News

Are There No New Ideas in Design?

devsu — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:43:55 -0700

It has been said that there are no new ideas in design, that anything new has either been copied or stolen from previous designs. In the science of design, yes -- the principles are always the same: line, shape, color, spatial relationships, etc. On the other hand, the art of design is subjective, interpreted differently by both the designer and the audience.

The new eCommerce: Local businesses on the Internet.

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:57:48 -0700

Google the words "business internet website." You’ll get 78 million responses. I read the first 20 or so which was all I really had patience for. There were sites that looked like late night infomercials, a site claiming you can create a $19.95 professional website and bring your business online, now. Search for almost any product or service and thousands of hits will appear. With the din of business on the Internet, why sell online and put your product or service in competition with thousands of other people who put their advertisements just a click away?

A Flaw in Thinking

Struts 2: Using the s:tree tag

devsu — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:10:56 -0700

It took me a bit of effort to figure out how to use the <s:tree> tag properly, but once I figured it out, my code was minimal.

Static Content

This is simple enough:

Inspiration in the Innovations of Walt Disney

devsu — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:09:11 -0800

As an Interactive Graphic Designer, I’m always looking for different sources of inspiration. Sometimes it comes from taking an outing to a museum. Recently, I had a chance to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. The exhibits are an intriguing tribute to the achievement of the man’s career. I have always found inspiration in the early full-length animated features Disney created. While I enjoy the films and the stories they tell, I am fascinated by the techniques and ideas that went in to making each film.

What you need to start a successful website design process

devsu — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:36:55 -0700

Content is King

Our design process begins with the collection of information about your company and your products or services. This practice helps us understand the content needed for your site. Knowing the content for your site is crucial at this stage. While the look and feel of your site plays the important role of conveying your company’s brand, your message will not be effective without the substance to back it up.

Struts 2 and Hibernate - Automatic Type Conversion Risk

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:54:56 -0700

Part 1 - Introduction

Web application frameworks have progressed quite a bit in recent years in not only technology, but also architecture and API. The two technologies I am going to focus on right now are Struts 2 and Hibernate.

Take the Stress out of Content Authoring

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:48:38 -0700

Of the many tasks that a client will need to do when building a website, none is more important than getting content planned out, organized, and authored. I suggest that this should be prioritized above the style, look and feel, and features of the new site. We often find that clients get excited about such details early in design discussions, which is great for the energy of the project, but problems and delays in schedule arise when trying to shoehorn content into features or scramble to author content from the ground up.

JBoss Seam: Maven Archetype for JBoss Seam

devsu — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:12:52 -0700

JBoss Seam is a powerful new application framework to build next generation Web 2.0 applications by unifying and integrating popular service oriented architecture (SOA) technologies like Asynchronous JavaScript and XML(AJAX), Java Server Faces(JSF), Enterprise Java Beans(EJB3), Java Portlets and Business Process Management(BPM) and workflow.” (JBoss Seam)

Animation using Javascript and CSS

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:01:20 -0700

Here at Lunar Logic, we employ a plethora (yes, I do mean plethora) of technologies to fashion web-based solutions for our clients. A typical week might find us working with Java, Ruby, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, CSS, C++, Flash and the host of programming paradigms and challenges associated with each language. Hard work, to be sure, but for those of us born to code, extremely rewarding.

The Importance of Process

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:12:18 -0700

Having a stable and documented process is one of the most important things you can do to improve productivity, efficiency, and ultimately, profit.

If your process has been established, several things become easier:

1) Starting new jobs

Your process should include how to start a job and the information you need to do so. It may be as simple as sending a project manager the important details and watching the process begin without any more intervention.

2) Reporting

Single Call Resolution

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:13:35 -0700

Working in technical support for almost 5 years, I've had time to work through many ways of handling customer issues. Every customer has a different issue. Even though the root cause may be similar, the issue will invariably be unique. No two computers have same configuration. No two computers have EXACTLY the same set of programs installed. No two users are the same. With all of these variables, technical support can never be as simple as cause and resolution.

Evolution of a Designer

devsu — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:29:48 -0700

by Jason Holland - Interactive Graphic Designer

1996 - My first web page was a basic html text page with one photo that I created my second year of college. I was doing my undergraduate work and it was a requirement in one of my classes to publish the paper I had written “online.” It was crude, but loaded rather quickly in Netscape on a dial-up network.

1998 - My first actual job in web design was for a Portland based dot.com. My primary job was updating text and images for a website built in Microsoft FrontPage and used Microsoft Paint to crop and save photos. It was for a company called Elephants Deli in Portland. Fortunately, my tools have evolved over the years..

1998 - Babies On-The-Go Rentals, Inc.

The site was a basic design. Five pages, with the logo, some photos, text and a basic contact form. It was also my first freelance client back in 1998. The site was designed in Macromedia Fireworks and built in Macromedia Dreamweaver using table based HTML..

2000 - Maple Elementary School

This was a pro-bono project I had done for the same school where I had worked in before/after school park and recreation a few years earlier. The site was designed in Fireworks and built in Dreamweaver using table based HTML.

2000 - Baywood International, Inc.

This site design was my first experience with information architecture and user experience. It was also the first site that incorporated Macromedia Flash. It was designed in Fireworks and was built in tabled based HTML.

2001 - Baywood International, Inc. (Redesign)

The site redesign was a logical next step for Baywood’s breadth of products. It took on a more modern look and feel (circa 2001) by incorporating the “aqua” look in feel that was popularized by Apple. The redesign also incorporated a Flash product gallery as it’s main marketing block on the home page. It was designed in Fireworks and was the first time I built a site with a hybrid of table based HTML and CSS.

2002 - ABC’s General Hospital Art Department

This was a simple one page site for the Emmy nomination for the Art Department. It was a basic gallery page using pop-up windows for large views of the thumbnails. It was the first site I had designed in Adobe Photoshop and was built in a hybrid of table based HTML and CSS. At this stage in my career, I was exploring “atmospheric” designs—designs that felt like an experience rather than just the sum of its parts.

2002 - Jason Gray (Musician)

Jason’s site was first attempt at creating a Flash only website. Standard for the time, it was a file heavy site that required a pre-loader. It incorporated a music player and elements of animation to enhance the user experience. It was a further exploration of creating an “atmospheric” design.

2003 - James Sanders (Painter)

James’ site was an additional attempt at creating a design that was as much an experience as it was the content. It was primarily an image gallery with thumbnails that opened the larger view of the image in a pop-up (a technique that was quickly falling out of favor at the time). It was designed in Photoshop and was built using a hybrid of table based HTML and CSS.

2003 - Magic Auto Group

The website for Magic Auto Group was my first experience creating an e-commerce site. It was built in PHP and included dynamic content fed from eBay Auto’s site.

2005 - Babies On-The-Go Rentals, Inc. (Redesign)

The redesign of Babies On-The-Go Rental’s, Inc. was a full-circle experience. It was for my very first freelance client (the owner I have since referred to as my “remote mom”). It was also the first site built entirely in XHTML and CSS 2.0.

2006 - Microsoft IT SharePoint Portal Site

The design of the this site was my first time creating a theme for a content management system. It was also my first time designing for a large corporation. The design stewards the existing Microsoft IT brand and infuses elements of the Microsoft Vista operating system look and feel. It was also the first time that I was responsible for the visual design and documenting a style guide for developers without having to actually build the site myself.

2006 - Sidney Jamila (Make-Up and Hair Artist)

Visually, Sidney wanted a very clean design that wouldn’t distract from his craft. I’ve included it simply because it was a fun project and I can say that I met him through Gloria Estefan.

2008 - Page One Trading Company

The design for Page One’s site evolved as an additional attempt at creating an “atmospheric” design. The owner of the company wanted to create a site that not only appealed to the target audience but also conveyed a sense of strength and empowerment. This was the second time I’d themed a site for a content management system, this time for Drupal. It was designed in Photoshop.

2008 - Lunar Logic, LLC.

The redesign of the Lunar Logic site was an extension of the logo redesign to create a new site and brand that explored the concept of “Go Further.” An additional exploration in creating an “atmospheric” experience, the brand plays on the Lunar Logic name and tagline by creating a night scape that looks into space. It was designed in Photoshop and a style guide was created for developers.

2008 - NuNaturals, Inc.

This site was my first experience designing for a fully-integrated e-commerce experience. The look and feel of this site incorporated contemporary green and earth tone themes stemmed from their main product line, Stevia. It also used visuals of people to create a sense of familiarity and warmth.

2009 - Live Solutions™

The concept for the Live Solutions brand played literally to the name of their product, The Call Recording Box™. With an exception to the logo, this was my first time spearheading and extending the brand to not only the website, but also brand guidelines, business cards and other print collateral. The design infuses the illusion of a 3-dimensional space, a modern color schemes, urban textures and black and white photography to appeal to a younger age range audience.

Using Wireframes to Streamline the Development Process

devsu — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:53:40 -0700

Website wireframes are blue prints that define a web page’s content and functionality. They do not convey design - e.g. colors, graphics or fonts. Wireframes organize and simplify the elements and content within a website and are an essential tool in the development process.

Wireframes act as a prototype to show the placement of page features, such as header, footer, content, sidebars and navigation. They also specify the placement of elements within these content areas such as user help, the logo, menus and search facilities.

The Twitter Flutter

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:16:01 -0700

If you’re responsible for the direction of the online strategies for your company or organization, you’ve probably been hearing a lot of flutter about Twitter, a next-generation instant messaging tool.

Twitter is a form of text-based “Micromedia.” Twitter is really much like blogging, but on a miniature scale. Twitter has social networking features, so users can add and remove friends, for example. The 140 character limit requires users to simplify their message.

Best for My Business: Organic SEO or PPC Advertising?

devsu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:04:38 -0700

Both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) can be effective advertising approaches. If your advertising budget can't fund both strategies adequately, then it's best to concentrate your resources on one. Otherwise, you might split your funds on two weak efforts that both fail.

SEO Case Studies

Here are some typical client questions search advertising. Which sounds most like you?

"Which strategy has higher conversion?"