May 9, 2011
demo video
What do you get when you put together 1 part Apple Keynote, 1 part iMovie, 1 GarageBand and 1 part lame voice-over (I recorded myself with an iphone using the memo app) and a sprinkling of Vimeo.com? You get a lot of mac software and this video.
March 14, 2011
keynote
A UI designer’s wet dream.
I’ve been using all sorts of tools for mocking up UI prototypes over the years but only recently have I tried Apple’s Keynote. Yes sad I know, being a long time mac user and everything you think the idea would have struck me years ago? Instead I got the idea from Travis Isaacs’ slide show and web site.
I can mockup a page with detailed UI in minutes (in combination with screen shots – shift control command 4 anybody?) and then link them to other pages, creating a high-resolution prototypes that can printed out if doing paper prototypes, or saved as a PDF that people can then open in Preview or Acrobat (they can even click on the UI in PDF and it jumps around to the correct page). Here is a quick PDF keynote example.
The more I use keynote the more I think it was secretly designed as a UI tool and not a slideshow tool. It does everything I require. And it’s way easier to use than Balsamiq or Omnigraffle. Like a million times better. And cheaper to boot if you buy alone on the app store. Oh it’s also super duper awesome for making web app demos… check it out.
Keynote is not perfect of course, there are some things that suck. For example you can’t use your mouse to zoom in like in Photoshop, you usually have to make you’re own UI (although you can buy them – see Travis’ link above), you have to use Apple’s lame font palette (command T) to manage text, which always sucks, and if you click on anything that is not a button it advances to the next slide (work around – make everything a button and link to the same slide if necessary). And if you need to prototype a long page, well the slide format leaves you with only a couple of options – scale your prototype down or spread it over multiple pages. Actually you can make your keynote document any size you want. It just keeps getting better every time I use it. Also you can customize your keyboard shortcuts too (as with all mac apps under the system preferences > keyboard shortcuts area). Another great resource ont he topic and where you can pickup more templates - http://keynotopia.com/guides/
January 19, 2011
silent launch
SW-online.com has been overtaken by an awesome new website!!
Way back in 1999, while I was still working as an assistant to a film producer in Vancouver, SW Audio+ Visual became my very first web design client and I’ve been slapping their logo and unique design on everything and anything ever since! The site was silently posted over 4 months ago and we’ve been tweaking and pouring in new content ever since. The new website is built on a high-octane WordPress framework that features a great and easy -to-use back-end admin. Check out some of the excellent in-house videos they’ve produced revealing what goes on backstage!
November 29, 2010
Relaunch
New BenBarry.com site is up and running! We designed this bad boy a number of years ago but recently integrated a WordPress back-end with a custom type post module so they can manage their diverse list of models! Founded in 1995, Ben Barry was the first modelling agency in the world to represent fashion models of all ages, sizes, backgrounds, and abilities.
November 22, 2010
rform
I was out on a construction site today. Used my iPhone to shoot video for an upcoming short demo about Rform. The demo shows a site meeting and someone using Rform on an iPad. I almost ran off with the iPad during shooting (see previous post ipadless).
Rform is one o the web apps I’ve helped design and create. It’s used primarily by Architects to manage their construction contract admin (read paper work). If you want more info on it you can check out the Rform website or a product feature here at Architosh.com.
September 24, 2010
happy bday
This one goes out to the one I love. I hate REM but I certainly love my wife and those lyrics apply here.
Lori Lopes – or Lori Joy Smith as she is better known as – is the love of my life, my best friend, a great mother and one heck of an elbow dancer. Today is Lori’s birthday and I wanted to just say how much I love her (hopefully she reads my blog) and how grateful AND thankful I am to have her love me back. As in the Larry David show I want to be with you for eternity (begin intense and awkward stare here).
solid state
I just bought a 128Gb OC Z Vertex 2 SATA II 2.5″ Solid State Drive (SSD not to be confused with STD) and installed it as per the detailed and entertaining instructions from writer Ian Williams (@xtcian). Result? Super fast start ups (in everything except MS Office) and no more beach balls when using Photoshop. At last! Reusing the old HHD drive and repurposing the superdrive bay with a MCE Optibay is also providing a warm feeling in my belly – much like when I eat my favourite Old Dutch Potato Chips.
Only one issue, after the DIY upgrade I was left with 3 extra screws. He’s to hoping that my laptop does not fall apart!
August 16, 2010
ipadless
Don’t get me wrong I want an iPad and think their super cool but I can’t justify buying one despite them being “magical”.
When I saw the iPad unveiling (via Engadget) I was very excited. I had been excited for days before like the rest of the world. When I saw the leaked photos of the iPad I almost peed myself. Everyone was blogging about what they thought the Apple tablet would be like – or rather what they hoped it would be. I was really really into the hype. Then Steve Jobs said, “We want to kick off 2010 by introducing a truly magical and revolutionary product today”.
Dancing Unicorns by Graphic Artist John E. Kaufman
“Magical?” I asked my self. “Did he say magical?”.
He’s talking about the iPad right and not a unicorn or something? Then Steve Jobs mentions, “…holding the internet in your hands”.
At that point all I could think about was the song, “He’s got the whole world in his hands”.
We sang that as kids in Sunday school. However, my friend and I would always sing, “He’s got the whole world in his pants”.
Each time someone mentioned holding the internet in your hands during the keynote, all I heard was holding the internet in your pants… A magical device that holds the internet in your pants as you ride a unicorn. Where was I again? Oh ya the iPad.
I would not be deterred, I still wanted an iPad. A colleague at the Queen Street Commons where I work showed me his iPad and even allowed me to touch it – it was cool in my hands – smooth – just the right weight. Immediately my desire for the iPad was in full bloom again. The hype train had swung into the station and I was on back on board. To get my iPad money I sold my 36 inch LCD TV on Kijiji then over the next 3 months saved up the rest of the $549 plus taxes I would need to get my own iPad from loose change, gifts from parents and other illicit sources (In addition to getting an iPad I was determined not to use credit to buy one).
Finally I visited the local Future Shop with my five year old daughter to buy the iPad. To my dismay, she was not really that interested in it. I guess the crappy blaring music and the crowded and messy store isles in FutureShop were too distracting ( I have to say FutureShop has one of the worst shopping experiences of any store). So we left the store sans iPad.
I went back alone the next day. I was definitely going to buy the iPad on this outing. But then I noticed a poster in the entrance of the store. On it was the word “magical” in reference to the iPad again. Hmmm. I was starting to feel my iPad buzz ware off and fast. I can fix this I thought – I’ll just go play with the demo iPads and all will be well again. No such luck. I kept thinking about my 5 year old. With six hundred dollars I could get her a pretty wicked bike. Or I could put her in a great computer camp. Heck I could do a whole lot with the money I had saved up. Suddenly I started to see exactly what the iPad was worth and how there where so many other things I could/should do with that money first- important stuff to me and my family. Small bathroom renovations, trip to Halifax, the list goes on. You get the picture.
So in the end I can’t justify buying a new iPad no matter how much I really want one. But do not feel sorry for me. I imagine that after Apple releases the next version of the iPad, there will be a slew of second hand iPads available at a decent price. And if it is as magical as Steve Jobs says it is, then the magical unicorns of cupertino already have one picked out and saved for me. I look forward to meeting them.
May 12, 2010
wtf.nb.ca
Two tips every Canadian should know about registering .ca domains.
Okay so “every canadian” is pushing it a bit. But I’ve learned a humbling lesson today. I’ve been designing web sites since 1999. Registering domain names sort of comes with the territory. The first domain name I registered cost me $70 US through Network Solutions. Since that time I’ve never run into this issue before and must admit that I was greatly confused by what transpired. In the end I made a number of mistakes which cost me a domain name.
May 7, 2010
want one?
The Creative-Control website is so new it still has that new car smell. So I’m giving away some 1GB USB Flash Drives to help spread the love and break in the fine corinthian leather seats. If you’re interested in getting a drive all you have to is tweet a link to this post and leave a “creative” comment describing what you will use your Creative-Control USB drive for – 5 best/funniest comments (and thus their owners) will each receive a drive. 4Realz!!