Writings about web design by Meagan Fisher

Fusion Ads

Posted by Meagan Fisher on January 4th, 2010

Hey everybody! I hope you’re all having a rockin’ New Year so far. I’m psyched to announce that Owltastic is now a part of the Fusion Ads network! If you’re looking to advertise here (and on dozens of other creatives’ websites) you should definitely check them out. They make advertising beautiful!

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Out with the old, in with the owl

Posted by Meagan Fisher on May 8th, 2009

Were you expecting something else? Perhaps something dirty, grungy, and a little more meaganfisher.com-centric? Well as you can see, that’s not happening here. I realized recently that the internet needs to be a little more Owltastic, and dammit if I don’t do it who will?

There’s lots of reasons why I wanted to redesign the old site. For one, nobody knows how the heck you spell Meagan - is it Meghan? Megan? Meaghan? And my last name is tricky too! People like to throw in the odd “c” here and there, thanks to those freakin’ Fischers trying to get fancy. Additionally, my style has changed so much since I did the design for MeaganFisher.com that I could barely stand to look at it anymore - hence the abandoned, creepy, Children of Men air that has hung around it for the past couple months.

It’s not that it was bad; well, actually, yes. It was. It was hard to read, the markup was written in a hurry and not my best work, and the navigation got lost amongst all the elements I tried to squeeze in. I needed something simpler, cleaner, brighter, friendlier. Basically, something a little more Owltastic™.

This new design is still very much a work in progress, and will probably be tweaked quite a bit over the next couple weeks. If this were a site for a client I probably would hold off on launching it after a 10-cups-of-coffee-fueled-all-nighter, but for some reason I’m just buzzing with excitement at the moment and couldn’t wait. If you’re using Safari or Firefox and you come across any layout wonkiness, broken links, etc. please be a doll and drop me a line. If you’re using that other browser, please upgrade, or just know that I’m working on supporting you and will do it as soon as I can.

So there you have it! Welcome to Owltastic, expect to see some new content on the way soon, and please do feel free to post feedback in the comments. Don’t worry about ruffling my feathers, I can take it.

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The Times, They Are A-Changin’

Posted by Meagan Fisher on January 23rd, 2008

You better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

My roommate is on a big Bob Dylan kick right now, so he’s partially responsible for my cheesy musical title. Never the less, the words ring true for me, friends. The times are a-changin’ here on the .com, and I’m doing the best I can to keep up. So in my effort to stay afloat, I’ve decided to change up a few things.

It’s like I went on What Not to Wear!

As the small percentage of you who don’t get this content through a feed will see, I redesigned my site. Just like the classic Chanel suit (or the Wal-Mart sweat pant coordinates, depending on who you talk to), I believe in keeping things simple but always with a distinct flair. My tastes has been changing faster than fashion lately, so I figured it was time to ditch the granny panties and go for something a little sexier. Maybe it’s the slimming down of the MacBook that’s got me longing for a sleeker look, or maybe it’s just the season of redesigns right now - Simple Bits has been working on his (I’m perpetually refreshing in anticipation), and I hear Hivelogic’s got a new design up too. Either way, I have a re-design in progress and I am really enjoying working on it.

Will date for podcast

There’s another big change that I’m really excited about. Coming soon to an iTunes near you - it’s the IHTDC podcast! What does this mean? Well I’m not really sure yet, I’m still working that out. But here’s what I know: the podcast will be of the video variety, covering news on the .com, web design screencasts, hopefully some interviews, and whatever other morsels of knowledge I’ve collected throughout my ongoing pilgrimage to web design mecca. As I put this thing together it would be great if any of you had some suggested topics. The next time your labels aren’t lining up with your inputs, or you need a good to-do list app for the iPhone, drop me an email and I’ll include it in the show. I’ve wanted to do a video podcast for ages, and since I live with a brilliant videographer who will let me pay him in currency other than money, it’d just be silly not to.Just like life, things online are constantly shifting, which is a big reason I want to write this blog. I believe that the research and dedication that comes with maintaining a blog and podcast will push me to not become an internet grandma. Hopefully I can help out a few readers along the way.

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