When a client comes to you, the designer, they usually have an idea in their heads, and they usually have something in hand, be it a logo, colors, font, photos or even just a name. So how the hell do you take any or all those elements and turn them into a solid, functional, working website??? Why you listen to our podcast of course! The emphasis is on looking beyond the obvious; finding what the brand is about and how to use that in your design. Also we chat about some out-there questions to ask yourselves while designing including some tips to help the process along, some more good questions to ask your client at that first meeting, and a couple of companies that seem to understand their brand and image and how they translate it onto their websites.

Listen Now:

We're back with what we're unofficially calling Season 2, mainly 'cos it makes our hiatus seemed more planned then it was really. As per the title(ripped-off Sex, Lies and Videotape), this episode's all about the challenge of using Video on a website, when it's appropriate and not, what sites can benefit from it, some tips on using it well, what are some problems you might run into, and finally a coupla programs to help you along. Also, a HUGE thank you to all the fans that wrote in and asked us to bring the show back, you know who you are, but we're naming names and reading out your emails. Thanks again and keep on listening...

Listen Now:

Usabilty is and should be on every web designer's mind. It's definitely on ours and so in this Ep. we tackle stuff like... is your menu system effective and easy to understand; should you be breaking up your menu or keeping it all in one place; how much scrolling is too much on a webpage; can images be used to break up text; should icons and symbols instead of text on buttons make a comeback; is X-men 3 a bad movie; will the Sony PS3 be better than the Xbox 360 or the Nintendo Wii; and as always tons of excellent feedback trashing and praising us... we don't really acknowledge the ones trashing us... kidding, you know we do.

Listen Now:

Before they start building a website, most web designers do either a rough, half-rough-half-built, or really fleshed out sketch/layout/mock-up... well at least we hope they do. Needless to say doing a mock-up is pretty damn important and saves you a lot of trouble in the future becasue you finalize certain design decisions in your layout. So while talking about the topic of the episode Jin and I realized that we approach the layout stage with 2 different methods... artistic vs. scientific for a lack of better words or Fireworks/Photoshop/paper vs. HTML/Flash/code.

Listen Now:

This time we look at some of the new, cool, interesting, and different design techniques websites are using. But more than that, this episode focuses on how these techniques make the site stand out from the rest; you know, give it that little bit of uniqueness and oomph! We're running a little behind getting this episode out so hopefully your hearts aren't too broken.

Listen Now:

When we first started donig (oops... doing) web design there was a transition period for us where we still thought as print designers and wondered why our designs just were'nt working. We came across some pretty obvious differences and some more out-there ones. Ultimately though understanding them helped us design for a new, different medium than traditional print. I think we managed to cover all the major ones in this episode. In the news, a judge rules that surfing the net at work is not worse than making a phone call or reading the newspaper. And finally lots of good feedback from our last show.

Listen Now:

We thought we were getting a little too technical in the last few episodes with the whole web standards and flash vs html and intros etc., so we decided to take a step back and talk about pre-design issues...namely ethics. When is it ok to get "inspired" by other design and when is it considered stealing? Sounds simple right? Apparently not since this turns into one of our longer episodes as we battle.

Listen Now:

Alright... do you like those intro animations or movies on a lot of flash sites? jin does too, and i don't. So we duke it out and nearly come to blows... well not really... but we could if we wanted to. Also Scene 7 has this new dynamic JPEG loader for Flash you should check out.

Listen Now:

So... probably the first thing you think of when starting a new site is... how big should it be, what size should I make it etc... and along with that comes scrolling... good or evil? Also pop-up windows, can they really be used well? No news today, but lotsa excellent feedback and a brief discussion about Flash accessibility issues. Proud to say we have a girl, an Irishman and an Asian listener... no they're not all the same person.

Listen Now:

We try and tackle web standards, more specifically Flash Vs HTML... when's a good time for which? Shoutout to Brian Reardon and diss to Jin's brother.

Listen Now:

Friday the 24th, 2006 and this is our second show. We tighten up the show format and tackle photography sites. We also respond to some awesome feedback and some harsh criticism. Special shoutouts to Larry and Jessie on their engagement and a diss to Louis.

Listen Now:

Welcome to the show. It is Friday the 10th, 2006 and this is our very first show. Today we talk about 1. the sub-menu and 2. product photography. Later we give you some news and introduce ourselves.

Listen Now: