So, it’s Saturday and I’ve decided that today I will be working really hard to come up with another concept for a project that I am knee-deep in the middle of. I’ve found that often lately, the times that I most want to be left alone to work are the times that certain people see it fit to call me. And by certain people I mean DeShandra, Predip, LaRon, and most recently Clenisha calling from the the Atlanta Prize Center. Who promptly congratulated me on being one of the finalist in some obscure sweepstakes, and that if I only give them my credit card number (for security purposes of course) will receive information in the mail on how I can find out if I indeed AM a winner.

Really I have nothing else to say on the subject other than, to Clenisha, DeShandra, Predip, LaRon, and the “I hev yur peckege Guy” thank you for the much need interruption from whatever I was doing before, I own my unproductiveness (not a word) all to you.

Tailor-Made

The truth is that as a designer there is no way to completely predict everyone and in every way they will use your web site. As a result some strong arguments for a “context-aware” approach have been made. Designer/Coder Jeff Croft challenges responsive web design by saying:

“By and large, mobile users want different things from your product than desktop users do. If you’re a restaurant, desktop users may want photos of your place, a complete menu, and some information about your history. But mobile users probably just want your address and operating hours.”

This argument is well-founded and definitely can be proven to be the best solution for some design problems given certain circumstances. There is a time and place for a sharp focus and expansion of certain features or content types. Some would argue that that’s where a “context-aware” web experience comes in.
Coming from background of designing web apps and more recently native mobile and desktop applications there is often one question I wrestle with. Is there enough need, features, and user requirements to necessitate a full native application? Or, could the same benefit be gleaned from an improved and more flexible web experience? The same holds true for the question of whether a device-specific, “context-aware” web site is necessary. Is it worth the extra time and effort to build, when maybe half of the effort would be needed to improve and adapt your web site for mobile users? It might turn out that you have the need, but not the time to create your vision of what a tailored mobile web experience is. Enter the shining beacon of light that is responsive design.

Responsively Agnostic

A recent and recommended read of mine by Ethan Marcotte, Responsive Web Design, explains the world of fluid grids, media queries, and designing a sites with a “flexible foundation”. Essentially he suggests that you should design something (one thing) that will “work” on most devices that you anticipate it being viewed on. More than likely you won’t be able to hit every possible requirement for every Windows Phone 7 user (for example), but you’ll be able to get to most of your users what they need.
Marcotte’s approach is efficient and in the long run can save time for designers and developers alike. This device/platform agnostic approach doesn’t just serve as a “quick fix” solution to check off your “mobile presence” requirement, but it gives you a bridge to the next step. As mentioned earlier you have to examine the need and in many cases you’ll find that the needs of a designer to reach mobile users can be met with a responsive, device agnostic solution.
With the power of media queries, determining the way your site is displayed is fairly straightforward. It’s like getting a desktop, tablet, and mobile web sites all-in-one.

It Works!

The number of designers and developers using responsive web design techniques seems to be growing. This becomes evident when you visit their personal websites. Speaking as one who has been meaning to “mobile” my site for quite some time now the personal sites of “cool kid” designers such as Meagan Fischer are rather inspiring.

Her site adheres to these ideas to a tee. At most common screen resolutions she has designed a layout that best displays her content in a legible and visually pleasing fashion. By my count there are 4 different layouts: one for desktop viewing, one for larger portrait-oriented tablets, one for smaller portrait-oriented tablets, and one for phones. You can experience all of these layouts by going to her site and and resizing your window to different sizes. Thanks to media queries it is possible for her site to know what layout to display.

A Responsive Bridge to the Future

It’s nearly impossible to keep up with every new device and web browser being created, but with a responsive design, some research, a savvy developer, and perhaps a little luck you can help make the growing pains that come with testing for new things a little easier. I’m not saying that responsive web design is ultimately the best solution for every situation, but what I am saying is that it can definitely serve a useful purpose in most cases. With it you empower yourself and your website to be better experienced by most people that come across it. Even if you have the eventual need for a dedicated mobile website, a well-designed and planned responsive site buys you time to make it great with fairly minimal effort. It gives you a means to something, whatever it is you need it to be.

Originally Posted by Max Foundry – http://maxfoundry.com/blog/2011/12/07/responsive-web-design-a-means-to-something/

Ignoring the emergence of male carry-all bag, I carry things in my pants pockets. But for me, there have always been right-pocket things and left-pocket things. By that I mean that 92% of the time (with obvious exceptions for running shorts, swimming trunks, and some tuxedo pants) the things that I have on my person reside very specifically in either my right pocket or my left. It feels natural and to me; it just makes sense.

The Logic

The thinking is that I want to have things that require the most finger dexterity use in my right pocket, easily accessible by my dominant, right hand. The objects receiving interaction from the right hand or receiving interaction from right-pocket objects go in the left pocket.

Here’s my current right pocket configuration: keys, coins, chap stick, and retractable pen.

Current left pocket pocket configuration: iPhone, and assorted paper.

Testing

Occasionally I’ll consider making an addition to my already crowded front pockets. This often happens with new memo books. Typically I will give any new “pocket-carry candidate” a two-day test. If in that time it feels too unnatural, could damage something in that pocket (ex. iPhone screen), or even worse, makes my leg sweat, it fails. Sometimes if the new object proves its utility but fails the 2-day test, it gets a stint in one of my rear pockets before inevitably ending up back in my messenger bag.

End Notes

Now I know that it seems like I’ve put way too much thought into this, and maybe I have. Despite my keen awareness of my pocket contents I sometimes break these rules. I’ll sometimes take objects out of my pockets in anticipation of immediate use, or remove my phone in hypochondriac avoidance of prolonged radiation exposure. But in the end of the day, I know what I am getting when I reach into my pockets. It’s familiar. It’s reliable. It’s (for me at least) good user experience.

So, I decided to take advantage of the early upgrade that AT&T so graciously offered me. I was an early adopter of the iPhone, and have been relatively pleased with the device. My biggest complaint being issues with AT&T’s service. This became evident as soon as we moved into our curent rental and discovered that we now lived in an AT&T dead spot. Amid rumors of a possible Verizion iPhone this winter, I considered waiting for that and jumping ship. Then I realized that I still had another year on my current AT&T contract, so to move I would have to pay an early termination fee. Lose, lose…sort of.

Call me impatient, and I was a bit unsure about making this upgrade; “Antennagate” and all, but I was intrigued by the new features. Today I purchased a 16GB iPhone 4, my third iPhone (6th if you count the Apple Care claims that I’ve had). I have to admit I’m pretty pleased. HD video is great, the Retina Display is as advertised Spectacular. Any concerns I had about antenna issues were eased by the reassuring words of the sales person I overheard while I “dropping eaves” in line at the Apple Store:

“It’s just media hype! I can prove it!”

Eight hours in I can say I’m pretty pleased. I still haven’t gotten a chance to FaceTime with anyone, so please fellow iPhone 4 users give me a call, I want to make sure it’s not just “media hype”.

Recently Ryan Feerer and I completed the first-ever official Abidesco project, for Mary McBride promoting her up-coming summer tour.

About the tour:

“As part of the release of Mary’s new album “The Way Home,” Mary and her band will be on THE HOME TOUR, a concert tour of “places people call home” – including long-term health care centers, homeless shelters, prisons, homes in low-income communities, homes for people living with HIV/AIDS and homes for people living with mental and physical disabilities. They’ll be playing for the elderly in Washington, DC; for Navajo families living in supported housing in New Mexico; for children in the Treme’ district in New Orleans; for immigrants seeking asylum in Detroit; for a farm worker community in rural Washington State; and for veterans recovering from injuries and living indefinitely at a VA hospital in Long Beach, CA. And these are just a handful of their stops. The band has partnered with a not-for-profit organization in each city which will host the concerts. The videos below represent many of these organizations and the tremendous work they are doing to improve the lives of people every day.”

You can follow the tour and and here tracks from Mary’s latest album “The Way Home” at http://thehometour.org

I’ve heard both sides of the debate about whether a “web designer” should be able to code his own designs. I know the reasons for and against, and frankly it worries me. I’ll be the first to admit that nothing puts my mind at ease more than knowing that the design that I’ve put together in Fireworks will be marked-up with highest level of accuracy and care the the developer (me). But, I know this is unrealistic. I don’t have time to do it all my own, nor do I know everything, I need help. Try as I may, I am a designer first, developer, a distant second, and I’m okay with it. What worries me is the disturbing trend that I keep seeing on places like craigslist and job boards everywhere; ads that read more like a entrepreneur’s Christmas wish list than a job description:

“Looking for a web designer to finish an online shopping site that is under construction now. MUST have at least 3 years experience building online shopping sites. MUST have deep knowledge of methods and ways of search engine optimization, customers database, shopping carts….etc. After finish building site position might be available to maintain and upgrade site all the time.

Compsensation: $14-15/hr”

The line between web developer an and web designer have become a bit blurred as of late. I can’t tell you how many times I see people call themselves web designers that are really only developers who how know just enough photoshop to themselves into trouble. The result is well developed site with sub-par design, for less money than if a true designer had been involved. Side-effect being that the potential client pool on both sides now has an overall diminished perception of quality and lower acceptable price-point . This in-turn devalues every designer and developer’s work.

Let me be clear designers are just as guilty of this, I’m just as guilty of this at times. I can, at times write pretty some ugly css, I know it I admit it, and I’m working on it. What I don’t do is tell a client that I am a be-all, end-all, without-a-doubt, full-fledged developer. I can do a lot of things, but not all, and I’m okay with that. I don’t use Terminal to write my code, I use Code and have to use Firebug to make sure my page matches as close as possible to what I did in my design comp. I code like a designer, and I advertise myself as such.

But the damage has already been done. Perhaps it’s a result of the 1990′s mentality of the internet, specifically web design and development being overly technical and unaccessible to a lot of people especially those of the “50 and better” persuasion i.e. potential clients with money to spend. The shrewd business man (and now AARP member) does more with less and the idea of a utility man- web designer is very appealing. This has lead the way for companies like elance.com to further lower competitive prices for design and dev. work by promoting low-priced, foreign vendors. Also, the door has been opened for services that offer bargin-basement prices on bottom-of-the-barrel web site design and development.

Welcome to my nightmare:

None the less its still healthy to dream big, push yourself and expand your skill set, its the only way things get better. Good, true hybrids do exist, but are not as common as you may think. I want to be one when I grow up.

Thinking about it; in this economy and really any other economy the constant problem of most creatives is finding enough money to do what it is that we really love to do. I have for a long time now had a passion for making films, and do so when ever I can mooch one off of a friend for a day or two. For quite some time now I’ve been meaning to get to a point where I could drop a few thousand on a new HD camera , putting off creative hopes and dreams until the day I have one. But in this economy…

Anyway, I stumbled on this video by director and film maker Matt Wolf, who’s work I really love and respect. It’s called ‘Boca’ and features a great song by Mr. Owen Pallet Final Fantasy and The Arcade Fire. He shot the entire thing on a camera phone! The Nokia N95 (insert Flight of the Concords joke here). I found it quite amazing, inspiring and as a really kick in the ass. Something that I used to to do a lot but have gotten away from that I’m a bona fide “creative professional” is to find new and creative ways to find solutions for the projects that I want to do. I rember gurry-rigging a small, live PA mixer with a couple of cheap pre-amps and recording the first Streets of Simon Lee EP, and being really proud of ourselves for figuring it out. Or the time that in the early days of Kite Flying Society (Now El Salvador Pictures/ Benberry Media) Shooting our first production “The Run“(circa 2001) on my dad’s old VHS camcorder and somehow figuring out how to get it into the computer to edit it.

Well, the point is, that “In This Economy” I’ve decided that I’m going to come up with more new ways to do the projects that I want to do. “Creativity is born out nothing” or something like that I think I just misquoted someone important.

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