2010 | Webdesigner Depot

3 Dec
Book Review — HTML5: Up and Running
Books, HTML 5, Review
Tweet View Comments
As far as web design literature goes, I think it’s safe to say that 2010 has been the year of HTML5 books.
While a number of titles have been incorporating CSS3 into their content since before 2010, this year has seen major book releases that are focused primarily on HTML5.
So I was pretty excited when Mark Pilgrim sent out a tweet offering free review copies of his new HTML5 book HTML5: Up and Running, courtesy of O’Reilly Media. He responded to my email the same day, and the book arrived shortly thereafter.
Overall, I can say that I was relieved that I really enjoyed the book, and can see myself using it regularly to reference a number of HTML5-related topics — especially some of those that I wasn’t already familiar with.
If this was a paid review, I would have felt more pressure to stay away from the book’s weak spots, but I can honestly say that won’t matter because the book is definitely worth purchasing, and is an excellent source for developers making the transition from HTML4/XHTML to HTML5 and its related technologies. Read more
2 Dec
He Said, She Said – Web Design by Gender
Design, Graphic Design, Web Design
Tweet View Comments

Have you ever looked at a website and felt that you could tell whether it was likely designed by a man or a woman?
Studies have shown that men and women tend to have very different approaches in the way that they use design elements such as colors, shapes, objects and fonts – sometimes even having complete opposite views.
In today’s post we’re showcasing an infographic, designed exclusively for WDD, which depicts some of the different approaches men and women tend to take with their designs.
The graphic shows the different tendencies for each gender covering areas such as typeface colors, the use of straight lines and favorite colors.
This graphic is by no means a rule or generalization for web design by either gender, but it does give us a very rough insight as to how each gender views design and it may even help to influence design decisions when creating a website that targets a specific demographic.
Read more
Free downloads
200+ Exclusive Free Icons: "Reflection"200 Free Exclusive Icons: Siena Free Photoshop Brushes: "Sparkling Light Effects"
1 Dec
Win 10 Licenses of Time Tracking and Billing Software
Contests, Freelancing
Tweet View Comments

Keeping organized is crucial to any successful freelancer. Failure to do so will eventually cause your projects to pile up, getting messy or missing important milestones.
Meet Fanurio, a life saver for freelancers! It’s a time tracking and billing application, perfect for those of you wanting an easy, no nonsense, intuitive interface to keep track of your time and billing.
One week from today, we’ll be giving away 10 licenses of Fanurio to 10 lucky WDD readers.
Read more for all the details about this great piece of software as well as all the info on how to enter this contest. Read more
30 Nov
Google Insurance: 8 Steps to Protect Your Reputation
Business, Google, Reputation
Tweet View Comments

It doesn’t take much to set off a tsunami of public relations headaches in the digital world.
As the last 12 months have shown us-what with BP’s environmental disaster and a variety of online scandals-the damage that a disgruntled client or audience can do can’t be measured in income alone but can easily swell to ridiculous proportions.
Don’t fret; there is action you can take. While BP’s strategy of bidding on its own name for online ads triggered a new wave of controversy, small online businesses can protect their names in hundreds of ways without fearing backlash.
The8 steps we’ll talk about here aren’t the only ways to protect your reputation online, but they can form a fantastic foundation for PR. Read more
29 Nov
The Word Art of Juan Osborne
Art, Compilation, Inspiration
Tweet View Comments
“A picture is worth a thousand words’. We’re sure you’ve heard this expression a million times before, but you probably have not quite ‘seen’ it yet…
Juan Osborne is a Spanish architect and designer, that has literally taken this expression and created stunning art with this concept. His amazing compositions are made up of words, literally thousands of words!
He starts his process by collecting words from books, speeches, movies and recreates photographs and painting using these words laid out in a way so that they form the picture.
Just like with tags on blogs, the more repetition he encounters for each keyword, the bigger it appears in the final composition.
In this post, we’ve compiled some of his more unique works, which include classics such as “The Scream” to more contemporary visualizations for a character on the TV show “Lost” and even Obama speeches.
You can find out more about Juan and his art at his website. Larger versions of these images can be accessed by clicking on any the images below.
Read more
28 Nov
Our Favorite Tweets of the Week
Nov 22-Nov 27, 2010
Best Of, Compilation, Twitter
Tweet View Comments

Every week we tweet a lot of interesting stuff highlighting great content that we find on the web that can be of interest to web designers.
The best way to keep track of our tweets is simply to follow us on Twitter, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the best tweets that we sent out this past week.
Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that we tweeted about, so don’t miss out.
To keep up to date with all the cool links, simply follow us @DesignerDepot Read more
27 Nov
Comics of the Week #53
Comics, Funny, Humor
Tweet View Comments

Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD.
The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers.
These great cartoons are created by Jerry King, an award-winning cartoonist who’s one of the most published, prolific and versatile cartoonists in the world today.
So for a few moments, take a break from your daily routine, have a laugh and enjoy these funny cartoons.
Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own… Read more