Most people outside of the Web Design & Development community probably have never heard of the term “responsive web design”, and almost surely don’t know what exactly it is. I’ve been keeping up with Responsive Web Design for a while now since first reading about it on A List Apart, and looking curiously at sites by the likes of Simon Collison & Ethan Marcotte.

In the simplest terms I can describe it, Responsive Web Design is design that uses new HTML & CSS features to allow a single piece of content be flexible enough to allow easy viewing on many different types of devices. Well, that wasn’t quite simple, so lets take another stab at it; design that reacts to the device it is shown on. That is a bit better, but still vague. Either way, this is a new (and old) take on creating sites for the web now. 5 years ago, the web was generally restricted to a PC or Laptop Monitor. Just about then smart phones began to shake the world up with their tiny 320px screens. This sent us designers into fits. We’ve always been waiting for the days we can ignore 800×600, then 1024×768, and now they throw this curveball at us and we’re regressing! Well, not really. The Mobile Web is a huge part of the web as a whole now, and finding a solid solution to create websites that work well in both the PC Monitor and Smartphone was a challenging, but exciting thought for many designers. Up until recently, most people would create a site with a stylesheet for a Computer, and then create another site for mobile. This works in most cases, but its extra work, for designers who’d rather pretty something up than we’d want to code two sites instead of one.

On May 25th of last year, Ethan Marcotte wrote an article on A List Apart explaining a fancy way to create sites that work in any imaginable size constraints by using CSS Media Queries and semantic markup. It took a bit for it to catch on, but it finally is now. Creating a new workflow for designers doesn’t always go over well.

When I first started in Design, the web was just moving towards the at-that-time standards-based floated div layout from the dreaded table structure that had plagued the web up until that point. I’ve built many sites using fixed-width float techniques and while I don’t think its that hard, and feels more natural than table-based layouts I’ve used in the past. Sure there was always a bit of frustration with the issue of clearing floated divs, whether it be by a clearfix method, or another method. None we’re exactly elegant, but did get the job done.

Well what are my thoughts on Responsive Web Design? I’ve built a few sites using parts of this newfangled technology, but I’m currently in the process of making a full responsive site. I’ll be chronicling my inevitable excitement and struggles with it. I can say that so far, I look at it as a very large step forward. However, it is not a perfect solution. As web designers, we’re all very familiar with making things work the best they can, so its all about choosing the path of least resistance and right now this looks it’ll be that path.

I often get asked where people should go to get a question answered about [anything]. Whether you’re looking for help, to network, or just to enjoy some common company with others online with similar interests, forums are a great place to head to.

You may be wondering, why the hell is Andy writing about forums? Well, I just read a great blog post by Jane Wells of Automattic (the company behind WordPress) titled In Praise of the Forums. In this article she explains why people often get upset when she sends them to WordPress’ support forums, but then goes into detail about why it is a great resource, and often times faster and more helpful than a private support system. I want to go a bit further and say that Forums can be looked at as one of most powerful ways to use the web.

I am definitely biased in the fact that I own and run a Camaro forum (and have run others in the past), so I wanted to get that out of the way first. However, I don’t think that there can be enough emphasis placed on how great of a tool online forums are. There are a few ways to look at what defines an online forum. From the stalwarts like vBulletin, phpBB, and other “bulletin board” software, to something more specific or custom, like Yahoo Answers. I like to think of Yahoo Answers as a forum in the general sense. You have a topic (question), and responses (answers). Other similar sites are found all over the web. Even more custom and niche sites like Forrst (a Designers & Developers community) could be looked at as a forum if you break down the 4 types of posts. Each type of post has a main topic, and then responses from other users.

When it comes down to it, I think most all of the social sites have roots in forum-esque ideas. I’ve heard many people in the past few years stating that the forum is a dead breed, and that everyone has moved onto social media. I agree that social media is great, and has done great things for the internet and people’s lives. What I don’t agree with is the thought that forums are dying. Sure, some forums die, just like some social networks do. I still don’t see a better architecture for getting crowdsourced answers and using the sum of everyones knowledge to help teach yourself something, solve a problem, or help others. So next time you have a question, or want to learn more about a specific topic, take a look at forums and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

For years now, I’ve tried to be “normal”, in the sense that I work a “nine to five” work schedule. When I first started freelancing more, I was looking for any advice I could get and everywhere you turn you read that you need to have a set schedule for work. I’ve found that in my case, this theory is bullshit. I’ve always enjoyed working at night. I always seem to focus more on the tasks at hand, I have no distractions, whether their in my own head or from the outside world, and I just feel like I’m more creative when working my weird hours.

So I’ve decided I’m not going to fight it anymore. Why I was so afraid to just work the hours I really want to work I may never know, other than to think I need to fit a mold.

There is not much I like better than to work creatively with my headphones on at 2:00 AM on a weekday.

Pluric is a new idea for an internet discussion board, dubbed by the client as “recreating usenet, crossed with twitter”. We created the site to have an application-like feel while in use, and a fluid design to maximize space for each user, and made it fast and easy to switch between all sections of the site.

As a freelance designer, often I get harassed by my friends that I should be really happy to be working for myself. They’re right, I should be happy about it and I am. However, I also have the stigma that almost all self-employed people are tagged with; working less and doing less. I don’t bother to correct them that I put tons of extra hours into my work because I know most of my friends are simply poking fun and usually not serious. I do work very often, and find personal time harder to come by which is a big issue. I really need to find more time for me. Along the same lines, I sit at the computer for 9 or more hours a day 5 or 6 days a week. It isn’t always fun, and it sure makes getting fat easy, which I’m good at.

Fat & Lazy

So, I’ve decided I’m tired of being overweight. My friend and client, Marc Halpern of Halpern Fitness and I have started a workout routine. Marc is a great Personal Trainer, and I’ve gone at this for a week now and already feel better about myself, and have more energy. I’ve always had Marc around, but never seriously got into a workout regiment made by him to cater directly to me. This morning I was thinking how very stupid I have been for waiting this long. I’ve tried many workouts, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt that any of my own workouts with equipment at a gym are nearly as beneficial as working directly with Marc. We’ve set up daily nutrition goals, as well as my goal of making it to 250lbs by March.

Excuses, everyone has them and they all…

One excuse I constantly used was that I was going to lose too much of my billable hours & productivity by worrying about exercising. To put it gently, I was stupidly wrong. I’m not losing any time. I think knowing I have to make room for exercise each day makes me more proficient with the rest of my scheduling. On top of this, I feel like I have more energy mentally to get through longer days and not get creatively burnt out. Maybe the release of aggression & pent-up energy just helps me focus the rest of the day. I’m no doctor, but I sure as hell feel better.

John Abisch is a award winning Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist from Rochester, NY. He was looking for a site that would reflect his outlook on life. He wanted the design to show the feeling of serenity. With that in mind, I created a design that shows his love for the ocean, as well as the very clean and relaxing vocals & instrumentals.

BrewFridge is an online (and soon to be mobile) application that keeps track of Beer that you own, have owned and wish to own. Think of it as a Wine Cellar application for quality beer. The Site needed a simple but powerful user interface and the ability to scale and add new features as the product progresses.

The Buffalo WordPress Users Meetup is a bi-weekly gathering of people interested in WordPress. The design is meant to be simple, yet also at the same time show the power of the WordPress platform to handle full sites.

Whenever someone asks me what I’d suggest to them for a Content Management System (CMS) or blogging platform, the answer is almost always WordPress. I power this site with WordPress, as well as probably 75% of my design clients sites.

WordPress has many distinct advantages over other alternatives, and as an overall platform I find it to be the closest to my utopia when weighing all features & options.

The advantages WordPress has include:

• Free & open source
  This means that WordPress does not cost the person or company running the site money to run their software, and by being Open Source and under the GPL License they never will charge you.
• A very active and growing Development Community
  One of the biggest advantages to running WordPress over other Systems is that the amount of plugins available is outstanding, and almost all are free or very reasonably priced considering.
• Knows it indentity
  That may sound a bit odd, but many pieces of software becoming overweight and bloated as they grow. Community input asks for certain features and these keep piling on top of one another. WordPress is a bit different in that it expects a user to install Plugins for enhanced or specific needs. This keeps the system simple and easy to use.
• Simple and powerful content editors
  The Main dashboard of WordPress is meant to be easy to get around, and the areas to add or edit content are simple to use and even less computer-savvy people can edit and update content easily after just a gentle nudge in the right direction.

I could go on for some time about more intricate details on the power of WordPress but those are the main reasons I almost always suggest WordPress. A word of warning though, no single piece of software will be perfect in every situation, and WordPress is no different. There are certain things that may be easier to build on another platform, or without a platform entirely. I use WordPress in any instance where it would make sense to, but you shouldn’t have to fight against the software you’re using to build something, and that is why I won’t say that WordPress is the best CMS for all applications, that is just too large of a check to cash.