Computers and Technology
Design
All tutorials concerned with designing.
New Blogs (and Blog Types)
Mar 17th
I am sure the readers of DavePCGuy have been wondering about this very long absence of articles. Well, the story is long and tedious but basically, all summed up, it’s because I have had TOO much to do. I’ve come up with an SEO system for my blogs so they get noticed as much as possible (ie. the use of proper plugins, ad placement, stuff like that). I’ve launched some of them but with minimal content.
I’ll be writing an SEO article on my finds later on this week, which will include the proper set up as well as use of those plugins. I’ll also get into editing WordPress themes to suit your needs. Here are a few types of blog themes most people are not aware of. More >
kuler – Adobe’s version of Color Scheme Designer
Feb 7th
Kuler is a great tool for all designers. It’s really similar to the Color Scheme Designer in the aspect that it composes several colors for you to use in your design.
It has several other features that make it even BETTER than CSD but there are tons of features missing too. Let’s start with the good stuff
Coupon design
Oct 10th
Remember a couple weeks ago I mentioned I would be making a website for a chiropractor? Well, here it is. I finally got my client to approve the hosting and the domain. I’m using JustHost for the hosting and I installed a preliminary wordpress template. It’s the easiest way to start up a website. I used a free template I found online.
My client does not wish to have a blog, of course, so I’ll be creating a static website soon enough. Anyways, one of the things my client wants me to do is make coupons, so let’s do that!
My plan is to hopefully create a nice vector coupon design in illustrator, make a PHP script that will send it to a recipient’s e-mail with THEIR name on it. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to do that cross-browser and all that but we’ll make it together!
More >
CSS Vertical Navigation
Oct 8th
Finally! Let’s check out vertical navigation. This tutorial will cover different tips and tricks on creating the vertical navigation bar. You can read my article on Color Theory and about Color Scheme Designer for more info on picking colors for your navbar. Most navbars, as I’ve heard, depend on javascript for the more hardcore effects but I’ll show you how to create some dazzling, amazing navbars WITHOUT the knowledge of javascript. Which is great, because I don’t know javascript at all. More >
Setting up (Part 2)
Sep 17th
Setting up (Part 2)
We’ve talked about setting up a XAMPP server and WordPress already in my previous tutorial. Now let’s focus on setting up Photoshop and Dreamweaver for Web Development. If you don’t have Dreamweaver, don’t worry about it. This is not only for PHP but it’s also a basic set up for all Web-Development. Different developers prefer different program.s
A little background on all of this. Adobe Photoshop is by far the best photo editing software out there. A nice alternative for photo editing would be GIMP; unfortunately when it comes to web development, it’s basically useless. It’s a pretty expensive piece of software but for a good reason. Photoshop is just amazing.
Now, about Adobe Dreamweaver. A lot of web-developers do not like this software. It’s one of those “what you see i what you get” types of software. If you learn to work, you’ll find out that it’s pretty good but when it comes to JavaScript and PHP, there are a lot of better alternatives. I use Dreamweaver simply because PHP is not all I do.
Color Scheme Designer Explained
Sep 9th
As I’ve talked about in my last article, choosing the right colors for your template is one of the major components in making your website design successful. And as I’ve promised, here’s an article explaining how to use the Color Scheme Designer 3.
How to pick the right colors for your template
Sep 7th
The colors you use for your website will make it or break it. A badly coordinated color arrangement will turn the reader off and push him or her away from your website. It is one of the key elements to an excellent template and I will give you a key overview on how to pick your colors.
There are many different ways a website may be arranged, color-wise. You can do a simple black&white template, which is the easiest and I think is very useful if you want to go for the executive feel. You can do a one-color centered website which will feature a single hue in different shades. Simplicity is the key sometimes and if you want a simple website that does not distract its reader, a monochromatic design is the best for that. If you want to go for a flashy look, you have to use multiple colors and that’s when designing gets tricky. I’ll be using different templates I created a couple weeks ago to show you the different color variations that can be made. They will be available later in Exan’s Corner for free download.
Black and White