6 Places that Flash Does Not Belong
It's recently occurred to me that I've been doing Flash sites now for 10 years and have seen it come a long way since Flash 4, where I first cut my teeth on Actionscript, tweening, and pixel fonts. Over the years, I've seen and done many projects, some of which utilized Flash in very useful ways, while others had no business using it. Sometimes, a Flash implementation hurt the company, detracted from the site's purpose, and had poor results (all the while costing them more to build the site in the frst place). So in a world where too many companies want Flash websites and too few designers use Flash very well, here is a brief list of places that Flash currently does not belong (with very few exceptions):
55 Comments
Deciding When to Use Project Pricing
Billing by the hour is the most common way to make money in the freelance world, and it can be both safe and profitable. But it does have a few drawbacks. First, potential clients tend to balk at higher hourly rates, mainly because they're comparing you to other freelancers based solely on your rate (and not the talent or work that comes with that rate). Secondly, hourly rates offer little reward for the freelancer to be either fast or efficient. And as for the client, besides worrying about a freelancer who's freeloading, he will have a hard time pegging an actual cost and budget to the project. So for those reasons (and perhaps others), there are times when project pricing becomes a great way to make both parties happy: the client gets a fixed cost and the freelancer can earn more than he could hourly (without being compared to low-cost outsourcers).
16 Comments
GroupThink: Attending Web Conferences
Every year, there seems to be more conferences catering to internet designers, developers, marketers, and bloggers. Already this year, there have been some great events like SXSW in Austin and FOWA in Miami. And next week, Future of Web Design comes to London. So the topic for discussion today is:
What do you think of these conferences? Are they worth the time and cost (especially if you're paying for it yourself)? Have you ever attended one and what did you find valuable?
11 Comments
Refocusing Your Business With an "I Am No Good At" List
Living in a world of instant information is a two-edged sword. On one hand, you can find help on nearly any subject, from learning HTML to setting up an LLC. On the other hand, a little knowledge can be dangerous, convincing people that they know more than they actually do about a ceratin subject. We've all heard someone or other refer to the necessity of "meta tags" for search engines or try to confidently explain that they need more "RAM" so that their computer can hold more photos. Most people tend to think themselves "pretty good at" most subjects and tasks.
16 Comments
Updates and Outside Articles
It's been a little while since the last entry, so here are a few updates and outside articles written elsewhere.
Weekly Web Stuff
We've posted another series of interesting websites on the right. This week the links include Holgas, free stuff that is actually useful, a great list of fonts for people who don't use them much, and, of course, a series of photos involving plastic toys.
Outside Articles
Every once in a while, I get the opportunity to write elsewhere. Here are a couple from the last month...
4 Comments
The Evolution of Websites: How 10 Popular Websites Have (And Have Not) Changed
I was in high school in the mid-nineties when I first encountered the ever-expanding world of websites. At the time, I didn't realize that my future career would rely on this industry -- one which did not exist when I was in elementary school. Now in the year 2008, having created websites for over half my life, I look back and see how much websites have changed in the last decade and a half. At the same time, I can see how little they've changed as well, and I've realized that the internet as we know it today is only a teenager, with many years of growth still ahead. So in the vein of change, let's look at ten popular websites and their evolution throughout the last many years. (Note: All pictures can be clicked on to view a larger size.)
Apple Today / 5 Years Ago / 10 Years Ago
Apple has always championed solid design and simplicity and their websites have followed these axioms. Except for their early websites which (like everyone else) utilized the upper-left logo and left-aligned website, all their websites in recent memory have employed center-top navigation, ample use of Helvetica, and gridlike simplicity.
Continue on to the other nine sites by clicking 'Read More' below.
114 Comments
Setting Guidelines for Turning Down Freelance Work
Throughout the span of this blog's existence, the question I've seen most is, "How can I find more/better freelance work?" To be sure, this is probably a key aspect for most freelancers, often causing them to accept work that is not necessarily profitable or within their talent scope. This is not always a bad thing since such work is sometimes necessary (or at least instructive) during the initial growth of a freelance career. But hopefully, as your freelance business grows, you will begin to elicit more requests than you have time to attend to. So it helps to set some loose guidelines in determing what freelance work you will turn down. Such predetermined guidelines are necessary because people will naturally say yes to most if not all freelance requests, even if the work may negatively affect the freelancer or the client. So let's look at a few aspects of freelance work and see why certain work should sometimes not be taken.
11 Comments
Client Communication: The Most Important Part of Freelancing
As a solo freelancer, the easiest and most consistent way to find work is to connect with design or marketing firms who are looking for reliable contractors. In fact, over half of my own clients are firms who use me as a website contractor. So over the years, I've had a good share of conversations with clients concerning their frustrations with other freelancers (usually resulting in more work for me). Interestingly enough, the most common problem these clients have with freelancers is not related to talent or skill, but rather communication. In fact, a client told me this week that he'd happily take a sub-par freelancer who communicated well over a talented freelancer who did not. So here are a few points to consider for any freelancer:
9 Comments
View All Past Articles >
It's recently occurred to me that I've been doing Flash sites now for 10 years and have seen it come a long way since Flash 4, where I first cut my teeth on Actionscript, tweening, and pixel fonts. Over the years, I've seen and done many projects, some of which utilized Flash in very useful ways, while others had no business using it. Sometimes, a Flash implementation hurt the company, detracted from the site's purpose, and had poor results (all the while costing them more to build the site in the frst place). So in a world where too many companies want Flash websites and too few designers use Flash very well, here is a brief list of places that Flash currently does not belong (with very few exceptions):
Read More...
55 Comments
Deciding When to Use Project Pricing
Billing by the hour is the most common way to make money in the freelance world, and it can be both safe and profitable. But it does have a few drawbacks. First, potential clients tend to balk at higher hourly rates, mainly because they're comparing you to other freelancers based solely on your rate (and not the talent or work that comes with that rate). Secondly, hourly rates offer little reward for the freelancer to be either fast or efficient. And as for the client, besides worrying about a freelancer who's freeloading, he will have a hard time pegging an actual cost and budget to the project. So for those reasons (and perhaps others), there are times when project pricing becomes a great way to make both parties happy: the client gets a fixed cost and the freelancer can earn more than he could hourly (without being compared to low-cost outsourcers).
16 Comments
GroupThink: Attending Web Conferences
Every year, there seems to be more conferences catering to internet designers, developers, marketers, and bloggers. Already this year, there have been some great events like SXSW in Austin and FOWA in Miami. And next week, Future of Web Design comes to London. So the topic for discussion today is:
What do you think of these conferences? Are they worth the time and cost (especially if you're paying for it yourself)? Have you ever attended one and what did you find valuable?
11 Comments
Refocusing Your Business With an "I Am No Good At" List
Living in a world of instant information is a two-edged sword. On one hand, you can find help on nearly any subject, from learning HTML to setting up an LLC. On the other hand, a little knowledge can be dangerous, convincing people that they know more than they actually do about a ceratin subject. We've all heard someone or other refer to the necessity of "meta tags" for search engines or try to confidently explain that they need more "RAM" so that their computer can hold more photos. Most people tend to think themselves "pretty good at" most subjects and tasks.
16 Comments
Updates and Outside Articles
It's been a little while since the last entry, so here are a few updates and outside articles written elsewhere.
Weekly Web Stuff
We've posted another series of interesting websites on the right. This week the links include Holgas, free stuff that is actually useful, a great list of fonts for people who don't use them much, and, of course, a series of photos involving plastic toys.
Outside Articles
Every once in a while, I get the opportunity to write elsewhere. Here are a couple from the last month...
4 Comments
The Evolution of Websites: How 10 Popular Websites Have (And Have Not) Changed
I was in high school in the mid-nineties when I first encountered the ever-expanding world of websites. At the time, I didn't realize that my future career would rely on this industry -- one which did not exist when I was in elementary school. Now in the year 2008, having created websites for over half my life, I look back and see how much websites have changed in the last decade and a half. At the same time, I can see how little they've changed as well, and I've realized that the internet as we know it today is only a teenager, with many years of growth still ahead. So in the vein of change, let's look at ten popular websites and their evolution throughout the last many years. (Note: All pictures can be clicked on to view a larger size.)
Apple Today / 5 Years Ago / 10 Years Ago
Apple has always championed solid design and simplicity and their websites have followed these axioms. Except for their early websites which (like everyone else) utilized the upper-left logo and left-aligned website, all their websites in recent memory have employed center-top navigation, ample use of Helvetica, and gridlike simplicity.
Continue on to the other nine sites by clicking 'Read More' below.
114 Comments
Setting Guidelines for Turning Down Freelance Work
Throughout the span of this blog's existence, the question I've seen most is, "How can I find more/better freelance work?" To be sure, this is probably a key aspect for most freelancers, often causing them to accept work that is not necessarily profitable or within their talent scope. This is not always a bad thing since such work is sometimes necessary (or at least instructive) during the initial growth of a freelance career. But hopefully, as your freelance business grows, you will begin to elicit more requests than you have time to attend to. So it helps to set some loose guidelines in determing what freelance work you will turn down. Such predetermined guidelines are necessary because people will naturally say yes to most if not all freelance requests, even if the work may negatively affect the freelancer or the client. So let's look at a few aspects of freelance work and see why certain work should sometimes not be taken.
11 Comments
Client Communication: The Most Important Part of Freelancing
As a solo freelancer, the easiest and most consistent way to find work is to connect with design or marketing firms who are looking for reliable contractors. In fact, over half of my own clients are firms who use me as a website contractor. So over the years, I've had a good share of conversations with clients concerning their frustrations with other freelancers (usually resulting in more work for me). Interestingly enough, the most common problem these clients have with freelancers is not related to talent or skill, but rather communication. In fact, a client told me this week that he'd happily take a sub-par freelancer who communicated well over a talented freelancer who did not. So here are a few points to consider for any freelancer:
9 Comments
View All Past Articles >
