Things open in my web browser

+ Things I'm wishing I had time to take a look at that sound neat.

On Staying Creative:

As a creative person matures and gains experience it’s often the case that they move into roles that are less and less creative at their core. Though it’s a natural progression, making the transition from doing creative work on a day-to-day basis to running a department or business can be hard. How do you stay responsible to your team, your business and your new less-creative responsibilities while at the same time keep a fresh creative mind? This is something I’ve put quite a bit of thought into, and while I don’t have all the answers I do have some tips and tricks to keep you in the habit of being creative, even when your job gets in your way.

Do you make these mistakes when writing?:

It’s time once again to review those nasty errors that damage our credibility when we write. Not normally a fun task, but absolutely necessary. I promise to keep you amused to diminish the pain (or at least I’ll give it a shot).

As with the last time we explored grammatical errors, I feel compelled to mention that copywriting and blogging should be conversational and engaging, and breaking formal grammatical and spelling conventions can often be a good thing. Every time I see a comment complaining about something like, oh, I don’t know… the improper use of an ellipsis or one-sentence paragraphs, I shake my head with sadness.

Make your site more mobile friendly:

he number of mobile devices loose in the world greatly exceeds the number of desktop (or laptop) computers filling up desk and table space in offices and homes. The number of people who might view your site while clutching a screen measuring anywhere from 100 pixels to 640 pixels in width increases daily. Creating mobile-friendly content is quickly becoming less of an occasional add-on and more of a standard practice.

This article will take a look at how you can create mobile-friendly content, how you can test your work, and offer a few tips for writing CSS for the media type handheld. If you are a Dreamweaver or Flash user, we’ll also take a look at something new from Adobe that will help you test your pages for handheld devices.

Unfolding the Fold looks at scrolling pages.

Web designers and usability professionals have debated the topic of web page scrolling since 1994. At the early days of the web, most users were unfamiliar with the concept of scrolling and it was not a natural thing for them to do. As a result, web designers would design web pages so that all the important content would be “Above the fold” or even worse, squeeze the entire page into the initial screen area. This practice of “squeezing” continues even today.

Nowadays, scrolling has become a natural practice in surfing the web. Scrolling is also associated with web 2.0 design because big, clear text and “spacious”, “clean” content implies longer web pages.

In this post, we will demonstrate with charts and real data several behavioral patterns related to scrolling.

When the Designer/Client Relationship Should Begin.

How to Think Like a Client:

Clients are evil… at least it can feel that way sometimes. They seem to hinder more than help and so often they “just don’t get it”. We can talk enthusiastically about accessibility, standards and best practice but so often we are met with the blank stare of indifference from clients. They interfere in our designs and won’t pay for proper testing. Next to Internet Explorer they are probably the biggest frustration we face!

25 Ways to Improve Your Site Today:

Yes, the title may look like this post should be on an amateur blog and that it will be full of references to clip art and animated gifs, but this is serious. I’ve compiled a list of what I think are 25 ways to improve your website in as little time as possible. All can be done in a matter of minutes. Now, a website is hard work and usually there are no quick fixes but this list should provide you with a few pointers to make some updates today. If you like, it can also be used as a basis for a quality check document.

What's the Value of an Engaged Viewer?

One engaged viewer is worth eight regular viewers, according to a new study.

New research from Omnicom Group's OMD may move the seemingly fuzzy concept of engagement beyond the realm of academic debate by proving it really does move sales. The study could bolster advertising by better reflecting its contributions to sales growth, and the fledgling science of engagement measurement, which now has some tangible evidence of its worth.

Completed by OMD and presented to an Advertising Research Federation forum late last month, the research indicates that not only does consumer engagement with media and advertising drive sales, but it also can drive sales more than media spending levels. That suggests even a relatively small media outlay could work wonders should the ads draw keen attention from consumers within media they also find engaging, said Mike Hess, director of global research and consumer insights for OMD.

Design It Yourself is a neat site with some information on designing things yourself. Will have to poke around more when I get some time (whenever that will be!)

Vecteezy is a site for sharing vectors - upload your own or download someone elses. Some nice designs.