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Appreciation of the material we work with

Today I’ve heard the best perception on how to go to the next level in craft we all call web designing and this is from a collegue of mine at work.

In the past, famous artists experimented with the materials they were using. Arylic paints, oil paints, wood, stone, clay, glass, metals etc. and in the morden world, plastics, carbon fiber, foam, etc.

I remember how Karim Rashid shared that understanding the intricacies of the manufacturing process would enable the designer the know how on how to go about designing a new product. Also the importance of knowing how to design in an efficient way so as not to compromise on the affordability of the end product.

For the web however everything is digital and there isn’t really a physical “material” that web designers work with. However we work with HTML, CSS, Javascript and the likes. These are what makes up the web. These are the “materials” that we who call ourselves web designers work with.

So in order improve ones understanding and to go to the next level of web design, take a break from photoshop and start your text editors. Start reading up on CSS and experimenting with AJax, start understanding grids, start understanding how some content management systems work, start understanding web infrastructure, start putting yourself in the shoes of webmasters who need to update the website you build daily.

This colleague who shared this with me is not a designer, he is not even design trained, but instead he is an excellent developer, a great observer. Thanks, you know who you are.

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Clié’s 7th Birthday

My darlings

Happy birthday to my darling Clié.

This year, she wanted to invite all her school classmate and quite a few of them turned up. Also one of her friend from her neighbourhood tution class came too.

As it was a 10am thingy, so we got up super early to prepare stuff. My wife prepare the food and I did up the decor as usual. The kids however were also busy trying to dress up, which was later re-did totally by mommy.

Happy 7th Birthday Clié

This group shot was the only decent shot that showed all the kids that were present and i think this picture will bring back fond memories when she grows alot older.

Lana cake. Yum.

My wife actually wanted to make a Princess cake, but after the first somewhat successful trail a week ago, she decided to get a good cake instead and got a Lana cake.

The adults had lots to talk about too.

Its amazing that its been 7 years already. She was just a small baby sleeping on my chest just a few years ago. I remember the love I had for her then and its the same love now, the unconditional love.

Happy birthday my girl. May your days be joyful and filled with people who loves you.

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Gallop Stables

Clié and Cleo at Gallop Stables

Brought my dear girls to Gallop Stable in Pasir Ris and they loved it. I like the whole idea of getting up early on a Saturday morning and doing something different. I won’t say its so exciting every week, but as parents we try.

It was $10 for a ride and tickets were bought at the nearby office just beside the café.

Clié riding a pony

Clié went first, she was all excited and hopped on quickly. She was born in the year of the horse, so she felt she had some affinity to horses. lol…

Cleo riding a pony

Cleo on the other hand was abit fearful. She could not get up on her own, so i carried her up. Once i was grabbing on to her, she did not want to let go. After a few reassuring words, off she went.

The girls watching a few peoplepractising horse riding.

The girls enjoyed themselves and the only thing they did not was the smell. lol… They are so not outdoor type. I think i need to expose them more to such stuff. Maybe Sungei Buloh next.

Gallop Stable
61 Pasir Ris Green
Singapopre 518225
Tel : 6583 9665
Fax : 6583 7282
Email : [email protected]

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Passion vs Passion

Bring in the creative online industry, the word “passion” comes up all the time. If you’ve got no passion, then why are you doing what you are doing. Are you just wasting your life away at a place that you drag your feet to work everyday.

Passion is like a pre-requisite, a fuel, especially in a fast paced environment. Its not just the creative industry that needs passion, almost every company can thrive if its filled with people filled with passion of what they are doing.

I’ve interviewed people to join my team and they always tell me they are very passionate about the job, passionate about the net, the web, the industry, the lot. But when I asked them how passionate are they, most of the time I get the very cliché answer “I live, eat and breath the net.” *yawn* I believe there is more to it.

So I turned to people whom I know that HAVE passion and started asking a similar question, “How do you quantify passion?”. Some say it’s a feeling, some say you just know it, some say its qualitative and not quantitative.

So the problem I have now is how can I know if one person is more passionate then the other. How can I know if one company is more passionate than another?

Here are some quantifiable things I feel that may put real hard numbers behind the word passion.

  • Number of links being shared between colleagues.
  • Number of colleagues having their own hosting and domain.
  • Number of colleagues having their own website. (contributed by Ben Ho)
  • Number of pet projects or experimental projects.
  • Number of hours set aside purely for trying out new stuff.
  • Number of attendance at web events like websg, barcamp, etc. or event conferences like SXSW or AnEventApart, etc.

If you have more ideas do share and I’ll add to the list.

Note: this post is still a draft.

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Blogging?

Ever since i’ve got the iPhone, i started tweeting more, checking my facebook more, commenting more, reading Wired more and blogging less. And best part is it’s all happening in the timeslot I used to be dozing off while standing up in trains.

I’ve got so many backlog posts that I’m just to lazy to process images and write for (not to mention my kids blog which I’ve hardly did anything for one full year).

Now with WordPress ver 2 for iPhone, I think I might just blog more. If you’re an iPhone user, go download it.

*blogging on a cab ride*