Man, I have been trying to figure this out for ages and stumbled across it tonight. When saving for web, I’ve always had trouble with my images being lighter and more washed out once saved than they are in Photoshop. Well here’s the solution: View > Proof Setup > Macintosh RGB Simple, right? This means you’ll actually viewing your files in RGB originally, so no color variation when you save them as such. Rock on with your web designing self.  Read More

Awhile back I came up with a helter-skelter way to show a list of tags for the NextGen Gallery, a feature that is oddly not built in. Then they went and updated the plugin, and it stopped working. In the update, there now exists a shortcode [ tagcloud ] that will put the tags in your post or page. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me, since my tags were located in the sidebar. Turns out that zyrq over on the WP support forum figured out a workaround. Check out his solution to the problem here. Much appreciation for the nicely commented code. Just another reason I still use WP to build websites... Read More

I’m on the hunt for a plugin that will allow existing clients to request and approve a job quote. If there’s a support ticket plugin out there, it could probably be modified to suit my needs. Ideally, it would flow like this: client logs in, has a profile page with existing and past orders and their status. They could open a new job ticket, fill in a set of form fields, and submit request. A job number would be automatically assigned based on the client. As admin, I could enter the estimate amount and update the status of the ticket. The client is notified via email, and can log in... Read More

For me at least, logo design is one of the most time and thought-intensive things I do. I’ve got to represent an organization with one mark that is both visually strong and technically flexible, as well as sell the client on the rationale.  This article on Freelance Switch is a great look into how a logo is designed, especially if you’re the client. My process is extremely similar, including the part about how I usually start off with WAY more logos than the client actually sees. The thing is, just because there are hundreds of variations I COULD create for a company, they’re... Read More

Great article at Design Observer about what happens to creative business during a recession, and what you can do about it. As a freelancer with very little overhead I’ve been fortunate so far; but there’s no telling what ’09 will bring. In a recession, it takes forever to get things off the ground. Clients take their time gathering (lots of brutally competitive) proposals, interviewing (lots of hungrier-than-usual) prospective design firms, calling back and forth with minute (and trivial) revisions to the proposals, and finally selecting the (perhaps-not-so-lucky) design firm... Read More