I recently was approached by my father and my sister-in-law’s boyfriend separately asking for a website. The sites are going to be used completely differently however I found myself suggesting WordPress as the best way to get them fast and effective sites. Since transitioning to mobile design from web development 4 months ago I haven’t even touched any code let alone started a whole new website. To be honest I was a little nervous but I have to commend WordPress for making such an amazingly streamlined process. Getting these sites started again has reminded me why I became a web designer/developer in the first place. I love diving into code and figuring out how things work. PHP is not my strongest area but I am getting to learn more of it again which I couldn’t be more excited about.
The field that I work in truly is remarkable and remarkably overwhelming. There are new things to learn everyday! Recently I was reading an article about what the current day web designer/developer’s skill set really needs to be and I was astonished. I thought I had a pretty diverse skill set but in reality I have so much more to learn if I want to be better… which I do. Well I guess it is time to buckle down and get better acquainted with PHP and Javascript.
Sidebar: I have decided to start linking to a website I like to use or find interesting now with each of my posts. Since I am not sure how often I will be making these posts, instead of “Site of the Day or Week” I will just go with “Site of the Post.” So without further ado…
Site of the Post
Mobile-Patterns.com
This is a site created by the designer of Foursquare and it chronicles her favorite mobile UIs in market today. It is a fantastic site I use weekly for inspiration in my mobile designs. Check it out!
Until next time, keep it nerdy.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Hello World! Joe Style
Well I finally caved. I continually told myself that I was never going to blog because I figured “What would I write about? Do I really want to put myself out there like that? Why would people care?” but here I am, writing the first blog post on my new blog Pixels and Dragons. I wish I could have come up with a better name like Digital Dragon Design or Pixels and Pandas (I do love me some alliteration) but this was the name the best described who I am... I will explain.
Pixels: I am a designer. I have done web and mobile web/app design. I actually just got promoted to lead designer at the firm where I work. This was a HUGE deal to me, in fact it still is. There is so much pressure with being the go-to person in any job. All of this self-doubt creeps up on you without you even realizing it. What if I can’t come up with a good design? Are they going to expect bigger ideas from me now? How am I going to manage people when the hire more? What if my co-workers don’t respect me? I don’t know near as much as they think I know. A barrage of these thoughts and feelings assaulted me and to be honest it was pretty overwhelming. I am still really freaked out, but I have had several crystallizing moments since the switch happened that showed me I can actually do this if I try (stories for another post). That is actually one of the reasons I started this blog, it will force me to go and try and find interesting stuff to post about in the design field thus making me more informed. I am so smrt. (Simpsons reference, bonus points if you got it)
And: Well this one kind of seems self-explanatory, but for those having trouble following along Dictionary.com can help.
Dragons: I am a huge fantasy nerd. I love games. I love books. I love sitting in poorly lit/ventilated rooms playing games with gentleman who have obviously decided that there lucky t-shirt only needs to be washed about once every couple of months. Everyday along with reading design blogs, I read gaming blogs. My main on WoW /played is currently sitting at 48 days 9 hours 2 minutes… and this is my second main. I could take my wife to Europe for a few weeks if I sold all of my Magic the Gathering cards. I have played so much Assassin’s Creed I have started to personally relate to Ezio Auditore da Firenze… you get the picture. Regardless, my nerdlyness is a huge part of my life as well and that is why I felt the necessity to write about it.
Whelp, that about sums why I decided to start this adventure in blogging. I am sure there will be a total of 3 people, including my wife and mother that read this but to that one person that I don’t know who sees this; hang in there if you like design and/or gaming because I promise to find some fun stuff to post.
Until next time, keep it nerdy.
Pixels: I am a designer. I have done web and mobile web/app design. I actually just got promoted to lead designer at the firm where I work. This was a HUGE deal to me, in fact it still is. There is so much pressure with being the go-to person in any job. All of this self-doubt creeps up on you without you even realizing it. What if I can’t come up with a good design? Are they going to expect bigger ideas from me now? How am I going to manage people when the hire more? What if my co-workers don’t respect me? I don’t know near as much as they think I know. A barrage of these thoughts and feelings assaulted me and to be honest it was pretty overwhelming. I am still really freaked out, but I have had several crystallizing moments since the switch happened that showed me I can actually do this if I try (stories for another post). That is actually one of the reasons I started this blog, it will force me to go and try and find interesting stuff to post about in the design field thus making me more informed. I am so smrt. (Simpsons reference, bonus points if you got it)
And: Well this one kind of seems self-explanatory, but for those having trouble following along Dictionary.com can help.
Dragons: I am a huge fantasy nerd. I love games. I love books. I love sitting in poorly lit/ventilated rooms playing games with gentleman who have obviously decided that there lucky t-shirt only needs to be washed about once every couple of months. Everyday along with reading design blogs, I read gaming blogs. My main on WoW /played is currently sitting at 48 days 9 hours 2 minutes… and this is my second main. I could take my wife to Europe for a few weeks if I sold all of my Magic the Gathering cards. I have played so much Assassin’s Creed I have started to personally relate to Ezio Auditore da Firenze… you get the picture. Regardless, my nerdlyness is a huge part of my life as well and that is why I felt the necessity to write about it.
Whelp, that about sums why I decided to start this adventure in blogging. I am sure there will be a total of 3 people, including my wife and mother that read this but to that one person that I don’t know who sees this; hang in there if you like design and/or gaming because I promise to find some fun stuff to post.
Until next time, keep it nerdy.
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