A Designer's Life

My Favorite WordPress Plugins

When you install a WordPress blog on your own server, you can install plugins to enhance the functionality and improve security. These are some of my favorites: Maintenance Mode - Nice plugin for displaying a maintenance message when you're working on the site. Twitter Tools - for integration between your WordPress blog ...

Twitter Update and Tools for Tweeting

Well...I'm no longer on the fence. I'm really enjoying Twitter. I've made some great work connections and gotten to know some genuinely nice people. For anyone who freelances or works alone most of the time, it's a fun way to feel connected to everyone out there. I've received lots of ...

Everyone’s Talking About Twitter

I've been on the fence about Twitter. At first I didn't see any value in it. I thought it was a way to spread a huge amount of useless, narcissistic information. However, I decided I'd better try it out before passing judgment. Now, I'm intrigued - still uncertain, but curious. ...

Creating an Image Gallery with jQuery and ThickBox

If you're not familiar with jQuery, it's an open-source JavaScript library which simplifies adding interactive functionality to your website. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to use ThickBox, one of my favorite jQuery plugins, to create a simple, yet elegant image gallery. First, Create the HTML page to display your ...

Color Palettes: Finding the Perfect Combination

Finding the right color palette for a website design can be challenging. Often the client's logo will dictate the dominant colors, or you might be basing the design on a photo from which you can sample colors. When I'm struggling with finding the combination that makes it all come together, ...