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Archive for the ‘Websites’ Category

So I’ve decided to stop screwin’ around and build my own WordPress template. So, I’ve been playing with this new design, from scratch, for a few days now on my down time.

It’s not done yet. Needs a lot more CSS help. But it’s coming along. Here are some small (small) snippets of what it’s looking like.

I’m using a JavaScript to make the corners nice and rounded. It works in most browsers without a hitch, which rocks. What does that mean? It means I can have a busy background like below, and nice founded corners like above without sacrificing quality. What is extra awesome if I can have a really smooth background like behind the ‘GO’ is a red-green gradient and not have to figure out how to make the corners round.

You control the corners in CSS, which makes it easy to use.

I made this background using some textures I won – nice texture pack. So I make it so it would be seamless and VIOLA … slick background.

I’m hoping to have this site done and going by the end of the month – maybe sooner. We’ll see. I’ve made some massive headway – faster than I expected.

Now I’m coding it all up in WordPress.

Wish me luck!

Some of you may know that I am color deficient. What this means is I can’t distinguish colors as effectively as some people. Which ALSO means I have a hard time matching colors and sometimes end up with web sites that really do not look the best.

Well, I have found a very good solution for my problem. The web site is simply called ‘Color Match’ by <hyper>gURL and really does what I need it to!

Color Match is a website tool showing how to match website colors and help in choosing a website color scheme or color code. Also displays the HTML Color Code.

Not only does it match the colors, but it shows you the HTML hex codes. Also, it gives you the option to download an Adobe Photoshop swatch file for using within Photoshop AND download for Illustrator.

This web site – FREE web site – is perfect and very useful. I wanted to share the find.

Enjoy.

http://www.hypergurl.com/colormatch.php

You may remember a few of my posts that had a lot to do with Blender, the free 3D rendering system. This program not only kicks a lot of butt, it has a very active community.

I found a slew of sites that have turorials on how to use this. So I figured I would share the wealth!

This website I like, Henry Jones, has an article here that says the following:

As a web designer, it is important to have resources that help you stay on top of the latest trends and technologies. Below is a list of sites that will help you do just that.

BittBox

BittBox has a ton of easy to follow Illustrator and Photoshop tutorials as well as free high-quality brushes, vector art, and fonts. The site has only been around for a year, but has quickly become one of the first stops of designers looking for helpful stuff.

Web Designer Wall

Web Designer Wall is a great place to find tutorials and the occasional freebie. If you can’t find something useful in the content, the design of the site alone should be enough to inspire you.

Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine focuses on delivering quality over quantity, and they succeed in doing so. There are lots of good tutorials on the site, along with long compiled lists of other resources.

Tutorial Blog

Tutorial Blog began as a Photoshop tutorial only site, but now they cover a wide range of web design related topics.

A List Apart

A List Apart has been around since 1998 with content focusing on web standards and usability. The professionalism and quality of articles of this online magazine might make it the best resource for web designers.

Digital Web Magazine

Digital Web Magazine is another site that has been around for a while. With over 390 articles and 218 contributors, there is a wealth of information for web designers to take in.

These are all GREAT resources and I’m glad that H.J. pointed them out … I need to say, Smashing Magazine is probably one of THE best.

I’ve been reading through this awesome web site for sometime. They have some of the coolest posts ever, and I really think they have a great eye for style.

Founded in September 2006, Smashing Magazine delivers useful and innovative information for designers and web-developers. Our aim is to inform our readers about the latest trends and techniques in web-development – clearly, precisely and regularly. We don’t try to convince you with the quantity, but with the quality of the information we present. That’s what makes us different. In fact, we smash you with the information which will make your life easier. Really.

Why Smashing Magazine? Well, why not? We smash our readers with information which might be useful for them, even although they haven’t realized it yet.

Some of their articles are just for fun, like Laptop Sleeves, Skins and Stickers, 100 Excellent Free WordPress Themes, 35 (Really) Incredible Free Icon Sets and so many more it’s impossible to really show you everything!

If you’re a designer and haven’t seen these guys yet, check it out – you’ll not be sorry. You can even subscribe to their RSS and read all their articles away from their site – full article feeds. It’s awesome.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/