Domain names are the human-readable web addresses. Just like a regular street address takes you to a physical location, domain names take you to the website they are associated with. Every website resides on a server somewhere in the world. The default address for each website is a series of four numbers, called an IP […]
Category Archives:
Web Design
What Is A Domain Name?
How To Responsively Rearrange Elements With CSS
Responsive web design presents a number of layout challenges for developers. Sometimes, page content needs to be presented differently on desktop and mobile. If the order needs to be rearranged, what are the options? It helps to remember that page elements are boxes within boxes, inside of a large box, the device window. If there […]
Why You Should Be Gathering Web Content Early
There’s something amiss about the way most of us are designing and producing websites today. I’ve been noticing it for a long time, and it’s something that almost every designer I know is guilty of. I can’t even say I’m calling anyone out on this, because it feels like 95% of freelancers, agencies, and consultancies […]
Build A Quiz In PHP: What Metal Band Are You?
In 2013-2014, I had a series of client projects where I needed to build a quiz in PHP. Taking what I learned from that, I designed a quiz of my own, where you answer multiple choice questions and determine what heavy metal band your personality resembles. The subject matter can be changed to whatever your […]
Avoiding Stock Photography Cliches
Imagery is a huge part of effective storytelling. In traditional stories, pictures and words are intrinsically linked. In the original versions of Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh, the illustrations were just as much a part of the storytelling experience as the words. The drawings Hugh McLeod provided for […]
How To Flush Your Page Cache
Here’s a situation I’ve encountered before when setting up new websites with a brand new domain and a new server. When setting up a new site, sometimes when going to the correct web address, you still get a default CGI page from the server. This can be due to several things, but if everything else […]
Mobile First Web Design
Working with web technologies means keeping up with the blistering pace of change. In the past few years, the web has transformed from primarily desktop to mobile. The next few years will continue that evolution as more devices and screen types become part of the web. For many organizations, this creates both a problem and […]
Content First Web Design
Perhaps the most underestimated component of a website is its content. Like print, radio, and television before it, the internet is a unique information-sharing technology with its own advantages and challenges. Yet many web studios inadvertently teach their clients that the presentation matters a lot, and what is being presented matters far less. I believe […]
Using Adobe Color (Kuler) for Web Design
Update, May 2015: Adobe changed the name of this product from Adobe Kuler to Adobe Color CC. Adobe Color is a visual tool that lets you create and save color palettes, with up to five colors in each. I like using Adobe Color for web design, especially in the planning stages, because it allows me […]
Web Design Research Creates Successful Projects
Your website is a big deal. It is your number one marketing tool, so getting it right is important. Many small and mid-sized organizations have to align their internal forces and gather their resources to get a web project in motion. If a web project is executed ineffectively, it may be a while before the […]