Local (formerly known as Local by Flywheel) is the go-to tool for developing WordPress websites—where else?—locally. It’s fast (especially the new “lightning” release), incredibly easy to use, cross-platform, and completely free. Full disclosure: I currently work for Flywheel, the software company behind Local. But I’m being 100% honest when I say there’s no other tool […]
Working with arrays of objects in JavaScript can be difficult. This post covers how to ensure all object keys (IDs) are unique, and how to find non-unique values.
Recently, I’ve been using (and loving) the new Gutenberg editor in WordPress 5.0+. It’s a huge step forward in both what developers can offer, and what users can expect out of their content creation experience. One of the new features of Gutenberg that I particularly enjoy is the ability to set an image as either […]
The usefulness of CSS variables should be fairly apparent if you’ve managed any sizable stylesheet before. If you have, you probably already know how untidy it can be at large scale. In fact, that’s one of the biggest knocks against CSS; it’s very easy for a stylesheet to balloon, making updates difficult as you’re forced […]
It’s been a goal of mine for a very long time to completely redesign my WordPress theme from scratch. Finally, that goal is a reality! The first time I built my own site, back in (I’d guess) 2013, I used Adobe Muse, which was a good fit for my lack of skill at the time, but […]
There’s vast world of design learning and opportunity right in front of us constantly. All we need to do is take the time to notice it and learn from it.
Some of these apps, resources and tools aren’t directly WordPress-related, or even necessarily development-related; some have to do with productivity or just make life a little easier. That’s by design. Part of being a developer is learning to work and use your tools as efficiently and with as little wasted time and mental energy as possible.
Your worst instructor as a design student will lay out clear goals and expectations which will not change; this is not a given with clients.
When you’re just starting out with WordPress, it’s easy to think that you can just open up the style.css file included with your theme and begin making alterations. And that will work—at least for a while—but it won’t be a good idea…
No matter how simple the end product, design is hard work. To come up with something that looks good, something somebody likes, is at best tangential to the main point. Whether the result of all of that work is something anybody likes is all but meaningless. The question is, does it succeed at meeting the project goals?
And you don’t know the answer to that question.
If your portfolio cost less than $20, is so large it can’t fit on a small table when open, is jammed full of huge illustrations and uses Helvetica all over the place, this is something you might want to read.
Any executive or business owner will say their company values integrity, and virtually every company claims that they reward and value their employees exhibiting their brand values.
But is that really accurate?
I’ve heard of a lot of CEOs being fired for failing to turn a profit, so where are all of the CEOs, executives and managers who lost their jobs for failing to adequately exhibit and execute the brand’s core values?
If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent some time wondering (and Googling) about the differences between various popular format types commonly used for graphic design applications. So I decided I’d create a resource that’s hopefully a handy reference on the matter of discerning file type supports and behavior.
One of the most difficult things for me to learn in my transition from the classroom to a professional branding agency was how to properly handle color output. Sure, I knew how to find the Pantone swatch I wanted, but how to properly utilize that swatch and ensure consistency across all media—this was new to me.
So I decided to write this post in the hope of saving you some from some of the pitfalls that I failed to avoid.
I’m beginning to believe that becoming more connected with everyone is making me less connected with anyone. All that time spent browsing, reading, liking…it has to come from somewhere. Any minute you are or could be in the presence of another human being spent on social media is a minute you’re taking from them and splitting up a dozen, a hundred, or a thousand ways. It’s significantly weakening one good relationship in the name of very slightly strengthening many others.