WordPress + Twitter Bootstrap

Recently, I made my first custom WordPress site with the help of Twitter Bootstrap. The use of these two elements made my experience extremely positive. The only issue I ran into was when I switched between the visual and text editors in WordPress (and compatibility with Internet Explorer of course). Every time I would switch to the visual editor from the text editor, WordPress would reformat all my HTML. This made things aggravating  and I found out that this was a common problem. So common in fact that WordPress has created a way to remove the visual editor completely so there will be no  surprising/irritating mishaps. You can do this by going to Users > Your Profile > Visual Editor. You will check the “Disable the visual editor when writing” then hit “Update Profile” at the bottom of the webpage. If you do have a reformatting mishap then all you have to do is stay calm and hit the “Screen Options” button at the top-right of your WordPress page  then check “Revisions”. All the recent updates to the page you are working on will appear at the bottom of your page and you just pick the update that you want your page to go back to. After I got past this issue everything was smooth sailing. All the elements of the site seemed to fall into place nicely and the ease of use was great. All the Plugin options make it extremely easy to add in contact forms, RSS feeds, etc.

The website I created is a retail site that sells cute and comfortable baby clothing. You can check it out here: http://bugsduds.com

Changes in Web Design

Web design is continually changing and until recently is has been playing it safe. Accessibility, practicality, creativity and RWD have to be considered in order to be successful at web design.

Accessibility and practicality seem to be joined together in the world of web design. When a website is accessible it also tends to be practical so I will talk about these two together.  Accessibility and practicality have become a growing problem with the increase in mobile and tablet users. What you can click on with a mouse on a desktop computer might be too small to tap on with your finger on a tablet and/or phone. You have to make sure that the mobile and tablet users have large buttons so they can be touch screen accessible. You also should limit your use of Flash. Flash cannot be seen in most mobile and tablet users since it in not supported. I went to a website the other day where the navigation was build all in Flash. Don’t get me wrong it looked nice from the desktop view but once I went to that same website on my cellphone not only could I not see the websites design properly but I also couldn’t navigate through the website at all because one of the most important parts of the website was no longer visible. You also want to make sure that your website loads quickly and easily. Viewers using a mobile device on a cellular service with low bandwidth don’t want to wait for your website to load. They will simply skip your website and move on.

Creativity in web design has evolved from having heavy graphical content to having very clean, simplistic content. When I make my way to a website that is loaded with content everywhere where I am confused and overwhelmed at what to look at first I jump right back out of it. These types of websites are not just overwhelming and most of the time an eye sore but the are also difficult to load and maneuver through especially on a mobile device. Clean, simplistic designs are very easy to load and maneuver through and are nice on the eyes.

Responsive web design is one of the leading changes in web design. The ability for your website to respond to the different screen sizes of desktop, tablet, and mobile devices is something that has to be taken advantage of as soon as possible for everyone with an online presence. If you haven’t caught on yet, bringing your website to every device as seamlessly as possible is a must in the years to come especially since the viewership of websites on mobile devices is growing and fast.

Accessibility: http://www.sitepoint.com/accessible-web-design/

Exciting, New Pass Times

My constant strive to make every website I create responsive is always getting more innovative and exciting. I have recently begun learning Twitter Bootstrap and I think it is pretty much amazing. The ease of use and all the preprogrammed CSS is like starting a test that already has all the right answers filled in. All I have to provide to Twitter Bootstrap is the idea, the content, and a dash of customization and then bam it’s not only done but it’s responsive. Another program that I am excited for is Edge Reflow. Adobe recently released the preview version of Edge Reflow to the public and just the little bit I have been able to play around with has me excited for the future of this program. It makes designing a responsive website quite easy but I am a little worried about the lack of my security blanket, aka HTML and CSS code, so hopefully it will be included in the future versions. These programs are making the future look very bright and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Twitter Bootstrap: http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/
Adobe Edge Reflow: http://html.adobe.com/edge/reflow/

What makes a brand iconic?

What makes a brand iconic? This video from Erica Gorochow breaks down how a brand turns iconic through the fundamentals of design. It starts out explaining how an iconic brand is linked with an emotional connection that results in loyalty. This video covers different elements of design from dots, to lines, to shapes (geometric and organic), to contrast (tension), to colors (compliments, hues, saturation, and value), to composition (radial, symmetrical, asymmetrical, and rhythm), to font, to form, to finally negative and positive space. Is your head spinning yet? This is a fun, quick, informative video that makes you look at a brand in a different way. Who knew the visual aspect of a brand was so focused on making the right first impression?

Sound Mind, Sound Body

One of my favorite ad campaigns this year would be the Asics “Sport Releases More Than Just Sweat” campaign. Vitro Agency did a great job at nailing the athletes mind-set while doing their intense activities and exercise. This campaign shows the release of negative energy through exercise while wearing Asics running shoes. They use these ads with not only running but volleyball and tennis as well. The ads show words such as “stress,” “fear,” “doubt,” “worry” and “anxiety” being taken off each person in the ads and are colored in black and white. This ad gives the viewer a cleansed, peaceful image of what happens with their exercise routine and connects it to the Asics brand. This is exactly what I want to happen and how I want to feel while exercising and this ad makes me feel like Asics is how this can happen.