007 Design

Visual design for the web: great articles | webtoolkit4.me

2009-09-26T13:01:00.000-04:00

Visual design for the web: great articles | webtoolkit4.me: "Visual design for the web: great articles

Visual design for the web: great articles

As a web designer, i am always trying to find resources related to information design, usability issues, navigation techniques that will help me make things better on my next project. Don’t get me wrong, i am always trying to learn from my own mistakes but there’s always someone out there with a great article that is going to help me improve myself. Lately, i’ve been searching for some good new books about stuff like that but before buying some, i searched around the web for some articles. And some great ones are out there. Here’s a list of 9 articles recently found.

The articles:

Communicate Quick: First Impressions Through Visual Web Design

Information Architecture Tutorial Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

5 Sickening Habits of Mainstream Websites

7 Usability Mistakes Usability Experts Commit

Is your website ready for the 5-seconds-attention-span challenge?

Who’s Your Audience, Kenneth: The Value Of Personas

Designing navigation

Common Visual Design Misconceptions

Designing with data

If you know of any other interesting articles on issues like these, just share with us! Happy reading.

Yahoo! Query Language - YDN

2009-08-31T01:59:00.000-04:00

Yahoo! Query Language

What is YQL?

The Yahoo! Query Language is an expressive SQL-like language that lets you query, filter, and join data across Web services. With YQL, apps run faster with fewer lines of code and a smaller network footprint.

Yahoo! and other websites across the Internet make much of their structured data available to developers, primarily through Web services. To access and query these services, developers traditionally endure the pain of locating the right URLs and documentation to access and query each Web service.

With YQL, developers can access and shape data across the Internet through one simple language, eliminating the need to learn how to call different APIs.
How Do I Get Started?

1. Check out the YQL Console.
2. Read how to access YQL from your application.
3. Get your API Keys to sign your requests if you need them."

Windows Resources

2009-08-30T20:16:00.000-04:00

Windows Resources

The Knowledge Base Articles and Resources in this web site are from a growing list in my favourites/bookmark folder. I use them to troubleshoot my PC. On this page, you will find Security Resources, links to Resources that could not fit elsewhere on this site, as well as a Site Map for finding your way around.

Carsonified » 15 Tips for Freelancers Starting Their Own Business

2009-08-27T23:54:00.000-04:00

Carsonified » 15 Tips for Freelancers Starting Their Own Business

S-HYPE_200x31.jpg (JPEG Image, 200x31 pixels)

2009-08-27T21:40:00.003-04:00

S-HYPE_200x31.jpg (JPEG Image, 200x31 pixels)

Project flow chart

2009-08-27T08:18:00.002-04:00

Project flow chart

16 Tools And Generators For Web Designers

2009-08-27T01:50:00.001-04:00

16 Tools And Generators For Web Designers

Calling all web designers and developers! Here is an unmissable list of helpful web tools you need to check out if you haven't already. On the list are color palette generators, available domain name finders, template makers, CSS grids and much more! If you have any more tools / generators you would like to share with us, then please feel free to drop in a comment and we will add it to the next list. Remember to click on the images to visit each tool.

Adobe Kuler

Kuler has got to be one of the best color tools on the net at present. It can generate you so many different types of color palettes based on many different rules.

* * * * *

OpenKapow

Build your own web mashups (called robots) using OpenKapow. There are many examples and demos that are ready for you to download. These include Google Maps, eBay, Amazon, RSS Feeds and more! And the best thing is you don't have to write any code.

* * * * *

Toufee

With Toufee, you can create amazing flash slide-shows and movies using the Toufee maker. You can put these slide-shows / movies on your website very quickly, and without any programming skills needed.

* * * * *

Wordpress Theme Generator

This fantastic online generator created a custom and unique WordPress Theme based on what you input into the boxes and dropdowns. You don't need any HTML, CSS or ,PHP knowledge. Just fill out the form and your done! You can customize the colours, layout and even preview it live on the right pane.

* * * * *

1KB CSS Grid

The 1KB CSS Grid is a lightweight approach to creating a grid system. Simply select the number of columns you want, the column width and gutter width and your sorted!

* * * * *

Custom Branded Twitter Application

This is a very clever way of making a custom tool, so that when you tweet, you will be placing a direct link to your website on every one of your followers home pages. Amazing! Plus its non spammy.

* * * * *

Bust a Name

Bust a Name is a very easy to use but complex domain finder tool. You can add groups, select options and bust a name will combine words and tell you what domain names are available.

* * * * *

Ajax Loading Image

This is a very simple but effective tool for web designers. Most web applications and websites use preloaders. Here you can configure your very own. Just pick the preloader image, and customize the background color and foreground color.

* * * * *

Color Palette Generator

This awesome tool generates a dull and vibrant color palette from a photo or image you input. Really handy if your stuck for colors to use.

* * * * *

Stripe Generator

This background stripe generator is especially useful for when you are designing in Photoshop. There are so many configurable options for you to choose from.

* * * * *

Buttonator

With Buttonator, you can make buttons for your website in a matter of seconds. Simple choose your button style, configure the font style, size etc, button size's and your sorted. Download and start using on your website.

* * * * *

Web Template Builder

This is one of the best free template generators out there. You can have a working template in 3 easy steps. Pick your template, customize the colors, fonts, titles, corners, and then download it for free!

* * * * *

CSS Typeset

CSS Typeset is a handy tool that generates pure CSS code to put in your CSS Stylesheet based on what options you inputted. Customize fonts, sizes, colours, and alignments.

* * * * *

Make Words

Make words is a domain name generator. You simple enter the min and max length of the domain name you want it to generate, and what you want it to start and end with, and it will generate you a nice list of domains, and tell you if they are available to register.

* * * * *

Rounded Cornr

Ever wanted to easily create rounded corners? Well now you can with this simple tool. All you have to do is select the corner radius, the background color and the box color. There is even an option for gradient overlays!

* * * * *

Navigation Tabs Generator

This handy web tool will generate you a set of CSS tabs to use on your website. You can edit the CSS code, and get a live preview of what your tabs will look like.

http://www.dotemplate.com

Tags: 1KB CSS Grid, Color Palette Generator, CSS Tab Generator, Custom Twitter Application, Flash Slideshow Generator, Free Web Tools, Template Generators, Tools And Generators For Web Designers, Web Generators, Web Tools, Wordpress Theme Generators

Web and Graphic Design - Silver Spring, MD 20910

2009-08-25T21:27:00.001-04:00

Web and Graphic Design - Silver Spring, MD 20910

Web Design

Strategic Hype‎

WEB DESIGN section 1

browsermedia‎

7735 Old Georgetown Rd., Suite 500,, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 656-1144‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎
‎
Ace Press Printing, Copying & Mailing‎
11 reviews

1 coupon
910 17th St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 338-4006‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
"While my end product from this company arrived ok and on-time, the customer service process along the way was a tad rocky. From not being able to ..."
| website |‎
‎
Oranora Technologies Corporation‎

6495 New Hampshire, Hyattsville, MD‎ (301) 960-4545‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎
‎
Washington Graphic Services‎

4405 East West Highway Suite 308, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 312-6803‎
| website |‎
‎
JS Rum & Company, LLC‎

4900 Auburn Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 718-2521‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎
‎
Colwill Design Group LLC‎

6931 Arlington Rd # 301, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 657-7726‎
| website |‎
‎
Icon Freelance Associates‎

2 Wisconsin Cir, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (240) 235-6030‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎
‎
The Limulus Group‎

10401 Grosvenor Place, Rockville, MD‎ (301) 637-2238‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎
‎
The Jake Group‎

3214 O Street NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 333-2850‎
Category: Graphic Design
| website |‎
‎
Sacred Heart Design‎

431 Ethan Allen Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (240) 305-4646‎
| website |‎
‎
Justin Schuck Design Studio‎  1 review

4801 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 760-7476‎
"Justin had our family in stitches the whole time. Before I saw the photos I thought he may have missed his calling, but after seeing the proofs, he's ..."
| website |‎
‎WEB DESIGN section 2
Pixeldust Studios‎

4922 Fairmont Ave. Ste.330, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 656-0050‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎
‎
Marstudio, Inc.‎
1 coupon
1613 Bradley Ave., Rockville, MD‎ (866) 411-6277‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎
‎Adventures‎
1 coupon
1300 Spring St, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 495-0474‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
loadaveragezero‎

575 Thayer Ave. #102, Silver Spring, MD‎ (703) 371-4924‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Infamia Global Technologies‎
1 coupon
164 Fleetwood Terrace, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 996-4646‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Moosepeak Designs LLC‎  1 review

8201 16th Street, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 920-1338‎
Category: | website | Designer
"People working there are extremely nice, helpful with creative look on your solutions. I'm sure they will develop WEB site that will satisfy ..."
| website |‎

‎
All Things Techie LLC‎

8010 Blair Mill Dr, Silver Spring, MD‎ (203) 605-8331‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Digital Threshold‎
1 coupon
817 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 760-7434‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Stuartsilver‎

816 Thayer Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 393-6001‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Strategic Hype‎  1 review

9108 Kingsbury Dr., Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 478-5475‎
Category: | website | Designer
"Strategic Hype produced and incredible website for my company. Not only is the website functional, it is optimized for SEO and SEM and ..."
| website |‎

‎
Apex Digital Systems Inc‎

1010 Wayne Ave # 800, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-9767‎
Category: Web Site Design
| website |‎

‎
Sonnett Media Group LLC‎

8639 16th St # 227, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 574-1510‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Accu Tran Ltd‎

12 Devon Road, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-9688‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Filmmaker Etc‎
1 coupon
9466 Georgia Ave #69, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 760-3957‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Gebeya‎
1 coupon
8115 Fenton Street, Suite 308-A, Silver Spring, MD‎ (202) 370-6955‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Actualize Studio‎

510 Fleetwood st, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 476-4128‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Bethesda Design Web‎  1 review

8807 Altimont Lane, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 951-0881‎
"and a great writer, coming up with content we didn't even know we needed. And, to be honest, our book club wouldn't have even done the project if it ..."
| website |‎

‎
Triratna Web Design‎

236 Walnut St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 595-1950‎
| website |‎

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Sachi Studio Web Design‎  3 reviews

3805 Decatur Avenue, kensington, MD‎ (301) 538-3326‎
"attention ...: Dean Hua's skills go beyond design, as design is often narrowly understood. Creative and responsive, he has his own great ideas ..."
| website |‎

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Realia Inc‎

9619 Lawndale Dr, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 578-1927‎
Category: | website | Design Service
| website |‎

‎WEB DESIGN section 3
Kyle Green Web Design‎

7223 16th Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (240) 863-3783‎
| website |‎

‎
SW Creatives, LLC‎

11002 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 700, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 891-0111‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

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Hodgson Consulting‎

10401 Connecticut Ave, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 942-7040‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Pub Com‎  1 review

7417 Holly Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 585-8805‎
Category: | website | Designer
"The experts in town for publishing via print and web. Good little hands-on training classes for desktop publishing and website ..."
| website |‎

‎
Maryland Graphics and Web Design‎  1 review

1131 University Blvd W, Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 481-8282‎
"Designed a logo for my business. Fast and at a good rate!"
| website |‎

‎
evoch, LLC‎

11301 Amherst Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 942-5378‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
2FH.net‎

10825 Amherst Ave., Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 221-4371‎
Category: Web Site Design
| website |‎

‎
Sandglass Systems, Inc‎

3005 McComas Ave, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 942-8400‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Asap Graphics‎

10528 Detrick Ave, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 942-1121‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
browsermedia‎

7735 Old Georgetown Rd., Suite 500,, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 656-1144‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Eagle Design & Management Inc‎

7830 Old Georgetown Rd # 300, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 907-8900‎
| website |‎

‎
Cre8ive Design‎

11003 Schuylkill Rd, Rockville, MD‎ (301) 231-5885‎
| website |‎

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AM Design‎

3225 Military RD NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 363-4801‎
| website |‎

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Armadilla.net Web Hosting‎

7059 Blair Rd NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 291-2011‎
| website |‎

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L & P Communications‎

9314 Elmhirst Dr, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 493-6324‎
Category: | website | Designer

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Gandy Dancer Web Design‎

5840 Marbury Rd, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 229-2602‎
| website |‎

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Grand Junction Design LLC‎

7040 Carroll Ave # 3, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 920-0552‎
| website |‎

‎
PC, Networks & Web Design‎  1 review

3205 Military Rd NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 536-4939‎
"Arrived on time and fixed our laptop computer, set up new wireless in less than 2 hours. Reliable and affordable. couldn't be happier. thank you. ..."

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JS Rum & Company, LLC‎

4900 Auburn Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 718-2521‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Hitekz‎

PO Box 5769, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 370-8662‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎WEB DESIGN section 4
Washington Graphic Services‎

4405 East West Highway Suite 308, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 312-6803‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Moving Minds, LLC‎

7600 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (800) 563-1301‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Brooks Littlefield Associates Inc‎

4905 Del Ray Ave # 2, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 718-9390‎
Category: Web Site Design
| website |‎

‎
Nuts & Bolts Interactive, Inc.‎
1 coupon
2649 Cory Terrace, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 946-5400‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
adsynergies, Inc.‎  1 review

3418 Cummings Lane, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 275-0961‎
Category: | website | Designer
"Our experience with AdSynergies was phenomenal. We don't have a large IT or Marketing staff and were a bit out of our element trying to market over ..."
| website |‎

‎
Oranora Technologies Corporation‎

6495 New Hampshire, Hyattsville, MD‎ (301) 960-4545‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Justin Schuck Photography Washington DC, London, New York, Dubai‎  1 review

4801 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 760-7476‎
Category: Services Web Design
"Justin had our family in stitches the whole time. Before I saw the photos I thought he may have missed his calling, but after seeing the proofs, he's ..."
| website |‎

‎
Market Hardware‎  1 review

7200 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 263-7000‎
Category: | website | Designer
"These guys build killer custom websites! They specialize in SMBs. Most sites are under $2k, out the door. Great deal. Strong customer service and on ..."
| website |‎

‎
Terrapin Information Services Corporation‎  2 reviews

1 coupon
11141 Georgia Ave # 513, Wheaton, MD‎ (301) 933-5599‎
Category: Web Site Design
"Technically, Terrapin information service did a superb job repairing my computer. However, the person who was responsible for reconnecting my computer ..."
| website |‎

‎
Colwill Design Group LLC‎

6931 Arlington Rd # 301, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 657-7726‎
| website |‎

‎
Portalogiks‎

811 Madison St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 370-6281‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Ether‎

510 Fern Place, NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 669-5697‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Ben Landers, SEO, PPC‎

2807 Ivydale Street, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 252-5705‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
sureelements.com webdesign, Business Cards, Hosting, Advertising in DC‎
1 coupon
4000 Wisconsin Ave, Washington, DC‎ (202) 997-9078‎
| website |‎

‎
RGM Interactive‎

4350 E West Hwy, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 907-3895‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Sacred Heart Design‎

431 Ethan Allen Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (240) 305-4646‎
| website |‎

‎
Infamia Global Technologies‎

3627 Chesapeake St NW, Washington, DC‎ (301) 996-4646‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Chevy Chase Computers‎  1 review

1 coupon
4708 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 364-1299‎
Category: | website | Design
"He told me in plain english what the problem was and repaired my system (and actually made it faster!) Very friendly, I highly recommend VNC for all ..."
| website |‎

‎
Icon Freelance Associates‎

2 Wisconsin Cir, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (240) 235-6030‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
The Limulus Group‎

10401 Grosvenor Place, Rockville, MD‎ (301) 637-2238‎
Category: Web Site Design
| website |‎

‎WEB DESIGN section 5
Pixeldust Studios‎

4922 Fairmont Ave. Ste.330, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 656-0050‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
nclud a creative web design agency‎

1808 Florida Avenue NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 506-2343‎
| website |‎

‎PC, Networks & Web Design‎

2751 Woodley Pl NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 536-4939‎
| website |‎

‎
Web Management Group‎

11002 Viers Mill Road, Wheaton, MD‎ (800) 349-4905‎
| website |‎

‎
Bethesda Web Design, LLC‎

7917 Springer Road, Bethesda, MD‎ (877) 857-6851‎
| website |‎

‎
CEDC‎

821 Varnum St. NE, Washington, DC‎ (202) 635-7987‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Moving Minds, LLC‎

5505 Connecticut Ave. NW #210, Washington, DC‎ (386) 864-8403‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Alter-Consult‎

4006 14 Street NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 882-5290‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
windwebworks.com‎
1 coupon
Sleaford Rd, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 529-2559‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Betabasics Small Business Web Site Training‎

4727 13th Street, NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 321-9096‎
| website |‎

‎
Brady Lutsko Strategic Marketing Communications, Lead Generation & Trade Show Consulting‎

2950 Van Ness St. NW #923, Washington, DC‎ (202) 249-0294‎
Category: Web Site Design
| website |‎

‎
websites99dollars.com‎
1 coupon
4129 9th Street, NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 545-8989‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Pictogram Studio Inc‎

10708 Shelley Ct, Box 556, Garrett Park, MD‎ (301) 962-9630‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Ade's Layouts/Vanzant Computers‎  2 reviews

7710 Maple Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 263-4134‎
Category: Services Web Design
"I am writing to say how pleased I am with the support I have received from Ade's Layouts! From the moment I called seeking support to the moment the ..."
| website |‎

‎
Lexicon Graphics‎

10300 Farnham Drive, Bethesda, MD‎ (202) 393-3500‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Wrenovate‎

BSMT, 3326 19th St., Washington, DC‎ (202) 294-5691‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Tonsetech, LLC‎

4015 Spruell Drive, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 404-3987‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Digital Axis Inc.‎

4550 Montgomery Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (202) 549-0078‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Iapps‎

Ste 250, 2639 Connecticut Ave, Washington, DC‎ (202) 265-3700‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Comprehensive Network Solutions LLC‎

3 Bethesda Metro Center, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 961-4040‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎WEB DESIGN section 6
ecentral Marketing‎

6312 Marywood Rd, Bethesda, MD‎ (202) 277-2455‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Topshelf Design‎

15 Franklin St NE, Washington, DC‎ (202) 667-1966‎
| website |‎

‎
luxe design dc design, branding & interface‎

11700 Old Georgetown Rd, Rockville, MD‎ (347) 463-8457‎
| website |‎

‎
Horesh Studios LLC‎

12213 Braxfield ct, Rockville, MD‎ (240) 669-6245‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Interwoven Inc‎

10411 Motor City Dr # 500, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 968-4500‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Scolaworks Web Design‎

1728 Swann St NW # 3, Washington, DC‎ (202) 257-8511‎

‎
Wrenovate‎

3224 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 294-5691‎
Category: Web Site Design
| website |‎

‎
Global Graphic Design‎

10769 Brewer House Road, North Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 881-3545‎
| website |‎

‎
Hill Group‎

6903 Rockledge Dr, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 897-2789‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
New Heights Solutions‎

1375 Kenyon St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 713-9586‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Dep Designs LLC‎

6411 Orchard Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 270-2069‎
Category: | website | Designer

‎
Siren Digital Communications‎

1752 Columbia Rd NW # 4, Washington, DC‎ (202) 939-0819‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Artdriver Web Design & SEO‎

1629 K Street NW Suite 300, Washington, DC‎ (202) 657-6030‎
| website |‎

‎
Chase mcalpine Photography‎
1 coupon
6515 Belcrest Rd, Hyattsville, MD‎ (504) 343-5870‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Web Design and Hosting: Next Strategy‎  1 review

1 coupon
3222 N St NW, Washington, DC‎ (800) 616-6942‎
"You have managed to capture the essence of our company history and philosophy and the unique design and appeal of our condominium projects. The ..."
| website |‎

‎
inspiredsettings.com‎

Willard Ave, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 654-6640‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
SEO Service and | website | Design in Washington DC‎  1 review

4001 Nebraska Ave NW, Washington, DC‎ (877) 520-6706‎
"this is the best service i have ever seen! thanks."
| website |‎

‎
Arcadia Creative‎

2724 Ontario Rd. N.W, Washington, DC‎ (202) 558-7657‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Qualiaset‎

204 E Hamilton Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 244-8267‎
Category: Services Web Design
| website |‎

‎
Nexar Web Design‎  1 review

3201 18th ST NW, Washington DC, DC‎ (202) 536-8642‎
"WOW !!! Congratulations for www.reefclassicmag.com Nexar, this is my favorite surf magazine web site."
Error translating
| website |‎

‎
Cunning Web Solutions LLC‎  1 review

1 coupon
1304 T St, NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 552-0572‎
"their services to be invaluable. They were fast, friendly, courteous, and efficient. I recommend them to anyone running a small business and needs ..."
| website |‎

‎
Summit Marketing DC‎

11961 Tech Rd, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 625-0800‎
Category: Web Site Design
| website |‎

Graphic Design

Strategic Hype‎

9108 Kingsbury Dr., Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 478-5475‎
Category: Graphic Designer
"Strategic Hype produced and incredible website for my company. Not only is the website functional, it is optimized for SEO and SEM and is producing ..."
| website |‎
‎
Benoit Printing & Graphic Design‎

8401 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-3888‎
| website |‎
‎
Alumena Inc‎

Ste 106, 8555 16th St, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-2708‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Rosenberg Associates‎

1111 East West Hwy 3rd Fl, Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 494-0185‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎
‎
Idea Design‎

2323 Stewart Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 247-0044‎

‎
Illustrations Unlimited Inc‎

914 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-9020‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Eileen Schramm Visual Comm‎

725 Boundary Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 495-5768‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Lanfordesign‎

808 Richmond Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 562-8794‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Jackie Urbanovic Illustrations‎

9508 Hale St, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 495-9481‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎Graphic Design section 2

Chroma Design & Communications‎

Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 585-5880‎

‎
Modern Type & Design‎

Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 562-4999‎

‎
Bethesda Design Web‎  1 review

8807 Altimont Lane, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 951-0881‎
"and a great writer, coming up with content we didn't even know we needed. And, to be honest, our book club wouldn't have even done the project if it ..."
| website |‎
‎
Enfield Grafik Design & Production‎

2102 Windham Ln, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 649-3732‎
| website |‎
‎
Levine Lucinda‎

2613 Blaine Dr, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 562-9191‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎
‎
Spark Design, LLC‎

3718 Manor Road, Apt. 1, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 654-5660‎
| website |‎
‎
RGM Interactive‎

4350 E West Hwy, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 907-3895‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎
‎
Idea Design‎

8211 Sligo Creek Pkwy, Takoma Park, MD‎ (240) 247-0086‎
| website |‎
‎
Madison Design Group‎

4350 East West Hwy # 101, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 913-9222‎
| website |‎
‎
Rockbridge Group‎

4903 Auburn Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 951-1130‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎
‎
Nana Design‎

11002 Veirs Mill Rd # 700, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 933-5669‎
| website |‎
‎ Graphic Design Section
3

Franz & Co Graphic Design‎

8403 Colesville Rd # 865, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 589-7199‎
| website |‎

‎
Auras Design Inc‎

8435 Georgia Ave # 3, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 587-4300‎
| website |‎

‎
Spark Design, LLC‎

144 Fleetwood Terrace, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 608-0958‎
| website |‎

‎
Interface Multimedia Inc‎

8505 Fenton St # 212, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 585-0068‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
One of A Kind Art Studio Inc‎

2313 Kansas Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 495-3361‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Adventures‎
1 coupon
1300 Spring St, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 495-0474‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
PCM STUDIOS, Inc.‎

Suite C4, 7981 Eastern Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 565-4726‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Moosepeak Designs LLC‎  1 review

8201 16th Street, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 920-1338‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
"People working there are extremely nice, helpful with creative look on your solutions. I'm sure they will develop WEB site that will satisfy all your ..."
| website |‎

‎
All Things Techie LLC‎

8010 Blair Mill Dr, Silver Spring, MD‎ (203) 605-8331‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Studio Spark, LLC‎

912 Thayer Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 565-0290‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Digital Threshold‎
1 coupon
817 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 760-7434‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Ultra Designs‎

1320 Fenwick Ln, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 562-4060‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Design Central Inc‎

8737 Colesville Rd # 304, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-7082‎

‎
Swim Design Consultants Inc‎

8040 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 565-1627‎

‎
Apt Media Inc‎

816 Thayer Ave # 113, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-8555‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Conceptual Geniuses‎

2405 Holman Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 589-4227‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎ Graphic Design Section 4

Equator Graphic Inc‎

Ste 303, 1320 Fenwick Ln, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 588-7225‎

‎
Alton Creative‎

8606 2nd Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 565-3019‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Cox & Associates Inc‎

8403 Colesville Rd # 865, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 589-6505‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Groff Creative Inc‎

8484 Georgia Ave # 500, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 562-8711‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Kessler Design Group Ltd‎

6931 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 907-3233‎
| website |‎

‎
Evans Design‎

4837 Del Ray Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 654-5461‎
| website |‎

‎
Anne Likes Red, Inc.‎

10726 Lester Street, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 649-9667‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Shelter Studios Inc‎

10405 Leslie St, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 942-9492‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
SW Creatives, LLC‎

11002 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 700, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 891-0111‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Swim Design Consultants‎

10410 Kensington Pkwy # 216, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 933-6057‎

‎
Comella Design Group Inc‎

7910 Woodmont Ave # 470, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 907-7574‎
| website |‎

‎
Kittner Design‎

6930 Carroll Ave # 200, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 891-1060‎
| website |‎

‎
Whim Whams Illustration Studio‎

3314 Oberon St, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 933-4912‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Capital Design‎

4300 Montgomery Ave # 206A, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 652-9894‎
| website |‎

‎
Over The Horizon Consulting, LLC‎
1 coupon
3220 Park View Road, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (240) 421-3226‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
xianstudio‎
1 coupon
8002 Barron St, Takoma Park, MD‎ (202) 365-7059‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Asap Graphics‎

10528 Detrick Ave, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 942-1121‎
Category: | website | Designer
| website |‎

‎
Howell & Associates Inc‎

3401 Woolsey Dr, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 656-9628‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Colwill Design Group LLC‎

6931 Arlington Rd # 301, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 657-7726‎
| website |‎

‎
Washington Graphic Services‎

4405 East West Highway Suite 308, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 312-6803‎
| website |‎

‎
AM Design‎

3225 Military RD NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 363-4801‎
| website |‎

‎
Typesetting by Design Inc‎

Ste 220, 1300 Spring St, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 495-0482‎
Unverified listing

‎
Spark Media Group‎

6511 Allegheny Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 270-4810‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Organic Design Works‎

2639 Cory Terrace, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 942-1242‎
| website |‎

‎ Graphic Design Section 5

202 Design‎

3900 Military Rd NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 244-8700‎
| website |‎

‎
Duplicate Impressions‎

10004 Cedar Ln, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 986-6666‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Millercox‎

3924 Rickover Rd, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 933-4062‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Sumo Creative Inc‎

7910 Woodmont Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 657-2120‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Maryland Graphics and Web Design‎  1 review

1131 University Blvd W, Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 481-8282‎
"Designed a logo for my business. Fast and at a good rate!"
| website |‎

‎
Signs By Tomorrow-Sign Store‎

4923 Saint Elmo Ave., Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 654-7411‎
Category: Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Graphics By Gallo‎

7507 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 913-0172‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Oranora Technologies Corporation‎

6495 New Hampshire, Hyattsville, MD‎ (301) 960-4545‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
evoch, LLC‎

11301 Amherst Ave, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 942-5378‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Rock Creek Creative‎

2 Wisconsin Cir # 1010, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (301) 657-0800‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Greg Berger Designs‎

6931 Arlington Rd # 301, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 951-7835‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Meadows Design Office‎

3800 Yuma St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 966-6007‎
| website |‎

‎
Pictogram Studio Inc‎

10708 Shelley Ct, Box 556, Garrett Park, MD‎ (301) 962-9630‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Breckenridge Designs Group‎

5225 Wisconsin Ave NW # 625, Washington, DC‎ (202) 686-7100‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Graphics Plus‎

402 Branch Dr, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 593-0908‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Sandglass Systems, Inc‎

3005 McComas Ave, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 942-8400‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
browsermedia‎

7735 Old Georgetown Rd., Suite 500,, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 656-1144‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Cre8ive Design‎

11003 Schuylkill Rd, Rockville, MD‎ (301) 231-5885‎
| website |‎

‎
Sacred Heart Design‎

431 Ethan Allen Ave, Takoma Park, MD‎ (240) 305-4646‎
| website |‎

‎
Dead Serious Designs‎

10415 Armory Ave, Kensington, MD‎ (410) 829-6529‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Icon Freelance Associates‎

2 Wisconsin Cir, Chevy Chase, MD‎ (240) 235-6030‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
The Limulus Group‎

10401 Grosvenor Place, Rockville, MD‎ (301) 637-2238‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Ropeik Creative‎

9518 Evergreen St, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 589-5159‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Mac Lab‎

6930 Carroll Ave # 811, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 270-8445‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎ Graphic Design Section 6

JS Rum & Company, LLC‎

4900 Auburn Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 718-2521‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Pixeldust Studios‎

4922 Fairmont Ave. Ste.330, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 656-0050‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
New Millenium Graphics‎  1 review

4129 9th St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 545-8989‎
Category: Graphic Designer
"I'm very happy with they services. They creative team was very help full and answer all my questions and it made it easy for me to make my choice to ..."
| website |‎

‎
Graves Fowler & Associates‎

5515 Security Ln # 1109, Rockville, MD‎ (301) 816-0097‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Robert Feldman & Associates Inc‎

7201 Wisconsin Ave # 705, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 656-6607‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
DG Design Partner‎

10604 Wheatley St, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 949-8845‎

‎
Jill Tanenbaum Graphic Design‎

4701 Sangamore Rd # S235, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 229-1135‎
| website |‎

‎
Chesapeake Climate Action‎

6839 Eastern Ave # 3, Takoma Park, MD‎ (301) 270-0169‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Nuts & Bolts Interactive, Inc.‎
1 coupon
2649 Cory Terrace, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 946-5400‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Justin Schuck Design Studio‎  1 review

4801 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 760-7476‎
"Justin had our family in stitches the whole time. Before I saw the photos I thought he may have missed his calling, but after seeing the proofs, he's ..."
| website |‎

‎
CEDC‎

821 Varnum St. NE, Washington, DC‎ (202) 635-7987‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
JB Creative Services‎

4424 Montgomery Ave # 304, Bethesda, MD‎ (240) 743-4769‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Global Graphic Design‎

10769 Brewer House Road, North Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 881-3545‎
| website |‎

‎
TEP Entertainment‎

4129 9th Street, NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 239-0643‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Blank‎

1878 Monroe St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 319-3120‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Catalone Design Co‎

5929 Onondaga Rd, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 263-9673‎
| website |‎

‎
Wendon Communications, Inc.‎

6495 New Hampshire Ave, Hyattsville, MD‎ (301) 270-7640‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Ether‎

510 Fern Place, NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 669-5697‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Mary Byrd Productions‎

5001 39th St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 362-4774‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
websites99dollars.com‎
1 coupon
4129 9th Street, NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 545-8989‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Summit Educational Group‎

4922 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 657-8315‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Safehouse Studios‎

500 Lamberton Dr, Silver Spring, MD‎ (301) 681-7282‎
Category: Services Graphic Design

‎
Lexicon Graphics‎

10300 Farnham Drive, Bethesda, MD‎ (202) 393-3500‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Wrenovate‎

BSMT, 3326 19th St., Washington, DC‎ (202) 294-5691‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Moving Minds, LLC‎

5505 Connecticut Ave. NW #210, Washington, DC‎ (386) 864-8403‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
| website |‎

‎
Tempo Graphics Inc‎

4550 Montgomery Ave # 220, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 907-9340‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Dodge Color Inc‎

11941 Bournefield Way # L, Silver Spring, MD‎ (240) 247-1800‎
Category: Graphic Designer
| website |‎

‎
Central Roofing & Siding Co‎  3 reviews

2 coupons
11732 Nebel St, Rockville, MD‎ (301) 881-2424‎
Category: Services Graphic Design
"The receptionist set up an appointment right away. The contractor arrived during the time period agreed upon. The contractor was pleasant, quick, and ..."
| website |‎

‎
luxe design dc design, branding & interface‎

11700 Old Georgetown Rd, Rockville, MD‎ (347) 463-8457‎
| website |‎

‎
Metrologo Promotional Product‎

4142 Howard Ave, Kensington, MD‎ (301) 581-1151‎
Category: Graphic Designer

‎
Society for Environmental Graphic Design The‎  1 review

1000 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 638-5555‎
"Called for info got nothing but rude answers back. I work next door and i'll sooner walk to another framing place. Take your business elsewhere ..."
| website |‎

‎
Ampersand Graphic Design Inc‎

1700 Connecticut Ave, Washington, DC‎ (202) 234-2439‎
| website |‎

‎
A Group Design‎

1380 Monroe St NW # 300, Washington, DC‎ (202) 518-7970‎

‎
Metadog Design Group‎

1930 11th St NW, Washington, DC‎ (202) 332-0522‎
| website |
Cassell Communications and Design‎

5813 Wyngate Drive, Bethesda, MD‎ (301) 915-0644‎
| website |‎

‎
Ollmann Photo Design‎

2800 Woodley Rd NW #520, Washington, DC‎ (202) 236-5576‎
| website |‎

Adobe - Dreamweaver Developer Center

2009-05-24T15:38:00.000-04:00

Adobe - Dreamweaver Developer Center

Adobe - Flash Developer Center

2009-05-24T14:25:00.000-04:00

Adobe - Flash Developer Center

7 ways designing in public can improve your business - Bokardo

2009-05-24T04:53:00.000-04:00

7 ways designing in public can improve your business - Bokardo: "7 ways designing in public can improve your business

by Joshua Porter | 17 Comments | shortlink: http://bokardo.com/p/912

In response to yesterday’s post, Garrett Dimon, creator of the bug and issue tracker Sifter, shot me an email explaining his reasons for designing in public. Garrett built Sifter basically in the public eye, from the initial ideas all the way through production. (here is an example: Smart Return in Sifter)
Sifter Logo

This is exactly the type of thing I was asking for more of in my post yesterday, and I feel like an idiot for not including Garrett’s work initially, since I’ve been a long-time fan of his work. Anyway, Garrett recommends this process of transparency for everyone, and listed out 7 reasons for thinking so. I’ve formatted his email into a blog post below (with his permission). Thanks, Garrett!

—— Garrett’s email follows ——

Just wanted to drop you a line about your latest post to provide a bit more evidence about the effectiveness of sharing design decisions. I’ve been doing essentially the same thing for Sifter, my little bug and issue tracking app, since August of last year, and the results have been phenomenal.

In fact, I redesigned my personal blog specifically to support different sizes of embedded images in anticipation of sharing my design process and lessons learned. Sifter really started as just a way to have something fun to blog about, but It’s achieved several things for me, many of which you mention.

1. Originally, it was just for fun and maybe something I’d develop open-source, but the feedback from everyone was so overwhelming and encouraging that I quit my job and pursued it full-time. If I hadn’t shared those ideas, I also don’t think my two partners would have encouraged and backed me in the process of building the business. It really gave them something tangible to believe in, and, as a result, encourage me to follow through with.
2. Marketing was a very convenient side effect. It probably generated about 90% of the interest in Sifter. Without that, the launch wouldn’t have gone as well as it did. Unfortunately, there’s always the potential for being labeled vaporware, but as long as you ultimately deliver something, that doesn’t really matter. It’s definitely not justification for not sharing. By sharing, whether it gets built or not, other people are able to benefit regardless of the final outcome.
3. Sharing and communicating ideas is hard. You have to really justify your position, and it forces you to make your ideas better because you discover the holes in your logic as you’re writing. That additional thought really helped push me to invest time in all of the ideas.
4. Feedback. Sharing ideas like this provides a great test bed. Obviously the positive feedback encouraged me to have a go at building it, but the negative feedback helped as well. Like I said before, putting your ideas out there really opens you up, and all of the feedback played a part in what eventually became Sifter.
5. Transparency. Sifter is very opinionated, and whenever I get suggestions for features that we philosophically don’t agree with, it helps to be able to show people why we disagree. Oftentimes, they change their mind and see things our way. Other times, they respectfully disagree and try a different product, but either way it helps to make it clear where we stand for us and for our customers.
6. A really nice side effect was that those design posts helped generate all of the leads for my freelancing work that paid the bills while I was working on Sifter. Without realizing it, it was providing a very clear insight into my thought process, ideas, and passion for design. Potential clients would see that and generally contact me about doing work for them without even having to go up against other designers.
7. I list this one last not because it’s the least important, but because it didn’t directly benefit us other than just making me feel good. :) That is the teaching and sharing value. I’ve had countless people email me thanking me that the posts helped them see design and interface design in a different light. Others have told me that it provided the material they needed to convince their boss of their idea. As long as it helps promote design, I’m all for it.

I’m sure there are more benefits, but those are the ones that stick out in my mind. It’s become such an important part of Sifter that I plan on continuing to do it. Every time we build a new feature, I want to discuss the design process and ideas just as openly prior to actually building them. Instead of saying “here’s what we did and why” we’ll be saying, “here’s our plan, how would you improve it before we build it”. It’s worked well for us so far, and I see no reason to change it.

I think the biggest problem is that people are afraid of their ideas being stolen. Then, the second biggest reason is criticism. People on the web can be ruthless, and it’s scary to open yourself up and reveal every thought and opinion that led you to a decision.

However, I’ve found that both of those are irrelevant at best. For the most part, I encouraged people to feel free to use the ideas as much as possible in their own work as long as they didn’t copy the whole app. There were a couple of cases of people taking a little too much inspiration, but they weren’t anything big enough to derail Sifter. Besides, by that point, it was clear where they derived their inspiration from, and it was almost reassuring. I think I would have been more concerned if nobody cared about the ideas.

Anyhow, I just wanted to let you know that 37signals wasn’t alone, and that I can corroborate all of your ideas about the benefits. I’d personally love to see more people doing this as I know it’s become an integral part of our culture. If I hadn’t shared those ideas, it’s likely that Sifter wouldn’t exist today. So, going forward, I feel like Sifter owes everyone the same level of transparency ad infinitum.

——–

Find out more:

* Sifter web site
* Garrett’s blog

Subscribe to RSS Feed Grab the RSS Feed"

SEO Basics - a knol by aaron wall

2009-05-24T00:22:00.000-04:00

SEO Basics - a knol by aaron wall: "SEO BasicsSearch Engine Optimization Made Easy
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of publishing and marketing information that ranks well for valuable keywords in search engines like Google, Yahoo! Search, and Microsoft Live Search.

Contents
Market Research
Keyword Research
Site Structure
On Page Optimization
Link Building
Brand Building
Viral Marketing
Measuring Results
Keeping up to date"

Official Google Blog

2009-05-23T04:32:00.002-04:00

Official Google Blog:

Behind the scenes of the Search Options panel

5/14/2009 04:50:00 PM

On Tuesday, we announced Search Options, which are a collection of tools that let you slice and dice your results and generate different views to find what you need faster and easier.

We know that people search for a wide variety of things and we're continually thinking of new search features to help them find information more quickly and easily. The idea for the Search Options panel originated as a way to accommodate the functionality offered by these new features within the search results page. While it might seem like the panel was simple to put together, a lot of collaboration between design, research, and engineering happened behind the scenes in order to produce the best experience possible.

The team began by generating a broad range of directions, which we refined through design sessions and reviews. Confident about a handful of concepts, we began to seek out user feedback using eye-tracking and usability studies. These studies provided us with valuable feedback about how people understood the options in the panel and interacted with them.

Here's an example of an eye-tracking path that illustrates how a participant wanted to get a sense of the quality of the results before deciding what search option to apply:

After each study, we iterated on the designs, making changes to everything from the order and behavior of the options, to the location of the panel and the way people opened and closed it. We also paid close attention to the visual design of the options panel. We wanted it to feel familiar –- not only to work the way you expect from Google, but to look and feel like Google, too. Even though you just started using the panel, we hope it will seem as if it were there all along.

Below, you can see some of our initial concepts for the Search Options panel:

And here are examples of various iterations, once we had a firm concept in mind:

Once the designs were further solidified, we ran a number of tests with a small portion of our live searches to see how many visitors used the Search Options panel and which options were most popular. This quantitative research complemented qualitative feedback to give us a more complete idea of people’s understanding of Search Options. This process brought us to what you see today.

Even now that the Search Options panel has launched, the work is not over. We’ll continue to monitor how people interact with Google Search, find ways to improve the user experience, listen to your feedback, come up with new tools, and, who knows, maybe even add more wonder to the wonder wheel.

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2009-05-22T21:42:00.002-04:00

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