ericadux

Do we have a thread for fugly logos, because I'd like to see more

Plain ol' Erica was taken, and dux comes from designingux.com, which is my site. Almost made it Erica UXD but didn't like the way it would read ("erica uckz'd?")

Around 18 I started playing on Geocities, then found http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ (which was way better back then, by the way) and started using "view source" to see what people were doing and learn how to do it too. That lead me to go to school for computer programming, which did not focus on web development apart from ASP and JSP. Within the past couple years I got back into web design, learned CSS, XHTML, PHP, MySQL, and Photoshop. Within the past year or two I have been diving deep into usability, interface design, information architecture, JavaScript, Ajax, and Dojo.

I always worry about that line as well - even when I consider using an existing framework or CSS layouts that are freely available (I mean just the architecture of the elements is designed in the CSS, meant for the very purpose of people using it to build their web design from using their own colours and graphics) I cringe at the idea of whether I'm stealing or being unoriginal. I suppose there's only so "original" you can be. And considering all the inspiration sites out there, it certainly seems to be ok to get inspiration and follow trends. Still, it's an icky line to look at sometimes.

I tend more towards interface and information design as well as usability. In terms of publishers of web design/development books I adore Sitepoint, Friends of Ed, New Riders, and O'Reilly. If I want to learn a new language, I grab an O'Reilly or Sitepoint book first. Friends of Ed and New Riders have some great gems too though. These are the absolute must-haves on my shelf, in order of publisher. The Principles of Beautiful Web Design - Jason Beaird - Sitepoint - This is just exactly as it says; the principles of beautiful web designs. It is enjoyable to read, beautiful to look at, and an excellent way to learn the process of designing lovely sites. Simply JavaScript - Yank & Adams - Sitepoint - I love the friendly but thorough writing found in Sitepoint books, and that is certainly found here. Best for someone who is brand new to JavaScript, it provides a thorough grounding in JavaScript with great explanations and examples. The Usability Kit - Gaffney & Szuc - Sitepoint - Excellent templates and patterns for ensuring usability is designed within the site. This is actually a binder with a section of information and a big set of templates. Especially useful if you want to make usability a priority without doing a ton of research into the subject yourself, or just want a quick reference of ideas. Deliver First Class Web Sites - Kaiser - Sitepoint - This is a set of 101 "essential checklists" and a quick reference so you can quickly and easily keep an eye on keeping your web site "first class". Nothing new to learn here, just lists to keep things on track. CSS Mastery - Advanced Web Standards Solutions - Budd, Moll, and Collison - Friends of Ed - This is where you go when you've learned CSS and want some advanced techniques. The Zen of CSS Design - Shea & Holszshlag - New Riders - Gorgeous look at what CSS is capable of, using several of the designs from CSS Zen Garden to illustrate advanced web design & CSS techniques. This is the other book you need to grab if you've grown past the basics of CSS. Bulletproof Ajax - Jeremy Keith - New Riders - This is rather introductory and I like the JavaScript overview as much as anything said about Ajax. If you have any other Ajax book and understand the principle of developing a site that is accessible even if JavaScript is turned off, you don't need this one. If you want a short introduction to JavaScript and Ajax though, this one is great. Bulletproof Web Design - Cederholm - New Riders - The title and subtitle say it all; "Bulletproof Web Design - Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS". This is a third book for those who want to move from CSS reference to CSS mastery. The Elements of User Experience - Garrett - New Riders - This is a slim volume that is excellent for those just starting to learn about information architecture, interaction and interface design, and user experience as a whole. Start here to learn and understand the basic elements and terms used within user-centered design for the web. If you want to go from developing code and slapping things together to truly understanding how to design a worthwhile experience for your users, read this short yet excellent book. Mastering Dojo - Russell - O'Reilly - This is the definitive guide to the JavaScript framework known as Dojo. Thorough, complete, detailed, and yet enjoyable reading as well. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web - Morville & Rosenfeld - O'Reilly - Covers IA in terms of business goals, education, ethics, and sales, as well as processes, tools, methodologies, systems, strategies, design, and more. Theory and practice in one neat text. Useful for technical communicators, designers of enterprise web sites, or anyone who wants to understand information and how to put it together more effectively. Designing Interfaces - Tidwell - O'Reilly - Templates and patterns for all kinds of layouts, designs, visual styles, graphics, and navigation methods, along with thorough discussions. Full-colour, beautiful book for effective interaction design, would even be useful for the developer who wants quick ideas to design an interface without doing a ton of research. Plus I just love looking at it because it is such a gorgeous book. Designing Web Navigation - Kalbach - O'Reilly - This one is as colourful, beautiful, and usable as the O'Reilly book directly above. Engaging reading, worthwhile to look at apart from all the information chocked inside as well. Another "full picture" type book, from an introduction to navigation on the web, through information seeking, browsing behaviour, mechanisms and types of navigation, labeling, evaluation, analysis, architecture, layout, presentation, search, social tagging, and rich web applications. I open it if only to look at the gorgeous typography and colours.

is left: 50%; margin-left: -(half-width); out of style now?

And that one is nice to look at to boot. Thanks!

The common ones are pineapple, castor oil (from what I hear this is very uncomfortable though since it actually causes other bodily functions to go into overdrive, and plus it's disgusting), spicy food, lots of sex, lots of walking, yada yada. Here's an article on the overdue blues for you - http://pregnancyandbaby.com/pregnancy/baby...ue-blues-82.htm

Ah, that is what I was going to ask, having not yet tried Fireworks myself. I was hoping it would be good for prototyping somewhere between Photoshop and fixing code to make the website functional. But if it's disgusting code-wise - well I guess I'm disappointed, because the time saved by prototyping in it must be lost through cleaning up code. Oh well.

I smirked that you thought that was funny With that kind of humour, I think I've found my new online home.

It's not loading for me. Time for the old wives' cures for getting that baby out, no?

Small thought. I believe it's best as: <ul id="navbar"> <li><a href="index.html">Home</a></li> <li><a href="economical.html">Economical</a></li> <li><a href="homeoffice.html">Home Office</a></li> <li><a href="highend.html">High End</a></li> <li><a href="#">By Price</a></li> <li><a href="#">By Size</a></li> </ul> with CSS applied to the ul id within the relevant div. Best to avoid div'itis wherever possible. Personally I like it when I'm browsing the web on my smartphone. So nice when sites degrade well. It really does give me confidence in the site and encourage me to go back again. Believe me, if a site doesn't work on my mobile, that's enough to tick me off.

Hi, I'm Erica, posting from Ontario, Canada. I am a mom of two toddlers, with a few years experience in web design, a diploma in programming, and some experience in technical writing, computer and internet training, and even a few years in managing accounts. I've worked with XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Flash, and am now learning Ajax and Dojo, hoping to learn Ruby on Rails next. I started designing back a decade ago when all I needed to feel elite was a text editor and some blinking graphics. These days my interest include usability and information architecture, interaction design and computer-human interaction. I have a blog about designing user experience (thus the "dux"), and I can get lost for hours looking at typography or colour schemes. Anything else you want to know, ask.