Brainstorming with Design
If any of you out there are like me, I like to do a little brainstorming before I dig right into whatever project I am trying to tackle. If you haven’t tried this, you missing out-it can be a great help to “get past the roadblock” of design. If I were a writer, and obviously I am not, I guess I would equate this to writers’ block. I am sure most of you have run into this problem. You come across a client or a job that is giving you fits on how to truly convey what they need to be done. This tip might be of some help to you.
What I would suggest is always have a basic notepad and pen or pencil next to your workstation. Not only is it great for jotting notes down, but get creative and sketch some ideas out. I don’t care how crazy or irrelevant it may seem at the time-chances are at some point you will remember that design or illustration and refer back to it another time. I have done this countless times.
Doesn’t matter if you are a good illustrator or not. Just getting an initial idea down on paper is what really counts. If you ever heard that you need to actually WRITE goals down in order to effectively achieve them, well, I think this is the same sort of thing.
Try it-you won’t regret it!
Anyone who has done any kind of webwork at all realizes what an utter piece of junk IE (Internet Explorer) really is. After spending a considerable amount of time coding and designing a website, my usual rule of thumb is to “hack” the perfectly looking site on every other browser for the evil IE browser.
For any that are interested I recommend ALWAYS checking your site progress in a Standards Compliant Browser, such as Firefox-then go back and adjust for IE. Aside from the headaches IE will cause you, there are many other reasons to make the switch. These are just a few:
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Improved Tabbed Browsing
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Spell Checking
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Search Suggestions
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Session Restore
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Web Feeds (RSS)
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Live Titles
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Integrated Search
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Live Bookmarks
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Pop-up Blocker
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Streamlined Interface
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Accessibility
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My personal favorite: Add-ons Manager for Extensions and Themes
For a more in depth explanation of the features associated with Firefox, read here from the official website.
So join the masses of people that are seeing the light! Down with IE and in with Firefox!
New Photoshop Logo Unveiled
Well, I just happen to stumble across this-and I can’t say I am very impressed. It’s the new Photoshop logo. And, I must say it seems pretty uninventive. Like many others have stated it resembles something thats been done before, or isn’t very compelling. It certainly doesn’t make one say "wow I know what that is the second I see it".
Hardly.
You would think the big guru’s over at Adobe would have come up with some much better than this. I have always like there logos and software packaging in the past. I didn’t care for the CS3 new logos either, but I thought we would go back to some original logo artwork-guess I was wrong.
More articles can be found over at Jason Santa Maria’s site and at John Nack’s site.
Great website for Freelance designers
This website is a great resource tools for not only designers, but "for freelancers of all varieties - designers, writers programmers, illustrators, photographers …" taken from their web site.
FreelanceSwitch, a Community & Resource site is an invaulable service for advice, tips, and tricks of the various trades. I highly reccomend it to anyone thinking of getting out on their own and out from "under the man."
NFL Week 1 Synapsis
Well Week 1 has come to a conclusion. Here are my thoughts after all the excitement:
- First off-obviously I have to talk about how elated I am that my Vikings won thier season opener. I didn’t get to watch it, but I was tracking it online live. Defense rocked, of course, and Adrian Peterson looks like he will be the real deal!
- Secondly, VERY happy to see the Panther’s not only win but played well in doing so. They are my wife’s favorite team, and I have to admit I like em too. I thought they put on a pretty good showing on the road vs. a Rams team that I feel is much improved over last year.
- The Chiefs are in TROUBLE. 20-3 vs. the Texans, OUCH! Larry Johnson only 43 yards rushing-ouch. The offensive line- OUCH! Could be a very sad season for the Chiefs.
- The Colts are #1 and the Patriots are a close second. Both looked dominating vs. 10-6 playoff teams.
- The Bears still need a QB
- Hopefully Eli is ok….he had a great start.
Well, that outta wrap up my thoughts about week 1-great first week. Thing I truly love about opening weekend is it just wets your appetite for week 2!!!
GO VIKES!
Welcome
Welcome to Mike Guenther Design Services. Specializing in the highest quality Graphic and Web Design, Logo Creation, Corporate Branding as well as a full range of printing services. Let us convey the professional image you desire.Mac
Everything-ready.The Mac is the only computer in the world that can run all the major operating systems, including Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Vista. With software like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion you can even run them side by side.
Firefox
Why Firefox?Using the Internet doesn't have to mean using Internet Explorer! Firefox offers the unique features that will vastly improve your online experience. So feel confident in making the switch to the fastest, safest, most customizable browser on the Web.
Wordpress
WordPress is a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. What a mouthful. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.Photoshop
The Adobe Photoshop family of products is the ultimate playground for bringing out the best in your digital images and transforming them into anything you can imagine.Dreamweaver
Quickly and easily design, develop, and maintain websites and web applications from start to finish with Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 software. Built for both designers and developers, Dreamweaver CS3 offers the choice of working in an intuitive visual layout interface or a streamlined coding environment.
