All posts tagged articles

Working With Recruiters: The Hard Truth


After my last article on working with recruiters, there was some heated debate… name calling, threats… whatever you might call it, but the fact is, it was eye-opening and brought up some hard facts that need to be followed when working with a recruiter.

The gist of the article was that there are, along with great recruiters, some really bad ones. It seems, although the recruiters that commented on the article admitted there are bad recruiters out there, most of the work for job seeking falls upon the candidate. I don’t agree in principle. I have experienced great recruiters who research the company, position and the key players in the job opening.

Characteristics of a modern portfolio site


Of all of the types of websites, the portfolio site has to overcome what might be some of the most difficult hurdles. Talk to almost any designer and they will agree, launching your own portfolio site is a painful process. Most frequently, this process includes numerous versions and, often times, a launch out of sheer frustration.

The upside to this in my opinion is that the portfolio site can be a window into the future of web design. I suggest this because when an individual designs their own site they are only under self-imposed limitations. There is no client to dictate things, no committee to destroy the design, and no approval process to drag things out and destroy momentum. But not all portfolio sites are created equal. Despite the insane amount of sample portfolio sites available, there are surprisingly few that feel distinct and interesting enough to talk about. It is these sites, though, that raise the bar and expose what the future might hold for web design.

The Difference Between Design and Art


Good web design is far more than a beautiful site, it’s where art meets an interactive user interface and where, in my opinion, superfluous aesthetics takes a backseat to usability and the user experience. Ensuring that user interactions are as smooth as possible is good design — don’t ever be satisfied with art alone. Although the design vs. art debate is nothing new, it’s ripe for a revisiting as new CSS3 features and JavaScript (and particularly front-end web development libraries like jQuery) begin to edge their way deeper into our everyday lives. These new capabilities, however revolutionary they may seem, have changed nothing about how we should approach web design in general.

The Lost Art Of Design Etiquette


Endless layers in Photoshop. Overstuffed image folders. That jQuery plug-in that has 12 files associated with it. Hundreds or thousands of individual pieces go into making a website. No wonder we go off the deep end when we can’t find a closing div — er, section tag. We work with a ridiculously large number of things, and how we organize them (or choose not to) is often left to personal preference. But our messy habits result in confusion for the designer or developer who inherits your work.

Does it really need to be this way?

Favor Done, Now Where’s MY Good Karma!?


We hear it all the time from clients or those who want to be clients; “do me a favor and…” It always ends up with creatives being asked to work for free or give up something we would rather not give up. It makes us feel low, worthless and frustrated and those are feelings no human should have, especially in business. What about when it comes from other creatives? Shouldn’t we know better? Are there those that know better but take advantage of their peers?

The Key Features of a Perfect Landing Page


Computer technology has had a huge impact on the economy and education, and the number of online transactions is escalating. This makes competition tough, although there are endless opportunities. The Internet is a world of opportunity where flowers of success grow on the trees of conversion.

The Internet certainly is amazing; anyone can reach almost anyone else. The only hitch is that competitors abound. If you don’t manage to float to the top with online charisma, millions of potential buyers will ignore what little waves you make. Today’s customer is free to select, compare and analyze your products and services against those of your competitors.

The advantages of Online Printing


Now a days, in very fast world every body need comfort. They need solution of their problem without leaving their office chair or home. Suppose you wanted to start a new business and for this purpose you need printing solutions, like you need your Business Cards, Letterheads, Office Stationery, Sign Boards, Pamphlets, Flyers, Brochures and all the things related to printing. You need all the things in your office without leaving your place. These days many printing companies are offering Online Printing.

Online Printing should be convenient and affordable, best quality and in time delivery, if Online Printing is having these things then you should adopt this option. Otherwise you will have to visit the Printing press again and again to monitor your work progress and quality. To visit the Press you have to manage your time, you need some relaxation from your office to visit the Printing press. For any new business it is very difficult to manage the time. You have to give your time to some other things, like to solve some Legal matters, you have to renovate/decorate your office, to recruit your team and a lot more, many hurdles on your way, so get some relaxation from anywhere which is in your hand. So at least Online Printing should give you some relaxation.

As online printing is having a lot of Advantages, but here we are going to discuss some main advantages. You may have your opinion against these, as they may vary place to place and time to time.

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Web Designer?


Being a web designer, whether it’s freelancing or working in house, is a difficult job. There are a lot more skills needed than just knowing how to code a web site. If you’ve ever considered becoming a web designer, continue reading to see some of the skills needed to compete in the job and freelance web design market. Some of the skills might surprise you.

The 5 Don’ts of Business Promotion through Social Media


Social media is indeed a powerful thing these days. Social media has a lot to offer to its audience however, everything has a baggage of good and bad things. Same goes for social media because if there is a lot good it can do, there can be a lot of bad effects as well. Nothing is perfect and there is a margin of mistakes in every field. Same is the case for social media and these mistakes can prove to be really harmful for the program itself. If you are into social media, you need to make sure that you are very careful about every decision you take and you do not commit any sort of mistakes which can really harm your reputation of efforts that you have made to be a part of social media. Social media is strategic. If you are promoting any business, from offering printing services to dentistry, here are some things to avoid.

The Dangers of Designing for Context


In case you haven’t noticed, there is a growing excitement around mobile or device oriented web design. This excitement is fueled mostly by the high adoption rates of devices that come equipped with full scale browser capabilities but that’s not the only reason. A lot of talk lately has been centered around designing for context. So what does it mean to design for a user’s context?

Basically the idea here is that we have the ability to understand something about our user base as they enter our website. We can gather this information through browser sniffing or simply by the size of the browser window. So being the group of critical and creative thinkers that we are, we naturally want to use our gained knowledge to provide a better experience for our users; after all it’s what a good web designer would do. Something about this process has always irked me. I think delivering an “enhanced” experience based on bits of gathered information is a dangerous game to play, and there are a few reasons for it.