2005 July

_Jul 29 05

It’s only been a couple of days since I posted a blurb about COLOURlovers, but I’m hooked. I see COLOURlovers colours when I lie awake in bed at night. I’ve even started spelling “color” with a “u.” I’ve already added about 25 colours, and I can’t stop clicking though new colours, voting and looking for […]

_COLOURlovers and DigitalColor Meter

_Jul 26 05

_Robert Ellis_Design Software_No Comments

The announcement that Yahoo! was buying Konfabulator seems to be stirring up a lot of interest in Dashboard widgets, if my site logs are any indication. Looking for new widgets that are worth a mention, I stumbled on the ColourMod Dashboard widget and the COLOURlovers site within moments of each other. Both sites are about […]

_COLOURlovers and ColourMod Dashboard Widget

_Jul 22 05

_Robert Ellis_Webjockey_1 Comment

If you’re designing a web site or blog, you probably already know about validating your XHTML and CSS to find errors in your code. But what about evaluating your site for popularity, design, accessibility, and experience? But what about offering an easy way for visitors to rate your site? Enter Silktide SiteScore.
Enter your Web address […]

_Rate Your Site with Silktide SiteScore

_Jul 19 05

_Robert Ellis_Design_No Comments

I can’t remember how I landed on Before & After magazine’s site, but it took me about 15 minutes after downloading a few free sample articles to open my wallet and subscribe.
Before & After is one of the best resources I’ve found for non-designers. The information is practical and parred to the bone. No fluff […]

_Free Design Articles from Before & After Magazine

_Jul 19 05

_Robert Ellis_Design_1 Comment

Graphic Exchange News is a news site covering, according to their tag line, “graphic resources for creative minds.” The site is a companion to Graphic Exchange, a quarterly print magazine offering free subscriptions to Canadian graphic design professionals (paid subscriptions are available for those outside Canada). Twice a year, they also offer a free download […]

_Free Digital Magazine: Graphic Exchange Summer 2005

_Jul 15 05

_Robert Ellis_Textpattern_No Comments

One of the best ways to learn how to design a blog is to find some templates you like and then deconstruct them. I’ve used templates as the starting point for my designs a couple of times on this site. Also, when a designer like Jon Hicks describes a template as a “great port of […]

_Textpattern Templates

_Jul 07 05

_Robert Ellis_Design Tips_1 Comment

Thinking about color for my redesign, I came across this great tip for creating a color palette on YourTotalSite.
Forget about Monochromatic, Tetradic, Triadic, or any -ic schemes. Just find a picture containing colors you like—the subject and quality of the picture is irrelevant—and open the picture in Photoshop. Select Filters > Pixelate > Mosaic. […]