People are experimenting with animated GIFs again. These are not the flames of the 90’s. I especially like the cinemagraphs. I had seen these several years ago. I like the life that they bring to a photo. I am surprised others are not experimenting more with this technique.

There is something that resonates in my heart about crafting objects of beauty like a violin. It is not a piece of art, but a working tool. I like how the violin maker sees his role as a partnership with the musician.

I think I would really enjoy making violins or creating furniture with wood.

Twitter and social networking have opened up whole new avenues of relationships and with many people I have never met.

Three weeks ago, I was coding away at my job when I came across this tweet in my stream:

Amazing chocolate chip cookies! @ Culture Espresso Bar http://gowal.la/c/4eLgY

May 16, 2011 1:48 pm via GowallaReplyRetweetFavorite

@vanshea

Van Shea Sedita

I love chocolate chip cookies and wished I was in New York to share some with Van. So I replied:

@vanshea Can you send me some of those amazing cookies?

May 16, 2011 2:03 pm via Tweetie for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@webcraftsman

Jeff Bridgforth

I was kidding of course because you cannot send cookies through the Internet. (This is when a transporter would come in handy). So I was surprised by the response I got:

@webcraftsman DM me your address!

May 16, 2011 2:21 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@vanshea

Van Shea Sedita

I responded with a direct message. “Dude, if you are serious, here’s my address…” I still was not sure if he was serious.

@webcraftsman Done! Expect 3 of these Wed afternoon! http://t.co/OiS4Lfz

May 16, 2011 3:45 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@vanshea

Van Shea Sedita

I could not believe it. Van FedExed three cookies to me and I could enjoy them on Wednesday.

@vanshea Wow!! Thank you so much.

May 16, 2011 3:50 pm via Tweetie for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@webcraftsman

Jeff Bridgforth

@webcraftsman My pleasure! Can you please send some sun? ;)

May 16, 2011 6:07 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@vanshea

Van Shea Sedita

@vanshea Cookies arrived! My wife is putting in a bag with piece of bread so the cookies can absorb the moisture. Can’t wait to try. Thanks.

May 18, 2011 2:32 pm via Tweetie for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@webcraftsman

Jeff Bridgforth

@vanshea Still trying to figure out how to FedEx you some sunshine. Thanks again.

May 18, 2011 2:34 pm via Tweetie for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@webcraftsman

Jeff Bridgforth

@webcraftsman I hope they’re still good man! Sun will be here soon enough..I think. Enjoy!

May 18, 2011 3:37 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@vanshea

Van Shea Sedita

Enjoying cookies from New York. Thanks @vanshea http://t.co/pW4RGvn

May 18, 2011 7:43 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@webcraftsman

Jeff Bridgforth

Those chocolate chip cookies were sooo good. You’re the man @vanshea.

May 18, 2011 7:52 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@webcraftsman

Jeff Bridgforth

@webcraftsman :) Nice! Hope there’s milk nearby! Also, I’m not even a real big fan of cookies.

May 18, 2011 7:54 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@vanshea

Van Shea Sedita

I have never met Van in person. I thought about how generous he was to take the time and spend the money to send me some yummy cookies. I believe that Van started following me after the following tweet:

Had a great lunch with @webcraftsman, designer extraordinaire.

February 23, 2010 4:00 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@jmspool

Jared M. Spool

Van follows Jared and started following me right after this tweet. I thought this was a great example of networking and social media. (I still am working on trying to send Van some sunshine.)

I would love to use a space like this. I would love to sit in this space and journal or read or create Websites. I would enjoy meeting with God here in my daily devotions. I love how nature invades this space through the views.

I studied architecture in college so I have an appreciation for this on many levels. I enjoyed the architect’s explanation of some of his design decisions. I wish the video had given some more context to the site.

Via Typedesk via Herman Miller

I found this video interesting on 2 levels.

• First, I thought it was a creative and engaging. I enjoyed hearing the person talk. And the amazing drawings did such a great job of supporting the speaker. Being a visual person, it really connected with me.
• Second, the content of the presentation. It is very interesting to hear this perspective. It reminds me of many of the things I read recently in Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? This presentation hit on several things that Godin has observed about what companies need today and what qualities a person needs to have to be indispensable.

The change will affect me. It has been a least a couple of years since I embraced “Web site.” One of the main reasons that I embraced that change was because of AP. The AP Style book is a bible to many content creators. From the way I understood it, the reason why Web was capitalized because it is an proper noun or object that is short for World Wide Web. This made sense to me as to the capitalization. I decided to take my cue from this authority of style. Once I embraced this style, I have stayed very consistent with it throughout my writing.

Before that change, I used “website” for at least 3 years. I had been reading several of Gerry McGovern’s books and in The Web Content Style Guide, his usage was “website” as one word. I am not sure what style I was using before that, but I thought it would be a good idea to embrace some sort of standard and be consistent. I had determined that instead of deciding on my own what style to use, I would take the advice of those who had a more professional opinion. I respected Gerry’s work so I embraced this style until I came across the AP style.

My background is not as a journalist major or English enthusiast. I do care about language and content and look to others to take my cues on proper usage. I find this issue interesting in that a recognized authority embraced a change and how that affects those who care about language and usage a lot more than I do.

For me, I am going to embrace the change. It will take me a while to feel comfortable with the change but I will get use to it. I have debated on whether I am going to make changes to content on my Web site, oops (old habits are hard to break), I mean website to reflect this change of style. I think my strategy will be to change the content on my “pages” but keep the style in my “posts” to reflect my accepted usage of the style at the time I shared my thoughts.

While we are on the subject–is it “e-mail” or “email?” My preference for years has been the latter.

Shout goes out to Kristin at Covenant Communications. Her post who gave me the idea for mine.

Web sites are not “done” once they have been designed and launched. Successful sites need attention. Sites are more like organisms, they are dynamic and alive. I have seen so many sites over the years launch and then become stagnant and obsolete because they were not cared for and given ongoing attention.

Josh Porter wrote about this same issue last summer. It was the first time that I saw someone identify and address this issue.

One agency that is addressing this issue is Merge in Greenville, South Carolina. They have developed what they call a “partnership model.” I don’t know as much about it as I would like to, but I am intrigued by the little bit I have read. I am excited that Merge will be putting on a Webinar on April 21 called A New Way to Web. They are going to share more about the model they have developed.

I am looking forward to hearing how this new approach is working and hope that is the first of many innovative approaches to address this issue. I invite you to join me. You can sign up on Merge’s Web site.

I saw that Jared was going to be in town speaking at a conference so I invited him to join me for lunch. I really enjoyed our time together as we talked about:

• the Red Sox and baseball
• what Jared looks for in a conference speaker
• ethics in UX design
• my experiences at past UI conferences
• career and resume advice

Jared is just as personable in person as when he speaks to a larger gathering of people. One of the things that I really like about the Web industry is that speakers, writers and leaders of our industry are so accessible and approachable. I really appreciated that Jared took time out of his busy conference schedule to meet with me.

It was a real treat. I enjoyed engaging Jared in various topics and appreciated several nuggets of advice that he gave me. He took a genuine interest in me and offered help as he could.

Related posts:

• Read about my experiences at UI12 conference in 2007
• My original post on my Web design superheroes
• I hope to write a post on UIE’s podcast soon

• Cookie Cutter Web sites — This post from Think Vitamin is a challenge to create sites that reflect the personality of the company, product, or person we are designing for. The author’s presupposition is that more and more Web sites look the same. The challenge is to think beyond the standard “recipe” and not just follow the pattern of everyone else. What I like about the article is that she goes on stating the problem and gives some very practical advice on how to think past the cookie cutter. She states several of the conventions we typically follow and challenges the reader to consider how to do things a bit differently. She includes many great examples of how other designers have challenged the conventions or just stretched them a bit to create a site that has a unique personality and distinguishes site from the many others out there. I came away with a list of things that I want to think about as I approach any new design project in the future.
• Content is King — Colin James Firth challenges designers to consider the content and the message of the content when creating a new Web site. Colin argues that too many designs weaken the message of the Web site by not taking the content into account in the visual design. He encourages designers to think about how to present the message of the Web site through the visual design. He believes that copywriters can help us become better communicators. This article is a great companion to the cookie cutter article I have already mentioned.
• CSS3 — There have been several articles of late about CSS3 and specifically CSS3 animations. Smashing Magazine highlighted 50 Brilliant CSS3 and Javascript Coding Techniques. There are some really inspiring examples of what some designers are achieving with CSS3 animations. Web Designer Wall showcased 47 Amazing CSS3 Animation Demos.
• Neutron Creations Blog — I came across this site last week. I really like the work of Elliot Jay Stocks. I am a Firefox user. I liked the design of this blog so I wanted to capture it in Little Snapper. When I viewed the site in Webkit built into Little Snapper, I noticed a CSS animation that really added to the personality of the site. I encourage you to open it up in Safari and have a look. Nice job Elliot.
• Web Owners Need more than a Web designer — Paul Boag outlines the need for generalists in the Web design industry. He argues that being a Web designer in the 21st century involves more than building a Web site. They “need to have a good understanding of business practices, site analytics, marketing, copywriting, social media and more.” He encourages Web designers to broaden their knowledge in these areas. I would consider myself more of generalist so I appreciated the article. I have a variety of interests and enjoy being involved in more than just the Web site. I was very encouraged by one client’s recent comments to me. She said she appreciated me challenging her team to think more about the content and the strategy of the site we were working on together.
• In Defense of The Jack of All Trades — I appreciated this post by Mindy Wagner back in October. She outlines why being a generalist worked for her. She outlined several qualities that she thinks makes a successful generalist. I found that I shared those qualities. It gave me more confidence to embrace who I am. I just recently left a job where I was a jack of many trades. I had to be to get things done because there was no one else there that could or would do it. I enjoyed that role. I hope in my future employment to find a place where I fit well and can contribute out of my strengths and broad knowledge base.

I was delighted by this commercial last night as I watched the Super Bowl. It is a great example of storytelling. I was totally drawn into the story that this commercial tells.

As Paul Boag points out, “They take something very mundane like a search engine and give it real emotion and personality. This ad connects searching with living your live and makes it an intrinsic part of day to day living. Brilliant!”

Paul has been reading Made to Stick and recently mentioned it on his podcast. I started reading this book in the fall but had put it down. I am motivated to pick it back up.

This commercial is “sticky.” It connects to the viewer’s emotions. It is concrete because it connects with something most people come into contact everyday–a search on Google. I agree with Paul that they have done a good job of making something mundane into something that we connect with and will remember.

I saw this on DW Journal report last night. It is a very interesting look at how East Germany kept in it’s people during the Communist era.

I have a great interest in the history of communism because of my travels to Hungary. My first trip was the summer after the Wall came down. I remember very clearly watching Nightline and seeing the jubilation in Berlin when the Wall came down. It was exciting to know that I was going to be part of history as I traveled to Hungary in 1990.

When I was younger, I remember seeing a movie about a family that escaped from East Germany in a hot air balloon. If anyone knows what the title of the movie is, I would appreciate your comment.

UPDATE: I just Googled it and found out that the name of the movie is Night Crossings. I thought it was a Disney movie and I was correct.

Yesterday afternoon, I received this email from raysbaseball.com. I had bought tickets over the weekend to see today’s game.

I was really impressed with the information in this email. It told me about the starting pitchers for both teams and had links to relevant statistics. There were also links to information about visiting Tropicana Field. And it was information relevant to have a better experience at the baseball game.

This is a great example of thinking beyond your Web site and having a Web strategy. It utilizes other technology means to enhance the experience of the product, a Major League baseball game.

Paul Boag recently posted 10 ways to put your content in front of more people. This email is a fine example of what Paul was mentioning.

My team leader mentioned yesterday that the fun has not been in his work recently. I feel the same way. I want to design or craft a Web page. But too many other details or meetings have taken my time.

These are all important things but design and crafting is what my heart longs to do. I want to have time to play around and try new things. That is how God has made me. I look forward to a new season when I can experience this again.

“Come back to me.” Line from The Two Towers movie that expresses my longing.

I like the different mediums that this cartoonist uses and how they help communicate his message. The Red Bull can is very appropriate for this cartoon.

We thought Twitter might be a good team solution to be able to keep track of our teammates. I decided that I would give it a try.

And I have jumped in headfirst. I have an extension for Firefox so it is very easy for me to update Twitter with what I am doing.

I was a freshman 20 years ago when Danny Manning and the Hawks last won the championship. It was a great game and what a last second shot by Mario Chalmers. This year was an exciting run. It feels great to be a Jayhawk.

I wish I had more time to process all that is being thrown at me. I would like to make a list of action points before I leave tomorrow so that I can begin to integrate this experience into my work.

Some of the highlights of the week:

• Getting to hang out with Andy Budd, one of my Web design superheroes. I met Andy last year at Refresh06. I have had several opportunities to chat with Andy during the conference.
• Communicating with Visual Design workshop taught by Luke Wroblewski. I also got a lot out of a seminar he did on Form Design. I look forward to his book on the subject which comes out in March. One of my action points is to read his other book, Site Seeing, which covers the material he went over in the workshop.
• Eating lunch with Cameron Moll. Yesterday, I got to eat lunch with Cameron Moll. I enjoyed getting to know him on a personal level. I took his workshop on Designing Elegant Interfaces with CSS. I wished we had covered a little more on design but he included things in the notes that were interesting including the process of his design of his portfolio.

I am looking forward to hearing more from Jared Spool this afternoon. Got to go.

Disclaimer — I do not use or endorse these software programs. I am only sharing this as what I have found.

Nvu - This is an open source WYSIWYG editor that is available for Windows or Mac. I had downloaded this program earlier this year. It did not work for me because it did not have some functionality that I was used to in Dreamweaver. I wanted to be able to define the location of my local files to edit and then put on the server. It appeared to me that you could not do this function. It may have been added since I tried it or I just did not figure it out. The editor functions did look good. I probably would have played with it more but I found some inexpensive software that I really like — Coda and TextMate.

GIMP - This is an open source software that would be a substitute for Photoshop. I have never used it because I have Photoshop but a friend of mine really liked it and he is not a designer.

Inkscape — An open source vector graphics program that claims capabilities similar to Illustrator. I have never used this program or know of anyone who has. I found it through doing a search for Open Source software for Web design on a site called Open CD.

I was really struck by how “alone” it seemed and not something I expected in the middle of a “concrete jungle.”

I am going to be interviewing students at the conference to help me guide me in future improvements to GodSquad.com. I am taking the first steps toward creating user personas.
I first read about personas in Kelly Goto’s Web Redesign 2.0 and have heard lots of good things about them from Jared Spool. I believe creating personas will help me to better design and develop sites that equip students to reach their campus.

Steve Moudler’s book, The User is Always Right has been helpful in preparing me to ask the right questions to get the information that I want and need. It is the first really practical resource that I have found that guides you through the process of creating useable personas.

I am looking forward renewing relationships with Campus Crusade for Christ staff that we served with in this region of the country when we were field staff at Kansas State.

He encouraged us to be proud of our work and the choices that we make and not to worry about what others have to say. He made this comment in the context of talking about real world markup. The reality is that there are a lot of different techniques and strategies as we do a CSS design. I came away feeling a bit more confidence as a CSS designer.

He mentioned Microformats. I do not know anything about them and I am looking forward to hearing Jeremy Keith discuss them on Friday. Andy was excited about them and suggested them as a tool.

I benefitted from hearing Andy’s best practices. It made me aware that I had taken that advice away from his book when I read it last May. I have implemented some of his advice, particularly his advice about organizing and commenting on our style sheets. It has been helpful on a couple of designs I have done recently.

I enjoyed hearing about positioning and floats. It was a good refresher from what I read in his book and I learned some more to add to my knowledge.

I want to explore more in the area of the image techniques he discussed. I have not had a chance to work through that section of the book or try some of the techniques he writes about. I was unaware that CSS Opacity is pretty well supported so I might play around with that in the future.

I also enjoyed his discussion on bugs and bug fixing. He pointed out that most of the problems are not with the browser but with the techniques we use or an incomplete understanding of the specifications. I have found this to be true. I appreciated his advice to keep things simple and that can avoid a lot of the problems. He also suggested to try other methods instead of spending a lot of time trying to fix something that is not working. I know I ended up doing that with a CSS Reboot design this summer. One way was not working so I came at it a different way and came up with a solution.

I am looking forward to today’s sessions:

• Pragmatic Web Design
• How to Be a Web Design Superhero
• It’s More Than Markup
• Creating Accessible DHTML
• Improving Front End Architecture

[tags]refresh06, refresh orlando, Andy Budd, Jeremy Keith[/tags]

I enjoyed his seminar. It was a good review of the material I had read in the book. I am looking forward to rereading his book and applying more of it to my CSS skills.

The second seminar was Understanding AJAX by Jeremy Keith. I knew a little bit about AJAX and this seminar was a great introduction to the concepts of AJAX. The most helpful thing I got out of the seminar was a strategy to use AJAX to enhance a site but not to use it as an “all or nothing” approach as many sites do today.

Jeremy is applying the principle of graceful degradation from CSS and applying them to AJAX. I am really intrigued by this strategy and want to consider applying it to an AJAX solution I have considered for GodSquad. You can view his presentation online.

I also enjoyed getting to know some of the other conference attendees. One guy works for the Orange County Library system, one with the Census Bureau in D.C., and one of the attendees works for Central Wyoming College (I don’t believe he is responsible for their site current design). Most of the people I met are more on the programming side of Web development. I am looking forward to the start of the conference tomorrow.

[tags]refresh06, refresh orlando, andy budd, jeremy keith, css mastery[/tags]

Tomorrow I am taking 2 crash courses, CSS Mastery with Andy Budd and Understanding AJAX with Jeremy Keith. Andy’s book on CSS Mastery is one of the best books I have read on CSS. I am looking forward to hearing from him and practicing more of what I read in the book but have not had time to go back and do.

I am hoping to blog about my experiences at the conference this week. A friend recently cited an article on How to blog a Conference. It is written more for someone who organizes the conference but there are some good tips that even an attendee can use.

This summer I took a theology class with Dr. Bruce Ware of Southern Seminary. One of the lectures focused on the Holy Spirit. Dr. Ware pointed out that the Holy Spirit was given temporarily in the Old Testament and that there was some functional reason to empower them, a task to accomplish.

There were only four groups that Scripture records as the Holy Spirit empowering in the Old Testament:

1. Civil leaders — Moses, leaders that Moses shared the load with (Numbers 11:10–17, 24–29) Saul and David are examples
2. Judges
3. Prophets
4. A craftsmen — Exodus 31:3 explains that the Holy Spirit empowered Bezalel to do works of art and craftsmanship for the tabernacle

I found it really interesting that one the four categories was for creative endeavors. One of the greatest challenges I find is involving God through the entire creative process, through prayer and constant conversation. I want to involve God through the entire process. I don’t want my skills and competencies to ever cause me to forget Who endowed me with them and it is His grace that empowers me.

I love the moments where the creative flow is going and I think of a quote from Eric Liddell. He said that when he ran, he felt God’s pleasure. He was doing what God gifted him to do. I have moments when I feel the pleasure of God when I create. And there are moments when it is so obvious that it is the Holy Spirit working in me to solve a creative problem or have an idea.