Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

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Project: Save the Date wedding postcards

Posted on December 8th, 2011 by emdash in Illustration, Work

I was asked to help out with a Save the Date card for a best friend’s wedding. Their unofficial theme is Art Deco, and the wedding is taking place in a lovely summer garden setting.

Instead of copying the inspiration vintage postcards, I opted to illustrate the postcard myself. The figures are based on the bride and groom, the colour scheme matches the upcoming wedding, and vintage typefaces & Deco/Nouveau design elements tie everything together.

I received the finished postcard in the mail; they even found Art Deco stamps to use!

Congratulations, Reen and Lee. <3

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Em Dash’s guide to a secure password

Posted on October 31st, 2011 by emdash in Tutorials

Sometimes when I’m working on web-based projects, I’m given clients’ passwords for web hosting, website logins, emails, and sites like mailchimp.com. Many of these passwords are frighteningly insecure; a lot of them could be guessed within 3 or 4 tries.

The most common password I’ve seen, by far, is “yourname1″ (e.g. “emdash1″). I’ve seen this 3 or 4 times now, or variations thereof (e.g. “yourbusinessname1″). Often when signing up for a web service, you’re told you have to use a number in your password… hence, people tack a 1 onto the most easily-guessed password of all.

If you’re using this password formula, stop right now! Develop your own secure password.

A good password has upper and lowercase letters, some numbers, and even some punctuation (though some sites still use letters and numbers only.) While emdash1 is a terrible password, something like 3dmAw54u! is a far better one.

“But Em Dash,” you say, “I’ll never remember something like that!”

Here’s where I use a formula when devising passwords. Come up with a phrase in English. Mine was “Em Dash makes awesome websites for you!” Now take the first letters of each word. EDMAWSFY*. Can any of those words be letters instead to simplify, as per a Twitter trending topic? (Yes, in my case, “for” can become “4″, and “you” can become “u”.) Now we’re at EDMAWS4U. Next, substitute letters for numbers (à la leetspeak) for a couple characters. Alternate lower and uppercase, add some punctuation, and you’ve got “3dmAw54u!” for a password. Bonus: you can remember it easily, by remembering your special phrase.

You can also take a word without an easy English equivalent (a name, a place, or a nonsense phrase from your childhood) and add leetspeak and alternating case. For example, Nazookitty becomes nAzo0-k1tTy.

Change your passwords once every couple of months.

*Yes, I know, I split “websites” into two words. Bad Em Dash.

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Personal project: my Mother’s Day gift

Posted on May 16th, 2011 by emdash in Work

Both my Mom and I love these easy-to-make pickles from Indonesia. For Mother’s Day, I put together a gift with homemade pickles in a custom labelled jar, the recipe to make them, and a seed packet for growing your own cucumbers. I removed the seeds from their original packet and redesigned the packaging – everything matches.

I used this recipe as a starting point – make your own sweet & sour fresh pickles!

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The Wonderful World of WordPress

Posted on May 2nd, 2011 by emdash in Work

Recently, we at the Pixel Foundry took on a project that showed us just how wrong some designers/developers can be about WordPress.

Let me explain. We were originally hired to make some small navigation, form plugin, and page order changes to an existing small WordPress-based site. It seemed a small job; one we could complete in less than a week.

Once I actually took a look at the site’s file structure, theme files, and so on, I couldn’t stop scratching my head. We ended up fixing the giant mess the previous “developer” (and I use the term sarcastically) had left behind.

1. Initially, our client’s website had two separate installations of WordPress running side-by-side, both connecting to the same database. One was in a subdirectory, meaning some of the site’s pages had urls like http://domain.com/subdirectory/page/ . This wasn’t intentional – my guess is the previous “developer” screwed up the installation process halfway through, started over in a subdirectory, and didn’t bother to fix it or the site’s permalinks.

What an insane file bloat. We deleted the duplicate files and moved the client’s WordPress installation to the main directory, where the client wanted it. Before we touched the site, it took up 125+ Mb on the web server – now it’s down to less than 60 MB in file size.

2. The original “developer” installed someone else’s premium theme and walked away. Our client apparently already had a site design before moving to WordPress, and requested it carry over to the new website. The “developer” told our client that wasn’t possible and WordPress was very inflexible to work with – it had to look this way. Our client reluctantly agreed but was heartbroken that the original, attractive site was replaced by the clunky new look – which we discovered wasn’t a “custom template” at all, but something downloaded and installed off a premium theme website. Our client was told a bare-face lie; WordPress can look like anything and its theme system is incredibly flexible.

It was the work of an hour to revise the css to use the client’s original site’s colour scheme and fonts – something the original “developer” either didn’t know how to do, or didn’t care to do. (We also offered to rebuild the WordPress theme from scratch to match the original, lovely site design – there’s no budget for this now, but maybe in the future.)

3. The site looked wrong in Internet Explorer. IE7 and 8 displayed the navigation incorrectly. I was stunned when I discovered this – wouldn’t someone spend the time to browser test a WordPress site they’re developing for a client?? Especially in the most common and (sadly) widely-used web browser. This was a css and theme issue which means either a) the original “developer” made some changes to the premium theme after installing it, and didn’t browser test or, more frightening, b) there’s premium WordPress themes out there for sale that don’t work in Internet Explorer. Fixing these theme display problems in IE took us less than an hour.

4. Some social media icons were introduced to the site, but they didn’t link to the right sites. Facebook’s icon went to LinkedIn. The Podcasts link went to nothing. It takes 5 minutes to test these things – 5 minutes the original “developer” probably spend browsing premium WordPress theme websites instead.

5. According to our client, they were never shown a staging area for final approval before the site went live. We also heard that the “developer” was rude when our client made requests for changes. The thought that a “developer” would go live with something the client hasn’t even seen is shocking to me. At Pixel Foundry, we always, always develop in a testing directory with password protection so the client can see changes before they have to commit to them.

How much did the original “developer” charge our client for this mess?? $2000+.

How much would we have charged?
To install WordPress correctly, custom-theme WordPress to match the existing site’s look and feel, import content into WordPress, configure an SEO plugin, and supply a guide on using WordPress to modify and move pages & write posts?: Starting at $1000.

I’m truly sorry our client had to go through this process with the original “developer”. They were lied to about WordPress’s functionality, ripped off on the final invoice, and the installation job itself was botched.

Clients, please do a bit of research on WordPress to get a realistic idea of what it can and can’t do – there’s a lot of unscrupulous “developers” and “designers” out there willing to work less than 3 hours installing a default template and charging you thousands of dollars. And, while I don’t mind fixing things up for you after the fact, I’d really rather be developing beautiful, flexible WordPress websites from the ground up.

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Understanding WordPress.

Posted on March 4th, 2011 by emdash in Opinion, Work

WordPress is the easiest-to-use, most flexible CMS-type package I have ever worked with. It’s a great way for a novice developer to learn more about working with PHP, mySQL and open-source content management. The documentation is in-depth. It’s insanely easy to theme. It’s very easy to write plugins for. However, it’s also very easy to get overconfident with WordPress. I’ve noticed a frightening trend: lazy, inexperienced web developers are charging big bucks for a WordPress installation and “custom” design that’s really just a downloaded theme.

Why does this worry me? Because these designers and developers are ripping off their clients. A WordPress installation on shared hosting (e.g. Varial Technologies) takes less than 5 minutes and little to no experience. Some web hosts will even install it for you at the press of a button. Installing a decent WordPress theme? Another five minutes. These themes are usually flexible enough that you can change the colour scheme, logo, and even number of columns without ever diving into the theme files themselves. Now, if you’re not very computer savvy, it might be worthwhile hiring a web developer to handle all this stuff for you. But if they are charging you thousands of dollars for less than an hour’s work, my heart goes out to you… you’ve been ripped off.

So what is it we do with WordPress at the Foundry, and why are we different? We design the site first on paper. We develop the look and feel, from scratch. We install WordPress (as one would expect), hacking existing plugins as necessary, to make the site function as it needs to. Lastly, we don’t start with any WordPress theme aside from the default twentyten. Everything in our theme is coded by us, to match the site’s visual design that we showed the client. We don’t use WordPress as a plug-and-play solution for our projects… we use it as a base to built a great site upon.

WordPress isn’t good for everything, either. It’s really a solution for someone who wants a site with an active blog and some social media feeding into it. It’s not for e-commerce (learned that one the hard way!), it’s not for anything with user registration or social profiles, it’s not for forums (bbPress is dead), it’s not even very good as a CMS in-and-of itself. It’s extremely slow when you have thousands of hits per day. Many of its plugins are poorly written. Etc. (That said, for a lot of our clients’ websites, WordPress is a good solution, and I’ve gotten to the point where I can work quickly in it because I understand its quirks and possibilities.)

When considering hiring a designer for your new WordPress-based website, work closely with them to truly get your money’s worth. A good WordPress developer will make your site happen, the way you want it. They won’t throw some files on your server, take the money, and run.

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No more IE6.

Posted on December 19th, 2010 by emdash in Opinion, Tutorials

For the last few web development projects I have worked on, I have become fed up with supporting Internet Explorer 6. Sometimes I start off with good intentions and attempt to make my layout work in that horrid excuse of a web browser, but after hours of frustration, decide it isn’t worth the effort – or my clients’ time and money.

Most popular, new-ish websites have limited functionality in IE6. Internet Explorer 6 is now over 6 years old; its last upgrade was in 2004 (source). Google, Facebook and Youtube have all announced they will stop supporting IE6.

Internet Explorer 6 is obsolete. It is okay to have a website that doesn’t support it.

Internet Explorer 6 is full of security holes and improper support for web standards – this is why web developers hate it. Unfortunately, people are inherently lazy with updating their computer’s software, and many non-internet-savvy people are still using the thing. You’ve gotta do something for these poor sods, even though they’re likely not your target market. (Such people tend to distrust shopping online, for example, and won’t shop from an e-commerce website.)

(Note: there’s also people on Windows 2000 at work – these unfortunate souls are forced to use Internet Explorer 6. Again, they’re probably not sticking their credit card number on a webpage at work. Since they soon can’t view YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Google in the office, they’ll probably either look for a new job or we’ll see a mass productivity increase.)

So, what’s the solution for the 5% of the internet’s users, that clings to IE6 like a barnacle to a sinking ship? Enter conditional comments.

Put this at the top of your webpage after the <body> tag:

<!–[if lte IE 6]>
<div id=”IE6warning”>
<p style=”font-size: 13px”><strong>We’ve noticed you appear to be using an older version of Internet Explorer.<br /> To properly view this and other websites, we recommend you <a href=”http://www.ie8optimized.com/” target=”_blank”>update your web browser now</a>.</strong></p>
</div>
<![endif]–>

and style your IE6warning box using CSS to make it pretty. If you want to be sneaky about it, you can make it look like a browser warning along the top of the page.

If the user is running IE6 or (God forbid) IE5.5, they’ll see the warning. Other browsers treat the section like a comment and ignore the enclosed HTML.

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Working for free: just say NO.

Posted on December 8th, 2010 by emdash in Opinion, Work

www.no-spec.com covers working for free better and more extensively than I can, but this is a subject I do feel strongly about.

Graphic design is a difficult market indeed for small businesses and freelancers. We have to compete with countless uneducated “designers” who consider their work a hobby and undercharge, either because it’s not their main career, or they don’t know any better. We also have to compete with poor-quality, quick turnaround “design services” at copy centres, web hosts, etc. There are also offshore “studios” that undercharge.

Part of the issue arises from the belief that all it takes is software (and the knowledge to use it) to make a graphic designer. If this were actually true, I could hold a hammer and claim to be a knowledgeable carpenter. In my opinion, clients who entrust someone with something as important as developing their business’s image through branding, web design, and more, have the right to expect and demand a designer who goes beyond a software technician.

To hire a professional designer who can truly enhance your business and improve its communication requires paying professional rates. Period. If you’re a small, startup business, and wish to hire a designer for your branding, website, or advertising, you shouldn’t have a budget of $0 to pay them.

On the flip side of the coin, eager young designers shouldn’t be accepting free work for the sake of keeping busy. I gained experience and skill while in school by doing freelance work – while my classmates continued to work as restaurant servers and baristas, I took on design jobs to flesh out my portfolio and create contacts. (I highly recommend this.) I took on paid jobs only – as a student, you wouldn’t charge professional rates, but your time is still valuable!

It’s easy enough, as a designer, to not apply for design jobs that won’t compensate you for your time and expertise, but how should you turn down a case where the client contacts you expecting you to work for free?

My usual tactic is to explain politely: “I’m afraid I can’t work for free for any design project unless it’s for a registered charity – it’s simply not fair to my paying clients to do otherwise. If you have a registered charity number, I’ll be happy to reconsider your project. If you have a tight budget for your business, I’d be happy to work out a payment schedule that works for you. Many of my clients have received a monthly invoice to pay for their design work by installments.  This might be a solution for you.”

I usually don’t respond to the hook that the project would be “exposure” or “good for my portfolio” – I have worked for major companies around the Lower Mainland, B.C., Canada, and North America, so I don’t know that my studio would gain from including work from a company that doesn’t even have budget to pay a designer, let alone market itself properly.

As for portfolio work? If you need to flesh out your portfolio as a designer, create your own project. You’ll answer to no one for the design so you can truly make it good – without degrading the professional industry you’re part of.

Do you have any tips for politely turning down spec/unpaid work? Post them in the comments below!

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On resumes, or: 5 things you shouldn’t do if you want me to hire you.

Posted on July 25th, 2010 by emdash in Opinion, Work

The other day I found some notes on incoming resumes. In this particular instance, I was sifting resumes to hire a part-time in-house designer and office administrator (yes, it was two jobs in one.)

My notes were personal and determined whether or not the incoming resumes got a checkmark (meaning let’s call them back and set up an interview!) or got filed in the round file cabinet (meaning the bin.)

Here’s some highlights:

“Personal website is pretty awful”

“Leaving for France in April? WTF?”

“1000% OVERQUALIFIED”

“No office experience. Nice typography though.”

“Lists ‘Windows’ twice under ‘Software’, probably not good at computers”

“DOESN’T EVEN LIVE IN VANCOUVER”

“Website portfolio pisses me off” (in this instance I think they had some Flash template site)

 

As you can see, I’m a bit difficult to please.

This hiring process took place about a year ago, at the peak of the recession when unemployment was rampant and people were desperate for jobs. I’d sifted over a hundred resumes before selecting callbacks.

I definitely noticed a lot of repeat offenses; things people did when they applied that immediately annoyed me or put their resume in the round file cabinet. I’m going to share these things.
ATTN: PEOPLE OF CRAIGSLIST: STOP DOING THESE THINGS WHEN JOB HUNTING!:

Don’t bother reading the job description before applying: One of the resumes arrived with a nicely formatted cover letter… stating the applicant is great with accounting/bookkeeping and looks forward to saving our firm money. Did they even READ the job description before they applied?? A cover letter that isn’t relevant is far worse than none at all.

Poor grammar and spelling: I got so many resumes with typos and horrible grammar it made me want to cry. Nearly all the cover letters and emails had at least one glaringly obvious grammatical error or horrible spelling, but when it’s on the actual resume, it’s just inexcusable.

Send a 1 paragraph bulleted resume in 8 pt type. The print designers who applied were by far the worst for this. I got resumes with nothing more than a name, email address, website for portfolio samples, and the work history was nothing more than a bulleted list of company names and dates. How can we hire you if we barely know anything about you?

Apply for stuff there’s no way you’re qualified for. Kudos to you for being confident, but either you didn’t read the job description or you have an inflated sense of self-worth. Sadly, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

Send a presumptuous cover letter. I got a cover letter with salary expectations of $35K. This was for a 2 day a week part time position. Either we got a generic template cover letter (again, worse than none at all, please expend some effort writing about the job you’re applying for!) or you didn’t read the job posting at all!

The overall experience has led me to believe Craigslist is a bad place to look for a new hire. While it does get a lot of eyes, it also produces a lot of junk results, which someone then has to sift through.

At least in this case, the sifting process gave me some insight and fodder for a blog post!

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