Finding Your Way Through the Labyrinth In April, I shared some of my insights and experiences with themes at the WordPress Southwest Florida MeetUp. Below are the slides and key topics from my presentation. There has been an explosion in the number … [Read More...] about How to Choose a WordPress Theme
How to Choose a WordPress Theme
Finding Your Way Through the Labyrinth In April, I shared some of my insights and experiences with themes at the WordPress Southwest Florida MeetUp. Below are the slides and key topics from my presentation. There has been an explosion in the number of WordPress themes being developed in the past few years. The sheer volume of offerings can make theme selection an overwhelming challenge. Making an informed choice is the first step towards a wise choice. The Early … [Read more...] about How to Choose a WordPress Theme
Three Great Ways to Create Grids in InDesign
Why Should You Use a Grid? Grids are the underlying structure to a layout. They are the skeleton upon which you place the text and images. You don’t actually see the grid, but you do see its effects: the elements are organized and aligned, providing consistency and cohesiveness to the layout. Grids are used in the design world, for sure. They can also be found in all sorts of other arenas: maps, city planning, architecture, crossword puzzles, keyboards, stereo equipment, machinery, etc. … [Read more...] about Three Great Ways to Create Grids in InDesign
Let’s Use Google Hangouts for Our Meeting!
In my last post, I shared my list of viable tools for videoconferencing. Several clients then requested that we use my preferred tool, Google Hangouts, for our next meeting. The only glitch was that they were unsure about how it worked. Perfect subject for a new blog post! If you don't already have a Google account, I highly recommend that you set one up. Google provides an entire suite of applications, which includes Hangouts, Gmail, YouTube, Drive, and Docs. As a designer/developer, I also … [Read more...] about Let’s Use Google Hangouts for Our Meeting!
Free Videoconferencing Tools for Remote Teaching
Overview After I moved to Florida, I taught my graphic design class at Lasell College remotely for the first time. It took a lot of discussion, thought, and research. During the previous year, I completed Lasell's professional development course on online teaching and got my certification. Teaching online doesn’t involve regular face-to-face interactions that adhere to a traditional schedule. Students can do the classwork on their own time, from any location. Teaching remotely has a … [Read more...] about Free Videoconferencing Tools for Remote Teaching
Introduction to Web Design
Key Design Principles and How to Implement Them! In November, I shared some of my design knowledge at the WordPress Southwest Florida MeetUp. Below are my slides and the key topics from the evening's presentation. Overview Web design is the visual styling and layout of a website. It requires a good understanding of color, type, alignment, and harmony. With pleasing aesthetics, organized navigation, and sensible UX, visitors are more likely to stay on the site, view multiple … [Read more...] about Introduction to Web Design
Accepting What Is: Lessons from a Gecko
I love geckos. I first set eyes on them in the 1980s, while visiting my mother and father in their Florida home. We were sitting at the pool, and a gecko started to climb up the leg of my chair. He quickly realized that a human was in the chair (me), and froze. He turned his head from one side to the other, tilted his head upward, and then made a quick getaway to a “safe” location. I was enamored. In describing the initial gecko greeting to family and friends, I imitated his head movements and … [Read more...] about Accepting What Is: Lessons from a Gecko
How to Disable Gutenberg in WordPress 5
The new block editor, Gutenberg, is packaged as part of the core in WP5. If your site uses another block editor plugin, it may not be fully compatible with Gutenberg (i.e. Divi, Visual Composer, Avada Fusion are a few). Elementor and Beaver Builder work fine with Gutenberg. If you are not ready to use Gutenberg, there are 2 easy ways to disable it: (1) Install and activate Classic Editor plugin: this will restore the original "classic" editor that you are already familiar with. Full … [Read more...] about How to Disable Gutenberg in WordPress 5
Environmental Campaign Project 2018
This semester's Graphic Design 2 class began with an assignment to design new campaign materials for an environmental group. In this project, we explored ways to educate and alert people about the many environmental concerns that our planet currently faces. Students chose one environmental issue that they care about. Options included global warming, air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, climate change, deforestation, genetic modification, marine life, public health, overpopulation, … [Read more...] about Environmental Campaign Project 2018
Home Page Widgets in WordPress
The home page on your website is the main page where viewers land when they first arrive on the site. It is most often the base URL address, such as "www.yourwebsite.com". All of the other pages build off of the main page and use the base URL with a backslash to indicate their location: "www.yourwebsite.com/interiorpage". The default home page in WordPress is a list of your posts. That's because WordPress started out as a blogging platform. The most recent post will appear at the top of the … [Read more...] about Home Page Widgets in WordPress
Multiple Page Sizes in a Single InDesign Document
It's fairly common for a project to have many components, each one a different size. Maybe it's a branding project with a logo, letterhead, business card, envelope, poster, t-shirt, and brochure. Maybe it's a book jacket with 2 flaps, a spine, and back and front cover. One approach is to create a new InDesign document for every separate piece. I would certainly do that for multi-page files like brochures and books. For one-page items, though, you could use another approach: create different page … [Read more...] about Multiple Page Sizes in a Single InDesign Document
The Snowball Effect in Florida: Upgrading to High Sierra
Yes, you can have a snowball effect in sunny Florida! I know this because it happened to me this week. What started as a simple need to install a software program gradually grew into a larger, more complex series of events. Applications and System Requirements I am teaching my Graphic Design 2 class remotely this semester. That's because my students are in Newton, Massachusetts and I now live in Florida. One of the more promising tools I was considering for video conferencing—Skype for … [Read more...] about The Snowball Effect in Florida: Upgrading to High Sierra
Welcome to Florida: Acclimating
Snippets of life since moving to Florida... June 29 - Hello Florida! We arrived safe and sound in Naples late this afternoon! As I write this, I am feeling exhausted but happy. It was a long journey (4 days), taking us through areas of the eastern seaboard neither of us had ever seen. Much of the landscape was quite beautiful. The Shenandoah Valley was really lovely. Food (made by many of you), good music, and good conversation was the standard for each day. The clouds … [Read more...] about Welcome to Florida: Acclimating
Shedding
My partner and I are moving to Florida in 2 weeks. I've lived in the Boston area my entire life, so this is a huge change for me. It's the longest distance I've ever covered in a move. The company we hired to transport our furniture and goods to our new home bases their fee on weight. The general rule of thumb is if it costs you more to move something than to buy it new, don't take it with you. Plus, we don't have as much storage in Florida. There is no basement, although we do have several … [Read more...] about Shedding
Create an InDesign File with Bleeds
Adobe InDesign is my go-to layout program for multiple page print projects, such as magazines, brochures, and books. You can, of course, also use it for single-page documents, and even digital projects. For many years, I used Quark XPress, another fantastic publishing software. I switched to InDesign, because I was already using other Adobe products (Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat) and liked the seamless integration among the programs. What the heck are bleeds? Clue number 1: … [Read more...] about Create an InDesign File with Bleeds