Be Good Not Bad

SXSWi Panel Voting

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:49:25 -0400

Every year in August we turn our eyes to March of next year. It’s crazy, but now is when people are pitching and voting for what kinds of panels they want to see next year at SXSW.

My colleagues at Happy Cog are in no fewer than 18 different panels, and I suggest you vote for all of them. The team at SXSW will use your votes as a big part of their decision making in deciding what’s in the final line-up in March.

Last year, I had the honor of presening alongside some of my favorite people for our ExpressionEngine panel, and this time, I’ve submitted a new idea on an entirely different topic.

Digital Bookmaking for Designers & Developers

With the help of your votes and a bit of luck from SXSW, I’ll be appearing with good friends Scott Boms and Grant Hutchinson to talk about books, bookmaking and, especially, digital books. Making digital books, such as for the Kindle, iPhone or iPad is a weird mesh of design and development and while it’s been around for many years, it still feels like it’s in its infancy. This is just the kind of stuff I enjoy thinking and talking about; and with such seasoned pros as Grant and Scott by my side, it’s definitely going to be an interesting talk that’s a bit off the beaten path of SXSW ideas.

Please take the time to vote now, and try to do it by the end of the day on August 27th, 2010, as voting will close at midnight.

Pencil Tip Micro Sculptures By Dalton Ghetti

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:36:04 -0400

Pencil Tip Micro Sculptures By Dalton Ghetti:

These are just gorgeous.

One of my Favorites: Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:00:00 -0400

My favorite whiskey in the whole wide world is Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. These guys really know what their doing. Aside from making delicious whiskey, they have done a marvelous job of doing some simple but effective things to build a unique brand.

The Stranahan’s logo is decidedly secondary in this label design. The label is dominated by the words “Colorado Whiskey”. Are there other whiskeys made in Colorado? Probably. Does it matter? No. When you go to the store and see “Colorado Whiskey” on this label, it really stands out among all the other whiskeys on the shelf. Colorado, with its rich history of craft brewing, is seen as a place where delicious liquids are made. Add to that the cowboy and mining history of the the Rocky Mountains and you almost feel Stranahan’s came from that era.

The label is set at an angle. I suspect that’s intentional. These guys don’t have a labeling machine. In fact, they have volunteers come in and put all the labels on by hand, walking home at the end of the day with a couple free bottles of whiskey. So Stranahan’s embraces the inexact nature of hand-labeling their bottles and has everybody put them on at an angle. Yet another thing that will help this whiskey stand out on the shelf.

The label is also hand-signed by the distiller with a batch number, the date and comments. The one pictured in this post says “1st Batch in New Distillery”.

So, they’re doing the design and labeling right, and I can attest that they’re doing a fabulous job at making the whiskey. I do, however, have a huge problem with Stranahan’s: Their website is an absolute mess. It’s a nervous mix of varying type treatments and troublesome navigation. They obviously ran out of room for tabs across the top and had to start adding them to the side with a totally different design.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time harping on Stranahan’s for their website. One could argue it’s even charming: Given that making whiskey is such an analog process, of course they will have a lousy website. But, I’ll say this: When you have such a lovely product, with an established recognizable brand, you’re doing a huge disservice to that brand to give it such a crappy website.

A brand isn’t just a logo. “A brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company” (Wikipedia). Your brand is informed by everything from the design of your labels to how you treat your employees. So when you decide to have a pretty lousy website, you’re saying something about the kind of company you want to be seen as.

I’ll say it again: Stranahan’s is an exceptional product. I hope I’m not being too hard on these guys. They really do great work. I hope for their sake that Stranahan’s decides to improve their website to match the quality of the rest of their product.

Lovely new shirts from Panic, designed by none other than...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 07:05:16 -0400

Lovely new shirts from Panic, designed by none other than Draplin Design Co. of Field Notes fame.

Backslider: A workaround for background positioning PNGs with IE6

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:00:00 -0400

How many times have you run into this problem?

You have a translucent PNG for which you had to run the AlphImageLoader trick to get IE6 to render properly. Everything is great, except this PNG is a sprite, and you also need to change the background-position, such as for a hover or focus state. Cue the sad clown kazoo. Oh well, I guess IE6 doesn’t get a hover state, right?

That’s what I thought too, till I thought of this handy little trick.

Setting the stage

Usually with this sort of situation, I am using an image that is a sprite which contains three states of the same image: The default, hover, and active state. Then I use background-position to move that sprite to where I needed it.

Take the following example:

This is a navigation element with the following code:

New Post

Normally, we’d do something like this to show a nice pretty title for this link:

#new a { 
    width: 99px; 
    height: 39px; 
    display: block; 
    text-indent: -9999em;  
    background-image: url(/m/titles/new-post.png); 
    background-repeat: no-repeat; 
    background-position: 0 0; 
    }

Of course this is a sprite, so the actual image for it is (Note: For this example I gave it a dark background so you can see it):

And for hover & focus classes we’d do something like this to expose the hover version of the image:

#new a:hover, #new a:focus { background-position: 0 -39px }

And we would do something similar for the active version and the on-state:

#new a:active, #new a.on  { background-position: 0 -79px }

This all well and good, but as you may know, since this is a translucent PNG, none of these hover, focus, active or on states are an option with background-position for IE6, since background-position does not work with the AlphaImageLoader filter fix. The only alternatives are to just do without these states, or to cut separate image for each state and write separate lines in CSS to pull said images in under each condition. That’s a messy solution that, despite being pretty sub-optimal, is a heck of a lot of extra work.

What if there were a better way? I think there is, and this is my solution: I named it “Backslider”. I know, it’s silly.

Backslider

When you think about what background-position really is doing, it’s moving an image around a mask, based on specific events or situations. The trick is, that you don’t need background-position to do this, and often we don’t need any more markup than what is already available to solve this problem.

Remember, what we’re dealing with is a link inside of an #new element. Let’s use that #new element to provide the mask, and then move around the #new element using absolute positioning. CRAZY, RIGHT?!

#new { 
    position: relative; 
    width: 99px; 
    height: 39px; 
    overflow: hidden; 
    }
#new a { 
    display: block; 
    width: 99px; 
    height: 117px; 
    position: absolute; 
    top: 0; 
    left: 0; 
    text-indent: -9999em; 
    background-image: url(button-sprite.png); 
    background-repeat: no-repeat; 
    background-position: 0 0; 
    }
#new a:hover, #new a:focus { top: -39px; left:0; }
#new a:active, #new a.on {top: -78px; left:0; }

In the IE stylesheet you can still apply the filter fix for the new-post.png. But because you’re not using any sort of background-position changes, it works like a dream.

One little caveat for our good friend IE7: You still need to do that left:0 property. Every single time. Otherwise, it pretends you didn’t really mean to position that element at all. You were only joking, right? Oh, IE7, you do seem to have an extra special sense of humor.

Really, though, it is that easy. It involves very minimal IE6-specific styling and works great for everybody else. This can be used for navigation elements, headings, logos, and more.

When I discovered this little trick, I just assumed people had done it before, and I was just late to the game. However after asking around, apparently this isn’t a widely used idea, so I humbly submit Backslider to the internet.

Have a better idea, hate the name “Backslider”, or just want to set me straight? Send me a note: http://begoodnotbad.com/ask Thanks!

SimpleBits: Welcome to the bitstream

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:55:23 -0400

SimpleBits: Welcome to the bitstream:

My good friend Dan switched to Tumblr, did a handsome, responsive redesign, and explains his thinking in this post. His reasons for switching to Tumblr and his thoughts on his current in-process redesign/rejiggering mirror mine and what’s going on here to a T.

It’s trash day. Which means I’m locked out of the...

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:30:00 -0400

It’s trash day. Which means I’m locked out of the office.

You see, on most mornings, I eat breakfast, gather my things together, get my iPhone and headphones, and then kiss my family goodbye before leaving the house. Today, it’s trash day. So I do all of those things, but I leave out the back door so I can take the trash to the curb. All of that is well and good; however, I always keep my keys on a cabinet by the front door, and pick them up on the way out. So, today, leaving out the back door, I left my keys at home.

I take the trolley to work, so this isn’t a mistake I realize when I get to my car or scooter. It’s a mistake I realize after getting to our office building, grabbing the three packages that were delivered last night, toting said packages upstairs to the office, and finding I’m the first one there and can’t unlock the door.

I headed downstairs to pick up a latte and get to work at a table there. Delicious. Bonus: Our office wifi reaches down to the cafe.

I think I’ll forget my keys more often, at least on trash days.

James

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:36:00 -0400

On May 28th, my son, James Baden Warren, was born. We are so thrilled to start getting to know this guy. It was a crazy fast labor, and he was a couple weeks early, so all of this came as a pretty fast surprise! We’re not complaining. He’s awesome.

My Article for EE Insider: Simplifying How Content Works

Tue, 25 May 2010 22:27:56 -0400

My Article for EE Insider: Simplifying How Content Works:

My first ever article on EE Insider was published today. It goes in depth on how to use one seemingly simple technique using Pages to simplify how content works on a website. I’m excited to write for EE Insider and I hope I can do a bit more of that in the future. I say that knowing full well I have other writing projects on my plate and a baby due in three weeks (!), so we’ll see how much of that I can do in the short term. In the meantime, enjoy this article.

"If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS..."

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:13:00 -0400

“If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript? … Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.”

- Thoughts on Flash, Steve Jobs

Here’s a cute shot of Bridget at Dock St....

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:23:52 -0400

Here’s a cute shot of Bridget at Dock St. Brewing.

Really enjoying Hipstamatic.

As Seen on TV - a tribute to doing it wrong (via...

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:40:54 -0400

As Seen on TV - a tribute to doing it wrong (via kickintheheadcomic)

SXSW 2010 Recap

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:26:38 -0400

In March, I traveled to Austin for SXSW. For whatever reason my experience at SXSW felt a lot more low key than in years past. This is a bit strange because this year was the biggest SXSW ever, and I had far more stuff to do than ever before.

Cogaoke

In what is undoubtedly now a yearly tradition, Happy Cog threw an enormous karaoke party entitled “Cogaoke”. We pulled out all the stops this year with more contestants, more judges, more sponsors and a longer open bar.

It’s funny because I don’t really get into karaoke at all. It’s not something I seek out or make time for. Nonetheless, it’s downright impossible to not enjoy the spectacle that is Cogaoke.

We don’t just put on a party though. It’s a competition for which people are preparing months in advance. We started back in January by putting up a teaser site and in February we debuted the full site with contestant registration. Meanwhile we were making training videos, teaching people how to put on the most amazing performance they can.

It was a huge deal that entailed lots of extra work for the whole office. I enjoyed working on the whole project, getting to do design as well as front-end and back-end development. Fun stuff.

The event itself went off without a hitch. I didn’t do a ton during the event, except for fire a confetti canon and run drinks to judges. Check out photos from the event at the Cogaoke 2010 Flickr photo pool.

ExpressionEngine Panel

The other enormous undertaking of SXSW for me was getting to give at talk at our “ExpressionEngine 2.0: Total Domination!” panel. Kenny Meyers led the panel, which was comprised of Ryan Irelan, Jenn Lukas, Mark Huot, and of course, me. Quite the crew!

We spent a decent amount of time before SXSW planning our talk, but nothing was a substitute for meeting and going through it in person, which we did a few times while at SXSW, before the main event.

I somehow found time before leaving for Austin to rehearse the crap out of my little talk, and if there’s any little bit of advice I can give to a budding speaker, it’s to do just that. Get extremely comfortable with both your routine and your slides. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, but the one bit of feedback people gave me the most was that everything seemed really polished and I seemed nice and comfortable talking. The only thing I can attribute that to is the extra time I spent going over everything. The last thing you want to do is get stuck reading your slides.

Our talk was about ExpressionEngine 2.0, an app we use as the content management system for lots of our sites. It wasn’t a commercial for the app itself, it was more a talk for people who make sites, like we do, with ExpressionEngine. I was a little surprised, but a lot of people in attendance hadn’t used it yet, and were just finding out about ExpressionEngine.

My portion of the talk was about Accessories, a new feature in ExpressionEngine 2.0. I posted the slides from my talk to my site for download here

How did it go? It went really, really well. The ballroom was packed, the Q&A went great, and Kenny did a fantastic job of getting some good laughs from the crowd. After our talk, folks from EllisLab (the makers of ExpressionEngine) took us out for lunch, which was a super nice treat.

Everything Else

SXSW was really fun this year. I’m tempted to say it was the most fun year yet for me. As usual, I didn’t get a chance to see everybody I wanted to, but that’s just how it goes. I’m very glad Mr. Balmer finally made it out. And of course, lots of quality time was spent getting coffee in the morning, and pints in the evening with such fine chaps as Mr. Boms, Mr. Dorny, and Mr. Van Damme and somewhere in the middle spending some time at my new favorite place in Austin, Frank.

artinmybeer For obvious reasons, Art in my Beer might be my new...

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:00:00 -0400

artinmybeer

For obvious reasons, Art in my Beer might be my new favorite site. I submitted this shot to them shortly after they debuted earlier today. It’s from a batch of homebrew I made a few years ago.

SXSW Photoset

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:35:00 -0400

I posted some photos from SXSW to Flickr. I might have averaged more shots this year than last, but that’s not saying much.

SXSW Panel Recap

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:37:47 -0400

SXSW Panel Recap:

I plan on writing my own recap of this at some point, but this is pretty much exactly how it went down. Thanks Kenny for doing the nearly-to-the-detail recap! (Be ware ye who might be offended by Kenny’s pretty colorful language)

Sit By Us

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:43:22 -0500

Sit By Us:

Totally enjoying using this app to stay on top of my schedule at SXSW.

See You at SXSW 2010

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:46:02 -0500

South by Southwest Interactive starts later this week, and it is shaping up to be a really nice event. Excitement is in the air as everybody at the office is packing and planning for Cogaoke, our yearly Karaoke party that we host at SXSW. In addition to that, there will be healthy representation from Happy Cog folk at panels too.

We F*cked Up: Happy Cog and Friends, Exploring Failures, Together hosted by Happy Cog elites Greg Storey, Greg Hoy, Kevin Hoffman as well as Wil Reynolds and Tracey Halvorsen.

ExpressionEngine 2.0: Total Domination hosted by, count them, four Happy Cog folk, including myself, Jenn Lukas, Mark Huot, and Ryan Irelan, alone with some handsome fella named Kenny Meyers who works at Virb.

Some other SXSW events I’m looking forward to are the Found Type Photo Walk and I hope to make it to the Kick-Ass premiere.

Best-laid plans aside, just like every year, I’m most looking forward to spending some quality time with people, having coffee and pints with friends, new and old. I hope to see you at SXSW Interactive 2010. It should be a really, really fun time.

New Boots (via Brian Warren) After over ten years of faithful...

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:38:08 -0500

New Boots (via Brian Warren)

After over ten years of faithful service, I retired my Vasques and bought a new pair. In that time, Vasque moved their production to China, but it seems like they’re still doing a great job of making boots. My new pair feels stiff and needs a few miles under them before they feel comfortable, but I know they’ll get there.

Pigtails for the win.

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:15:14 -0500

Pigtails for the win.