One Fused Life » Design & Code

Imagination, thinking outside of the Cube

Lasha — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:39:30 +0000

I recently came across a very interesting set of videos that really struck a chord in my mind. In short, a glossy black cube was sent to some of the world's top designers, architects, and academics, including Dieter Rams, Stefan Sagmeister, and Massimo Iosa Ghini. In a series of short videos, the fundamental ideologies of simplicity, form, and function are discussed to dissect the essence of the cube.

More after the jump...

WordPress Custom Post Type & Taxonomy Generators

Lasha — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:11:19 +0000

The launch of WordPress 3.0 skyrocketed the amount of tutorials available for creating Custom Post Types and Taxonomies. Anyone that has worked on highly-customized WordPress themes is familiar with the tedious process. Rest assured, the repetitiveness has been eased thanks to Themergency, a growing resource for WordPress plugins, tutorials and more.

View the Custom Post Type & Taxonomy generators!

Enormous credit must also be handed to Brad Williams, the creator of the Custom Post Type UI plugin, which has been around for quite some time. This plugin automatically takes care of the code without you having to copy and paste generated data into the functions.php file.

Happy theming!

Fancy Interaction vs. Minimal/No Interaction

Lasha — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 23:32:47 +0000

This post is a response to Alexander Interactive's blog entry titled "Amping Up Apple's Compare Grid" regarding Apple's new interactive (draggable columns) Mac comparison chart.

The collapsible rows method only works well when you're dealing with "yes/no" values for each row and column, or simple one (or two) liners such as numbers, a word, or a light combination of both, as demonstrated with Bizfilings and Kaplan.

Apple's chart allows you to clearly compare large chunks of critical information simply by scrolling and looking. There is no unnecessary clicking, toggling, scrolling, or any combination of these elements present in Apple's comparison chart, simply because it would slow the user down in being able to scan all the provided information. More after the jump...

I am huge fan of fancy and fun interactions, but, I usually strive for minimal and effortless navigation of content first. Before jumping into solutions that would require extra action by the user to continue seeking knowledge, I devise methods that would prevent the need to.

My philosophy is that people want information FAST, and fancy/fun interactions isn't my ideal approach of choice when it comes to speed. It's different, however, when you're dealing with naturally complex subjects where the user would inherently expect some form of complex/fun/fancy interactions.

I am also aware that some projects NEED that added level of fun/fancy interaction due to the potentially boring nature of the material (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), or the surrounding design/layout being unexciting.

One particular criticism I can give about Ai's Kaplan interactive chart is that I would've gone with a method that relies primarily on grouping different programs and courses together. This is because a lot of the information is very repetitive with each column/row, and the info that is based on variables could be handled on a per-group basis with a consistent thought-out layout beneath each group.

Photoshop Tutorial: Fancy Text Shadow & Reflection

Pro Tip: Custom WordPress URL Parameters

Lasha — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:41:10 +0000

Passing parameters in the URL within WordPress Page Template such as "website.com/page/?name=Lasha&version=214" is generally OK, but be aware! If you use a parameter such as "year" in the URL, it will overwrite WordPress' own "year" variable (if you have pretty URLs enabled) and throw a 404! How did I learn this?

I wrote some PHP code within a Page Template that retrieved data from a custom database by passing parameters through the URL, using the $_GET method. One of my parameters was "year=2010", and I kept getting 404s until I changed it to "fiscalyear" where it no longer interfered with the mod_rewrite rules.

I hope this saves you the headache it caused me when writing custom PHP code within WordPress!

Using WordPress as a CMS

Lasha — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:28:32 +0000

Recently, I completed a project where I used WordPress as the CMS, and it was a fantastic experience! I learned a tremendous amount about WordPress, its inner workings, and how to hack it to do (almost) anything you want! Those who say WordPress can't be used as a full fledged CMS don't know what they're talking about. Sure, it might not be jam-packed and heavy like Drupal, but it does a heck of a job at controlling content!

Best parts about WordPress:

Customizable Category & Post views
Custom templates for Pages (completely different layouts for each page)
Super intuitive built-in functions.
Template "includes" that adhere to the loop, etc.
Plugins and community support! (Plugins saved my life)
Documentation (second to none, for the MOST part )

I spent a whole month on this project, and every day I found different built-in functions that did EXACTLY what I needed. WordPress has come a long way since its beginning, growing and implementing new features along the way. One thing I still haven't used in 3.0, but am most excited about are Custom Post Types, and the Multi-site ability.

I've picked up a few tricks in the last month, so I might put together some tutorials/guides, soon.

Design Tip of the Day 04: Work in a new medium

Lasha — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:37:49 +0000

If you work only on the web, learn about print design and production. If you work only in print, learn the basics of web design & development. Expanding your skills will up your competitive level in a market that has become overly saturated with basic talent.

One cannot express how important it is to design for the web. The web has become an instant phenomenon that is being quickly taken over by the big dogs of the media world. Methods of content consumption based on the Internet are multiplying faster than any other form of media in the past.

First there was the Amazon Kindle, and now we have the Android-based Nook eBook reader. Rumors about Apple releasing a Tablet of their own are flying around like aimless torpedoes. If you were to ask me, Apple is definitely planning something, and it'll probably be a huge hit.

To put it simply, the world is changing very quickly. If we fail to keep up to date with what's happening, our jobs will leave us for someone else. Stay open minded and read a lot of design blogs. See what people are raving about so that you can contribute in your own way. Don't forget to collect inspiration along your journey.

PS. Print is not dead. As long as creativity isn't lost, it will continue to be a dominant form of media, regardless of the changes it goes through.

Adobe Flash CS5 and Native iPhone Apps

Lasha — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:32:25 +0000

A few weeks ago I learned that Adobe Flash CS5 will have the functionality to create native iPhone applications. I thought to myself, "Holy cow, this will allow anyone who knows Flash to create iPhone apps!" I've always wanted to make iPhone apps but the lack of Objective-C programming skills prevented me from doing so.

If Flash CS5's iPhone application authoring does what it promises, the future of app development is in for treat. This means that anybody with ActionScript skills can make iPhone apps/games. The average user will become the "average developer" very quickly. It appears that this will erase the dividing line between design/development professionals and the average Joe.

Click here to view the Adobe Labs page for iPhone Apps.

Despite the high chance of crap-output from developer-wannabes, this will give people an opportunity to create quality products. From what Adobe Labs has shown so far, it proves that this model works. In the meantime, I'll be boosting my ActionScript 3 skills, learning to make some awesome apps.

Feedback: Does this make you want to develop for the iPhone, or will this saturate the App Store with even more fart apps?

iPhone future looks stronger than ever, thanks to Palm Pre

Lasha — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:54:07 +0000

Just before the iPhone 3.0 software was announced, I was ready to publish an article saying how the Palm Pre was going to give Apple a lot of trouble. Then, I realized how wrong it would have been if I had done so. Now I will tell you why I think the iPhone is here to stay, and push the competition out of the way.

The Palm Pre, for the longest time, had the biggest chance to put a little fear in Apple. And so it did. Just a couple of weeks ago, the iPhone 3.0 software was revealed and most of the iPhone's nuances have been eliminated. I actually believed that if the Pre kept up its game, it would force me to switch, but thankfully, that is no longer the case.

Palm has claimed that OS X on the iPhone is not a true mobile platform, thus it will never be as speedy and sleek as what they are cooking up. I respectfully disagree! Let's just put it this way; Smooth scrolling and seamless portrait/landscape transitions is not what makes a great device. Yes, the Pre certainly competes in the visuals department, but that will only take the device so far.

More after the jump...

The unveiling of the 3.0 software is proof that Apple is keeping their eye on the market. The iPhone is clearly not without any faults, but Apple is constantly looking to improve. The maturity and the level of development the iPhone has reached is phenomenal. I am surprised that, to this day, phone companies have miserably failed to compete with the iPhone, except the Pre. After 2 different iPhones, and countless updates to the iPhone OS, companies can't seem to get it right.

Now let's take a look at a recent video of the Palm's WebOS in action:

Judging by this video, it looks like the next few months are gonna be very interesting for both Apple and Palm. I like the fact that 3rd party apps can access the WebOS core and have multiple apps talking to each other. I would love to see this feature being taken advantage of in greater depth on both platforms.

Dare I say the imminent success of the Pre is largely due to ex-Apple employees like Jon Rubenstein being on the team?

Rumors about the next iPhone:

Multi-core CPUs and GPUs: The fact that the next generation iPhone may have multi-core processors is exciting as ever! It would open up countless possibilities, such as video, background apps, live-video streaming, and other various intensive tasks.
3.2 and 5.0 Megapixel camera censors: For the new iPhones, and for an unknown product, respectively. This shows that Apple is getting serious with video with their upcoming products.
Video editing and ability to publish videos: In conjunction with the previous 2 rumors, this would work out quite well. A mini iMovie built into the iPhone, with the ability to upload your creations virtually eliminates the need of a computer for video bloggers and others alike.

Exciting times are ahead in the mobile industry. I can't wait to see what twists and turns the industry will take along the way. I would LOVE to see what you have to say, so please comment using the form below. Thanks!

One Fused Life Redesign – Sneak Peak!

Lasha — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:55:22 +0000

Here it is! After a few weeks of thought and decision making, here are the final* visuals that will be turned into the next iteration of One Fused Life. As you can see, the site structure remains virtually the same, but the way content is presented has changed significantly.

My goal was to streamline the way content is currently being presented. In this new design, I have not only made it easier to access existing elements, but also introduced new ways to browse around and discover new content.

I will put forward my best efforts to code and launch OFL 2.0 within the next couple of weeks. On top of that, I have some GREAT content coming up!

Please click here to subscribe to me feed. Thank you!

Welcome to One Fused Life!

Movie Review: Helvetica

Lasha — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:10:35 +0000

I finally managed to watch Helvetica today, over a year after its release. Being a designer who has a certain appreciation for typography, I should've seen it earlier. To put it simply, this film is a visual history lesson, showcasing where and how the it originated, and a plethora of designers who love and despise Helvetica.

I didn't quite know what to make of this film until it ended. At some points, you were lead to love the typeface, while other moments you were lead to put the boredom of Helvetica aside and experiment with other glorious expressive typefaces. Personally, I have often found myself using Helvetica throughout my designs simply because it looked very good, but I also most certainly use various other fonts as well.

One thing that this film will reveal to you is how often Helvetica is used everywhere and for everything. There are countless companies out there using some variation of the font as their logo, and signage systems that use it like no tomorrow. Funny thing is, you may have not even realized it.

There are excellent arguments from both the lovers and the haters of this font, so you will definitely have a lot to think about when you begin working on your next project. One problem with this film, is that it's not so exciting. After all, there are no explosions or amazing twists in the story line, so the average person may find it boring. There were times when I had to pause for a few minutes and continue afterwards to give my mind a stretch. Don't expect this to make you a better designer, haha.

Score: 6 out of 10