the blog » Web Design

News and updates

kyle — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:11:49 +0000

It’s been awhile, but I’m still here working on projects and surviving as a freelancer. So since the last post I have started and finished the following projects:

**The Detail Difference website has been designed but we are currently in the middle of the coding process. Hopefully it will be completed by the end of this month.

I also spent two months up in Southeast Alaska last summer working on a small fishing boat. Not anything like The Deadliest Catch, but still very hard work. After getting back from Alaska I officially changed my business name to Orange Tie Designs and have been working on finding time to get that website going. For the time being it is simply a “coming soon” site here: www.orangetiedesigns.com.

Right now I’m trying to finish the coding process for The Detail Difference, create the Orange Tie Designs website, setup a photography blog, setup a blog for a friend, and this website will eventually become an outlet for my meandering thoughts, ideas, questions (along with answers), book reviews, and possibly even philosophical dissertations if I truly end up with to much time on my hands. You will probably notice some of those things appearing on this blog even before the transition as I get my bearings and work on ‘finding my voice.’

I will try to make announcements here as I finish those projects and move forward, but you can also follow Orange Tie Designs on Twitter to hear more often what I’m up to in regards to my business. If you want to hear more absurd updates, that are probably quite meaningless, then you could follow my personal Twitter account.

IE vs. Firefox

kyle — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:19:29 +0000

Yesterday I was doing some research on browsers and search engines for a client and stumbled upon some very happy news regarding browser usage. As of January 2009 Internet Explorer is no longer the majority browser on the internet. It’s percentage has been steadily dropping since Firefox was introduced, and now sits at 44.8%. Firefox has been steadily increasing since it was introduced and now controls 45.5% of the market.

Part of this is most likely be due to the introduction of Google Chrome, which has surpassed Opera and Safari, taking 3.9% of the market since its introduction in September. However, over the last year Opera and Safari have made some progress with increases of 0.9% and 1.1% respectively.

As a graphic designer who regularly codes HTML, CSS, PHP and some javascript, I am very happy that a browser available in all major computer platforms is in the forefront of the pack, although IE web page rendering, as quirky and annoying as it is, will still be a consideration in coding for a long time.

Download Firefox
Give Opera a try
All statistics came from w3schools.com

Art in the Background

kyle — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:40:44 +0000

The background color, image, or pattern can make or break a website. Recently I found an amazing artist who has created amazingly elegant and intricate background images for websites. Evan Eckard, a print and web designer based in Northern California, created a website call DinPattern where his background patterns are featured and available for download. The website also has a great preview function allowing a full view of every pattern available.

While some of Evan’s patterns may only have a very specific type of website they would fit on, they do show the detail and amount of work that the background of a website should receive. The patterns also inspire a designer to look back in their own work as well as look forward to creating intricate patterns that not only please the eye but also provide a depth to the site that “bgcolor=#0099CC” just can’t communicate.

Visit DinPattern