Posts by Nathan Sinsabaugh

I’m not really sure what to expect from Apple’s upcoming OS X Lion, but there’s one thing that I’m pretty excited about: The reduction of chrome from application user interfaces. I’m hoping that the Twitter app, and the video player in iTunes are examples of what’s to come.

We can only hope that the next step Apple takes in removing unnecessary UI elements from applications is to remove the nasty faux leather and yellow notebook paper theme from their Notes and Calendar apps.

I also hope that this trend isn’t limited to application design, but carries over to the web. I love the fact that in spite of all the fancy new tricks HTML5 and CSS3 provide web designers with, the trend seems to be towards…

Launching a new website can be a complex process… if it’s not, you’re probably doing something wrong. With so many things to keep track of (installing analytics, running test crawls, checking content spelling, linking to your social properties, etc.) it’s pretty easy for something to slip through the cracks.

At KA+A, we keep an pretty comprehensive checklist of website launch items for each project that help us stay focused, and not miss any of the details.

If building your own list isn’t something you’re up for, check out the service Launchlist. You can see an example list on their lite version. It’s far from comprehensive, but it gives a pretty decent starting point that’ll help you get the basics right.

Since we’re a week

We’ve started building media query behaviors into the Wordpress boilerplate files we use to start CMS integrations, and the results are pretty cool. It’s amazing how flexible a site can become with just a few extra styles.

Standard View

When viewed on a desktop browser, the site is fluid with a set maximum width. This allows the site to scale down with the browser window, ensuring that important content is visible no matter what the window’s width is.

With fluid designs, it’s necessary to sacrifice pixel-level control of your layout, but on the flip-side, you gain more control over how your site reacts to the viewer’s window.

Mobile View

The mobile…

Not long ago, Google rolled out a new instant preview feature for its searches. Now, when you mouseover a search result, you’re served up a handy little screenshot of the site .

The effect is that searchers are able to judge the quality of a result on more than just the page title and meta description. They also get a visual snapshot of the experience they can expect from the site.

a user’s opinion of the quality and veracity of a site’s content is always informed by the context in which it’s viewed

Whether it’s conscious or not, a user’s opinion of the quality and veracity of a site’s content is always informed by the context in which…

With the recent release of Andy Clarke’s Hardboiled Web Design, and articles like Ethan Marcotte’s Responsive Web Design, it’s clear that change is in the air, and web design is on the cusp of some pretty interesting things. Responsiveness, a renewed interest in accessibility, and new approaches to legacy browser support are just a few examples.

I started writing a single post about all this stuff, but it quickly started to get pretty long, and I’m not a big fan of posts that take more than 10 minutes to read. So I’ve broken it up into a handful of posts, starting with this little piece on responsive web design.

Responsive Web Design

Before his article on responsive web design, Ethan Marcotte…

In part 1 and part 2 of this series, I wrote about the importance of getting comfortable designing for the web, and how creating a great online portfolio is an absolute necessity. Well, you’ve launched your killer portfolio (which, or course, you built yourself), so now what?

Join the Conversation

This practically goes without saying, but Twitter, Facebook, and blogs like this one, have made it pretty easy to connect with people who, in the past, may have been inaccessible. This is especially true in design, as the web is such a natural place to share work, ideas, and more.

You should be following the agencies and designers you admire, and taking advantage of every opportunity to add your voice to the…

In 2007, we had the opportunity to work with ExactTarget to design a core identity for Connections, their annual user conference. Since then, we’ve built on the core identity every year, by introducing subtle modifications that reflect the unique theme the event adopts each year. This year’s theme was Fuel the Conversation, and, as you can imagine, it’s no small feat ensuring that the presentations, program guides, web ads, and countless other conference materials are consistently and clearly on message, and on brand.

Identity

To reinforce the theme of fuel, we introduced flames into the logo this year. Not only was the theme Fuel the Conversation, Connections literally serves as the fuel that helps 1-to-1 marketers to radically improve their programs.

2010 was also the first year for…

It’s time for Part 2 in our series that aims to help emerging designers stay competitive in what can be a brutal industry. This weeks bit of advice ties in neatly with last weeks Design for the Web post. Having an online portfolio is an absolute must for any designer (even if you’re one of the few who’ve  managed to make a living screen printing posters for The Decemberists and The National). If your work isn’t available for perusing online, you’re going to have a hard time getting your foot in the door at most agencies.

The major benefit of having your portfolio online is that it’s super easy to share your work. But it also demonstrates that you have a knowledge of the web…

We get lots of requests from recent grads, and job-seeking designers, for advice on how to put together a solid portfolio, and how to make an impact on prospective employers. In the coming weeks, I’ll be presenting a series of posts on the KA+A blog that attempt to codify the feedback we’ve been doling out. If you’ll be graduating soon, are putting together a portfolio, or are interested in staying competitive in a crowded field, hopefully you’ll find it useful.

If anyone has additional thoughts, or pieces of wisdom, please share in the comments!

Learning how to design and build for the web is an absolute must.

I’m continually amazed by the number of designers who I meet with that have little…

A few weeks back Ryan Carson whipped the world of web design / user experience into a frenzie with his tweet and follow up post (the Think Vitamin blog is down, I think it’s being updated) on why “UX Professional” is a “bullshit” job title. It’s recommended reading, especially if you’re into snarky responses and bitter blog-comment-length rebuttals.

In his post, Carson expounds on his tweet by explaining that there are no “UX Professionals,” only web designers, and, if a web designer doesn’t have a strong understanding of UX, then they’re probably not a very good web designer. He then provides a list of skills a web designer should have, including things like CSS, HTML, Javascript, etc. [UPDATE - The Think Vitamin