• Overall look-and-feel: while well-organized and focused on the post content, there was a lot more room to play with the GUIGalaxy fun aesthetic that’s been established over the years
• Buried posts: even though I can’t update the site several times a day … or even once a day, sometimes … quite often some of the more popular posts became lost on sub-pages
• Reviews: a nice added feature, but ultimately too time-consuming to maintain any relevance
• Global links: too much prominence in relation to content category linkage
• Global login and search bar: considering I’m essentially the only one logging in, this control became extraneous. In the stead of searching, quick (category) granularity via tagging could give instant targeted results, per post
• Sponsor ads: for the finite amount of revenue these were actually generating, their prominence in the visual hierarchy was far too great; could be relegated to a single instance, integrated into post flow

Once some time blocks presented themselves, I sought to address the above issues. The end result is something that I think is much more successful in relation to the previous iteration’s shortcomings. A much more fun design with featured (popular) articles front-and-center, category navigation prominence to global (now footer-based), and intelligent tagging with quick social media sharing attached to each post. I’ll probably hate it and pick it apart again in a few months, but for now, it’s Miller time.

Using the CSS display property of “none” let me insert a pseudoroom logo graphic below the footer of my page, and have it not render in browsers. The code is simple:

img#fb_hidden
{
display:none;
}


Now when I enter in this site as a link on facebook, it detects the logo graphic (despite being hidden from browsers) and presents it as a nice thumbnail option for the post:

Ta-da! Simple little tip, but it may come in handy if you’re in a similar predicament.

Ultimately, I came up with three designs (in up to three variations each) to present. Concept 1 hit the most intuitive means of representing “editability” with the pencil icon. What I tried to leverage in each concept was the WordPress admin interface’s hot color, blue, to demonstrate that Headway is something that lets you take action upon a WordPress theme. So iterations B and C of Concept 1 implemented this approach; the former intimating at a target being edited (and the resulting implications taking place), and the latter showing a layout’s column being edited.

Concept 2 moved further into the “visual” part of “visually editable” with the eye icon, first by itself, and second overlaying the “web layout” icon previously used in Concept 1. An “iteration C” of Concept 2 didn’t work out.

Concept 3 was a bit more high-level (and three-dimensional), showing blocks that can have action taken upon them (again, the blue), and are also movable/editable. This direction was a nice change of pace from the flat 2D suite of icons, but at the same time still leveraged the established grey tones in the WordPress icon UI. Ultimately, it proved to be too much of a change of pace.

Ultimately, Concept 1C was the chosen direction. For its concept clarity and scalability, the icon is now in use as of Headway version 1.6.

Next, shortly before this past Christmas I contributed to the early stages of the Groupon iPhone application UI development. This was a fantastic learning experience for me, both in the nuances of iPhone-specific application development, and the ins-and-outs of working in Interface Builder. Unfortunately preceding the holidays, I was unable to stay on the project due to time/schedule constraints. However, it looks like a bit of what we came up with in that early phase (controls, general look-and-feel) held through to final release. Quite cool.

Speaking of iPhone apps, in the ever-procrastinating (non-)development of my home office arrangement, I’ve picked up a little gem from the App Store to assist. Home Interior Layout Designer (Mark on Call), for $3, does a fantastic job of helping you plan, preview, and (if I ever get to that stage) carry out your design ideas. You can add any number of pre-existing objects at set dimensions, or customizable objects (with custom dimensions) into a room, and move things around ad nauseum as you see fit. Anything is editable, and savable, at any point. Room colors, wall colors, floor colors…the sky’s the limit. Great bang for the buck.

Lastly, after over 4 years as the Creative Director for Xeno Media, I’ve accepted a new position as the Senior Interactive Art Director at a 75-person downtown Chicago design firm. I’ll have the tremendous opportunity to work on high profile brands like Chase, Sony, Gap, Visa, and GE. Super pumped about this new era in my career and absolutely looking forward to the fresh challenges ahead. As an added bonus, in the stead of a 40+ mile (roundtrip) reverse commute daily, my commute will now be a four block walk — I’ll probably end up selling my car as a result. Anyone in the market for a black 2009 45th Anniversary Ford Mustang GT? 4.6L V8 for 300hp of raw vehicular sex. What do I have to do to put you in this car today?! Anyone? No? Whatever.

Beyond icons of mugs, squirrels, cartoon characters, etc. (keep in mind most fathomable subject matter hadn’t been covered at this point), some designers branched into releasing sets intended to replace the stock system-level Mac OS icons (hard drive, folders, CD, trash, etc.). Designing a system icon suite forces you to think completely conceptually. I found getting into this branch of iconography particularly interesting as being more a graphic design exercise, than in creating object or character-based icons. Some examples of my stuff circa 1998:

During those days of experimentation in system-level icon design, there were three steps that served every set:

1. Define the theme
2. Establish the overall aesthetic
3. Maintain the style across the entire suite of icons

Point three gets extra emphasis; the vitalness of consistency can’t be underestimated. In web site design, after the overall look-and-feel is nailed down, I’ll work out specific UI elements (icons, controls, widgets). Maintaining clarity of purpose and consistency with the overarching interface are paramount concerns. I’ve found while working through the project, sometimes an idea comes up for a control or icon that I’ll work out and implement; on second look later, however, it doesn’t fit in with the larger established suite of design elements. Most times the overall look-and-feel will (and should) organically mold the “hey let’s add…” -type controls — but it’s always worth a double and triple check on overall consistency at regular intervals.

Back to system icons; with massive canvases, zillions of colors, and advance rendering mechanisms available for today’s designer, present OS/system icons are a far cry from their humble beginnings. The graphic style of system icons for Mac OS X, throughout its various iterations and upgrades, has permeated icon design across innumerable platforms and media. The iconfactory‘s work in this design type over the years has always set the standard for style and consistency spanning hundreds of system icons (like the entire Vista OS, for example). Their approach is defined by the brand, and their authorship is perpetually transparent.

Day 1
After a 14 hour flight and 24 hours without sleep, I meet the new family for dinner 45 minutes after landing. Needless to say, I was pretty spacey (in fact I don’t remember much of what happened). Out like a light at 8:30PM in our room at the Zhaolong Hotel.

Day 2
This morning I notice the body temperature sensors on either side of the hotel lobby entrance. They sound an alarm if your temperature is above normal, in an attempt to then contain/quarantine any possible H1N1-contaminated people (does a cage drop down from the ceiling?) Train to Tiananmen Square. The subway is the true test of having social anxiety disorder. Completely packed with bodies; not an inch to move. When you think it’s at a laughably-full stage, 10 more people force their way in at the following stop. We visit the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, and Beihai Park. Completely unreal to be walking around here. As an American, I’m stared at incessantly (even by people on the street while we’re in a cab). Make the wife take me by the Apple Store Beijing. The smog layer over the city is insanely dense. My allergies aren’t having a good time. Blow black soot out of my nose at night, and every night here thereafter, from the heavy air pollution.

Day 3
Breakfast from a street vendor: ham, egg, and vegetables on flatbread. Unbelievably fresh and explosive flavors. Train to the Summer Palace ruins. Cab to new Summer Palace after lunch. Dinner with more new family members at a restaurant called Wahaha (that joke writes itself). Driving in China is pure insanity; due to the incredible overpopulation, traffic signals and “rules of the road” are treated merely as suggestions. People make u-turns from the right lane across 5 lanes of traffic (saw that twice). Then factor pedestrians, bicycles, and mopeds into the mix. Absolute chaos.

Day 4
Bus, subway, then train through the mountains to reach the Great Wall. Ate a “ham flavored” meat sandwich for lunch along the way. Some local fellow wanted his picture taken with me. The wife bought a panda hat after our walk along the Wall. Hot pot for dinner, Chinese arcade games after. Checking email at night on the MacBook pro is frustrating; Internet censorship is brutal. Also sites like facebook, Twitter…blocked by the government.

Day 5
Shopping at Wangfujing. Bought a jacket. Workers in the store literally follow you every inch of your visit as a “personal service”. Drives me nuts. Still-moving scorpions, roaches, and crickets on skewers to eat in the market. Went to a bargaining market at night to haggle with wife and mother inlaw. Good bargains on nice stuff. Peking Duck in the stead of turkey on Thanksgiving in China. After dinner we walk over to a local video store; 3 movies still in the theater on DVD, for under 10 bucks.

Day 6
Train to Tiananmen south end. Lots of little shops here. Over to the Temple of Heaven after lunch at Duyichu Restaurant (built in 1738). Outside the Temple, an old man does calligraphy on the ground with a giant brush and water as his medium. Dinner at grandpa’s apartment, then over to see the humongous LED screen (2nd largest in the world) at The Place Mall later in the evening. Good java at Esquires Coffee.

Day 7
We all go pay our respects to some of Kaity’s relatives who have passed. After, we stop at a nearby artists’ market, as I’m on the hunt for a large-format calligraphy piece for our home. I find one I really like; we negotiate, and I bought it. After the train back we pass through another bargaining market. A Chinese girl says while smiling, “you look familiar; do you have many Chinese girlfriends here?” The wife’s mom is not amused. “Just this one” I answered, pointing at Kaity. “You’re lucky, then” she replied towards Kaity. Scandalous! Dinner with family again on our last night in Beijing. We watch a mask-changing performance while at the restaurant. The guy comes off the stage into the audience and shakes my hand. Another perk for being the only American in sight. Flight out the next morning at 11.

The process of designing/producing your own site, particularly while at an agency, always proves to be the most difficult. This massive non-billable effort needs to be factored into an active workload, among many other internal factors. As the third major WP-based design I’ve done that has launched in the past couple months (this site’s new design and GUIGalaxy being the other two), my love for WordPress has been nothing but strengthened. Almost to a fanatical, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction degree (that’s love, right…?). For example, on the GUIGalaxy site, even I was able to code a login system into the header, displaying “New Post” and “Edit Account” controls once authenticated (and I’m no php programmer). When leveraged as the right solution for a project of appropriate scope, the winner of the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards has yet to let me down.

Now that the site is live, I’m off with my wife to Beijing, China, to visit the new in-laws. There over a week (including the Thanksgiving holiday), it should prove to be a tremendous experience. And, dare I say, a nice break away from design and WordPress.

The resulting design facet carries over familiar UI elements from the last iteration of the site, so its new positioning (and reintroduction) wouldn’t be completely unfamiliar. New goals included iconic categorization of news types (categories), and making news posts themselves more engaging (graphical). The technical component, utilizing WordPress, facilitated getting the site shell up and running in an insanely streamlined timeframe. I wanted search as a visual constant at all times, so the position is fixed on that header div. For the first time I’m also playing with some channel-based Google ads. I’m going to keep the site off the public radar for a little bit while refinements are still being made.

On the redesign end I gave pseudoroom a fresh face, with a typography-centric approach. I didn’t want to lose the custom field-based display “engine” I had built the site around last iteration, so that was paramount in considering the technical implications of the design. The other less technical …technical… item I wanted to be mindful of was executing the full site typography via CSS; I’ve noticed some sites cheat with .pngs in circumstances where it’s easier to tightly control type display via an alpha-based image.

Many of the more popular design portal sites of old have also been fazed out. A few have stuck to their roots and remained relatively unchanged, like K10k and Australian INfront. Others have transitioned into a blog-like presentation (and most likely WordPress-driven) with highlighting design, tech trends, and pop culture, like Surfstation. This approach/adaptation seems to be the more widespread one. Off the top of my head in this niche, I can also think of Lintcoat, ISO50, NOTCOT, and mashKULTURE.

If GUI Galaxy were to be resuscitated in any way, that’s the broad form it would need to assume. Extremely streamlined, and easy to update/maintain. In its previous life, GG’s news angle was Mac/Apple, tech, and UI-related posts written in a very acidic manner. We never took ourselves that seriously, we had fun, and I think that was always evident. However, with the custom downloads, tee shirt sales, and interviews stripped away, would that be enough to differentiate GG from the pack? I don’t presently have an answer for that, but for some reason the potential of such a project still seems oddly appealing.