Few weeks ago I stumbled upon minimalmac.com and instantly got hooked. It’s a blog about productivity with focus on eliminating all distractions.

After reading few posts I decided to give it a try and change my personal workflow by eliminating everything that is not essential for getting things done. The changes I made on my personal computer are as follows:

Good bye dock

Quicksilver is my new application launcher and very decent finder replacement.

Spotlight elimination

I actually newer used this os x feature since I know where I keep my shit, but when I heard that turning off spotlight would increase computer performance it was even easier to get rid of it.

No more files on desktop

I use temporary files folder located in my home folder instead.

Cleaning up menu bar

The only icon I can’t live without in menu bar is air port connection. Except it I keep there LittleSnapper and skitch icons, and the reason is I simply don’t know how to get rid of them.

LittleSnapper is the app I use for capturing ideas and skitch is there for sharing ideas.

Under the hood

Applications that are not visible but are always turned on and accessible via keyboard shortcuts are:
1) Things - for organizing and getting things done
2) Yojimbo - information management
3) Quicksilver - app launcher and file manipulation

Minimalist workspace

960 pad, sketch pad and sprawsm sticker

I wanna be superawesome, too:

Who's superawesome?

@Dragan Thanks bro! Hope to get few beers and catch up at Sonic Boom Six gig.

Projects I work on usually contain three phases: User interface design, coding design into HTML / CSS and wordpress integration. I’ll try to explain user interface design process using real life example of rockstar new media design.

1) Content

UI design starts with content. Not just because “content is the king”, but because point of design is communication, and in order to communicate you need to have something to say.

Many times I was approached by client who asked me to design his web site. When I asked for the text content as an input I often got answer “Can you just make design and we’ll add content later”. That’s putting me in a weird situation because I need to explain that design is all about making content look good, and if there’s no content then there’s nothing to design. It’s the same like you hire a painter to paint your house and tell him: “Please paint my house first, and I’ll choose colors later”.

2) Wireframes and Grids

After going through the content with the client the next phase of interface design is creating wireframes and grid system.

Wireframe is a rough sketch of interface, some people draw it on paper, I usually skip that part and go directly to photoshop. I always make wireframes in only black and white colors to keep focus on the content. Point of wire-framing is to arrange content into groups by relevance.

Grid is a tool that creates order. It ensures that the page layout is visually balanced and consistent, and the content is well aligned. The ultimate result of creating grid system should be: page is easy to scan, read and understand by end user.

In case of rockstar new media I used very simple 3 columns grid. Every column is 300px wide, space between columns is 30px which gives rich margins, overall layout width is 960 pixels (3*300+2*30).

rockstar design wireframe

rockstar design grid

3) Painting work

When grids and wireframes or initial sketches of design are approved we’re going to phase 3, painting work. It’s time to add colors, style buttons, navigation, content boxes, experiment with typography etc. Possibilities are unlimited.My inspiration for rockstar new media were:

• The way that Huge inc uses big typography in headers and images as metaphors that communicate message.
• Grids and clean style that Mark Boulton design use
• Personal touch. Grungy look, little dirtiness on buttons and backgrounds that gives rock and roll feel. Using typography as user Interface. Overall point of my design is to create something unique by creating mixture of two opposites, clean and dirty.
• I had a dilemma (and still have it), if I should go with white background color design & dark text or dark background & light text, so I did both versions.

homepage - light

homepage - dark

4) Revisions & iterations

Creating custom user interface design is a process where both client and designer learn. It’s basically delivering mockups to client, getting feedback and creating revision based on feedback and consultation. Overall goal is to start with something good, and create something great.

After about a month of working long hours I’m very happy to announce that rockstar new media has been launched.

This design is a kind of personal rebranding, I’m in the process of moving my portfolio from www.milanogw.net to this place.

New clients & projects are very welcome.