Comments on: New year, new design http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html Stopdesign is the creative outlet of Douglas Bowman. Tue, 04 May 2010 11:39:03 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Erik http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4323 Erik Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:07:38 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4323 @Billy: I agree, it was the first thing I thought when I saw it. Same header, same body, same footer -- with a few subtle differences. I think simplebits comes off more elegant though; this feels cramped, and the pencil feels a bit out of place. @Billy: I agree, it was the first thing I thought when I saw it. Same header, same body, same footer — with a few subtle differences. I think simplebits comes off more elegant though; this feels cramped, and the pencil feels a bit out of place.

]]> By: Stephen Hay http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4322 Stephen Hay Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:07:09 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4322 @Billy: shockingly, the use of a 12-column (NOT 3-column) grid, horizontal navigation (at least half of ALL websites) and date placement do not constitute "too awfully close". Especially if you are a designer yourself, you will find that there are more differences between this design and SimpleBits than there are similarities. @Billy: shockingly, the use of a 12-column (NOT 3-column) grid, horizontal navigation (at least half of ALL websites) and date placement do not constitute “too awfully close”. Especially if you are a designer yourself, you will find that there are more differences between this design and SimpleBits than there are similarities.

]]> By: Billy http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4321 Billy Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:54:59 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4321 Does no one else think this design is too awfully close to SimpleBits? The color, the horiz nav, the 3-column grid with date on left entry on right ... Does no one else think this design is too awfully close to SimpleBits? The color, the horiz nav, the 3-column grid with date on left entry on right …

]]> By: Chris Wallace http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4320 Chris Wallace Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:31:36 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4320 Doug, welcome back. You've been bookmarked. Doug, welcome back. You’ve been bookmarked.

]]> By: steve http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4319 steve Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:31:18 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4319 congrats on the new design, and most importantly on dropping IE6! way to go! - doesn't it feel better already? congrats on the new design, and most importantly on dropping IE6!

way to go! – doesn’t it feel better already?

]]> By: gav http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4318 gav Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:35:18 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4318 Hi Doug, turns out firefox 3 allows one to drag background images, which led me to think the top links were image files, ooops. My advice to folks who are missing the old design is to go to http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://stopdesign.com Hi Doug, turns out firefox 3 allows one to drag background images, which led me to think the top links were image files, ooops.
My advice to folks who are missing the old design is to go to http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://stopdesign.com

]]> By: Mr. Nguyen http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4317 Mr. Nguyen Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:38:42 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4317 Dear Douglas Bowman, + Nice to see your redesign and posts for a long time. :) But to tell the truth, I still prefer your previous version of this site. <strong>I MISS IT.</strong> + Regarding this redesign, I do not like the colors, which hurt my eyes. Did you check the usability of this site? Do you care these things? <strong>Use colors but don't abuse them.</strong> <em>Colors are nice but if poorly used they make a webpage very unsightly. If you have some dubts about colors you used on your site, take a look at Adobe Kuler an useful web application to create harmonious color themes online for your blog/site.</em> <a href="http://woork.blogspot.com/2008/01/simplicity-is-better-some-suggestions.html" rel="nofollow">Source</a> + Don't get me wrong. You are the web designer i love most. I learnt a lot from your site and design. + Could you give me more detail about how you "modify" Wordpress and plugins you use for this site? Do you still use Markdown? Best regards, Mr. Nguyen Hanoi, Vietnam. Dear Douglas Bowman,

+ Nice to see your redesign and posts for a long time. :) But to tell the truth, I still prefer your previous version of this site. I MISS IT.

+ Regarding this redesign, I do not like the colors, which hurt my eyes. Did you check the usability of this site? Do you care these things?

Use colors but don’t abuse them.
Colors are nice but if poorly used they make a webpage very unsightly. If you have some dubts about colors you used on your site, take a look at Adobe Kuler an useful web application to create harmonious color themes online for your blog/site. Source

+ Don’t get me wrong. You are the web designer i love most. I learnt a lot from your site and design.

+ Could you give me more detail about how you “modify” WordPress and plugins you use for this site? Do you still use Markdown?

Best regards,

Mr. Nguyen
Hanoi, Vietnam.

]]> By: abu http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4316 abu Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:20:04 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4316 whoa. This is a really cool surprise for me. I didn't log onto my bloglines account for a while, and when I noticed a bold "21" besides your site, I tought there was some mess with your RSS. Very glad you're back blogging... 2002-2004 was the period I got really hooked about web authoring, and I vividly remember digging your site - great content, and a real pleasure to stare at. It's nice to see that sometimes the good things come to... a fresh start =) whoa. This is a really cool surprise for me.
I didn’t log onto my bloglines account for a while, and when I noticed a bold “21″ besides your site, I tought there was some mess with your RSS.

Very glad you’re back blogging… 2002-2004 was the period I got really hooked about web authoring, and I vividly remember digging your site – great content, and a real pleasure to stare at.

It’s nice to see that sometimes the good things come to… a fresh start =)

]]> By: Cheryl Colan http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4315 Cheryl Colan Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:02:48 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4315 I confess I did not read every comment before adding my own, so apologies if I'm providing redundant information. Humbly submitted: I noticed <a href="http://twitter.com/stop/status/1142316662" rel="nofollow">your recent tweet</a> about at-replies on twitter becoming the new blog comments. I just found Yoast's <a href="http://yoast.com/wordpress/tweetbacks/" rel="nofollow">Tweetbacks for WordPress</a> plugin, which can import tweets about your posts as comments. I'm about to try it myself, since so much conversation has indeed moved to Twitter. Loving your new design. I'm teaching a web design class this term under the Graphic Design umbrella at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. One of my students just wrote a (favorable) critique of your new design. Many others chose Flash-only sites with poor information structure, so I'm very happy to have this one shining example of what we're <em>really</em> aiming for to hold up during my next class. I confess I did not read every comment before adding my own, so apologies if I’m providing redundant information. Humbly submitted: I noticed your recent tweet about at-replies on twitter becoming the new blog comments. I just found Yoast’s Tweetbacks for WordPress plugin, which can import tweets about your posts as comments. I’m about to try it myself, since so much conversation has indeed moved to Twitter.

Loving your new design. I’m teaching a web design class this term under the Graphic Design umbrella at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. One of my students just wrote a (favorable) critique of your new design. Many others chose Flash-only sites with poor information structure, so I’m very happy to have this one shining example of what we’re really aiming for to hold up during my next class.

]]> By: Bryan http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4314 Bryan Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:50:44 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4314 Wow, fantastic Doug. Very clean and to the point. It's funny I just did an online interview for spicywebdesigners.com and StopDesign came up as one of the daily read blogs/sites I would catch up on in 2004-2005 as I was entering the world of understanding Web Standards. Glad to see you finally updated your site. I will start catching up again :) Wow, fantastic Doug. Very clean and to the point. It’s funny I just did an online interview for spicywebdesigners.com and StopDesign came up as one of the daily read blogs/sites I would catch up on in 2004-2005 as I was entering the world of understanding Web Standards. Glad to see you finally updated your site. I will start catching up again :)

]]> By: Jason Foss http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4313 Jason Foss Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:06:35 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4313 Design aside - I'm just looking forward to some more writing! It's hard work though. My blog has been similarly neglected recently. Must do something about that this year. Design aside – I’m just looking forward to some more writing!

It’s hard work though. My blog has been similarly neglected recently. Must do something about that this year.

]]> By: Ivo Ivanov http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4312 Ivo Ivanov Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:31:41 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4312 Great job, I love the new design! Great job, I love the new design!

]]> By: Goran Aničić http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4311 Goran Aničić Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:29:33 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4311 Good job, clear and clean! Good job, clear and clean!

]]> By: Jesper http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4310 Jesper Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:42:52 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4310 It looks great. It looks as if Khoi Vinh remade SimpleBits, which I suppose is a compliment to all three of you. It looks great. It looks as if Khoi Vinh remade SimpleBits, which I suppose is a compliment to all three of you.

]]> By: Benjamin D.C. http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4309 Benjamin D.C. Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:27:41 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4309 Clean and simple, love it! Clean and simple, love it!

]]> By: Philippe http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4308 Philippe Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:25:32 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4308 Doug, In my comment, I was refering to minimum font-size (in Firefox: Preferences > Content > advanced button, there is a pull down with the appropriate label; or in Safari: Preferences > Advanced, 'never use font sizes …'). I have mines's set to 12px (and my prefered font-size to 16px). Even then, I can't read the text on many pages. I also know quite a few users who set their preferred font-size to 12px _and_ the minimum font-size to 12px. The font-sizing method you use (font-size:62.5% on body or :root) is well known to cause issues for users. Doug, In my comment, I was refering to minimum font-size (in Firefox: Preferences > Content > advanced button, there is a pull down with the appropriate label; or in Safari: Preferences > Advanced, ‘never use font sizes …’).

I have mines’s set to 12px (and my prefered font-size to 16px). Even then, I can’t read the text on many pages. I also know quite a few users who set their preferred font-size to 12px _and_ the minimum font-size to 12px.

The font-sizing method you use (font-size:62.5% on body or :root) is well known to cause issues for users.

]]> By: James Rickard http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4307 James Rickard Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:21:44 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4307 Came here to leave a comment because you said people were leaving them via twitter. Excellent design. Love the flow, but I think I love the fact that you are back to blogging here once more. yay! Came here to leave a comment because you said people were leaving them via twitter.

Excellent design. Love the flow, but I think I love the fact that you are back to blogging here once more.

yay!

]]> By: Stéphane Deschamps http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4306 Stéphane Deschamps Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:46:52 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4306 As always Doug, an inspiration and a frustration (as in "Darn, I'll never been as good"). Bravo! As always Doug, an inspiration and a frustration (as in “Darn, I’ll never been as good”).

Bravo!

]]> By: Douglas Bowman http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4305 Douglas Bowman Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:13:39 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4305 Wow. It's been a little difficult to keep up with all the comments here. Especially earlier in the day while I was still at work. Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Glad to know hard work and attention to the craft still pays off. A few of you mentioned you hoped the old design (v3) was archived. It is, along with the first 2 versions of Stopdesign. They're all linked on the <a href="/about" rel="nofollow">About page</a>. Scroll down to the History section. Version 3 isn't very complete yet -- I haven't had time to grab more pages from the server yet. But I captured all the main index pages. Oh, and it's fun to see photos/icons for everyone here. This is the first time I've had those in comments here. If you don't have an icon beside your name, you can go get one at <a href="http://gravatar.com/" rel="nofollow">gravatar.com</a>. @Chris Casciano and @Philippe - I'll have to check into the grid at lower text sizes. I'll admit when I was doing my checking, I only ever bumped <strong>up</strong> the size, but never dropped it down. Wow. It’s been a little difficult to keep up with all the comments here. Especially earlier in the day while I was still at work. Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Glad to know hard work and attention to the craft still pays off.

A few of you mentioned you hoped the old design (v3) was archived. It is, along with the first 2 versions of Stopdesign. They’re all linked on the About page. Scroll down to the History section. Version 3 isn’t very complete yet — I haven’t had time to grab more pages from the server yet. But I captured all the main index pages.

Oh, and it’s fun to see photos/icons for everyone here. This is the first time I’ve had those in comments here. If you don’t have an icon beside your name, you can go get one at gravatar.com.

@Chris Casciano and @Philippe – I’ll have to check into the grid at lower text sizes. I’ll admit when I was doing my checking, I only ever bumped up the size, but never dropped it down.

]]> By: Philippe http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/01/22/new-year-new-design.html#comment-4304 Philippe Sat, 24 Jan 2009 05:07:37 +0000 http://70.32.90.75/?p=1038#comment-4304 Your gid has a wee little bit of problems to anyone who has set his/her minimum font-size to 12px or higher. For example, on the front page, the jumps to the right, as if it had a 50% indent or something. The footer of this page becomes very wide, triggering quite a bit of a scrollbar. This could also be related to the issue mention by Chris Casciano above; haven't checked to much the details yet. Your gid has a wee little bit of problems to anyone who has set his/her minimum font-size to 12px or higher. For example, on the front page, the jumps to the right, as if it had a 50% indent or something. The footer of this page becomes very wide, triggering quite a bit of a scrollbar. This could also be related to the issue mention by Chris Casciano above; haven’t checked to much the details yet.

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