As Dan announced earlier today, the SimpleBits site now has an Amazon Store. If you want to read the books Dan Cederholm reads, or listen to the music that we’ve got shuffling here in the BitCave™, be sure to check it out.
When I joined SimpleBits, Dan and I had a chat about what some of my first projects would be, and when this one came up I was really excited. Designing an Amazon Store seemed like a great way to begin collaborating, and it would be awesome to increase our coffee budget through the referrals.
My initial goal was to just match the AStore as closely to the SimpleBits site as possible. This didn’t seem like too much of a risk, and I could pull from the existing stylesheet. It worked okay, but it wasn’t anything especially unique, and it was missing all those details that make SimpleBits so distinctive. I guess I learned a lesson that many have had to learn: you can’t copy Dan’s style and pull it off. It’ll always look like a crappy knockoff of the original.
So, at Dan’s prompting, I decided to make it my own. I love grungy designs (can you tell?), so he suggested we try something with a kind of grocery-bag feel. I went to work digging through textures, and playing with various filters, brushes, and lighting effects. After some tweaking from the boss (including the inspired addition of a hastily taken snapshot of a bookshelf), we got it to where it is now. And I’m really happy with how it came out.
Somebody asked Dan Cederholm this question today. I know. I couldn’t believe it either. Actually, I think their precise words were “can’t someone just get a copy of Front Page, and make their own website? I mean what’s the difference?” Once you’ve stopped shuddering, read on for some ranting.
Okay, before I get going, I should note that the offender doesn’t work in the web industry, and probably doesn’t really understand much about the workings of the web. Dan, who is known for his humility despite being profoundly talented and respected amongst his peers, simply responded with something about web standards, nodded and smiled at the inquirer’s website, and made his exit for today’s Lunch Bunch.
While great Indian food and conversation did help to distract me, as soon as we returned to the office I was fuming about the questioner’s remarks. It touches on a sore spot for me, since I got my start working at a software development company that placed no value on standards based web development, and I had to fight a lonely battle to help my superiors see the light. (Luckily, Jason and Brian came up with this amazing video presentation which weakened their resolve to suck.)
So, like George in that episode of Seinfeld where “the ocean called, they’re running out of shrimp,” I thought for most of the day about an adequate response to the (by now probably tired) question: why get the best possible web developer for the job? And why, as a growing designer, should I take the time and care that Dan uses to craft markup? If it’s something any 16 year old with Dreamweaver can do for a hundred bucks, then why should I bother?
Dan and I recently collaborated on a post about ampersands over at SimpleBits. I think after days of skimming through hundreds of fonts, I’ve developed chronic ampersand fever. My main symptom is a manic drive to incorporate this abbreviation into every aspect of my life, such as, but not limited to: desktop wallpapers. I figured I’d share the results of my passion with you kids.
Click on the format of your liking for hot download action:
My name is Meagan Fisher. I love good design, well written markup, and owls. I'm the deputy designer at SimpleBits. When not helping Dan, I work with my own clients.
