I Need All the Help I Can Get

So I'm a very bad blogger, honestly. I have no good excuses for why I haven't been posting just my apologies. However, on a happier note, my other blog Sans Socks - very - recently underwent a redesign and I need all the help I can get with it. I've had a great deal of issues with my past designs for this blog and for that reason I'm asking you my faithful readership for your help. It's really quite simple all you have to do is go to Sans Socks and play around with the site and then leave a comment on this post with any problems. Usability, aesthetics, anything that you see as being a problem I would like to know about it. In turn, I am holding a drawing for a $25 gift card to J. Crew for your efforts. Simply leave a comment before October 1 to be entered into the drawing.

Thank you for your help,

bran

Photoshop for a Cause

{Four early entries from PSDTUTS readers via Flickr}

I was reading through PSDTUTS this evening and came across something I found rather interesting. PSDTUTS is holding a button making contest in support of Blog Action Day and Kiva - micro-financing non profit organization. The premise of the contest is pretty simple, make a web button with an uplifting message in support of "Solving Poverty". The top 10 buttons will be featured on PSDTUTS as well as on Blog Action Day. The top 10 button makers will be given a set amount of credit for Kiva to be lent in whatever way they see fit. The contest ends September 28, so unfortunately due to my not finding this sooner you'll only have a week to produce. However, I would highly suggest entering this contest, even if you have little or no experience with Photoshop - afterall it is being held by a site specializing in Photoshop tutorials. Good luck.

A Product a Day...

{screenshot taken of my Dashboard}

I'm probably preaching to the choir with this one, but I have to say I am a big fan of the Dwell Product of the Day Dashboard widget. If you're on the Mac platform, and aren't already a subscriber I would highly suggest downloading this fantastic widget. For those of you not running OSX they've also developed a Google add-on so you too can share in the joy that is this widget.

Also, check out today's product: the Fruit Loop. A beautiful way to keep fresh fruit in your home.

While We're on the Subject

{screenshot taken from Bembo's Zoo}

While we're on the subject of animals making characters, I thought we might as well talk about characters making animals. Bembo's Zoo is a book that was created by graphic designer and brilliant typographer Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich. The book is dedicated entirely to creating animals using only characters appearing in the animals name from the Bembo character set. He recently however, turned his wonderful book into an equally as wonderful website. Using some of the animals from the orignial with the aid of Flash created an interactive, user friendly type zoo experience. To see these wonderful animals visit Bembo's Zoo, and also check out Words at Play to see more of de Vicq's animated typographic brilliance.

The Ampersand

The Ampersand is - a logogram representing the word and - a blog dedicated entirely to finding ampersands wherever they might be. In company logos, in street art, in food, you name it if it has an ampersand they are on the hunt for it. An absolutely wonderful idea I must say. The ampersand is a very aesthetically pleasing character.

{photos & logo via The Ampersand}

In addition to being extremely entertaining the blog got me thinking about the origin of the character. As it happens, the word "and" in latin translates simply to "et". The word ampersand is derived from the phrase and per se and, which according to the fine people at adobe means "and [the symbol which] by itself [means] and", which is itself derived from the latin "et per se et". So where exactly did the symbol we all no so well come from? This artist's interpretation shows rather clearly how the two characters - might - have merged into one.
Thank you Ampersand for, well, sparking my interest in the ampersand.

{image by. Gian Luca Ruggero via wikipedia}

The Hexadecimal System Explained

I was designing a site this afternoon and decided that I could no stand not knowing how the Hexadecimal System of colors worked. And so I researched it a little bit and was absolutely amazed to figure out how incredibly simple it was. In using hex colors you realize the general idea behind them. That each character corresponds to a certain address in the color spectrum. However - at least for me - it is difficult to deduce exactly how that works. Here is a very basic break down. A hex color is broken down into three channels, a red, a green and a blue. The first 2 characters of a hex color represent the red, the second 2 the green and the third 2 the blue. Those characters represent the actual address of each color combination. The system works by using a y axis starting with 0 and ending with f. In other words going from black to white on the spectrum you would go from #0-9-a-f, 0 being black and f being white. Knowing this you can dial in the exact color that you wish to achieve, as the entire system is based off a fairly simple mathematical equation. If only I weren't so awful with mathematics. I hope this was somewhat helpful.

Who Approved This?

I happened to find myself on The New York Times Company's about page this afternoon and was rather disappointed at what I found. The above image is of the CEO and Chairman of The New York Times company, and as you can see both images have been rather poorly cut out and pasted together over a gradient background. It's true that the Grey Lady isn't necessarily the most graphically cutting edge of newspapers, but you would still expect a little more from the parent company of one of the most widely read newspapers in the world.