It's great news - particularly for any developer trying to explain to clients why they perhaps need to let IE6 go.
Launched just before Christmas and now properly finding it's feet with a decent amount of content and regular submissions, I've launched Bilby Bites food blog.
Most designers seem to keep sketchbooks, or digital reference of some sort of any inspirational design they see, so it can be referenced in future when appropriate to a new project. I don't …
He said we'd never do it ("You won't get 365 quotes out of me") - but we did.
Just launched is a new website I've built for fashion photographer Tom Hargreaves
I've been itching to redesign www.chriscowen.co.uk - it was the on of first websites I built. And while proud of it at the time - it was definetly time for an update.
A successful offline business model won't necessarily translate well into an online business, but business owners can be very reluctant to adapt their business to appeal to an online audience.
As a homage to Heroes' Save the Cheerleader, save the World and Howies Do Lectures. I have launched a new Save the World category on this website.
I'm an Exeter based web designer and as well as being environmentally aware am also environmentally active - and am looking for like minded companies to work with. Ideally businesses with an environmentally friendly outlook who want to push their web presence.
As much for myself as for the people who have been asking me the question, I thought it time to try and explain the reasons for the horses in the design of Mekonta.
Take a good look at what pages visitors to your site are looking at and what keywords they're using to find your site. You can then decide to further optimise on those keywords or spot th ephrases you need to work harder on.
No matter how much you research and plan for a new website - there will always be aspects that need attention once it is launched. Any website worth it's salt should always be a work in progress.
A new section on Mekonta is dedicated to The Wit & Wisdom of Matt Beckenham. Every day should see a new Matticism published on the website.
Having read Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics I discovered a number of lessons that can be learned from comics and applied to website design.
The new website I have built for Bilby Marketing is quite a change stylistically from anything I have done before and uses certain effects that had been banging my head on the desk.
The websites 24 Ways is an advent calendar for web designers. Day 17 featured a great article on Festive Follies by Jon Tan. So I tried my own.
Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is an old web browser. Things have moved on on the internet since 2001 - and it's time for web users to stop using old software.
Previously I wrote about the importance of updating the contents of your website. It's also important to understand how you should be using the correct HTML attributes when putting that content on your website. For both SEO and accessibility.
Before I found myself making websites, I wanted to be an artist. In 2001 I was a painter just out of university with no studio space to paint in. So I started working on the computer and exploring the very greatest Renaissance artists. Seven years on, this one holds up as one of my favourites:
SEO (search engine optimisation) is all about getting your website listed high up in the rankings of Google, Yahoo! et-al for the keywords most relevant to you and your business. There are a massive range of techniques available to achieve good SEO - here's a few starting points:
An inspiring bit of flexible web design from Jason Santa Maria - this is a very different approach to delivering web content and adapting a template system that kicked me into action with updating this website.
This is where I'm publishing articles relating to web design and SEO. I admit that this first post is rushed and not too informative - but be patient!
Supermarkets need to put more effort into selling food in packaging that can be recycled.
In his book The Revenge of Gaia, James Lovelock makes some very convincing arguments for environmentalists to think again on renewable energy.
I need to spend more time getting involved with Exeter based action against Climate Change, where I can play an active role.
Alistair Darling has pledged to give £2,000 to anyone in the UK buying a new car if the old car is more than 10 years old. What a good idea …
Gordon Brown refuses to understand the immediate implications of climate change. He prefers to try and restore the status quo of an economic model that has brought on these problems. And seems to think that a carbon neutral economy will magically emerge from this dinosaur.
It might appear that being eco friendly is widely accepted, but when you are trying to live a genuinely low impact lifestyle and making more serious cuts in your living standard - the level of acceptance from your peers drops significantly.
It's all well and good trying to be green, but there is so much missing information, and mis-information out there that it's all to easy to be trying to do the right thing, but actually find yourself doing very much the wrong things for the planet.
A quick update on postings about buying double glazing.
Putting things into the recycling bin sounds like a very positive step. But it covers up the more serious concerns of why are we generating so much waste at all, and what is happening with all this recycling?
I'm not much of a shopper, but when I have to - I like to give my money to companies who I respect. Howies are just such a company - I'm not aware of a mainstream clothing company who do so much to promote environmental concerns and are pro-active in continually reducing their environmental impact.
Now we're spending a lot of money of double glazing it made sense to make sure the rest of the house was as well insulated as it could be too.
Tesco's have decided to put up a wind turbine next to one of their stores to provide them with renewable energy. Sounds great, but sadly it's an ill thought through project that does nothing for the long term prospects of building a nationwide renewable energy grid.
Despite our very wet climate, only 38% of the water consumed by the average UK resident (including water taken to grow/make/manufacture food and drink) every day. Other counties who we rely on for basic daily consumables are facing severe drought, brought on by climate change and increasing demand for products and, therefore, water.
Looking at the snow and seeing how much more of the landscape became visible when covered in white - I gave a bit more thought to the recent concepts of painting your roof white to help save the planet.
A big thumbs up for Green Oil - which is an eco friendly bike oil I've been giving a try recently.
It wouldn't be too unusual to hear promises of a rich, golden, future - with changes that will make all of our lives better - from a politician. To then witness them ramping up oil consumption and loosening environmental regulation. I can only hope Obama proves the exception to the rule.
We're now all set up to be getting timber framed double glazing in the house. I'm really looking forward to this for energy savings, noise reduction and not having to be out sanding down and repainting the old frames for quite a few years.
Despite all the objections and evidence to show what a terrible idea it is - the government has given the go ahead to a 3rd runway at Heathrow.
Some good stuff on Greenpeace's site to highlight the impact coal is having on the environment.
I've been doing some research into double glazing choices - and considering the relative merits of timber and PVCu window frames
Support Greenpeace's Give Coal the Boot campaign. The UK government is planning on building more coal fired power stations - even though green technologies are available.
I'm only part way through George Monbiot's book Heat, which is a report on potential effects of global warming and ways of dealing with it. It's terrifying.
My dislike of cheap clothing from Primark, H&M, Tescos and the like doesn't stem from my being a snob - it's because they're encouraging a highly consumptive and wasteful attidude towards clothing without thought to the environmentally damaging process of their production.
George Bush's parting gift to the Word is opening America's wilderness to logging and mining, trashing pollution controls and tearing up conservation laws. It's a very sad feeling for all of us who had a moments hope following the election of Obama.
Riverford grow organic fruit & veg and deliver direct to your door. The whole company ethos is centered around sustainability and being ethically aware about all parts of the farming process. All round good eggs, Riverford's prices are often less than the supermarkets.
Devon's Own is a supermarket based in Exeter, Devon supplying locally produced food. Devon's Own food is local, ethical & convenient …
Mekonta - South Western design since 1978
©MMX Mekonta