FortySeven Media

EECI2009 Slideshow and Presentation Notes - From Design to Dynamic, Rapid EE Development

2009-10-22T23:55:29Z

Hello from the Netherlands! The EECI2009 conf is in full swing, and we're having a great time! This entry is more of a companion piece to my presentation (you can check the slides out below). So if some things don't make sense, read through it. Someday when I have time I hope to write a more detailed version, but for now this is what we've got! For those on the fast track, this is how we setup EE and "package" it so it's ready to go for each new site we do. Go read up on Structure and try it out. You'll thank me later.

The more ExpressionEngine sites we develop, we began to see a faster, more efficient way of doing things. The advent of 3rd Part Addons like Structure and Field Frame are opening up a whole new world of rapid development.

The Problem

While we were becoming excited with all the new possibilities of faster development times and better usability for our clients, we found setting it up was taking longer. We were grabbing the 15+ Addons by hand, installing and configuring them. Then we would generally setup templates based on each page of the site, using global variables and template embeds to keep as much of it dynamic as possible. But it was still a lot of copying and pasting.

The Solution

We realized we needed a "sandbox" install of EE with all our Addons installed and up to date. We also needed the basic templates and global variables that we used all the time. Add to that a good bit of extras and what we'll call "sweet tricks" and all of a sudden we've got an EE install that's ready to move to your new server and start throwing HTML into and creating content almost instantly. Seriously rapid development.

I'm not going to rewrite the entire presentation; you can probably go through it and figure most of it out yourself. But what I will provide is a quick list of all the links I use in the presentation and some simple text files of the complicated code bits.

Addons

LG Addon Updater - View Site
LG .htaccess Generator - View Site
LG Replace - View Site
LG Add Site Name - View Site
LG Tiny MCE - View Site
SL Developer Info - View Site
Image Sizer - View Site
Word Limit Plus - View Site
Category Checkboxes - View Site
Freeform - View Site
FieldFrame - View Site
nGen File Field - View Site
Structure - View Site
Edit Menu Dropdown - Download

Image Replacement Technique

AJ Penninga - View Video

Assets

Sidebar, Nav and Content templates - Download Here

Design Hope: Final Logo

2009-10-08T14:13:47Z

Folks, we have a winner! Scott has officially declared the final logo to be Number 3 from the last round minus the tilting. Though not apparently obvious, this version was completely redone, ensuring spacing and alignment was perfect and optimized where necessary. The Solutions font was beefed up a bit, too. Good call on that one, loyal readers! Not much else to say here, really. Since we’re starting from the ground up and have such a strong and simple mark, I’m going to tackle color alongside the website design. A little unorthodox, perhaps? Yeah, we were never the normal ones .

Thanks everyone for your input. We’re moving on to wireframing next.

Dear Small Businesses: Some Advice

2009-10-02T15:03:22Z

I would wager that the majority of web designers end up doing work for small to medium-sized businesses. And I'm sure we all have a fantastic story of how ludicrous they can be sometimes. After a few "interesting" experiences, I've had this one rolling around in me for a while. Small business people; we love you, but pay attention, alright?

We Understand it's Your Baby

If anyone can sympathize with a small business owner it's a small web design shop. We know you busted your tail, working night and day to get this off the ground. So did we. We know you've had to wear so many hats it's not even funny. Salesman, bookkeeper, account manager, marketing guy, the list goes on and on. We do it all, too. It's exhausting. And so when you bring someone else in to help you visually define what you are; it's like we're messing with a part of you. Here's the thing, though. You're too close. You need someone with a neutral perspective to help you make decisions for the better. My favorite saying goes, "You can't read the label when you're inside the bottle." You're so close to the details and emotional attachments that it's hard to see the big picture.

We Are Professionals Who Love What We Do

So obviously if a small business hires us they know somewhere deep inside that they need help. But I can't tell you how many times we're asked to do a project and then just get design details dictated to us. I don't quite understand this. I mean, if you hired a plumber would you tell him he used the wrong fittings or should have used different pipe? Do you go to the doctor and say, "I appreciate your advice, but that medicine you prescribed is all wrong. I like pills better." Do you tell your accountant he used the wrong form? Of course not! You went to these people because they are professionals and they're good at what they do. Good designers know what they're doing and will fight for the best design. Speaking of designers...

"You can't read the label when you're inside the bottle."

Not Everyone is a Designer

I know, I know. You studied marketing in college. Or you're great with interior decorating. You can put an outfit together like no one's business! Maybe you really like the color purple. Those are all fantastic things, but it doesn't mean you understand design. So while we're absolutely open to discussing your ideas, we can't take them to heart if they make the design less effective. We don't just throw stuff on a page to make it pretty. We take the time to guide the viewers eye through the page, communicate effectively, choose just the right typography, and call on years of experience to make the right decision. I generally go through multiple ideas and versions to get to the one I show you. I've usually already tried your idea and it wasn't the best solution.

This Isn't What You Expected

People are often surprised when a design isn't like what they thought it would be. This goes back to our whole "Label inside the bottle" analogy. While sometimes a small business person has a clear vision of what they should look like; often it's tainted by their emotions and insider knowledge of what they do. For example, an icon of a house because you provide cleaning services. That house doesn't have to represent the 1200 square foot rancher you usually clean. It's just a house. Really, I promise. Small business people get so hung up on these kinds of details it's maddening. Big picture, guys. The label looks and feels totally different than the inside of the bottle.

Kumbaya With Me!

Alright, I know this probably sounded a bit negative, but it's just because we love you. We need you as much as you need us. Honestly, some of the most innovative and interesting things we've ever worked on came from small businesses because you're nimble and not bogged down in processes and bureaucracy. It would just be nice if we could work together a little easier sometimes, you know? So remember, good designers will make what they truly believe is best for you. We're not trying to stroke our ego or build our portfolio; we genuinely want to make your business better. Let us do that; it's what we love to do!

Speaking at the ExpressionEngine and CodeIgniter Conference

2009-09-15T21:00:12Z

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be doing a workshop at the ExpressionEngine and CodeIgniter Conference in Leiden, Netherlands October 22-23, 2009. I’m really excited about this trip because 1.) I’ve never been out of the country and 2.) The group of people at this conference are amazing. Honestly, I’m quite humbled by the lineup. How did I get to be invited again? I can’t even list them all here, but include household names like Leslie Camacho of EllisLab, Veerle Pieters of Duoh!, Brandon Kelly of LEVEL Studios, Leevi Graham of Newism and Ryan Irelan of Happy Cog. Like Veerle laments, I’m not much of an EE coder compared to everyone else, so here’s to hoping I can bring something good to the table. In fact, I’ll be talking about how we take our static HTML/CSS pages and speed up development putting it into EE first and then building out real links and content.

Tickets are $410 for the two day event or $255 for the first day of keynotes. I’m doing a workshop on the second day so no skimping! Actually, there’s only 20 full conference tickets left so you’d better hurry! Go register now.

Mr. Nate Croft will be joining me for the trip, and we’ll both be coming home to some huge changes. He’s moving back to Knoxville and I’ll be welcoming my son Jax Maddox to the world a week later. So if we disappear around the end of October it’s because we’re globe trotting, packing boxes and birthing babies. Now you know.

Design Hope: Logo Design Round 3

2009-09-11T14:15:36Z

Welcome back everybody! I have a good feeling about this round. Like we might just have a winner. Lots of great input from everyone on the last round. Except for that one guy. Sigh. There’s always one isn’t there? Thanks to those of you sticking up for us and keeping things positive. Moving on!

The first version was still the favorite, with some requests to stack it as to cleverly put the dog “under” the under. So I tried a few versions of that. Scott liked #2 from the last round as well, but not everyone was digging my lovingly handcrafted custom font. No my feelings aren’t hurt, I promise. Really. So I tried a different font and what do you know, I like it much much better! In a great twist of irony the font’s name is Mustardo. Mustard. Hot Dogs. Kind of sick and twisted but really funny. Anyway, it got nice and bubbly and friendly and has a much better feel.

That’s it! I’m keeping it short and sweet because we’re insanely busy. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Secret Passageways!

2009-08-27T14:01:25Z

This post has nothing to do with web design. In fact, the link I’m about to give you is to a horrible flash driven site. This company specializes in building secret passageways into your house! So, take a break you hardworking web designers/developers/ninjas and check out how you can finally get that secret lair you’ve wanted since you were 9. The staircases are my favorites. What’s yours?

http://hiddenpassageway.com/

Design Hope: Logo Design Round 2

2009-08-21T18:25:33Z

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for their input on the last round of logos. While I’m not usually a fan of designing by committee (as in I’d rather impale myself on a pumpkin), the observations and general consensus were positive, well thought out and very helpful. Bravo! Version No. 2 was the resounding winner, but still needed a little love. As such, I’ve re-worked the dog head a bit so it looks more like a “G.” Although I’m not too concerned about it. The name and connotation will do the job just fine (anyone ever seen the Guitar Center logo?). We got some good ideas from Scott and a few other people, but most of them ended up being too complex visually.

So what did we do? We kept it simple! That became the mantra for the new design. Since Scott was worried he might change development platforms we removed all references to the iPhone and focused heavily on typography. The dog still made it’s way into this one because I think it just works. There’s no simple way to show “someone coming from behind” and most of his ideas even involved dogs so the dog imagery made it through to the second round with some modifications and new silhouette ( I call him Plucky, he seems like an Underdog, methinks).

I personally think any of these would look great on an iPhone splash screen, but we’re favoring 1 and 4. 2 is pretty interesting, too though.

Comments are below. You know what to do.

Minimizing Distractions on Your Mac

2009-08-13T19:47:56Z

So this little blog popped up a couple of weeks ago called Minimal Mac. Yeah, yeah Macs are minimal; we all know that right? Steve Jobs hates buttons, blah blah blah. Ok, but how about when you're using them day to day?

As we've become more involved in the community I've been finding myself more and more distracted as of late. I'm trying to work, but there's a new RSS feed I need to read. Or a new email that just came in. Twitter just never stops. Ever. There's something about new stuff that gets us all excited and makes us feel like we need to see it now.

Being minimal doesn't just mean taking things away...

Now, if you're like us and have...oh I don't know..projects to work on this can become a problem. You keep losing focus to check the onslaught of new stuff and make sure you haven't missed anything. And that's why I'm glad I ran across Minimal Mac when I did. It reminded me to keep things simple and minimize distractions.

So I'm going to take you through my distractions and show you how I've obliterated them. Please remember, being minimal doesn't just mean taking things away. It means removing the things you don't need or never use as well as those that can be a distraction to you getting crap done. Onwards!

The Desktop

Some people like having cool pictures or family photos on their desktop, but I needed no distractions. I grabbed this lovely blurred out mess from Prettify (courtesy of Digitalshiva) and it feels great. Next I needed to get rid of my desktop icons. They were all pretty much shortcuts that I can get to from a new finder window. Now my desktop only has files I am working with. When I'm done they get filed or deleted. I've opted to hide any internal or external drives (in your Finder preferences), but show iPods, CD's and Network servers when they're attached. Mostly because that hardly ever happens.

The Menubar

I love OS X's menubar. Quick access to so many things. The problem was that after installing multiple programs, it was pretty full. I modified the day and time to include the date and took out everything else I didn't use on a regular basis. The big one for me was Tweetie. I love the app, but that shiny blue box telling me there were new tweets awaiting just sucked my productivity. Quick tip, you can remove icons from the menu bar by holding Cmd and dragging them off. Poof, they're gone.

The Dock

Oh man, the dock. I love the dock, but those little red badges kept calling to me. "Read me, read me! There's new stuff down here!" Now I've resisted auto hiding my dock for years. Nate did it a long time ago, mostly because Logic took up his whole screen when editing and mixing music, but I kept telling myself I needed it to launch apps faster. Turns out those apps I was launching were the ones sapping my productivity! So I did it. It's gone from sight. And it's awesome. No more red badges getting me off task.

The Culprits

For me, it was 4 apps that were killing my productivity:

Mail
NetNewsWire (or any RSS reader)
Tweetie (or any twitter client)
iChat

By removing their badges and notifications I've greatly limited my use of them and I'm enjoying much larger amounts of time devoted to actually working! I've even hidden my iChat buddy list so I'm not tempted to start up conversations.

The Results

Well, how about focus? Actually getting stuff done coherently without random links to that latest movie trailer interrupting you? Emails don't have to be answered in 3 seconds, I promise. Finish what you're doing. Check it off your list. Then take some time to catch up on all this other stuff. I'm finishing things faster and feeling much better about them because I've had the time and concentration to think through what I'm doing. Clients are happier, and I don't feel like I've wasted the day.

This is what I ended up with. It's like a blank canvas to start creating things, and I love it.

So what are you waiting for? Get rid of the things that distract you the most. There are much more extreme measure you can take, blocking URL's for certain times of the day, being one, but this is working for me now. What about you? How do you get rid of your distractions?

Front-End Design Conference Presentation Notes

2009-08-03T15:26:17Z

Well, Nate and I made it back from our trek to the sunny St. Petersburg, FL and the Front-End Design Conference where I was a speaker. Let me tell you right now; we both had a great time. Dan Denney (@webdesignfanboy) went all out for his first event and went out of his way to make us feel welcome. From the coffee cups with our cartoon characters printed on it to the swank afterparty, we felt like nerds just might rule the world. We also got to meet a ton of new people and twitter friends face to face; not to mention talk about the things like HTML and CSS without getting the "look." If you don't know what that means, you're probably not married or in a relationship!

Several people requested that we post up the slides from the presentation, so I am doing just that. I spoke on "Why ExpressionEngine is Great for Designers," and EE gave away 5 packages of various licenses and modules for free. Not to mention some t-shirts, field note pads and a mug. Pretty sweet, if you ask me!

I thought it would be useful to post up the links I used in the presentation as well, so here they are. The link to the full PDF of all the slides is down below.

Who's Using ExpressionEngine?

Interestingly enough, news this morning indicates that Airbag and Happy Cog have merged. Here's to hoping they keep making the EE goodness!

Site Examples

Community

That's it! If you were there I hope you enjoyed it, and if you weren't I believe Nate got video of most of the presentations that he's editing down right now. Look for links to those soon. Oh, and the presentation notes are below.

Download Presentation Notes

Design Hope: First Logo Designs

2009-08-03T14:45:48Z

Just as we promised, we’re putting this whole design process out for feedback (good and bad!). For those us you just finding us, Scott Schuster of Underdog Solutions, a startup iPhone development shop, won the contest a few months ago. Here’s the list of what he’s winning, but for now we’re finally jumping off here with some initial logo designs.

Scott had talked quite a bit about his dogs, and even went so far to reference them in his company name, so we thought that was a great place to start with his identity. We also tried to put in some references to the iPhone in a fun way. The goal was to make something simple and professional, but with a bit of character. We have a soft spot for the 8-bit version as well

In case you didn’t know, we always start our logo design process with black and white, solid fill versions. If your logo won’t work in this form, then it’s not a good logo.

So once Scott saw these he started to wonder if we shouldn’t head in a different direction:

I really do like the concepts w/ the dog/iphone mix but seeing as how the company may change course sometime down the road, I’d hate to build a brand around that specifically.

And

I feel like the one w/ the dog’s face for the G looks cool, but could be confusing to people who have never seen the logo or heard of the company before.

He really liked the 8-bit version as well, but said his wife didn’t get it. Looks like we need to start defining a target market.

One last idea; Scott wondered if we had tried to visually represent an “underdog” or going against the odds. Any thoughts as to how that could translate into a simple icon of sorts would be greatly appreciated!

So what do you guys think? This is where we need your help as a community to get Scott a logo he loves. Chime in below!

Write it Down

2009-07-22T12:49:08Z

Continuing on our theme of planning and making goals, I want to talk for a minute about why it's important to write things down. I'll be the first to say that I have failed miserably at this over the past year. In my never ending attempt to "de-clutter" my life I've tried to put everything in the computer and rid my desk of all those pesky pieces of paper. Well, I think I may have been wrong on a number of levels. For now we'll focus on why you need to write down your goals.

What Did I Do?

I've been attempting some exercise with this crazy video series and one thing the guy said really stuck with me: "How can you know what to do if you don't know what you did?" Excellent question dude who makes every part of my body ache. The answer is (unless we have a photographic memory) that we don't. We have nothing to reach towards or beat from the last time around. Sure it's easier to not write stuff down, but you won't make any measurable progress.

Where Am I Going?

The thing with those big picture goals is that they seem so far away and unattainable right now that we try to keep them in the back of our mind. "We'll get there one day," we say to ourselves. Sorry, but it's not gonna happen! You'll get so wrapped up in day-to-day activities that you'll wake up 5 years later and be nowhere closer. Why? You didn't write it down! You had nothing concrete to strive towards so you didn't do anything. Yes, I'm yelling at myself right now! More exclamation points!!!

How Do I Get There?

That's a great question, smarty pants. You write it down. Not just the big "I want to own an island off the Caribbean" dream, but the steps to get to that dream. Ok, so we'll need some serious cash first. Say 5 million? (I have no idea). Alright how do we get there? Sell your liver? Make more websites? Work for Goldman-Sachs? Getting the idea? Alright, now you've got them money so it's time to go scope out islands for sale. Find one. Make an offer. Do the paperwork. Bingo. Guess what? All this goes on paper way before you get there. Why? So you can make measurable progress and reach your goal. If a step to a goal is long and complicated, assign the tasks it will take to complete it. This way you have small, easily attainable milestones that can be accomplished one at a time. Before you know it you'll building your grass hut on your very own island!

So take a little time and write your dreams down. You might just make them happen.

Be Thankful

2009-07-10T19:25:25Z

I've been trying to come up with something to write about for a couple of days now and just realized that there's nothing wrong. If you think about it, we usually write when we're upset about something or when there's a problem we're trying to fix. Maybe we like to vent or rant all the time, but I thought it might be nice to take some time and tell you what's good in my life. Not that my life is better than yours! I'm just finding the good in what I've got. I hope you'll try to do the same.

My Family

I have the coolest family. My wife is totally awesome, and we're expecting our 3rd child in October. She cooks seriously amazing food all the time, does the books for the business, takes care of the kids and manages to find time to clean the house. I could not do that!

My little girl, Adali will be 4 the end of this year and she's so smart, articulate and beautiful that I'm going to be fighting off the boys with a baseball bat in a few years. I love that she still likes hanging out with me .

My son Jett is all boy. Grunts and yells and runs at you like a football player, but has the sweetest nature underneath. Makes my day when I see him laugh for real. I don't know where he got his intensity, but it adds an interesting dynamic to our otherwise laid back family.

On top of all this, all my immediate family gets along on both sides. I actually enjoy being around all of them. Pretty sweet.

My Job

FortySeven Media is doing great. We're busy and we're making money. We're working on exciting projects and I love getting up each day to make new stuff. We have several secret projects in the works that are going to be awesome.

I have the freedom to start work early or late, take a long lunch or the afternoon off if I need to. That in itself will spoil you! And since I'm here with my family all the time I can take a few minutes to relax and play with the kids whenever I want. Such a huge blessing!

My Future

You probably saw Nate writing about goals the other day, but I'm going to reiterate. You can't get somewhere you're not going. We've been pretty guilty of making enough money to pay the bills, but not having a real plan for the future of 47m. Well that's all changing. We're reading a book called "The Richest Man Who Ever Lived," based on Solomon and the book of Proverbs. Whether you believe in God or not doesn't really matter. The wise, practical advice in this book is challenging me to no end and I love it. Make goals you're excited about. Then figure out how to get there. Write it down. Check it off. Ta-da!

Everything else

I have a place to live, cars that run and food in the refrigerator. I get to use a Mac everyday and I love my iPhone. Sure there are some things I'd like to change, but the point is most of us have it so very very good. Take a minute and be thankful. You'll be glad you did.

It’s Hard To Hit A Goal You Don’t Have

2009-07-01T14:16:56Z

Jon and I were talking earlier today about goals and I thought I’d share some of those thoughts with you. Many of us have these vague and vaporous ideas we like to call goals. That’s me included. We call them goals, but really they are just dreams at this point. Why? Because we have no plans to make them reality.

I’m defining a goal this way: “A goal is a desire to achieve a result measurable in concrete terms.”

“I want to see the world.” That’s a dream. “I want to visit Stockholm and Gothenburg this October 15th through the 27th.” That is a goal. The only way that it stays a goal is by developing a plan. First, I need a passport before I can leave/enter another country, second I need money for the tickets. I need to then actually buy the tickets. And when the 14th of October rolls around, I need to pack and drive to the airport and get on the right plane!

Stop being afraid of your dreams.

So often we leave our dreams floating aimlessly through our imaginations and never turn them into real tangible goals. It’s time to stop that. Stop being afraid of your dreams. Stop being afraid of failure when you start making goals. Failure is just one of life’s classes. Learn from it and try again.

Our challenge to you and us as well is this: Take 14 minutes today and turn one of your dreams into a tangible goal. Write it on a sheet of paper. Then, on that same peice of paper, write three things you can do in the next week to get you closer to that goal. Post this paper somewhere you have to see it multiple times per day. Check off those items as you do them. When next week rolls around and you’ve completed those three things, write down three more. Do this for three months and see if you don’t start achieving your goals.

It may take some time before you get any real momentum going. Trust me, I know. But keep at it, you will get there. Keep taking that next step. That is all you have to do.

Meet Scott Schuster of Underdog Solutions - Winner of Design Hope 2009

2009-06-29T13:29:17Z

It’s always good to put a face with a name, and that’s why we want to introduce to you Scott Schuster of Underdog Solutions. He is the winner of Design Hope 2009. So, while we are getting busy cooking up some logo options for him, watch the video below and get to know Scott (and family) a little better.

Outlook is Broken

2009-06-24T12:56:29Z

Fixoutlook.org is a fabulous initiative from our Design Hope sponsors Campaign Monitor and Newism. It sucked bad enough when Microsoft decided to use Word to render HTML emails in Outlook 2007. With one fell swoop they took email designs back 7 years. Now they’re saying Outlook 2010 will do the same. In fact they’re not even going to change the rendering engine at all. It *barely* supports tables, no CSS position and has mounds of bugs and quirks. All to say, if you thought Internet Explorer was the bane of your existence, you haven’t tried designing and coding an HTML email for Outlook. IE’s a walk in the park compared to this. Need a visual?

(Discussion on Flickr)

The good news is that Outlook 2010 is still in beta for a year and Microsoft says they’re open to feedback. So we need your help. First of all, go check out fixoutlook.org. It’s simple, beautiful and powerful. Hats off to Newism for the great design work. The wall of moving tweets is pretty awesome. We’ve already passed 10,000 tweets to Microsoft and Outlook 2010 is the #1 trending topic so let’s keep the momentum going. Designers Unite! Go visit fixoutlook.org and tweet away.

Cool Designs for Churches

2009-07-24T22:09:32Z

BestChristianDesign is helping give churches inspiration for their next project. Good call, guys.

Winning on the Uphills

2009-07-21T13:23:38Z

Seth Godin reminds us to enjoy and take advantage of the uphills.

Quit Talking and Do It!

2009-06-17T11:58:24Z

Stop announcing your new project. Just do it.

It Might Get Loud Trailer

2009-06-17T11:56:29Z

Rock and Roll people, Rock and Roll.

Proper Care and Feeding of a Graphic Designer

2009-06-15T15:40:26Z

To all you staff designers out there, here’s a link for you. (via @ryanlascano)

Make Your Own Success - Then Ask for Help

2009-06-11T20:09:32Z

Fascinating look into the music business.

How Do You Spend Your Time?

2009-06-05T13:33:30Z

Derek Sivers posts some great advice about balancing your life.

Small Talk With a Web Designer

2009-05-27T20:31:57Z

Small Talk With a Web Designer

Seth Godin Open Source

2009-05-13T13:46:04Z

Open & Shut: the kind of answer you rarely get.

Spotlight Video from Mute Math

2009-04-23T15:00:52Z

Rolling around in the back of a van, rockin out!

Spinal Tap is Back!

2009-04-14T21:20:34Z

Spinal Tap’s making it go to 11 again. With Macs, of course.

Transactions for iPhone

2009-04-14T13:14:32Z

I know this has been around for a while, but it’s such a great idea. Take credit card payments with your iPhone.

More New Math

2009-04-09T15:53:33Z

Very funny + Beautifully Simple = MoreNewMath

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-03-24T03:38:44Z

“Where the Wild Things Are” looks insanely intriguing. Oozing feel from just the photographs. Can’t wait to see it.

Return on Design

2009-03-12T14:45:24Z

Hey look, Seth Godin understands design is important.