plainbeta

An Interesting Comment on Design Stealing

Brian Purkiss — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:08:30 +0000

I received the following comment a few days ago and did not see it until today due to my Webhost kindly taking my site down for no reason. I feel that this is an issue that is very personal for many designers and is quite a strong attack on me, so I felt I should address it on an open forum due to the gravity of the issue.

I have noticed viewing your work that you seem to copy and use a lot of other peoples stuff. To claim yourself as being a web designer I would second guess a lot of your work. You are currently using someone elses Wordpress theme for your own site even. Also, your whiteboardframework.com website is using a ripped and stripped copy of WP-Coda theme… not even your own framework is being used on either of your sites…. That just plain looks bad… I am sure you really will not approve and post this comment, but you should at least read it and be aware that many others on other sites are talking about it as well. Figured I would be nice and give a heads up at least. Use your own stuff, make it and design it yourself. You will get further. I know your framework got made popular but in reality that itself isn’t even yours. It is a ripped down theme as well. Please be respective of other peoples work.
-Efril Mohgan
(who did not have the curtsey of leaving a valid email so I can discuss the issue)

First off, the theme I am using isn’t stolen.
It is a beautiful theme called Modern Clix designed by Rodrigo Galindez and is free for download on his Web site that I found via Smashing Magazine. I am by no means using a stolen theme for plainbeta.

The only reason I am using someone else’s theme is because I haven’t had time to make one, but I am trying to make time and am making progress - though it still needs a lot of work.

I am indeed in the process of building my portfolio and am trying to fill it with just my work and that is original as possible - which is why you won’t find the current plainbeta.com design or whiteboardframework.com design in there. They are both currently under development and will both be built on my Whiteboard Wordpress Framework.

Yes, much to my dismay, whiteboardframework.com is a stripped down wpcoda theme - which I don’t believe to be a violation for a few reasons. It is a free theme and there is even a downloadable plugin for that pop up. The design is completely my own and I tried to use as much of my own mark up as possible; just a very small amount of the code was by wpcoda, which I point out again is free for download.

Yes, the Whiteboard Wordpress Framework is a stripped down theme - but I built it from the ground up. The whole premise of it is a stripped down theme. My Whiteboard Framework is in no means violating any copyright laws in any way, I made sure of that.

If I am wrong in any of my reasoning, please point it out.
I want to remain above reproach and am working on my own themes as much as I can with my busy schedule.

Capture the Moment Photography Mark

Brian Purkiss — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:31:58 +0000

Capture the Moment Photography

Portfolio Item - Chuck Close, Three Page Web Design Project

Brian Purkiss — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:16:59 +0000

This was one of my projects for my Web I class, which was kind of a joke of a class. Ultra basic stuff. Well, I guess it’s always good to re-learn the basics, right?

The project was to be a three page web site for a popular modern artist that included a home page, an about page, and a portfolio page. I designed the site on paper, then in Photoshop, and finally coding the site using XHTML and CSS. It’s not much of a site, but here you go.

View the Live Site »

Myriad Pro vs Helvetica

Brian Purkiss — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:08:18 +0000

I was recently forced to choose between the popular fonts Helvetica and Myriad Pro. Both are great fonts, so it’s hard to choose between the two. Helvetica is used by just about everyone, which is almost a reason in of itself not to use it However, Myriad Pro is also widely used, and Apple uses Myriad; Myriad is the same as Myriad Pro like Helvetica Neue is to Helvetica.

Not wanting to choose one over the other for any reason other than my own, I decided to investigate.

So here is Helvetica and Myriad Pro overlaid each other semi-transparent. Helvetica is red, and Myriad Pro is blue. When the two are similar, it forms purple. … Duh.

Larger .jpg Version | High-Res PDF | .ai File

Upon close inspection, I have determined that Myriad Pro and Helvetica are two completely different fonts. … Duh. But seriously, these fonts are very different. They are both solid, well-done, sans-serif fonts. Even though many of the letters are almost identical, the fonts are still very different - moreso in the uppercase forms than the lowercase.

Helvetica is a very Swiss font. Helvetica was designed for the space around each letter to hold the forms together, creating a solid block. It is an excellent font to create solid structures with type.

Myriad Pro is very similar to Helvetica… but very different. The space in between each letter isn’t as rigid as Helvetica, the letters allow more air to flow through each other creating a lighter font with a freer spirit than Helvetica. Furthermore, Myriad Pro 12pt is smaller than Helvetica 12pt, which I found interesting. I guess Myriad Pro has a greater cap hight, which can be seen in many of the lowercase forms, especially the lowercase f.

Comparing Myriad Pro and Helvetica isn’t like comparing Helvetica to Helvetica Neue ~~(which I just read a great comparison on, but can’t find it)~~, or even comparing Helvetica to Arial. Helvetica and Myriad Pro are to different solid sans-serif fonts that should be used in design for two different purposes.

For visually solid results, go with Helvetica.
For visually looser results (but still pretty solid), go with Myriad Pro.
There is no absolute answer here, just choose the right font for the job.

Which font do you prefer?

The One Day Web Design Experiment

Brian Purkiss — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:04:33 +0000

Good Morning World! As I promised, this morning I am beginning The One Day Web Experiment!

About the One Day Web Design Experiment

Today I am devoting my entire day to re-designing my blog, er, this site. I woke up ‘early,’ and instantly opened my sketchbook and got to work. I shall move into Photoshop and then into code as soon as possible. The purpose of this ‘Web design experiment’ is to see how far I can progress in one day on a single Web design. I hope to receive feedback on my designs and engage in discussion about the Web design trade through this experiment.

Contact & Follow Info

Twitter: @BrianPurkiss
RSS: plainbeta RSS feed
Skype: BrianPurkiss
Email: Contact Form
Gtalk: Contact Me to get it. I’m not overly comfortable with posting it where bots can find it.

Log

Thanks for those who retweeted. I am beginning now and will post updates as soon as I have them.

8:30 AM - Opening up Sketchbook.

8:59 AM - Done with short word list, onto site mapping and wireframes. I think I am going to try and merge a sketchbook with a ‘clean’ & ‘modern’ design - if those words aren’t too cliché enough at least.

9:25 AM - I have an idea that is a merging of quite a few old ideas. Even though this is in the early stages, I’m gonna open Photoshop and run with this, see what happens.

9:37 AM - Misc decision updates. I am using 960.gs, a Web Design Grid System, and SenCSs, a CSS Styling Framework

11:41 AM - Making progress on the design, the concept still needs a little work in order to be pulled off, but I think it still can be done effectively. Also, here’s a typographic mark I’m considering using, I’m a little unsure of it though.

Thoughts?

12:26 PM - Making progress… I think… Lunch break!

12:29 PM - Ok, the logo isn’t working for me. Crap. I was going for quirky/mischievous, but it is not happening, I’m not sure what I was thinking. Well, back to the drawing board, later though. I’ll stick with this mark for now, simply for the purpose of this being a Web design experiment. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten so distracted with it anyways… Oh well.

1:50 PM - Too long of a lunch break. Pandora is failing. Had (too many) cinnamon rolls. Unusual for lunch? Yes. Feel slightly sick? Yes. Delicious? HECK YES.

3:36 PM - I’m considering turning this into a two day experiment and extending to Sunday…

4:20 PM - It has taken me longer than I had hoped. Had a little focus issues off and on, which I need to improve on. It’s strange, when I’m at the office, I focus tons better on work then when at home. Atmosphere probably? I really gotta work on that.
At any rate, here’s the first screenshot of the home page.

View Full Size

The ‘home icon’ will appear only when hovering over the logo. There will be some additional (really cool) functionality, but I’ll keep that to myself for the moment. I want to show it off, not talk about it. ;-)

Thoughts?

5:37 PM - Ok. Design break. let the head clear.

6:36 PM - Woah. That ‘break’ flew by. Maybe a little long… Oh well. Back to it.

10:04 PM - Dinner. Catching up on RSS feeds. Finally am pleased with a simple content page. Check it.

View Full Size

Thoughts?

10:28 PM - I think I’m gonna shelf it for the night. I am very pleased with this day, even though I didn’t even touch any code. It was slower than I had hoped, but I learned a lot, and made progress.

Depending on how the week goes, I may do the same thing next Saturday.

Tomorrow: the One Day Web Design Experiment

Brian Purkiss — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Wake up, brainstorm, design, develop, work until bed.

See how far I get.

My blog, plainbeta, is in a desperate need of a design of it’s own. I have been sketching and starting designs for quite a while now. Not a one of my designs has made it to the Web in a long time, that needs to change. I’m building my portfolio right now, and need my site to reflect the quality of my work.

So tomorrow, I am going to wake up early in the morning and instantly get to work with my Sketchbook, from there get into Photoshop, and then into code. (process = duh) I am going about this so aggressively to force me to actually complete my own Web site (Yes, I complete all of my client’s work on time).

Because I am going to do nothing but work on plainbeta from dawn until dusk, I want to turn this into a learning process for all and opportunity for some good discussion on Web design and Web usability. After all, we all constantly learn - the more we learn, the better we become.

I will be active on Skype and Gtalk and posting updates on my blog and Twitter all day tomorrow. (If anyone actually follows me) I was wondering if I could get some short notice feedback/help throughout the process tomorrow. I will post scans of my sketches, screenshots work in Photoshop, and have a live in-progress-demo-site throughout the process on plainbeta tomorrow and posting updates on Twitter. I would love to chat with all on Skype or Gtalk for further discussion and feedback.

Please Retweet this for me.

The One Day Web Design Experiment has started!

Be Yourself in Design

Brian Purkiss — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:10:05 +0000

All designers have their own style - without exception. Though some styles may be similar to others, this difference from designer to designer is what brings about the beautiful multitude of diverse designs in the world.

If every designer followed the latest mashup from the popular blog of the month, chased after the latest trend, or copied the latest award winning design, the world would lose the beautiful diversity of design that we cherish.

As designers, we need to figure out what makes ourselves unique. Explore what you like about design. Uncover your personality and let it show through in what you create.

Do not try and copy design.
Let your own style and creativity surface.
Only then will you unleash your full potential as a designer.

The Design Quality/Price Ratio in Web Design

Brian Purkiss — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:56:11 +0000

I re-read an amazing article on the quality vs price ratio in Web design and was going to write an article on this topic, but couldn’t write anything better. Heck, I even considered writing a paragraph or two to go along with the excerpt. But, why reinvent what is already… awesome? But in all seriousness, it’s a great article.

So here’s an excerpt from Smashing Magazine’s article: Quality-Price-Ratio in Web Design. It’s a great read and really worth checking out.

I once heard about a wedding photographer (who charged average prices) that wanted to work less. So, she figured that if she just began raising her prices there would simply be less interest from clients. First she bumped up to $3,000 a weekend, then $4,000, then $5,000. To her astonishment, she actually began receiving more requests from clients. The clients figured that if she was charging such a high sum, she must be really good. Truth being told, she hadn’t gotten any better, she’d always been a good photographer – but the higher price led her potential clients to believe this and, in the end, they were never disappointed. Finally this photographer raised her prices to $20,000 per weekend, essentially pricing herself above what almost anyone could afford. Her potential clients then began offering to fly her to remote locations around the world just for the chance to have her shoot their exotic weddings.

I think you get my point. The old economic adage that higher price correlates to lower demand doesn’t always hold true, and this is especially true of luxury goods. Design is a premium service. A luxury good. It is certainly not necessary to run a business (just take a look at all the used car dealers of the world for confirmation), but results in a definite advantage to the businesses who value good design. Don’t be surprised to find that design and the pricing of design follows a slightly paradoxical pricing relationship.

This little story also illustrates how important market positioning is to luxury goods. You’d be a fool to try and compete on price with sites like 99designs, so don’t try. Compete on completeness, your creative vision and your customer service.

I hope this causes you to re-think how you do business. It sure did that to me.

Golly Gee! Toys Branding

Brian Purkiss — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:00:01 +0000

The client, Golly Gee! Toys, a toy manufacturing company, gave me full control of the design; their only requirements were a maximum of two colors and strong readability and recognition at 1 inch in size.

For their logo, I tried to bring out the kid in me to capture the simple fun and kid-nature of the Golly Gee! Toys. I went with custom type for high recognition and to radiate the fun that their toys bring to kids. I also incorporated a unique icon to increase recognition and for the many situations where an icon is best fitting. My efforts have resulted in this easily read, recognizable, scalable, fun, and playful decorative logo.

The logo works well inverted both on white and black background. It also holds up in reduction, meeting the client’s requirement for being readable and recognizable at 1 inch in size.

Use Wordpress Update Services to Obtain New Visitors

Brian Purkiss — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:35:06 +0000

Since Web 2.0 (Learn more: Wiki) enables virtually anything we choose to be automatically processed and published, content creators (Bloggers, etc.) need to know how to take full advantage of such services. Thankfully, Wordpress allows bloggers to use these automatic services for free and with ease. However, taking full advantage of these automatic services requires a small addition to your control panel.

Go to “Settings” and then to “Writing” and scroll down.
There will be a text box titled “Update Services.”
Add these links to that box.

http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
http://api.feedster.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/ping
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://ping.amagle.com/
http://ping.bitacoras.com
http://ping.blo.gs/
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/
http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/
http://rpc.newsgator.com/
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://topicexchange.com/RPC2
http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2
http://www.blogoole.com/ping/
http://www.blogoon.net/ping/
http://www.blogsnow.com/ping
http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi
http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/
http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud
http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php
http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2
http://www.wasalive.com/ping/
http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/
http://www.blogsdominicanos.com/ping/
http://www.xianguo.com/xmlrpc/ping.php
http://www.feedsky.com/api/RPC2

Now, when ever you add a new post, these pingback services will be notified which allows more websites, services, and potential viewers to be alerted of your new post.

Happy blogging!