Frisk Design will be closed over the summer as I take a well earned rest. I’m not now taking on any new work until August.
The office will be closed from Monday July 12th and will re-open on Monday 9th August.
Many thanks to all existing clients for your business thus far and I look forward to working with you again once I’ve had a good rest :-)
When I start a new project, especially if it’s with a new client, I insist on a deposit to start the work. Most of the time I get the deposit quickly and start the project. Recently I was asked why I insist on deposits, so I thought I’d jot down my reasons; perhaps this will help other self-employed professionals who are required to justify their deposits. Read more…
What exactly is up with the silly and meaningless use of “Rockstar” and “Ninja” that is proliferating around the web? “Rockstar Developer”, “Rockstar Designer”, “CSS Ninja” etc. I know it’s a joke, but it’s also moronic.
Tell people what you do, and why you’re good — don’t pretend to be a musical genius or a silent assassin. You’re not. There was a time, pretty recently in fact, when we were all keen to “keep it real.” What the hell happened?
(Of course, if you actually are a rockstar or a ninja, then stop moonlighting as a web professional, you’re taking work from the rest of us!)
Myows is a service for helping creatives to protect the copyright on their original works. It launches soon and I was lucky enough to get an interview with the founder, Max Guedy, about this valuable new service.
Title: Sexy Web Design: Creating Interfaces That Work
Author: Elliot Jay Stocks
ISBN: 0980455235
Note: This is an edited version of a review I previously posted on Amazon.
I rarely buy technical books these days since so much knowledge is available for free on the web, but I was excited to get hold of this tome by Elliot Jay Stocks since he’s an excellent designer and I hoped to tap into what it is that sets him apart from the rest of us.
Current discussions around the “Support IE6?” debate have elicited strong opinions on both sides. I’m not going to repeat my position, since I’ve documented that elsewhere, but I thought it would be worth taking a step back to get a sense of the bigger picture.
IE6update is a script you can add to your web site that will detect if the user is running IE6 and recommend that they upgrade.
The intent is clear: get people off IE6 (a flawed and outdated browser) and onto a more modern browser. Their web experience will improve and the lives of developers will be made easier.
I understand the intent, but the shameful way it’s been executed is so wrong it almost beggars belief.
UPDATE 14th Jan 2010: While the IE6 usage stats mentioned in this article have dropped, my views about IE6 support remain the same.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), a web browser released in August 2001, is currently touted as the bane of the Web due to inadequate functionality and poor security.
Many web developers now think support for IE6 should be dropped, citing its lack of features and security problems as good reasons for upgrading. In this article I’ll discuss why I think this is wrong, and why you should continue to support IE6.
Twitter is great way of sharing information, but the way some of that information is shared is more damaging than useful. How can you improve your Twitter behaviour to make sure you give real value to your followers and don’t annoy them? Read more…
Twitter is a micro-blogging application that allows you to share, in real-time, pretty much anything you like. Want to share an article of interest? Just had a successful meeting with a new client? “Tweet” the information through the application and it’s out there for all to see — well, your “followers” at least.
Twitter works because of the relationships you build. You “follow” people you’re interested in and others follow you back. The more people you follow, the more information you’re exposed to. It’s therefore crucial to find what’s valuable and what isn’t.
