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Web Design and Blogging

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 1 person)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

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Welcome to the Web Design and Blogging lens!

Here I'll be focussing on what's going down in the world of Web Standards and blogging - two closely related areas in my opinion.

I'll be picking out designs that inspire me, blogs that impress and discussing how to market and promote your website effectively. 

Latest On Scribble Designs 

The latest articles from my Scribble Designs website, discussing web design, SEO and blogging technologies.

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Web Design Links 

Veerle's blog 2.0 - Webdesign - XHTML CSS | Graphic Design
The most stunning website redesign of 2006 so far, Belgian designer Veerle Pieters has excelled in creating a fresh, vibrant blog design which is packed with features.
Scribble Designs: Web Design in Northern Ireland.
Scribble Designs: Web Design Northern Ireland. Website maintenance, promotion and development in Crumlin, Belfast, Lisburn, Antrim, Ballymena.

Interweb World 

Interweb World covers the things I come across on the web every day that I find interesting or useful. Some of the articles on here should be interesting if you want to know more about Web Standards and Blogging.

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Web Design Books on Amazon 

CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions

The latest CSS book on the block. Haven't read this yet, but looking forward to it!

Amazon Price: $23.85 (as of 08/21/2008)

The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web (Voices That Matter)

From the creator of the CSS Zen Garden, an excellent CSS design reference.

Amazon Price: $26.99 (as of 08/21/2008)

Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS

In the process of reading this. A very accessible and real-world approach to building Standards-compliant web pages.

Amazon Price: $33.99 (as of 08/21/2008)

Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Amazon Price: $26.37 (as of 08/21/2008)

Web Standards and Accessibility 

It's important to make sure your website is accessible to all types of users. Many people think this applies only to blind or partially sighted people, but there are a wide variety of access devices for disabled users which you need to consider when designing a website.
Interview with Andy Clarke (AKA Accessibility, the gloves come off)
An interview with Andy Clarke aka Malarkey about web standards and accessibility. The famous quote is where he suggests designers still using nested tables have no right to call themselves web professionals.

Design Processes 

The design process varies from designer to designer. This section shows you how other designers put together new sites, often from the early planning stages. Also in this section, you'll find a lot of information on Wireframing techniques used to create a visual representation of the website before coding begins.
One Way to Design a Web Site @ The Autistic Cuckoo
A fairly logical step-by-step through one designer's processes from conception to validation.
Screencast: One-minute mockup with Photoshop - Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)
A discussion on using Photoshop to test design ideas rather than affect the live site. Also includes a screencast of how to mock up.
» How to convert your photoshop document to a CSS in less than 30 seconds
As a webdesigner you're working a lot with photoshop and now you would like to convert your psd (or jpg, png, whatever photoshop can read) file to a valid CSS and XHTML document
Photoshop mockups vs. Client Expectations
A more sceptical look at the process of mocking up websites using Photoshop.
My web designing workflow | The undersigned
Danish designer Thomas Silkjær shares his web design workflow and the steps he takes when building a new site.
Prototype Techniques in the Web Design Workflow
A quality discussion of web design prototyping techniques. The comments section has links to other good resources if you want to get into graphical mockups and wireframing.
Work smarter with Fireworks symbols
Andy Clarke on how to use Macromedia Fireworks in prototyping and in particular the symbols library which allows you to create reusable components.
Creating a site schematic
John Oxton looks at site schematics with consideration on the business end of giving up too much information too quickly - perhaps don't submit mockups until you have scored the contract? Also see recommended reading section at bottom.
Grey Box Methodology
Much referenced article on how to mock up a site design. Notably recommends avoiding colour decisions at this stage and focussing on design and structure.
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GerardMcGarry

About GerardMcGarry

Hi! I'm Gerard McGarry, a web designer and IT Manager from Crumlin in Northern Ireland.

I'm interested in Standards-based web design and the emerging Internet technologies earning a name for themselves as Web 2.0. While the name does nothing to turn me on, technologies like blogs, RSS feeds and AJAX are changing my opinion of online services and I'm keen to embrace them.

I run the company Scribble Designs with my wife and we provide web design and search engine advice to clients in Northern Ireland. We have also just launched a range of "First Words Picture Cards" for pre-school children.

On top of that, we also run a Reality TV blog in the UK. It's a weird cocktail, but we're trying to find the revenue stream that's right for us!

 

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