clients

User Testing Websites

0
232 days
by in clients, design, tools, user testing, web, web development

A few user testing websites – know of any others?

http://www.loop11.com/pricing/
http://www.optimalworkshop.com/chalkmark.htm
http://www.usertesting.com/
http://www.userzoom.com/

How to trigger a jQuery Plugin (fancybox) if URL match

0
237 days
by in clients, code, css, email, html/xhmtl, javascript, jQuery, programming, web, web development

I currently work for a venue – often times we have shows with multiple acts, so we need to list set times for each artist. Easy enough: I can write a modal-type pop-up window using fancybox that opens when the user clicks a link (“DJ Showtimes here“, for example). But say you want to send an email that links to that list? Since most email clients, web- or desktop-based, don’t allow javascript, I needed to trigger the click based on the URL. Here’s my solution (using a custom jQuery function to avoid conflicts with other libraries in use):


$j('#various2').fancybox({'hideOnContentClick': true, 'hideOnOverlayClick': true, 'showCloseButton': true, 'scrolling': 'auto'}); /* use id of link for fancybox selector */
/* necessary to set if-statement within page ready or load event */

$j(document).ready(function() {
if(document.location.href.indexOf('#various2')>-1){ /* check for anchor text in URL */
$j('#various2').fancybox().trigger('click'); /* chain click trigger on to previously written fancybox declaration */
}});
$j('#fancybox-wrap').css({'margin':'20px auto'}) /* set css for wrapper; safari was centering the inline element to the position of the #various2 element, which was at the top of the page. This resets to 20px top/bottom and in the middle horizontally */

My link looks like this:

DJ Set Times Here

and my content is wrapped with:



CONTENT HERE

Easy, peasy.

Using Windows 7 Symlinks

2
681 days
by in business, clients, document storage, organization, process, project, tools, web development, windows 7, workflow

I ran into a problem with integrating my web development/design projects on my computer with my local webserver. To further explain:

  • I keep all my professional work, including client files, on a separate hard drive partition so that I can easily and regularly back them up, let’s call it g:\
  • Client files for web projects are organized as such: g:\clients\client-name\project-name , so that if a long-term client wants a site redesign, I can easily keep these separate rather than dumping them into a single public_html directory for each client
  • My local testing server is pointed at a different partition, let’s call it h:\
  • I want to be able to serve individual projects via the testing server, but only work on the project files

Naturally, I thought of unix aliases but I’m currently running Windows 7 so I tried shortcuts. Didn’t work. After a little digging, I found the solution: symlinks (which work in numerous OSes – thanks for the correction). From the command line, type:

mklink /D H:\target\directory\linkname G:\clients\client-name\project-name

mklink /D creates a symlink, or a soft link that is the Windows equivalent to unix aliases. The first argument is the directory where you want the link to be placed, and the second is the source directory. Easy as pie.

Be careful when deleting/writing content – the linked directory allows you to manipulate the original file!

Workhorse Typefaces

0
1082 days
by in art, business, clients, inspiration, process, tools, typography

Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, and David Carson shattered the way I think about typography in their applications of organic, freehand character-writing. For so long, even non–conventional applications of digital typefaces seemed so dry, formal, forced. Letters drawn by hand were a fresh breath—no, a gasp! out of astonishment, but also for oxygen anew to fuel my little typographic grey cells.

Such typography, one comes quickly to realize, doesn’t suit all applications. In fact, it doesn’t suit most applications. The majority of typesetting isn’t done to draw attention to the text, but rather to make its characters melt their meaning with as little distraction as possible. It pays to know this—especially when that pay is coming from a client expecting your understanding of conventional typography to benefit her business.

That stated, listed below are the typefaces I most commonly employ. I use them for their stylistic range, completeness of character set, and most importantly, as a framework from which I can branch out and build more creativity—perhaps by employing or creating an entirely new typeface. No more delays. Here they are:

  • ITC Garamond Std
  • ITC New Baskerville Std
  • Mrs. Eaves
  • Futura Std
  • Trade Gothic LT Std
  • Helvetica Neue LT Std

I’d say I use these for 80% of the work I do. Other typefaces I might consider are listed below. Some are either related or variations of the faces above. Others are slowly building up to workhorse status, or are used in extremely specific instances.

  • Adobe Garamond Pro
  • Adobe Jenson Pro
  • Avenir LT Std
  • Univers LT Std
  • Bodoni STD
  • Frutiger
  • Gill Sans
  • Helvetica LT Std
  • ITC Franklin Gothic Std
  • Poetica
  • Gotham HTF

What are your typographic workhorses?

Choosing Drupal

0
1137 days
by in clients, code, community, organization, process, tools

While designing and developing websites, I’ve run into a lot of repetitive tasks. From client survey and project proposal, to information architecture issues, requisite files (jQuery, mootools, reset.css, etc.), standard grid templates in XHTML/CSS, to grid layers and naming conventions in Illustrator® documents, and client invoicing, there are a lot of processes that get repeated.

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