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Podcasts I Listen to

6 Essential Steps for Multitasking and Getting Things Done

The first thing I did when approaching this project was to see his (and his business needs), bringing the blog up to the new social media standards. Working together was key. I wanted to give it a prepress look, and took the idea from the menu bar on the color blocks. Here was my first suggestion for one of the accent dividers in between posts:

After I showed that to Jake on the preview for the site, he suggested I do it on CMYK order:

Looked better, but still something was off.  We decided to use the color registration marks with 80%-100%-20% opacity for each color, and we got our winning combination! Looks so much smoother and well thought of.

After that, we wanted to make a custom Gravatar for those who don’t have one set up for themselves. We’re both fans an app called PressCheck, and they have some out of registration marks on the splash screen. We were inspired about that and put together the avatar for the site.

My next step was to download the Database locally so I could check up all the posts, links and content on the new template. It was crazy I tell you. Jake has been blogging since August 2005, and there was something funky with the DB. It was 86.0 MB- just the wp_coments was up to 64MB. I seeked out help from the wiseman (a.k.a Nico Pin from Snowy Day Design) and he suggested export and download everything on the data base but the comments and then a second round with just the comments. Finally it worked that way and I got to test it locally.

Then time of truth: Jake still was using WP2.1. With Jake, we decided to uninstall everything and start from scratch. I imported the clean and fresh DB (the problem was on how spam was handled), installed WP, Plugins and the theme. Then… The final result:

Home

Blog Post

I added the RT button, Facebook likes for each post, as well as links to his Twitter, Facebook and Flickr Pages. We still need to fix some little things here and there, but overall the look for the site is pretty much it. Over the next few weeks, we’ll add a portfolio section to the site to showcase all his work.

I hope you like Prepressology‘s new look, I had a blast working on the site!

8 Essential Steps of Handling Web Design Projects

Make sure to swing by and leave a comment!

I dread listening to myself speak, but surely this should help me get it better. I think it did. It’s not the same as reading it out loud, it’s recording it as you would tell it to someone else!

Make sure you listen to The Reflex Blue Show, and follow them on Twitter @36Point

The idea behind this website was that excellent and informative content will be recognized as such best through straightforward and simple design elements rather than complex and cutting edge that is typically espoused to be the most effective.

So far there are a few posts on the site, all of them really cool lists:

• 50 Web Designers Whose Blogs You Should Be Reading
• 50 iPad Apps for Web Designers
• The Top 90 Web Design Blogs
• 100 Great Graphic Designers to Follow on Twitter

I was thrilled to learn that I was on the last one! Growing quality content. Bailey is looking for comments and feedback on the site, so make sure you swing by and leave a note!

Last December, since I was traveling again, I was able to be part of the guest judges to the Design4Kids program, getting some feedback to the kids on their designs for their client, the Atitlán Hospital and the Diabetes campaign. Come 2010 and I was really happy to be part of Design4Kids once again. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to be in Atitlán during the workshop, but did get to work with the students, along with Vanesa Juarez, teaching them about blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and what Social Media can mean for them.

This has to be one of the best experiences ever. During the workshop I got the opportunity to invite some of my friends and collegues: Rodrigo Zarco, Von Glitschka, Jacob Cass, Neto Gonzalez, Donovan Beery, Nate Voss and Telva Mejía Tefel, who joined other big names in the industry to give out critiques to their work. Thanks once again to all of you for your time. Trust me, you’ve made a difference in the lives of these students.

The coolest thing… the students made a video  introducing themselves and saying thanks to the volunteers:

Look for Design4Kids work at:

• Twitter: @Design4Kids
• Flickr: Design4Kids Photostream
• YouTube: Design4Kids Channel
• Facebook: Design4Kids Fan Page

Yes, I use Quicksilver to switch applications or open the Finder How cool is that - Original Tweet

So, I got a reply back from @sigurarm pointing me to a  Quicksilver/Things plug-in. This is great! Now you can write a note (call Quicksilver and press the . (dot) and start typing), then press the Tab and type “addto” to call the Things plug-in. The result is a To-D0 in Things that you can find in the Inbox for future tweaking.

You can dowload the Quicksilver and Things plugin at the Cultured Code support page.

One thing I have to add, is that reading their blog, I noticed that they have a new addition to their staff back in August, that is Bartek Bargiel- the man behind iGTD. Congratulations to both parties! I’m sure that the software you guys release will  be bigger and better every time!

These days, with thousands of blogs and references out there, this has to be one of the best I have come across that gathers all kind of tips and information for the reader, not only on the technical and practical side of things but also on the human side. Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success talks about keeping good communication between the designer and the world: clients, providers and other fellow designers.

The author, Jeff Fisher, covers in this book one of the biggest things I have learned from him. Not to be afraid of “Tooting your own horn”. This is covered in one of the many wonderful chapters with in the book. He points you in the right direction, giving the feel of a very organic relationship between the designer and the author. He merely gives you guidance about the available paths and the path you choose is up to you. All around, it’s a book that needs to be in any designer’s library.

To learn more about the Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, you can visit Jeff Fisher’s blog.  You can purchase the book through third party resellers at Amazon.com (since the original book is out of print) or a searchable PDF released late January 2009 through MyDesignShop.com. Either way, I highly recommend you get your hands on a copy. This book is one of the tools for today’s designer. I want to thank Jeff for this amazing book that has been a wonderful guide and enlightening read!

In the meantime, check out my Delicious bookmarks to see what I’ve been reading, Last.fm to see the tunes I’ve been listening on this last days of hard work and feel free to browse around my pics on Flickr!