For my mockups, I decided to use the new (so new it’s still in beta) Adobe Experience Design (Adobe XD for short). It’s a great tool to quickly prototype a website, and includes UI elements for Windows 8.1/10, iOS, and Android, along with robust tools to get you working quickly. Check out the mockups after the jump.
Category Archives: Design School
EXTRA CREDIT: Reflecting on the class
Before I began the Website Design I class here at Columbia College Chicago, I knew that this would come fairly easy to me, having been dabbling in website design since the days of nested tables and Internet Explorer’s dominance. What I didn’t expect was to learn a thing or two of why I code some of the things the way I do. I think it had become second nature to me to copy things that worked from other sites, and implement things from tutorials, but I didn’t always understand why they worked.
EXTRA CREDIT: My experience redesigning New Wave Coffee’s website
For my final project in this class, I wanted to redesign the website of New Wave Coffee in Logan Square (where I am currently enjoying a cup of coffee and editing my blog). Their current site consists only of their logo, their hours, their address, and their phone number. I felt they should have a little bit more robust website.
Awesome CSS drop shadows
You can create beautiful drop shadows in CSS without the need for images (you know, like back in the olden days). With just a little CSS, you can create a few different drop shadow effects, like lifted paper drop shadows, perspective drop shadows, horizontal curved drop shadows, and vertical curved drop shadows. The example code is taken from a drop shadow demo page from a few years ago.
Update: Working with flexbox
I’ve been working on my final project website, and have decided to incorporate flexbox into my project. I’m surprised at how easy it’s been to work with once I got over the learning curve. Fortunately, the learning curve isn’t that steep.
Be careful what you sign
This week on Creative Bloq, Ben Tallon brings us the warning to be careful of what we sign. He tells us the tale of a friend and colleague that unwittingly signed away the digital rights to his work. Continue reading
You’re Doing it Wrong: Common HTML Tag Misuses
I just read a great article on Line25 about the common HTML tag misuses. If you’re using the <small> tag to make your text smaller instead of using CSS to control your text sizes, then you’re doing it wrong.
13 Realities of Being a Graphic Designer
Sharlene King, Programming Director for AIGA Chicago and designer at Morningstar, Inc., takes on for-profit design school marketing propaganda aimed at aspiring graphic designers in an article on her blog entitled “13 Realities of Being a Graphic Designer”. Some of this could also apply to our school, Columbia College Chicago.