Google +1

Google have lunched their +1 button which is similar to a Facebook’s like or retweet button. The +1 button is to sit next to the links for the Google search results page and will allow you to recommend the link to you friends on Gmail chat and in ‘My Contacts’ group. This button can work on both advertisements and links for the searches on results page.

It seems like Google is getting in on the social networking but it is also there to improve search engine results, showing more relevant listings. At the moment though the +1 button is just on the search results but apparently it will soon be available to publishers to be able to put them on their web pages.

Favourite Books

Recently the BBC hosted the nations favourite books which inspired me to illustrate my favourite books

HTML5 Generator

There are many html5 boilerplates out there and it is a good idea to create one for yourself with elements that you use a lot and that you feel comfortable with. I have always had a boilerplate for which to start a new project with as it speeds things up and it removes the blank canvas feeling.

However if you are feeling a little lazy or you are just starting to learn then Initializr by Jonathan Verrecchia is a good place to start. It is an HTML5 templates generator to help you getting started with an HTML5 project. Initializr gives you options for your template which are:
Content
Javascript with the option of minified and unminified jquery
Compatibility
Server Configuration
Analytics

Find it here

Canvas Tag

The new HTML5 canvas tag that is a container that allows for dynamic, scriptable drawing of 2D of graphics, allowing both simple and complex shapes to be drawn that you could previously only get by using images. With javascript we can manipulate what appears on the canvas so it can be used to make photo compositions, graphs games, animation etc


The <canvas> tag consists of a drawable region with a defined width and height, which are optional and can also be set using DOM properties. It is only supported by a number of browsers that are Firefox 1.5 and later, Opera 9 and later, and newer versions of Safari IE 9 will have support for it as well.

Some Examples are:
tetris like game
physics boxes
painter
clock

Firefox 4 is launched

So Mozilla's new Firefox 4 arrives after a delay from the end of 2010 and with over 17 million downloads and counting it looks like it will surpass the launch of version 3.

According to Mozilla the page-rendering speed has been tripled, and the browser has increased support for web standards like native HTML5 video, fancy CSS 3 visual effects and native web fonts. The user interface has also been revamped with tabs being moved to the top of the browser window, in line with the design of Chrome and a new feature "Panorama." For which you will be able to group and quickly switch between related clusters of open tabs. Additionally the status bar at the bottom has been removed.

It is also possible to personalise your browser with "Personas" which you either design yourself or choose from over 30,000 ready made ones. Add-ons are now given more prominence with it’s own bar, though it’s disabled by default and a new plugins tool has been built.

With the rise of mobile surfing FF4 now lets you sync seamlessly with your desktop and mobile Firefoxes allowing access to your browsing history, passwords, bookmarks and even open tabs no matter which device you use. Mobile add-ons are now there with things such as "easy reading" and "reading list" which allows you to save pages to read offline.

As this is probably the last big launch by Mozilla who will probably go for more incremental releases in the future it is quite exciting.

Yum Yum

Yum Yum London are 2 designers, Beth Algieri and Jonny Plummer who create lovely and fascinating little characters. From little monsters to old ladies all seem to have their own personality.

CSS Easing

A fantastic little css easing tool by Matthew Lein.

It is unfortunate that so many browsers don't support css animation :(

Unicorn Bike

I am not sure where this came from but I so want a unicorn bike!!

CSS3 Generators

There are a growing number of css3 generators popping up on the web that can make life easier for a coder and gives a good starting point for someone starting to experiment with css3. They are handy little tools but should be used for practise and understanding as eventually you should know the code as well as you would know standard css.

• CSS3 Generator by Randy Jensen creates a box with border radius, box shadow, gradient and opacity.


• CSS3 Generator/ by Eric Hoffman and coded by Peter Funk.


• @font-face Generator for generating the css HTML, CSS and multiple font file formats.


• CSS3 Generator by widget pad again with several properties and CSS3 effects.


• Button Maker creates some lovely little css3 button from Internet wiz Chris Coyier.


• Border Image lets you upload your image and then creates the border from it.


• CSS3 Maker gives lots of options and shows the browser support for each.

Cats with thumbs

I love this new advert from Cravendale milk. Cats with thumbs shows cats growing opposable thumbs and then launching an attack for the milk.

QR Codes

I am working on some Japanese sites and QR codes are huge over there and seem to be growing in popularity here too, appearing in newspapers, marketing leaflets, business cards and of course websites.

So what are QR codes? A QR Code (Quick Response) is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) that works like a bar code on a box of cornflakes that allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. However they are more useful than the standard barcode as standard barcode they can store and present much more data, including url links, geo coordinates, and text. The codes can be read by smart phones such as iPhones and Androids with a simple app. I downloaded QR Reader.

There a various ways to generate a QR code. A web based site is kaywa but there are many out there by doing a google search. Also they can be created by php, .net etc

There are many benefits of the QR code such as SEO, letting customers know and store a large amount of information that they want, sending users directly to your website and giving more interactivity to your customer.

A more complex use of QR codes is using them as a sort of digital business card for major companies. There are many companies out there today that utilize QR codes as a business card for sharing accounts and contact information. QR codes can be used as a digital business card for sharing accounts and contact information. They could be used in games and competitions and all sorts of inventive ways.


QR codes sure to become more and more common in the years to come as both customers and advertisers become more aware of them and the best ways to use them

New Site Launching soon

Universal Vinyl, a new store that I have designed and built is launching very soon.

Lobster Font

The Lobster script font, designed by Pablo Impallari is growing in poularity on websites and I can see why. It is a free font, that is on the Google Web Fonts Directory and looks wonderful.

As a script font it gets around the problem of how to join the letters up by having multiple versions of each letter, with over 79 subtle ligatures and 37 terminal forms that .which not only makes it fully versatile that works well on websites and even on print but also makes it look great. The font is bold and condensed that supports full Latin1 Charset.

For more information on Lobster font go to impallari

IE CSS3 Transformations

IE doesn't massivly support CSS3 but you can use work arounds to achieve the desired effect. The IE CSS3 Transforms Translator is a very handy little tool that will give the matrix filter's required for IE.


It will support rotate, scale, skew and translate without the use of javascript.

Typography Posters

I love these film typography posters by Jerod Gibson. The posters show an icon of the film filled with great movie quotes. All 37 can be found at Society6