Top Dead Center Design | Blog http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/ Design | Develop | Manage BBC Documentary on the Gutenberg Press http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/bbc-documentary-on-the-gutenberg-press/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:47:00 -0400 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/bbc-documentary-on-the-gutenberg-press/ A great documentary from Stephen Fry and the BBC on the invention of Gutenberg's printing press. Where does being a technology geek, a design geek, and a fan of documentaries converge? Somewhere right around here.

]]> Best Wishes for 2008 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/best-wishes-for-2008/ Tue, 01 Jan 2008 21:06:00 -0500 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/best-wishes-for-2008/ Just a brief post to wish all of our friends and clients a happy new year. 2007 was our most productive year yet here at TDC and it's been a pleasure to share it with all of you. We hope that 2008 is just as great (or even better) for all!

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

  • Phil and Mike
]]> My Top Five Indie Mac Apps http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/my-top-five-indie-mac-apps/ Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:11:01 -0400 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/my-top-five-indie-mac-apps/ Prompted by a conversation with a few recent Mac converts at the last Refresh meeting (otherwise known as happy hour), I thought I would run down a few of my favorite indie Mac apps.

]]> TDC Welcomes Mike Dupre http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/tdc-welcomes-mike-dupre/ Wed, 16 May 2007 13:15:00 -0400 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/tdc-welcomes-mike-dupre/ I am happy to announce the addition of to the TDC team.

Being a one-man shop is cool. I've always been the kind of person that prefers working on my own anyhow. However, communication design in general and web design in particular, really requires more than one head for best results. Clients help by contributing to our understanding of their businesses and organizations. Spouses and friends help by lending their own insights (occasionally these are the best). But nothing really replaces the input of another professional — someone that understands visual communication, marketing, and web — where they overlap, intersect and converge.

Mike brings all the skills of a seasoned designer along with the sort of enthusiasm for web technology that makes you believe that anything is possible. I am honored to have him on board and excited about what his role here means, both for TDC, and the businesses and organizations we have the privilege to partner with.

]]> Using Related Entries to Set Sidebar Content in Expression Engine http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/using-related-entries-to-set-sidebar-content-in-expression-engine/ Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:22:00 -0500 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/using-related-entries-to-set-sidebar-content-in-expression-engine/ Among the most useful features added to Expression Engine in the past year is Related Entries, or Data Relationships. This allows you to further section off content and data and use it in useful ways by creating relationships between weblog entries. One simple way I've started using this feature is to provide sidebar content that content editors and authors can relate to their entries. Details after the jump.

]]> Usability in the Movies http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/usability-in-the-movies/ Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:57:01 -0500 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/usability-in-the-movies/ This Alertbox post by usability guru Jakob Nielsen is a few weeks old now, but still worth mentioning. The way people use computers in movies always cracks me up. Movies sure do paint a rosy picture as I struggle with clients to make sure simple things like forms are laid out in simple and effective ways. I generally find myself watching movies and TV uttering things like, "Oh, yeah right!" and "Are you kidding me?" as the hero (or villain as the case may be) easily breaks into complex government mainframes, which, for some unknown reason, have beautifully designed user interfaces. I guess command line stuff is too old school...

Check out the complete article, but here are a few of my favorite highlights...

]]> Punch Launches Ink & Paper http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/punch-launches-ink-paper/ Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:21:00 -0500 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/punch-launches-ink-paper/ My friends over at Punch here in Richmond have started a new endeavor. They're selling rather nice paper goods under the label Ink & Paper, the first batch of which is a gift trimmings set (ribbon, gift tags, etc). The cost is only $9.95 plus $2 shipping. Proceeds on this product go to Art 180, a good cause that helps kids through art and activities.

I understand there is still time to get the set ahead of the upcoming holiday (I'm sure you can still buy it for next year), so go check it out: http://www.inkandpaper.com/

]]> Stock Spam Hell http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/stock-spam-hell/ Thu, 02 Nov 2006 09:13:00 -0500 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/stock-spam-hell/ Description

Stock spam is the current blight on my inbox. The stuff is impossible to stop. In particular because the spammers are including the information as attached images. My normal fix for spam, aside from running Spam Assassin on my mail server has been to set up rules to filter messages that include predictable stuff. Unfortunately, there's nothing that predictable about these spams except that they have image attachments. Filtering based on that would knock out a bunch of legitimate client emails as well.

Spamnation.info has some advice:

]]> Visualizing User Interaction with Crazy Egg http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/visualizing-user-interaction-with-crazy-egg/ Fri, 27 Oct 2006 09:00:00 -0400 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/visualizing-user-interaction-with-crazy-egg/ Crazy Egg is a web service that allows you to see what — and more importantly where — your site visitors are clicking on your page layout. Is this button in the right place? Is it obvious that that thing is clickable? It's no substitute for being able to watch a real person attempt to use and make sense of your site design, but for the budget-minded site owner, it's a useful tool for making ongoing improvements to layout. Here's how it works...

]]> Fun With Macro Settings http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/fun-with-macro-settings/ Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:46:00 -0400 http://www.tdcdesign.com/blog/entry/fun-with-macro-settings/ Some shots from around the office...

Description

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