Redesign just about done
Apart from a huge amount of client work I've been working on a redesign of shapeshed.com. With a few things to clean up it goes into the wild today.
Focussing on typography ¶
For too long now I’ve ignored typographic presentation on the web. This version of the site doesn’t completely absolve my inadequacies, but it has given me a more thorough education in the possibilities of type on the web. With so much of the web still being words I feel this is an area that is sorely overlooked. Some of the new fonts available in Vista are used for those that have them. They are great typefaces and I’m looking forward to seeing these appear on the web. Cutting down on graphics also has the advantage of making the page weight lighter.
Changing with the seasons ¶
As an individual I am affected quite strongly by the seasons. I wanted to allow the site to change with the seasons. I’m already looking forward to the summer when I can change the colour scheme, a few icons and the wallpaper.
Stronger emphasis on articles ¶
I’ve been surprised at how much traffic I get for the articles I’ve written. So I’ve improved the layout of the journal page and also the comments. Sharing what I learn is very important to me as I have learned many of my skills from others on the web.
Still a few headaches ¶
As much I would like to put this to bed there are still a few areas I’m not happy with. The archive page seems unwieldy and I’d like to add in some unobtrusive javascript and AJAX here and there. Time is a constraint though so these will have to wait.
The typography also needs a good going over, to make sure all the sums are right and everything is sitting how it should.
Still learning ¶
More than anything this exercise has shown me that I still have a huge amount to learn. I suppose that’s why I like this profession so much.
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See Also
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Creating grunge effects in Photoshop
Designing with grids is commonplace in design but the danger is that everything looks a bit ordered. Using grunge effects you can keep your grid and mess up your hair to look a bit cooler. -
Concentric text in Photoshop
One day you might just be insane enough to want to write concentric text in Photoshop. It is quite illegible and likely to give you a headache but if you still want to do it read on. -
Creating custom shapes in Photoshop
A less well known feature of Photoshop is that you can create custom vector shapes and use them throughout your designs. Here's an of examples of how to do it.