JS libraries and stuff

Tangle library - Some nice interactive elements

http://worrydream.com/Tangle/

http://worrydream.com/TenBrighterIdeas/


Lists galore!

http://listjs.com/

Photoshop notes

I am the post-it note queen. Or I was anyway, before my recent migration to the world of smart phones.

I have a habit of writing production notes around my desk on post-its, esp for things I don't do EVERY day, so I don't forget. I find I'm not always at work when I'm doign these sorts of things so I thought I'd post it here for my reference

Photoshop notes - photo retouching
- levels
- curves
- hue/saturation
- selective colour

Sharpening:
Duplicate layer
Filter/other/highpass
make the layer overlay or soft light
adjust opacity of layer or erase where not needed
Manualy further sharpen some edges with a dupe layer and set the sharpen tool to 50% mode at normal.



erase everywhere it doesn't need to be

The weekend's work

I had a look at playing with Quicksand on the weekend, one of the jQuery plug-ins I want to use in my revamped portfolio site. Fortunately I found a couple of great tutorials over at the Web Design Think Tank, written by Stewart Doxey. The more basic Simple data filtering using jQuery was fine but I managed to break something when I moved on to Simple jQuery filtering using Quicksand. I need to revisit that in the next couple of days (in between celebrant meetings and dress-trying outings. Did I mention I was also trying to plan a wedding!?)

Anyway, I thought it would be good to get back to some basics and learn a bit more about Javascript. I was looking at purchasing a book to get me started but I've discovered Eloquent JavaScript - a modern introduction to Programming by Marijn Haverbeke. It's online (awesome!) with interactive bits in it. There's an edited version also available to be purchased. So far, quite interesting - the introduction strongly resembles a conversation I had with my Significant Individual (SI from now on) over a couple of very tasty Stouts at the pub on Saturday night...

Yee ha!

OK - after falling off the blogging planet for a while, I've returned.

I've been busy in the new job, upskilling in many areas but I've reached a point where, for sanity's sake if nothing else, I need some non-work projects. I haven't done much since creating a football -themed Flash flip card memory game for my nephew last year (to practice ActionScript3).

I'm looking for a few different things to occupy me, so I don't' get bored. Other than picking up my beading again, there are a few digital things I'd like to develop, starting with an overhaul of my portfolio site. It was 'functional' when I built it (i.e. it did the job it was meant to, holding all of my stuff) but in itself, it was hardly a sterling shiny gem of a site let alone something I felt was a true representation of me or my level of skill (which is sort of what you want from a portfolio site!!).

The first stop is to rethink the way it's structured. I'm in the middle of reading Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think" (I'm literally cringing as I read every page, as I realise in terms of usability, how crap my site is). The Adobe Refresh day I attended in Sydney last week also got me thinking about designing for different devices (start designing with the smaller device and add more in for larger devices, instead of the other way around). I'm going to start with a content review and then seriously rethink the navigation, page design - particularly the organisation of the content on the home page. Watch this space for wireframes...

I was tempted to use this as a project to check out HTML5/CSS3 but as it's not supported right across the board, I might just start with the HTML4/CSS2 version and then try developing a beta 'upgrade' version. Before I get carried away - let's start at the start...

Loads of new stuff!

Where to begin??

Lots of new stuff since my last post - new job, new hair do and I've been playing with lots of new toys and tricks!

So I'm now working as a Media Developer in an eLearning team which I've very excited about. In the last 2 weeks I've used almost every program in the Adobe Master suite, built a new website, done a bit of film editing, thrown a bit of javascript around in Adobe Acrobat and started playing with the new bits and bobs in CS5!

Happy as a pig in mud :-)

Concious incompetence

Just read an article on the Dunning-Kruger Effect. As the author Inchauste explains "As you grow at that skill, you begin to better evaluate your skills. Again, pretty logical reasoning here. If you know more about something, you know more about what you are doing wrong and how to improve it". Therefore if you don't know much i.e. you're unconsciously incompetent, you won't be able to assess yourself properly and are likely to overestimate how awesome you are.

So in that sense being self aware and having a bit of doubt isn't a bad thing...so long as it doesn't stop you from trying!

Typeface and Inspiration

I consider myself a greenhorn in terms of design and the web (the more I learn, the more I realise I don't know!). In an effort to see what people are doing in terms of best practice and common standards, I have been known to have a scan through an inspiration gallery to try to glean as much, from what someone has deemed to the the best of the best.

The author of the article Inspiration Kills suggests that although it's fun to see what everyone else is doing and be inspired by a clever solution uncovered by another designer, using these galleries to get unstuck from a creative block is likely to lead you to producing unoriginal work, they become "the thing that sucks up your imagination and fills the gaps with other people’s work". I have considered this before but I don't think one person has the solution to everything - it would be a waste of the internet not to be able to harness many people's views/ideas/solutions/knowledge but perhaps it's best to view them without a specific problem in mind - that way you get to use all of that good stuff but then hopefully be able to look at your project briefs with a clear mind (and a well stocked 'tool box') to find your own way of doing it best...

Continuing my fascination with fonts, I came across this lovely reference called Learn: Anatomy of a Typeface from Typedia. Clarifies all the jargon terms associated with typeface, in a neat list with diagrammatic examples!