Minor design update

So I tweaked the CSS and arrived at this. I kinda like it. It reminds me of a pair of eighties boating shorts, not quite sure why. It isn’t the most pleasing design, but that is intentional. Clean wasn’t the goal, I was aiming for something more… me. Well, enough me as CSS can produce. (I think I just said I’m like CSS boating shorts…weird) I’m a strong believer that all comps should be done in Photoshop, where you have a freedom that CSS doesn’t allow. Then you take the comp and cut it up using good CSS and HTML. I didn’t do any of that. This was just a tweak, and a tweak on a whim at that.

Anyway, I will try to start a more formal “design” soon, but not likely before I start moving.

My new look on old characters

I don’t know much about typography. I find the subject absolutely interesting, especially from a historical perspective, but I think I am slightly intimidated by it too. It has thousands of years of history, and more than a few books I have read tell me that “the rules in use today were perfected hundreds of years ago.” I imagine a disciple of Gutenburg, wearing funny little shoes, leaning over and whispering, “yea, hundreds of years… don’t mess it up!” into my ear.

So I try not to mess it up. I take it slowly. I’ve read a few books. I’ve ordered what I hear is the typography bible, but it deserves my undivided attention, so it is still sitting sealed in cellophane on my shelves. The things that I don’t know about typography could undoubtedly fill many, many shelves. That’s why it is always fun to learn something new. And I did today, reading one of the most interesting posts I have seen in a while.

I won’t repeat it as you can read it yourself. However, in this post Mrs. Simmons mentions how common type may be considered almost as a means for wiping out a local dialect. I find that intriguing alone. She goes on to argue, however, that the common symbols further enhance the language of design. Knowing only what I currently do on the subject, I both see her point, and find the thought eye-opening. It is yet another facet of the work that I do day-in-day-out but know virtually nothing about. It is amazing how every large scale object is made up from small atom-like parts. Tomorrow I will go in and look at a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or even a single letter in a new way. Of course, this means I am going to have to unwrap that book sooner than anticipated. But this is useful information, I’ve already thought of an instance where I can apply this new knowledge. But I’m not sharing… I don’t want to mess anything up.

Anyway, thanks to Amber Simmons, who made me think of things differently today, and probably tomorrow too.

I looked, I purchased

In a move totally unlike me, I agreed to rent a house today, and on first look. Just over a mile from work, multiple rooms (one of which I am going to have to rent), it looks like I am moving to Kensington, MD. Not the greatest place, but could I afford to look for something else? Especially time-wise? It was expensive… but not compared to other places in the area. $$$ flying everywhere.

Woah.

Opera 9 and decimal em lengths

I love ems. I set values (using hundredths) like 2.15em regularly. It would seem, however, that Opera 9 either calculates this value differently or rounds up the calculated value. I’ve done a bit of testing today, and adjusted a number of heights which weren’t visually aligned to other things. I used the @media and ~ hack to set a smaller length for Opera 9. I’ll have to investigate this further.

Beginning of the fall semester

Tomorrow is the start of a new Columbia Orchestra season. It’s the first rehearsal. I could not be less prepared either. For the first time I can remember, I am starting a new semester and nothing in my life is changing. I don’t have a new place to live, any new classes, any new books/clothes/shoes for school, or even any new school.

At this time last year I was about to return from East Hampton. I was moving into a new house, one I had never seen, and was about to start searching for a new job. It was exciting. From almost nowhere, I decided I was going to get a job writing webpages, or programming, or both. I wrote up a resume, replied to a few postings, and got a temp job. I was offered a regular position within a week-and-a-half and have been doin’ it since.

As an aside, I believe I’ve come a long way. First, I’ve made many new friends, and have been many new places doing many new things. It has been a lot of fun. I have taken my HTML & CSS from zero-to-sixty, learned a ton of Javascript and Rails, and am now looking into usability, design patterns, graphic design, typography, algorithms and more. And I pick up things very quickly, and hope to get even faster.

But back to the semester starting, I’ve got my usual panic. End of summer. Start of fall. Baseball, hot days, and lazy weekends are all winding down. Football, brisk breezes, and rehearsals all starting. Time for something big and new. I just have to figure out what that is going to be this year.