Maybe cook a new recipe for lunch. Or if you don’t want to stray away from the computer then perhaps you could amuse yourself by doing some photo manipulation of your friends.

Coding

It’s easy to slip into a coding rut. It’s sometimes easy to start thinking whether standards, usability, accessibility etc matter so much for a particular project and one can fall into the trap of “I’ll just get it done as quick as possible.” Maybe these tips will stop you falling into that trap:

Again, let your idols inspire you…
The same idea applies to coding as it does to design. For me, the two articles (one, two) really speak volumes to me. Some inspiring words can really get the love of coding going again. Also, maybe post on a forum and work out an issue or two with fellow web designers. Solve someone else’s issue and it may inspire you to solve yours.
Review
Another way of rekindling the passion for coding and issues it brings to the party is to do a few private reviews of other websites. Jot down what you think is great about a site and what you deem to be poor work. Split it into categories like usability, validation, accessibility, semantics etc and before you know it you have a set of principles to code to. You can most likely then get through the coding block on your real project.
Reorganise your code
Whether it be correctly renaming classes in CSS or improving the semantics of your HTML, spending half an hour or so on another part of the website can often make your brain think that you’ve made progress. You’ll feel refreshed and more willing to sort out whatever issue led you to get stuck in the first place.

SEO

Probably the most dangerous area of the ‘web design’ process to slump in. There’s always the lure of Black Hat SEO. Remember though, every time you do Black hat SEO, a kitten steps on broken glass. Here’s how to save deh kittehs.

Guess what? Look up your inspiration.
The same goes for SEO. The following articles work for me. One, Two.
Recheck your prime keyphrases
Going through the process of checking whether you’re promoting the correct keyphrases (either via a webapp or manually) can reaffirm that you are doing the right thing or make you change direction. Either way, you can now continue knowing that you’re on track or be refreshed by a new bunch of keywords. Both give you a positive state of mind instead of having a negative slump.
Change tactics
Instead of getting stuck in an SEO rut, why not work on usability or accessibility of a site. Without knowing it, you may well be helping out with SEO as it’s impacted by these factors (See ‘The Search Engine’).

Content & Programming

I don’t like to give advice on subjects I’m unfamiliar with so at this stage I’m handing the baton over to you, dear readers, to suggest ideas to help with content and programming. If you have any suggestions on these topics (or others) then please go ahead and post a comment.

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Review of PSD2HTML

Andrew Faulkner — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:03:51 +0000

Disclosure: This is a paid review. Saying that, all our reviews are honest. It wouldn?t be fair otherwise.

What is it?

PSD to HTML by psd2html.com code W3C valid XHTML and CSS based websites based on designs that clients submit to them. Aimed mainly at designers, PSD2HTML professionally code any design given to them. So what do they have to say about themselves?

PSD2HTML.com provides fast, high quality conversion of graphic Web design into Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and its extensions. We accept source files in all common formats, including PSD, PNG, AI, and even HTML (existing markup). We support the following markup specifications:

W3C Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict

W3C Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional

W3C Valid HTML 4.01

So they are flexible with formats, and can code according to a variety of W3C Doctypes. And what about the end product - the code?

The following points summarize our strict guidelines:

The markup looks exactly the same as the original design

CSS classes and images are intuitively named to correspond to their sense / content

The code is correctly indented to correspond to the nesting level of each element

As an option, the code can be separated into templates represented by logical parts (files), such as navigation, content, header, footer, and so on

So it’s more than just looking like the submitted design. The code produced is thought through and semantic as a result. So is the service simply coding a single template?

PSD2HTML.com has launched a number of options to implement your design as WordPress, Movable Type, Drupal, Joomla!, Pligg, Blogger, Shopify, X-Cart, CMS Made Simple, and CubeCart.

Obviously, the service extends to more than simply coding a website. Themes/Templates for major blog, content management and e-commerce systems can be ordered.

How are they different?

There are a lot of similar services around, so let’s see what makes PSD2HTML different. Initially, three things set PSD2HTML apart from the (mass of) competition:

Firstly, they were the pioneers of this type of service, launching in March 2005. They have experience and have stood the test of time, in internet years. A sure sign of quality. Secondly, reviews on their service are positive, some exceptionally so. And finally, turnaround. Coding designs into websites in under 8 hours is no mean feat. And judging from reviews, it seems on the majority of occasions websites are delivered on time.

Ordering Process, Pricing and Support

The ordering process is painless. Essentially, a comprehensive ‘Order Now’ contains markup packages and a full set of all necessary markup options with detailed descriptions. The order form allows one to select from two preset packages. Both use modern coding techniques (Tableless HTML & CSS), but the ‘Hi-End Package’ is coded to a XHTML 1.0 Strict doctype instead of Transitional. Also, the upper package includes a more SEO friendly coding method and better page optimisation.

Once a package is selected, extra options are available. ‘Layout options’ cover the basics to do with site wrappers/containers - widths and alignments essentially. ‘Advanced markup’ considers more browser compatibility, fancy fonts and more thorough HTML/CSS coding. ‘Software implementation’ includes the aforementioned integration with popular web software.

Options are simple to pick and choose, with the price updating ‘on the fly .’ Prices start from $117 (no extras) to $800+ including integrating CMS software. The package, costing $153 and $211 are very fair given the short turnaround and offering a flexible, option-laden service makes them very competitive within their industry. The service includes one single page, but more pages can be added discounted by 50% of the cost. Once ordered, any issues are ironed out and queries resolved before work commences.

Support is available throughout the project via the client area or on the phone. Although untested by myself, I’m assured that the support is through a “Highly qualified support team, extremely attentive and scrupulous.”

The End Product

A review can’t be complete without reviewing the end product so lets take a look at some examples. I’m paying particular attention to the coding, both XHTML and CSS.

DotSchools ~ Visit

DotSchools looks near identical across browsers so plus points there. It suffers from a missing xlmns attribute so that breaks validation, but this can easily be put right. CSS is fine. Code is efficient and semantics have been followed throughout the HTML.

iQualifyNow ~ Visit

iQualifyNow also remains consistent across major browsers. I prefer the use of real text where possible in this design compared to DotSchools. It will highly benefit SEO. My only gripes are the menu could use real text although I assume the client has specified the font. XHTML suffers the same error as DotSchools but again, CSS is valid. Given the amount of time given to build the site, I’m very impressed with the well structured CSS and XHTML.

PSD2HTML ~ Visit

I couldn’t resist peeking at their own code and I’m happy to report that XHTML and CSS are both valid. Code is semantic in most parts as advertised in their service and doesn’t suffer from code bloat. It’s succinct, only using necessary tags. A few extra divs are present but I can’t really complain here. Great stuff.

Conclusion

Whilst I was unable to put a site through the whole process, I’ve reviewed all the constituent parts of the PSD2HTML service bar their support. The website explains the service fully and sets the expectations of the designer as to what quality of code they will get. The order process is simple and options are abundant and flexible. The end result is a web-page/website with clean, semantic code and well-structured CSS that behaves consistently across specified browsers.

If you were a designer needing a very quick turnaround on a budget, I would point you in the way of PSD2HTML.

Last Word

I?ve said the following far too many times before about these types of service, but it?s worth mentioning yet again.

To get the most out of this service, a good design talent is needed to create the design in the first place. If you?re a designer without coding knowledge then this service (or a competitor?s - they happily list them on their site) could be for you. It?s also worth me pointing out that these types of services span two categories; the professional, code-loving type in this review and the slicing monkeys that don?t help anyone (read my comment to find the difference). If you?re a designer looking for this type of service then ask someone to look over code samples - it?s worth it. It?s also better than buying a template from Templates R Us. It?s the difference between buying mass produced cheap food and the organic stuff. Don?t expect the moon on a stick given time and budget constraints, but do expect good code and a site that looks almost identical to your design.

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Review of W3<MARKUP/>

Andrew Faulkner — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:18:53 +0000

Disclosure: This is a paid review. Saying that, all our reviews are honest. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

What is it?

W3 (order here) offers a service to designers (or developers without enough time to complete a project I guess) where the designer submits a design (in ‘unflattened’ form e.g. a Photoshop/Fireworks file) to W3 and they code it in HTML and CSS. This is not to be confused with amateur “slicers” - they claim to carefully craft the code according to standards and use modern front-end coding techniques. Picking out the more interesting aspects of their service, straight from the horse’s mouth:

We Provide:

Pixel-precise PSD conversion to CSS / HTML by hand (W3C Valid)

Design implementation into skins, themes, CMS, shopping carts or other software

With:

AJAX, sIFR, swfIR, mootools, script.aculo.us, jQuery, Prototype code,

Search engine friendly / semantic code,

100% control of code style and preferences via our order form,

Who it is for?

Again, the service is primarily aimed at graphic designers with no or limited experience of coding for the web. It could also appeal to those front-end coders with little time or resources to produce the XHTML/CSS for a website. The service would be of use to those with some experience, but without the confidence to code to W3C standards. Those that want a theme for a particular blog/CMS/e-commerce package could look into W3’s services.

A quick look around their site

Whilst I shall concentrate on their service in this review, it is worth making a few points about their website. After all, you have to use it to get your design coded.

The design is a little off-beat (in a good way.) The site is unusually right-aligned with a bold, textured background at higher resolutions. I think that the website flows nicely with use of the “splatters” and “brush strokes” although the main brush stroke sometimes obscures content for me.

Compared to competitors, the site offers a whole host of information, answering every question I could think I’d need to know the answer to. Whilst the home and ‘why w3′ pages cover the basic, my favourite pages are the FAQs pages and the ordering page itself.

FAQs: The FAQs page (or section I should say) is vast. There are many, many questions conveniently categorised for your sanity. This smashes the opposition where depth of information is concerned.

Order: The page I was most impressed with was the Order page. I was expecting the usual name, email and requirements boxes but was presented with a clever form asking me nearly everything about my imaginary project and adding up the cost as I went along. Nice one, W3. One (minor) niggle is that the order page doesn’t seem to be well linked to. It’s a shame that it may be missing out on exposure due to people not finding it.

The Quality of Service

What would we look for from a company that codes other people’s designs? I’d personally look for the following two things:

The similarity and attention to detail between the mockup and the final output. The customer expects this. That said, we know that coding in XHTML and CSS is not a pixel-perfect art. Attention to detail is key, but the odd pixel difference between browsers and platforms is expected.
Quality code. Simple enough - but a short turnaround adds extra pressure into the equation. Let’s see how the XHTML and CSS hold up.

Let’s review some examples:

1. getpaid4yourrecipes

The first example is getpaid4yourrecipes. The coded version from their example section is W3C compliant for XHTML and CSS. Bonus points for adhering to XHTML Strict doctype standards. The code is extremely concise and there are no real cases of divits. Accessibility-wise the web page passes Priority 1 accessibility (without a manual check) but fails at Priority 2. The error brought up is repeated link text, probably brought on by the sample links to ‘Shirley.’ So we’ll forgive them this time as it’s only a sample.

I’d be very pleased if I were the client in this case as attention to detail has been near-perfect.

2. RockMeTV

The second example is RockMeTV. And the quality of code? One easily rectified error in the XHTML here. Same with the CSS, although this will be valid when CSS3 becomes official. I’m generally more interested in the quality and craftsmanship of the code and again things are rosy. Code is semantic, concise and doesn’t suffer from tag bloat.

3. Right-Reg

Again, XHTML is valid and CSS has one error. The thing that stood out the most with this design is that it is coded very semantically and also is very SEO friendly. Also, a good use of sIFR. Excellent considering a short (I assume) deadline

Conclusions

I haven’t had the opportunity of putting a design through the process and cannot comment on that aspect of their service, but here goes for the rest:
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Pros

Very high quality of coding shown in portfolio
High degree of flexibility/customisation - unlike most competitors.
Doesn’t feel like Joe Blogg’s Slice’n'Dice Web Shop - more like a Quality Web Boutique.
The price is very competitive given the attention to detail.

Cons

I’m struggling here, but:

Service only as good as the designer (but I guess it is the same with all websites.)
It would be nice to see the original design files on the website for comparison.
The name W3 could be easier to type in reviews. ;-)

Last Word

I’ve said the following before about these types of service, but it’s worth mentioning again.

To get the most out of this, a good design talent is needed to create the design in the first place. If you’re a designer without coding knowledge then this service (or a competitor’s - they happily list them on their site) could be for you. It’s also worth me pointing out that these types of services span two categories; the professional, code-loving type in this review and the slicing monkeys that don’t help anyone (read my comment to find the difference). If you’re a designer looking for this type of service then ask someone to look over code samples - it’s worth it. It’s also better than buying a template from Templates R Us. It’s the difference between buying mass produced cheap food and the organic stuff. Don’t expect the moon on a stick, but do expect good code and a site that looks almost identical to your design.

Based on what I’ve seen, I’d have no issue recommending the service to a graphic designer friend.

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Best of the tutorial sites

Andrew Faulkner — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:11:51 +0000

A ‘does exactly what it says on the tin‘ post.

Want some tuts on how to create a glossy button? Maybe some Web2.0 menu bars? Nah. Me neither. There are a lot of tutorial sites out there, most with the same regurgitated posts out there. But I’ve come across a fair few excellent sites in my time and so it may help someone out if I shared them. So, without further ado, let’s get on with the linklove.

Tut tut tut

PSDTUTS in my view is a beauty of a website. Before even getting to the content it looks visually stunning. So, what about the juicy tutorials? Well, definitely no overdone glass orb tutorials here. Articles are well explained in a step-by-step format littered with imagery for how each stage should look.

Covers: Photoshop
My pick: Digital smoke effect

No prizes for guessing that this is related to the last example. Yes, it’s new and lacks content but it looks like a bookmark for the future. Again, well thought through content presented clearly.

Covers: Anything ‘web design.’ Front-end coding essentially.
My pick: Tabs with jQuery

I love the work of Nick at N.Design Studio. It’s always clean, vivid and exciting. He doesn’t disappoint with his own batch of Illustrator tutorials. Good for learning the techniques.

Covers: Illustrator
My pick: Tracing a photo

Max Design never fail to impress with their simple guides to advanced CSS. The tutorials on lists, floats and selectors are top notch.

Covers: Mainly CSS
My pick: Floating an image and a caption

CSS Globe often focus on the elements of web design like navigation or thumbnails. Well written articles show the understanding of the author.

Covers: Mainly CSS/HTML
My pick: One-line CSS Tips

Wow. Pretty site. And a bunch of unique tutorials, often thinking outside the box.

Covers: Everything front-end.
My pick: Typographic contrast and flow

Many graphics tutorials covering most digital media formats. Loads of pictures to guide you through each tutorial.

Covers: Graphics.
My pick: Photomontages

How could we ignore this one. Not the prettiest, but it does the job where geekery is concerned. A brilliant start for any budding coder.

Covers: Anything web except for graphics/design.
My pick: Everything!

Must…have…more…

I’m always hungry for good bookmarks, so let me and other readers know of your favourite tutorial sites, especially where programming is concerned.

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Review of Max Web Design Blog

Andrew Faulkner — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:21:24 +0000

Disclosure: This is a paid review. Saying that, all our reviews are honest. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

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What is it?

Max Web Design Blog is a blog encompassing web design, marketing and programming. In the words of the blog’s founder, Robert G:

I created this blog to write as much as I can about my projects, my websites, marketing and search engine optimization tips. Also I will describe different softwares I use, websites and other stuff.

So, a large range of content. We’ll see how that works out later when we come back to it. Firstly, let’s delve into the design…

Design/Code

The site runs on Wordpress and the design is powered by the Magazine News theme.

My initial thoughts are that the design looks clean, welcoming and well structured. Content is organised in a logical manner whilst also injecting some individuality with the placement of the featured article followed by the latest article and finally followed by a ‘river of excerpts.’ However, the featured article does look very similar to the one used on NorthxEast - a little originality wouldn’t go amiss.

The theme appears to be unmodified and I would suggest that if a theme is necessary, consider making it your own. I would suggest changing the colours to suit your personality or perhaps use the theme as a base and add your logo or swap some elements around to promote certain features.

The coding behind the theme is sound. Code is concise and semantic, although validation errors are present. Most of these errors are avoidable with a little editing. Coding is well thought through and commented appropriately -I feel like I could edit the design without any problems. That’s always a testament to the designer.

Usability/Accessibility

The theme behaves how a blog is expected to behave, with the exception of the featured article always being present. Navigating posts, pages, categories etc is intuitive as it’s set up like most Wordpress themes. I had no trouble drilling down to content in various ways. The only confusing thing for me usability wise is that there are two search boxes.

The website functions and appears correct across major browsers (IE7, IE6, Firefox, Safari, Opera) so I can’t fault it there. Text resizes without destroying the layout so that’s another plus point.

Content

What’s a blog without its content?

Robert covers a wide range of content. This can be make or break for a blog. We cover a lot of material here, but I wouldn’t dream of writing about all the subjects covered. After reading most posts on Robert’s website it appears that Robert really knows his stuff, especially where SEO (example) and the web industry (example) is concerned. I get the impression (I may of course be wrong) that his passion lies partly in coding and partly in marketing/SEO. Posts on these subjects are informative, well thought through and they kept my interest. Posts on other subjects seem to lack his passion.

So my advice with the content would be either to concentrate on core subjects instead of diluting content or perhaps get more people on-board to cover all the bases.

Summary

Likes:

Easy to get to the juicy content, whichever way you choose to drill down to it.
Robert’s posts on SEO are top notch.

Dislikes:

If posting about web design, why not have a unique (or at least modded) theme?
Content range is a bit wide, all for one person. Go niche?

I wish Robert the best of luck in growing the Max Web Design Blog. I hope to (and can’t see why I won’t) be competing with him within 6 months!

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