Tag: paint chips

I’ve Got The Design Bug

I said, as I always do, it’s a technical thing. He said it’s more artistic. Maybe there’s no difference? Maybe true artistry is just the ability to be the master of the technical aspects of a project?

Color Scheme Designer 3_1266571455224.pngOK, this is really sad. Helaine is out in SoCal with Stef. I’m home alone. So what am I doing? Reading a book about creating WordPress themes… and I just stopped and said “that’s really cool” to myself.

I am a sad human being. This is what gets me excited.

Last week’s website creation was a lot of fun. Yes, it was tedious from time-to-time, but when it was finished… when I could step back there was a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

I was on the phone today with a technically oriented friend the discussion turned to web design. I said (I always do) it’s a technical thing. He said it’s more artistic.

Maybe there’s no difference? Maybe true artistry is just the ability to be the master of the technical aspects of a project?

Tonight’s book is WordPress 2.8 Theme Design by Tessa Blakely Silver. It’s as compelling as anything Grisham’s written–well it is to me.

Though I’d gone pretty far restyling this blog for WordPress (it’s currently running on Moveabltype) I’m going to start over! This time the design will be built by me from the ground up.

It’s like designing anything else I suppose. I need to think about the physical form. How many columns? How much white space will I maintain to make it readable?

There are sites to help choose color schemes. Think of the big rack of paint chips at Home Depot or Lowes. The idea is similar but done online! You can even upload an image and get a color scheme that’s compatible.

Typetester – Compare fonts for the screen_1266571692455.pngThe website will be designed within a framework–probably the 960 Grid System. The best analogy is designing on graph paper. This makes it much easier to control spacing and keep columns and sections proportional.

Selecting the typography is a little more daunting to me. Sans serif fonts work well for text, but I’m partial to serif fonts for headlines. I’d like the look of the type to be bold but clean. I’m not sure I’ve got the knowledge to pull this off. I’ve been trying to Google sites to use as crutches, but without much success.

I know what I like. I’m just not sure how to get there.

The funny thing is the deeper into the book I get the less worried I am about the actual code that will fill my template. Maybe it’s my naivety?

This is uncharted territory for me and, judging by conversations I’ve had with others, uncharted territory for everyone I know! It’s geekily thrilling.

Some Photography Mumbo Jumbo

There’s no online guide to tell what the components are in “4008-1A Bay Waves” and how that’s different from 4001-1A White Pepper.” Without knowing that, I know nothing

camera-level.JPGAs my obsession for photography grows I look for new tools to help me. I just ordered the level on the left which fits the ‘hot shoe’ mount on Clicky. Recently, while taking pictures very close to ground level I’ve found it difficult to keep my shots parallel to the ground. Unless I crawled on my belly there’d be no way to truly know. As soon as my package arrives from Hong Kong (via airmail… so by November) it will be problem solved!

I thought I’d also like a “gray card.” Photographers set their exposure and color balance with these cards, usually a specific 18% gray (whatever that actually means). Before spending $10 or $20 for a piece of laminated paper I figured I try a little ingenuity. This afternoon on the way in to work I stopped at Lowes and headed to the paint department.

I looked through the paint chips and picked out a selection of what looked close to 18% gray. All for nought.

When I began to look closely I realized there was no way for me to know what’s gray and what’s gray with a little green or blue or red or a combination of all three. There’s no online guide to tell what the components are in “4008-1A Bay Waves” and how that’s different from 4001-1A White Pepper.” Without knowing that, I know nothing.

So, thanks for the chips Lowes. Nice experiment. If I want gray, I’ll have to order gray. It’s not the money. I just wanted to beat the system. Who doesn’t?