SitePoint’s amazing reference add-on CodeBurner is breaking free from FireBug and later this week, it will become a full-fledged FireFox add-on. CodeBurner provides reference material for HTML and CSS such as syntax, code samples, live demos, and browser compatibility information all in a handy dock at the bottom of the browser and can also be a window on it’s own.

The new main window

The reference material is linked to SitePoint’s Reference page. Clicking on a more link will open up a new browser window/tab for that item.

The Reference Page

The new plug-in will continue to hook into the DOM crumbtrail, adding options to look up a selected item (ie. search for it in the Reference panel) or to view a sample code example.

The new DOM view

Advantages over the FireBug version

• Specialized interface gives more room for the reference information
• works in Firefox 2 and has no other dependencies
• The new DOM can load any web site for referencing. Not just the current site. You don’t have to leave your current site to do your research.
• No longer requires you to have FireBug installed.

Disadvantages over the FireBug version

• No longer follows the FireBug inspector.

The new FireFox plug-in is much easier to launch. Instead of going to FireBug then selecting the Reference Tab, now you can just simply click on the CodeBurner icon.

Final Thoughts

With the FireBug version recently selected as one of the 13 Firefox Add-ons For Web Development, and the new FireFox version will be no exception. A web development reference resource just got better.  There’s absolutely no need for those HTML and CSS Cheatsheets with CodeBurner at your fingertips. Searching through a PDF or printout takes so much longer than simply opening up CodeBurner and using it’s brilliant search capabilities. Be sure to catch the new FireFox edition of the CodeBurner and get a free eBook Build Your Own Firefox Add-on later this week!

So far it’s been pretty to look at. There’s 2 tabs instead of YSlow’s 1 tab. You can also Record Activity and measure page loading speed as well.

The one thing I do not like right now is that Page Speed creates 2 folders in my home directory on the Mac OSX. I’m not sure where the folders go in Windows systems yet. These folders just hold some cached items when you run the Page Speed to analyze performance.

Google’s Page Speed results are a bit different than Yahoo! YSlow. YSlow gives you “grades” and Page Speed just gives you green, red, or yellow signs. It also gives you an explanation of what you can do to make your pages load faster. Page Speed also does not give you the little icon next to Firebug that tells you how long it took to load the initial page. Something I actually like to know even if I’m not performance tuning my own website.

So far, Page Speed is a welcomed addition to the Firebug arsenal. Also check out SitePoint’s CodeBurner Firebug plug-in. It’s a great little reference for HTML and CSS. And Robert Nyman’s FireFinder for Firebug is handy search for Firebug.

What are your thoughts on Google Page Speed? Are you using both Yahoo! YSlow and Google Page Speed?

Introducing Page Speed – Google Code Blog

Kindle vs Print

I used 2 separate books for comparing Print to Kindle formatted books. Jeffrey Zeldman’s Designing with Web Standards and Andy Budd’s CSS Mastery. They are both available on the Kindle Store and in Print format. The Kindle version of the book compared very well to the Print version. The only real difference I noticed was the loss of color pages if the Print version had them. Other than that, reading was very easy and comfortable. Images were the only concern, and Amazon managed to do a pretty good job at having it scale properly. You can change the size of the images that show up throughout the book if you want to see it bigger. The text formatting was interesting, as it’s fixed-width font and center-aligned. So every now and then you may only see 3-4 words per line depending on your font size choice. Overall, I am enjoying the experience so far.

Print vs PDF Converted

The book used for this comparison is Jason Baird’s The Principles of Beautiful Web Design. The book is published by Sitepoint and available in Print and PDF eBook format. I converted the PDF version of the book using Mobipocket Creator 4.2 Publisher Edition. It’s a free Windows ONLY application. The process is quite simple. Select the PDF, import it, fill out the required metadata, build the PRC file and copy it over to the Kindle via the USB cable. Once that’s done, you can begin reading your book.
Comparing the 2. The converted PDF did have some issues with images and their sizes. Not really all too surprising. The main part where it seemed to have issues, was with text inside of a box. The converted software takes the text out of the text box and creates an image for the text box. As for regular images. It’s mostly random. The screenshot of the Website in the book converted fairly well. However, as you will see in the next section, some images were not resized as expected. It doesn’t cause too much of a problem for reading the actual text though.

Kindle vs PDF Converted

For this comparison, I chose to use Jeff Croft’s Pro CSS Techniques book. It’s published by Apress and available on the Amazon.com Kindle Store. The Converted PDF actually reads very well. As I said before, the images sometimes tend to have resizing/scaling issues. One thing that the converted PDF does have issues with, is sidebar-type quotes or text. It tends to incorporate them into the book based on it’s location on the page instead of keeping them separate. So, that does take some getting used to. For standard plain text PDF books, it works wonderfully. I have not yet tried sending Amazon a PDF to convert and see if their results match up. I also haven’t tested other means of converting the PDF such as using Stanza. For the Apress books, since every one that I’ve gotten from them are all in grayscale anyways, there isn’t any issue of loss of color. For Sitepoint books though, I can see loss of color as an issue. If there is color-coded code in the books, I can see it become an issue. Since most of the Web Development books I found available are Apress books, I haven’t run into that issue.

iPhone App

The Kindle iPhone App is freely available on the Apple iTunes App Store. You can only read the books you purchase through the Kindle Store. As of right now, converting PDF files to Kindle format cannot be read on the iPhone. Here are some screenshots of CSS Mastery and Designing with Web Standards on the Kindle iPhone App.

A Small sampling of books available in the Kindle Store

• CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions (Kindle Edition) by Andy Budd
• Designing the Obvious (Kindle Edition) by Robert Hoekman
• Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning (Kindle Edition) by Dan Brow
• Beginning CSS Web Development: From Novice to Professional (Kindle Edition) by Simon Collison
• Beginning Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax: From Novice to Professional (Kindle Edition)
  by Michael Purvis (Author), Jeffrey Sambells (Author), Cameron Turner (Author)
• Pro CSS Techniques (Kindle Edition) by Jeff Croft (Author), Ian Lloyd (Author), Dan Rubin (Author)
• Pro JavaScript Techniques (Kindle Edition) by John Resig (Author)
• Bulletproof Ajax (Kindle Edition) by Jeremy Keith
• Designing with Web Standards, Second Edition (Kindle Edition) by Jeffrey Zeldman

Conclusion

Overall, I am enjoying using the Kindle as a reference material for Web Design books and Web Development books. I have converted all of the Sitepoint PDF eBooks that I have bought and also the vast majority of the Apress eBooks as well. Having them all readily available and search-able is really convenient. Also, the note-taking and highlighting capabilities of the Kindle are very easy-to-use and helpful.

Your Thoughts and Comments?

What do you think of the Kindle as a viable replacement for Print books, Textbooks or reference books?

The CSS

a[rel="external"], a.external {
white-space: nowrap;
padding-right: 15px;
background: url(/images/external.gif) no-repeat 100% 50%;
zoom: 1;
}

The HTML
To use the CSS, you would add the rel="external" to your html link like so:

<a href="http://www.google.com" rel="external" target="_blank">External link</a>

The Result
Here’s what the final result looks like after using the CSS and HTML. (This is an image! Not a real link.)

Do you do this differently? Have a better solution? Please feel free share thoughts, feedback and comments.

• 

John Wang (jwang392)

Web Designers Question (for upcoming post. all responses will be featured)!: When should links open in a new window/tab?

Here are their responses:

• 

Patrick McCoy (wootstudio)

@jwang392 When the user expects it or is warned about it before hand.

Chad Engle (chadengle)

@jwang392 If it link travels outside of the site. I hate new windows but love new tabs especially if I am not done with the previous content

Chad Engle (chadengle)

@jwang392 But I usually just apple click so I rarely make new windows…

Matt Lewis (MattLewisDesign)

@jwang392 links should open new window only when being taken to a completely diff site. So like opening a 3rd party from your banking site.

Brian Dote (dote)

@jwang392 Whenever the link is to an external resource that’s not in the same domain as the page the link appears on

Further Reading:

• Should links open in a new window? | David Airey
• Should Links Open in a New Window? | ProBlogger
• Should Links Open In New Windows? | Smashing Magazine
• Beware of Opening Links in a New Window | SitePoint
• Accessible Pop-up Links | A List Apart

Readers Voice Your Thoughts! target = _blank friend or foe?

Yesterday’s Topics Discussed:

• The best file format for a illustration being used in a book to be posted online
• Tips on how to start freelancing
• How to best follow live updates of DCTH
• Adobe InDesign vs QuarksXPress
• Design books recommendations
• PHP SQL Injection protection
• Time restrictions on clients. Dealing with difficult clients.
• What a corporate blog should look like? Similarities to the website?
• Suggestions for a “cutesy” font
• Steve Jobs’ illness
• Whether or not to back up your clients data/websites
• What can make DCTH better
• What app do you code in?
• know of a good video podcast for CS4?
• What is your favorite font currently?
• Web standard resolution? 800×600?

The actual tweets:

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Just learned from #DCTH about dafont.com — download free fonts. Woo-hoo!

Mike Martin (mike868y)

@MillerMosaicLLC ya I will later on…finals tomorrow so I’m cramming. But I get where your coming from with the corporate look #dcth

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

@AngiDavisVA #DCTH is design community twitter hours. Read about it here: http://bit.ly/H5BS

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@DCTH DCTH.us #DCTH

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@MillerMosaicLLC http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

TwitterPoll: DCTH.info or DCTH.us as the #DCTH site? I can’t decide what I want to use? Thoughts?

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

TwitterPoll: DCTH.info or DCTH.us as the #DCTH site? I can’t decide what I want to use? Thoughts?

AngiDavisVA (AngiDavisVA)

What is #DCTH?

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

Thanks to all of my new followers from #DCTH Another successful week of DCTH. More from me @DCTH stay tuned!

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@andrew_cohen How do you look at IE6 (I have IE7) without browser shots? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

If anyone needs info outside of #DCTH you can find me @chadengle and I will help in anyway possible!

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@andrew_cohen Thanks and great. That means I can use my 957px width banner header, correct? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

Thanks everyone! This has been so much fun for me on this side! Don’t forget to leave me comments!! #DCTH http://is.gd/g3HQ

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

Aww darn, the clock struck "midnight" so I have to go before the coach turns into a pumpkin. Toodles #DCTH

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@MillerMosaicLLC standard as in everyone has it. 960.gs is a great grid system to use. #DCTH

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@MillerMosaicLLC I battle IE6 often & i hate it, unfortunately gov’t workers can’t upgrade. 20% is too much to ignore unfortunately #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@DCTH @andrew_cohen How standard? Standard as in all the cool kids has it? Or standard as in most everyone has it? #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@NancySeeger In my fantasy world, no one uses IE. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

Agreed. 960 is about the standard #DCTH

ReTweetTrends (ReTweetTrends)

http://is.gd/g3GK @chadengle i use tide – all temperature cheer didnt get the white fonts white enough:) hee hee #dcth

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@MillerMosaicLLC I like to point out support for IE6 is dropping, exp 37 Signals, Google docs, you prob saw the IE6 base has hit 20% #DCTH

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@MillerMosaicLLC 960 px is the safe bet for 1024px width screens. Tends to be the standard for the most part in web. #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@mikeconaty 40%, need some far wiser folks than I to comment : ) #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@twodayslate Do you have a link? #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

What on earth is Nancy doing? Participating on designer chat with hastag #DCTH ; )

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

800×600 is px dimensions, correct? Does this mean for maximum reach, I shouldn’t have my site wider than 800? #DCTH

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

#DCTH Thanks for all the input on code editors… gedit, coda, text wrangler, komodo, eclipse…. Looks like I have some homework to do

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@MillerMosaicLLC egads 800 x 600, say it ain’t soooo! Yup, there are a few viewing screens that small (or low res), sympathies #DCTH

:// (twodayslate)

@MillerMosaicLLC #DCTH get the web dev toolbar for firefox.

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@NancySeeger I’m actually putting together a new Terms & conditions, w/ delay of project language. I’ll add the customary 40%, right? #DCTH

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@DCTH I was going to suggest a forum, but it might detract from the use of twitter. I feel a constant stream would be better #DCTH.

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

How do I look at screen in other sizes like 800×600? #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

OK tweeps, I’ve gotta run and get to work on all the great ideas from you folks. #DCTH is a GREAT idea, thanks for everyone’s input!

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

People could always tweet #DCTH if I had a constant stream set up on a site. That way we would still have hours but could be anytime!

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

Ok. I think a site is in order. With the on-going tweets also a forum for everyone to converse and show work. #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@mikeconaty i.e. foot dragger – price hike on new project! ; ) #DCTH

livetweetlinks (livetweetlinks)

RT: @DCTH If possible it’d be great for it to pull all the #DCTH tagged tweets to a page that can live update. http://tinyurl.com/7mgznz

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@DCTH If possible it’d be great for it to pull all the #DCTH tagged tweets to a page that can live update.

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@modbird I was going to tweet "Wisk away those extra bits…" but yours takes the cake. : ) #DCTH

Aaron Hiler (LtBringerPhoto)

@DCTH #DCTH I think a website would be a good way to follow up on issues/questions discussed in the tweet-fest

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@DCTH Hmmm, need turbo charged API (Tweetdeck) when tweeting on with you #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mikeconaty Hahah thats pretty funny! #DCTH

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@DCTH I think a site with recaps and useful links based on the nights convos would be good. #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

RT @modbird: @ChadEngle i use tide – all temperature cheer didnt get the white fonts white enough hee hee #DCTH hall of fame deserving

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

So what are peoples thoughts on a site. Would you find the info useful or is this useful enough? #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

Just, Just, just got email from the foot dragger w/ another new project to discuss @ our mtg next week. LOL #DCTH

Chris Rossi (modbird)

@DCTH hee hee actually a fan of old school helvetica varieties for most (coupled w/ a small dose of simple serif font depending) #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@andrew_cohen Thats what I use! Or tweetgrid. I am trying to make things better and easier for us. #DCTH

Niki Brown (nebrow)

@andrew_cohen #DCTH use tweetdeck and search for #DCTH

Andrew Cohen (andrew_cohen)

@DCTH Easiest way to keep up with DCTH tweets outside of search.twitter.com? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@NancySeeger Its ok I tend to tweet fast! hahaha #DCTH

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

RT @modbird: @ChadEngle i use tide – all temperature cheer didnt get the white fonts white enough hee hee #DCTH *wow…… nice!

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@DCTH yes on making sense THX, learning to "dummy down" the tech talk to state case – sorry, hard to keep up w/ your quick tweets #DCTH

Chris Rossi (modbird)

@ChadEngle i use tide – all temperature cheer didnt get the white fonts white enough hee hee #DCTH

adelle (adellecharles)

RT @chadengle: Are you all participating in #DCTH? Just tag your tweet with the hastag and join in. We are currently talking about clean …

Niki Brown (nebrow)

RT @ChadEngle: Are you participating in #DCTH? Just tag your tweet with the hastag and join in. We are currently talking about clean fonts.

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

Are you all participating in #DCTH? Just tag your tweet with the hastag and join in. We are currently talking about clean fonts.

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

What is everyone else clean font choices? #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@DCTH "…content doesn’t get read same…" good idea, folks misunderstand its a Mac issue, IE just slow to catch up #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@DCTH I seem to be on a Gill Sans kick lately. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

RT @TweetingTrends: New Twitter Trend : #dcth http://minurl.org/yE2 * Thats the third time we have gotten it! woo

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

How many people think that a website would be a good add-on for #DCTH?

Tweeting Trends (TweetingTrends)

New Twitter Trend : #dcth http://minurl.org/yE2

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@andrew_cohen Big into century gothic, helvetica, helvetica neue, futura, avant garde #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

RT @andrew_cohen: @DCTH What is your favorite font currently? I to am a clean font fan and i’m looking for something new. #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@MillerMosaicLLC Did you see "tweet" by @MeyerWeb "Hope IE8 will match the capabilities found in Opera, WebKit, and FireFox" subtle #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@amorby your quite welcome!! Thanks for stopping by #DCTH

Chris Mackintosh (chrismackintosh)

@DCTH I’m out. Everyone have a nice night. #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

#DCTH getting out of this hell hole that is work. Thanks everyone for the help tonight.

tjputerboy (tjputerboy)

@mitchmorby I use Komodo Edit, and any ftp client that’s handy works for me. Most of the time I upload via network share. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@nancyseeger Just explain that some content doesnt get read the same. Try and make it sound simple! (which its not….) #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@millermosiacllc thank you for spending time with us again! It was fun to have you on! #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@ltbringerphoto what do you mean a good video podcast? How to make one? or see one or what…. #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Thanks everyone again — I have to go off and work. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

Does everyone know that @chadengle is my personal profile? #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@ktcosmos LOL #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@NancySeeger I had to go through a chapter of a novel and code it for IE. Arrgh. It was weird what it didn’t like. #DCTH

Aaron Hiler (LtBringerPhoto)

#DCTH Anybody know of a good video podcast for CS4?

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@DCTH thats a great suggestion, my clients are mostly Mac people (musicians), volunteer work PC folks #DCTH

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

@nebrow That’s what I like about it, and that’s how I started coding. Apparently Coda has built-in SVN? I’m intrigued… #DCTH

Mike Martin (mike868y)

@mitchmorby thanks! It is tough working them into a good design. #dcth

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@NancySeeger That make sense? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@NancySeeger The easiest way to put it is browsers read things differently and you want your content to display the same regardless #DCTH

Chris Mackintosh (chrismackintosh)

@mitchmorby Text Wrangler #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

Anyone else besides @nebrow have comments for #DCTH http://is.gd/g3rC Am I doing well or could I be doing better?

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

@mike868y Mine too… I’ve never had luck making the two m’s fit into a decent logo myself. I say yours is a great effort. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mitchmorby Coda is amazing and so is CSSEdit lets you live edit a page. Started in DW but moved to Coda so much lighter. #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@mitchmorby I use DW mostly, but still rely on a text editor for some stuff. #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@mike868y Something’s jarring to me, I can’t quite explain it. What colors are your motorcross bike? #DCTH

Niki Brown (nebrow)

@mitchmorby #DCTH i use dreamweaver, im so used to the auto complete feature

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mike868y I want to say thats good except you are relating yourself to an already established brand. Not so good… #DCTH

:// (twodayslate)

@mitchmorby gedit (basically notepad) then Fireftp #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

Web standards rant – explaining why cross browser compatible is a GOOD thg, non webbies don’t understand IE extra work arounds #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@LtBringerPhoto www.search.twitter.com Tags your tweets with #DCTH and you will show up. Also Search for #DCTH in the stream

Mike Martin (mike868y)

@DzynOne haha thanks. I know it doesn’t screen racing but w/e, it’ll work better as a personal branding logo for me then #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mike868y Yea sorry…. I hate how that stuff happens!! It just struck me from the get go! #DCTH

Mike Martin (mike868y)

@MillerMosaicLLC what you do you mean by throwing you off? I like the subtler colors, lets it blend in a little more #DCTH

Mike Martin (mike868y)

@DCTH But my initials are M&M so it kind of works…#DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@mike868y I like that it’s simple and clean. #DCTH

Mike Martin (mike868y)

@DCTH haha, I never even thought about the M&m’s reference to be honest. Now that you say it, I can’t NOT notice it. #DCTH

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

Q for coders out there: What app do you code in? I use dreamweaver w/built-in FTP (but not design view). I heard Coda is good? #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@mike868y I’d go for a brighter blue and green. And something — either the font or how the ms are stacked is throwing me off #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@jwang392 I always back up all of my files on externals that way I always have copies of what I have done. Just label the file-FINAL #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mike868y I may stray away from that font. The first thing I identified with was m&m’s. Like the colors #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@ktcosmos okay, I’m "seeing the light" and starting to become "the converted", worshiping at Adobe alter ; ) #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@amorby @NancySeeger Thanks. #DCTH

Mike Martin (mike868y)

#DCTH Any comments on my new logo? http://mikemartinracing.com/

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

RT @DCTH: Quick sidebar: What can I do better in #DCTH Leave your comments here! Thanks guys/gals! http://is.gd/g3rC

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@twodayslate Nevermind, dafont.com has instructions. Thanks everyone for suggesting dafont — I’d never heard of it. #DCTH

Chris Mackintosh (chrismackintosh)

@DCTH Better now, thanks. Positive client feedback always puts me in a good mood. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@LtBringerPhoto Nothing driving tonight. We have been bouncing around from topic to topic. You following through search? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

Quick sidebar: What can I do better in #DCTH Leave your comments here! Thanks guys/gals! http://is.gd/g3rC

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@twodayslate Thanks. Now how do I upload so I see in GIMP? It explains here but I still don’t get it. http://twurl.nl/0i7vzy #DCTH

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

@nebrow Honestly, I don’t really mind who runs the company as long as they keep developing OS X. I hope he’s ok though. #DCTH

:// (twodayslate)

@nebrow fuck him #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@jwang392 Thx, I’m seriously going to take a look and probably just get InDesign, I’m not "married" to Quark, its just familiar #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@chrismackintosh its going pretty good and yourself? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@nebrow I agree completely. I am not sure what keynotes would be like without Jobs. It makes me sad #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@mikeconaty Thx, not doing a lot of print, but about every other month lately, funny but its mostly non-design folks who push #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@MillerMosaicLLC FG Bethany is cute style yet still readable, check left column to see exp http://bit.ly/2c9SWU #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@DCTH Do you backup your clients websites? Yes? No? How often? Where? How? #DCTH

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

RT @atsmith: 10 Ways to Improve Your Web Page Performance + http://tinyurl.com/9zh5xf **Good tips that just popped up #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

@twodayslate agreed. dafont pwns. #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

@MillerMosaicLLC just look at all the handwriting fonts at dafont.com. They’ve got some good ones. #DCTH

Niki Brown (nebrow)

@DTCH #DCTH what do you guys think about Steve jobs being sick? I think we should all pray for him http://prayforsteve.com

John Wang (jwang392)

@NancySeeger Adobe has a demo. Try it out. See if you like it. And if not, go back to Quark? #DCTH

:// (twodayslate)

@MillerMosaicLLC #DCTH dafont.com rules http://www.dafont.com/kidtyperuled.font

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@MillerMosaicLLC I don’t ever do cutesy couldn’t tell you. Im a clean font person. #DCTH

Chris Mackintosh (chrismackintosh)

Hey everyone, how’s it going tonight? #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@NancySeeger I’m a Quark guy, but it depends on how much print stuff you’re doing, I do so little, I can’t justify the expense #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Any suggestions for a font that’s cutesy, maybe even childlike but still readable? For a header. The subtile of site. #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@amorby Okay "seeing the light…" darn, just got QuarkxPress 8, InDesign doesn’t come with WebSuite CS4 but heck, its only money #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@amorby #DCTH Even so. I’d try to keep Colors, header, navigation, and footer similar. Other than that. do what you will with the content.

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@NancySeeger yes I think it is! I love indesign. Its not that hard to change over to. #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@NancySeeger If you get a Adobe Suite, it usually comes with it. Might as well try it. May save you money from buying QuarkXPress? #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

@jwang392 The whole point is to connect with users. It uses all the corporate colors but uses a fresh design. I say it’s ok. #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

@NancySeeger InDesign is the light and the way. #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@Gautch Hourly. I’ve explained how time is wasted b/c I have to reacquaint myself with old proj. but he pays. I shouldn’t complain. #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

@shawncampbell i agree. we’re modeling it after the zappos blogs-blogs.zappos.com not the same but still branded. I dunno. #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

Hey folks, have been a QuarkXPress person for years, getting pressure to switch to InDesign, it is really THE app now? #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@amorby #DCTH yes. they should. Uniformity is really important for corporate.

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

@DCTH @mikeconaty In the meeting, you should try to be firm in stating that projects are taking too long, and you feel blown off. #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@mikeconaty #DCTH Yea. I agree. Set up timelines and definitely a contract. Maybe even deadlines if you’re so inclined.

Shawn Campbell (shawncampbell)

@amorby imo the important factor is that the blog is human. i don’t think the design needs to be exactly the same. #DCTH

NancySeeger (NancySeeger)

@mike conaty Maybe emphasize with the lazy content client, project schedule is very busy and you don’t want them to miss out #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@amorby they don’t have to be a direct copy but should be heavily influenced by the corp site! #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@jasonatennui thing is, I have 4 projs in the works for them now, so they pay, give me work, it just takes longer than it should. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mikecontay try and set up a timeline and keeps things in check then in the meeting. Give them goals on certain dates etc. #DCTH

Emil Wisch (emilwisch)

Design Community Twitter Hours is goin’ down as we speak. Go to http://search.twitter.com and search #DCTH to see what they’re talkin’ ’bout

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

@timwiseman @amorby I agree. It also helps when hiring a back-end developer if you can create hooks for their software. Goes smoother. #DCTH

:// (twodayslate)

@amorby #DCTH corp blogs should look like the site

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@DCTH Have a meeting w/ them next week, putting a timeline together to try and solve prob. pays on time, projs just take 4 ever #DCTH

Tim Wiseman (timwiseman)

@amorby IMO, freelance designers would be more successful if they coded more, not heavy backend coding, but taking PSD to CSS/HTML. #DCTH

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

@mitchmorby Thanks! It actually hit the front page of Digg, which caused me to freak out a little. In a good way. #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

Should corporate blogs look EXACTLY like the corporate site? Or be a separate but still branded entity? #DCTH

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

@mikeconaty You might want to send a professionally worded "take this seriously or I’m out"-type email. And a bill for hours spent. #DCTH

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

@jasonatennui Shoot, that’s rough. Your tut looks interesting though; I’ll have to check it out. Sorry I can’t be more helpful #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mikecontay time and stop dealing with them #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@jasonatennui reminder calls & emails go unanswered, out of the blue I get changes months later, usually after I send a partial bill #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mikecontay I would pick up the slack and start talking to them about it. Push them to get back to you. If not get paid for your…. #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@mikeconaty ouch. what kind of contract did you sign? does it have a deadline? #DCTH

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

@DCTH revisions 4 a logo design were done 2 months ago, 1 person reviewing, & hasn’t made any comments, anything, same with a web site #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@wpthoughts Yea its probably pulling the old posts from many weeks ago! #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Sorry guys, I have to go do work for a client. I’m on the West Coast. Thanks. #DCTH

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

@mikeconaty I try to put a timeline in my schedule, and send reminder emails if the client starts blowing off the project. #DCTH

Andrew Barnett (wpthoughts)

@MillerMosaicLLC Mine appears to be working. Thanks for the heads up for #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@DCTH Thanks. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mikeconaty how do you mean? Them not getting back to you or you doing tons of work for them? #DCTH

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

@mitchmorby SQL injection definitely sucks. I wrote a tut for CSS-Tricks (http://bit.ly/y757) and got torn apart for security holes. #DCTH

Andrew Barnett (wpthoughts)

@DCTH I just created a column searching for #DCTH and it appears to have been filled with 200+ posts

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mitchmorby no problem! They must have changed that in the most recent TweetDeck upgrade! #DCTH

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

@DCTH It updates automatically, it’s just a couple minutes slow usually… btw, I’m doing great tonight, thanks for asking. #DCTH

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

Woo #DCTH is going pretty well tonight. Slow start but we are building! haha

mikeconaty (mikeconaty)

Do any of you folks put time restrictions on your clients? I have 1 who drags projects out for months when it should take days? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

RT @jwang392: @nebrow #DCTH "Defensive Design for the Web" was recommended by Steve Krug on a blog. I forget which. It’s by 37Signals folks.

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@wpthoughts I don’t think that the tweetdeck search auto updates #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@nebrow #DCTH "Defensive Design for the Web" was recommended by Steve Krug on a blog. I forget which. It’s by 37Signals folks.

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

@jasonatennui I know a little about it in Coldfusion… cfqueryparam. Sorry I’m still a PHP noob. SQL injection sucks. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@jasonatennui No I don’t sorry. Have you tried Nettuts.com to see if they have any tuts on the matter? #DCTH

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

@jasonatennui No I don’t sorry. Have you tried Nettuts.com to see if they have any tuts on the matter? #DCTH

Andrew Barnett (wpthoughts)

@MillerMosaicLLC I’ve just created a search column in TweetDeck to follow the conversation #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@MillerMosaicLLC Well if you are putting them on a website I would go with a jpg. for file size print is a whole different story #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@amorby #DCTH no. there’s no requirement to coding. There’s a lot of copywriting freelancers. Logo creators, etc. It’s not just web design.

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@mitchmorby hows it going this evening? Thanks for the kind comments!! #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

and by doing I mean coding. sorry. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@amorby you can freelance in whatever you want. If you don’t want to do freelance web design dont! haha #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@nebrow Beyond Disruption is an amazing book. Especially if you want to think outside the box with clients! #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

Do freelancers have to know how to code websites? What if you only dabble in doing but are not to code jockey status yet? #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@nebrow What kind of design books? How to, inspirational, what? #DCTH

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

@DCTH Not anything in particular. Unless you know things about SQL injection prevention in PHP. #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@DCTH I’m putting the pictures up on a site. They were originally illustrations for a book. #DCTH

Niki Brown (nebrow)

@dcth #dcth any suggestions on good design related books to read?

Mitch Morby (mitchmorby)

Hi to all #DCTH tweeps! Single-handedly the best thing about Thursday nights….

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@MillerMosiacLLC who are you sending it too? What files do they require? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@amorby I figure if you have any connections use them for freelance. Friends etc. Then use twitter and the web to find more! #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@amorby @andysowards‘s daily links almost always has great links for freelancers. #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Come on design people, show off your knowledge. Please answer my q about file formats. #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

@jwang392 Thanks much. I know nothing about freelancing, so I figure I better wise up if I’m going to do it. Appreciate the help. #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@jasonatennui welcome! You have anything on your mind you want to discuss? #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@MillerMosaicLLC #DCTH Twitter Search is usually ok. I use TweetDeck also.

Shawn Campbell (shawncampbell)

@MillerMosaicLLC most twitter apps have a way to see hashtag streams. mac or pc? #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

What’s the best file format for a illustration being used in a book? It will be put up in WP. #DCTH

amorby (amorby)

@DCTH Great. Thank you. I assume the easiest way is to make a major portfolio and SEO the crap out of it? #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Ok, I’m using TweetGrid now #DCTH

John Wang (jwang392)

@amorby I suggest @milesb The Principles of Successful Freelancing. http://bit.ly/e5qy #DCTH FreelanceSwitch.com and FreelanceFolder.com

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

#DCTH Hours have begun! I am hanging out infront of my comp and ready to kick it whats up? #DCTH

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

#DCTH Hours have begun! I am hanging out infront of my comp and ready to kick it whats up? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@amorby There are some great resources on freelancswitch.com about freelancing #DCTH

Jason Lengstorf (jasonatennui)

I think I’ll listen in on #DCTH tonight…

amorby (amorby)

@DCTH Part-time. I might possibly have another half-time job lined up, but I need to supplement income. What’s the first step? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@MillerMosaicLLC Your not the only one talking looks like a slow night this evening! #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

What’s another way to look at a hashtag stream besides through search.twitter? #DCTH

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

@amorby full out or just on the side? #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@DCTH this is great I can just see myself on the #DCTH. Unless, I’m the only one talking…

:// (twodayslate)

#DCTH just started… yeah!

amorby (amorby)

ok. I’m looking to start freelancing. What’s the first step? #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@DCTH I think my Twitter is being stupid again. It’s very slow and about 4 minutes behind. #DCTH

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

@wpthoughts why don’t you join us at #DCTH? Tweetup (on Twitter) of qs and as about code, design, etc.

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Anyone else’s #DCTH stream through search.twitter.com slow?

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

Oh F, I forgot #DCTH is on eastern time. It’s now!

Yael K. Miller (MillerMosaicLLC)

I know it’s too early for #DCTH but what’s the best file format for a illustration being used in a book? It will be put up in WP.

Violet Whitworth (vmethod)

@chadengle this is probably a stupid question, but what is #DCTH?

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

#DCTH starts in about 15 minutes!! WOoo!

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

#DCTH starts in about 15 minutes!

amorby (amorby)

RT @modbird: RT @chadengle: Reminding everyone that #DCTH is tonight from 6-8pm (est) **Coolest thing on Twitter. Be therrrre.

Chris Rossi (modbird)

RT @chadengle: Reminding everyone that #DCTH is tonight from 6-8pm (est) sorry that I didn’t get around to tweeting this earlier today!

Rajesh Pancholi (r27)

RT @DCTH: Reminding everyone that #DCTH is tonight from 6-8pm (est) sorry that I didn’t get around to tweeting this earlier today!

Emil Wisch (emilwisch)

RT @DCTH: Reminding everyone that #DCTH is tonight from 6-8pm (est) sorry that I didn’t get around to tweeting this earlier today!

DesignCommTwitrHrs (DCTH)

Reminding everyone that #DCTH is tonight from 6-8pm (est) sorry that I didn’t get around to tweeting this earlier today!

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

Reminding everyone that #DCTH is tonight from 6-8pm (est) sorry that I didn’t get around to tweeting this earlier today!

John Wang (jwang392)

@chadengle #DCTH today?

ChadEngle (ChadEngle)

Dont forget #DCTH tonight! From 6-8pm (est) Should be another fun night!

John Wang (jwang392)

@chadengle #DCTH tomorrow?

Share your thoughts and comments on DCTH.

Programming Ruby 1.9: The Pragmatic Programmers’ Guide by Dave Thomas, with Chad Fowler and Andy Hunt
Available March 2009
This is the Pickaxe book, named for the tool on the cover. The original PickAxe was the first English-language book on Ruby. Each edition of the book tracks the latest Ruby release, and each is the definitive reference to Ruby. This time we’ve broken with tradition. This isn’t a third edition. It’s technically a separate book. That’s because it reflects all the new features of Ruby 1.9, and we want both it and the second edition (which covers 1.8) to be available at the same time.

Agile Web Development with Rails, Third Edition by Sam Ruby, Dave Thomas, David Heinemeier Hansson
Available March 2009
The Third Edition of the Jolt Award winning book that shows you a new approach to web development, updated for Rails 2. Sam Ruby joins the team to add his world-class knowledge of web application development, making this the most up-to-date and authoritative Rails book out there.

iPhone SDK Development by Bill Dudney, Chris Adamson, and Marcel Molina
Available April 2009
Jump into application development for today’s most remarkable mobile communications platform, the Pragmatic way, with iPhone SDK Development. This Pragmatic guide takes you through the tools and APIs, the same ones Apple uses for its applications, that you can use to create your own software for the iPhone and iPod touch. Packed with useful examples, this book will give you both the big-picture concepts and the everyday “gotcha” details that developers need to make the most of the beauty and power of the iPhone OS platform.

Website Owner’s Manual by Paul Boag of Boagworld.
Available March 2009
Website Owner’s Manual helps you form a vision for your site, guides you through the process of selecting a web design agency, and gives you enough background information to make intelligent decisions throughout the development process. This book provides a jargon-free overview of web design, including accessibility, usability, online marketing, and web development techniques. You’ll gain a practical understanding of the technologies, processes, and ideas that drive a successful site.

Web Design for Developers: A Programmer’s Guide to Design Tools and Techniques by Brian Hogan
Available May 2009
Web Design for Developers will show you how to make your web-based application look professionally designed. We’ll help you learn how to pick the right colors and fonts, avoid costly interface and accessibility mistakes—your application will really come alive. We’ll also walk you through some common Photoshop and CSS techniques and work through a web site redesign, taking a new design from concept all the way to implementation.

What’s on your to read list? Any suggestions for our readers on upcoming books to read?

After reading Adelle Charles (  @adellecharles ) review [Are You Freelance Material?] of The Principles of Successful Freelancing by Miles Burke ( @milesb ), I decided to get the book as a Christmas present to myself.

Initial Impressions:

The book seemed very light and small. It has the traditional Sitepoint look and feel to it.

Finished Reading Impressions:

Miles does an excellent job with the many aspects to consider prior to starting freelancing. Even more so, he talks about his experiences and failures in embarking into freelancing. The book’s chapters are very nicely broken down into well manageable sections. And the book is short enough to read on a long flight. Similar to the length of Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think!

Miles takes us through the freelancing journey of 2 fictional individuals. At the end of each chapter, explaining their decisions on the principle emphasized in the chapter. And also provides various links to resources discussed in the chapters. Such as finance software examples and start-up cost examples.

I also liked that the book did not end with the completion of the first year, but also provide advice on where to go and what to do after success has come. Miles did an amazing job bringing out the hidden costs and fees that a lot of potential freelancers come across in their first year as a surprise. There is a lot of emphasis on proper planning before you leap into the sea. And rightfully so. Planning is by far one of the most important principles of success in any field. He goes through the do’s and don’t's for success very nicely.

While the book does center a bit around a web design freelancing aspect as that is Miles Burke’s specialty, it is a very informative resource for anyone considering freelancing in any industry.

The book’s Sitepoint website provides an in-depth list of the chapters and descriptions as well as a free sample chapter to read before you decide if you want to purchase it.

Final Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. The material was very well written and did not overwhelm. I highly recommend it to anyone considering freelancing as a career and even those who have already taken the leap.

Your Thoughts?

Have you read the book? What did you think? Will you read the book?

People are always talking about the importance of sketching as part of a process in web, logo, or graphic design. For example: A List Apart, David Airey, and PSDTuts all have an article putting some sort of emphasis on it. Jason Beiard also touches on it as part of his layout chapter in his book The Principles of Beautiful Web Design. And even the Twitterverse of Web Designers gave an overwhelming response when asked about sketching.

I can understand why people will bypass the sketching process in favor of jumping straight into Fireworks, Photoshop, or Illustrator as it does add a step and slow you down a bit. Even more so if you have access to a graphic tablet such as the Wacom Intuos or Cintiq.

Personally, I don’t mind the slow down and find it more helpful to do the sketching. I use a Moleskine Large Squared Notebook. It’s a small grid notebook (13 x 21 cm) with 240 pages. Recently, I have been trying to incorporate the concepts of The Divine Proportion, Rule of Thirds, and 960 Grid System into some designs. But first, I needed to find a way to incorporate them into the Moleskine for sketching. Unfortunately for me, a few Google searches came back with empty results and I was left to do them myself.

The Divine Proportion

The magical irrational number 1.61803 (phi) that makes all things proportioned to it, aesthetically pleasing. I mostly just use this to separate content in website design. Divinely proportioning the Moleskine should be easy as it’s dimensions of 13 x 21cm are within 0.2% of said Golden Ratio. Anyways, the math comes out like this:

Horizontal format: 20/1.618 = 12.97 cm ~ 13cm (25 boxes.) That leaves us with 8cm (15 boxes) on the other side.

Vertical format: 13/1.618 = 8 cm (16 boxes) by 5 cm (10 boxes.)

The Rule of Thirds

A simplified version of the Divine Proportion. And much easier to do without doing math. This was also the easiest to implement with the Squared Moleskine. The dimensions of the notebook I gave you previously (13 x 21 cm) does not really lend itself to making this easy. But, having painfully counted the number of actual squares and measuring them I found the notebook is also 25 x 41 boxes. So, I gave myself a rectangle with 1 box border on the right, 2 box border on the top, 3 box border on the bottom and half a box on the left. Making an internal box dimension of 36 x 24, which is easily divisible by 3.

Vertical format: 6 x 4

The 960 Grid System

The 960 Grid System provides downloadable templates for PDF grid paper, Fireworks, OmniGraffle, Photoshop & Visio, and CSS framework with demo HTML. That’s pretty wonderful considering it’s all free. The problem for me was, the PDF is not in my Moleskine and not the size of a Moleskine page. So it was back to doing more math. The 960 Grid System uses a 12 column or 16 column format. This was a bit more complicated. Probably the most complicated of all. Anyways, Nathan Smith does a great job at explaining everything on the website. Of particular interest to me was the Dimensions section where I found the needed numbers to incorporate the columns into the notebook. Unfortunately, it was too difficult to incorporate it in a vertical format. At least for now. I may revisit it later. Below are the results.

12 Column – 0.5 box margins, 2.5 box column width

16 Column – 0.5 box margins, 1.5 box column width

Further reading

• Cameron Moll – Gridding the 960
• Prototyping With The Grid 960 CSS Framework – NETTUTS
• Applying Divine Proportion To Your Web Designs | How-To | Smashing Magazine
• The Principles of Beautiful Web Design [Design Principles] – Grid Theory
• The Monster Collection of Moleskine Tips, Tricks and Hacks – FreelanceSwitch – The Freelance Blog
• moleskinerie: The Divine Moleskine
• The Golden Ratio in Web Design – NETTUTS
• Golden Ratio in modern CSS
• 960 CSS Framework – Learn the Basics » DivitoDesign
• Tricks to Solve 960 CSS Framework Problems » DivitoDesign
• A Detailed Look at the 960 CSS Framework – NETTUTS

Looking for feedback. Do you sketch out designs? Do you use any of these concepts in designs? What do you use?

Question to all web designers: Do you sketch/draw out your preliminary designs on paper first or just jump into Photoshop?

• 

Tom Sinclair (tommsinclair)

@jwang392 used to just jump into PSbut started sketching layouts/wireframes then rough ideas. I find it helps a lot, but does take longer!

Eugene Villaluz (beegkahuna)

@jwang392 During face-to-face with client specs are listed. Discussion on structure, functions and visual and some sketches. No Photoshop.

webdesignfanboy (webdesignfanboy)

@jwang392 photoshop. I can’t draw well at all…

webdesignfanboy (webdesignfanboy)

@jwang392 nope, I just start with shapes, brushes, etc. I’m a photoshop resource collector

adelle (adellecharles)

@jwang392 sketch unless im in a hurry sometimes even a quick 10 minute drawing can help focus.

Mark Poppen (deluzione)

@jwang392 usually I jump to Photoshop right away. If I have a good idea in my head, I won’ let go of it until it’s in Photoshop..

amberminty (amberminty)

@jwang392 sketch, research, sketch, then Photoshop.

Calvin Lee (mayhemstudios)

@jwang392 I always start out with pen and paper before jumping on computer. Lay things out and basic concepts.

Dan Kellner (sofaemployed)

@jwang392 mostly photoshop

Selene M. Bowlby (idesignstudios)

@jwang392 @mayhemstudios – Straight to photoshop first

Rachel McClung (rachelmc)

@jwang392 I sketch first — and often after I start working it’s a back + forth process between computer and sketchbook.

Calvin Lee (mayhemstudios)

@jwang392 RT kristofcreative Always pen to paper first. It’s less restricting.

Calvin Lee (mayhemstudios)

@jwang392 I usually do small quick thumbnails for ideas.

Calvin Lee (mayhemstudios)

@jwang392 RT @betterinpink photoshop only. I can’t draw

Calvin Lee (mayhemstudios)

@jwang392 RT @arzath depends on what kind of design

Calvin Lee (mayhemstudios)

@jwang392 RT @KrisColvin I almost always sketch both sites and interfaces but not blogs.

Calvin Lee (mayhemstudios)

@jwang392 RT @sparkyfirepants always sketch. Always. Did I mention always?

Paul Söderholm (pasoderholm)

@jwang392 re sketching designs: to 99% I start with pen and paper. Nothing beats P&P when organizing your ideas!

Thank you all so much for your insights. They were all greatly appreciated and helpful.

How about the readers? Do you sketch or jump straight into Photoshop?