Mark-Up

In honor of Dirk’s ridiculous performance last night, here’s a Dirk Nowitzki Witness wallpaper (1024×768), “We All Nowitzness”.

Go Mavs! Finish Phoenix Saturday night!

Thanks for reading Mark-up, my personal notes made public. Most of you are here because we were already good friends and we realized that RSS is much more efficient than email at sharing our ideas about common interests. But I have been happily surprised to hear from old and new friends that are reading the blog as well. I’m glad you’re here.

This main feed is where I infrequently post my own thoughts or analysis. This area is reserved for entire paragraphs or new threads. If you’re purely reading these posts through a news aggregator and you’re only subscribed to Mark-up, you’re missing the “snippet” section that’s updated much more frequently with happy finds on the web. In the spirit of Coudal’s Fresh Signals or Firewheel Design’s Current Plugs (both prolific sources of amusing and inspiring links) I have a “Noteworthy” feed powered by del.icio.us. Links that I think my like-minded friends would also enjoy get an extra “noteworthy” tag when I post them to del.icio.us. View them online beside the latest posts on the home page, or through the magic of RSS in your own comfy news aggregator.

I hope you’re amused or inspired by these links as much as I was.

I’ve had “write post on elements of visual design” on my “someday/maybe” list for the past two months now. After a visit with Glenn a few weeks ago I decided to elevate it to a new project.

Writing that post now would be redundant considering Mike Rundle’s article published last week on Vitamin. I’ve used Robin William’s C.A.R.P. (or other memorable anagram of those four letters) for years when teaching developers and clients about the basic elements of visual design. It’s an easy means to understand why effictive designs work.

I recommend reading Mike’s article if you are a developer. It’s a good overview of the four basic elements. Using these principles in your own form and screen layouts will increase the value of both form and function.

I might still write a short series that goes a little more in depth on each. But for now, it’s back on the someday/maybe list.

Wayne has convinced me to stop using underscores in my code. From now on, it’s all dashes.