I’ve been really busy lately (a big thank you to all my clients!). Over the past few months, I’ve started a half-dozen drafts that never got finished. I’m going to finish them (eventually), and each one will show up as from the day the draft was started, rather than the day it was finished.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of dense Web sites. You know, three columns jammed with stock quotes, recent news, ads, highlights, customer login boxes, sale-of-the-day. The clutter in these sites drives me mad. It’s like a pack rat was turned loose on the Web, armed with everything that could possibly go on a Home [...]

When using a commercial Web host, your naughty neighbors can get you in trouble, too… Today I drafted a few designs for a client of mine, and e-mailed her a link to the JPG files that I’d posted to her new Web hosting space. Since we haven’t changed her domain name yet, I used the [...]

Spelling isn’t easy, especially when you’re working at large type sizes. (Or, when you’re in a hurry.) Over the years, we’ve seen some surprising mistakes in public places. Enjoy, or be sad. http://www.goodtimes-la.com/typo/

I’ve been on a lot of Flash-only sites lately, and I continue to be annoyed at the experience. After typing the URL, I get “Please Wait…” or the even-less-polite “Loading content.” Now, I haven’t even seen a logo or anything yet, so I have no idea if the wait will be worth my while — [...]

There’s a substantial disconnect when businesses outsource their Web projects. Here’s the problem: in general, the agency is oriented towards discrete projects (y’know, where there’s a start and a finish), while any business is ongoing and ever-shifting. Maybe for initial designs and site redesigns this works, but quality Web sites are more organic than that [...]

Okay, geeky types, here’s a shot across the bow: you all need to do better at communicating technology to your clients in terms they can understand. There’s a long history in Information Technology of the “Wizard of Oz” mentality — you know, make ‘em think this stuff is incredibly complex and that only I, the [...]

Hangin’ out in cyberspace as I do, a lot of my communications with clients and partners are via e-mail, phone and IM. And while that works fairly well, I was reminded recently of the importance of face-to-face communication. Recently, I traveled to the Midwest to visit several of my clients there, one of whom I [...]

OK, I’m a reformed perfectionist, and there are times I still obsess over the smallest details. (In my own defense, my clients like that I fix their typos for them, so maybe obsession has a place…) But I love that the Web is a fluid medium, where changes are possible at any time, and that [...]

I’ve got a client who decided to start small, with a very basic site (something I often recommend for small businesses — get your feet wet, find out what works, limit your investment risk). But now that it’s time to launch, they’re balking. We’re still speaking, and the relationship is solid enough, but for whatever [...]