http://www.hitechy.com/ The latest news from the official HiTechy website. Copyright © HiTechy 2011. All rights reserved. Alexander Dawson (HiTechy Admin) 2011-06-06T00:00:00Z Alexander Dawson 2011-06-17T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#97 Book Writing http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119992982.html Well, it's happened again... I've written another book! Distinctive design is a title which examines how we can utilize design theory, psychology and a bunch of other tools to ensure the visibility and distinctiveness of your sites. Not only is there loads of content within the book, I've also written three bonus chapters worth of material. If you enjoy reading my articles, please get yourself a copy and you'll be able to maximize the effectiveness of every object within your site. Alexander Dawson 2011-06-13T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#96 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-development/5-little-known-web-files-that-can-enhance-your-website/ In a previous article, I highlighted five Web files which while small in size, could make a considerable difference to your sites. Following on from that very popular title which managed to give some lesser known design files the spotlight, I've gone and done it again! Five brand new files, all providing some useful getting started tips and examples. This time around, we look at P3P.xml, Geo.kml (and it's brother Geo.rdf), Humans.txt, vCard.vcf and PICS.rdf. Alexander Dawson 2011-06-06T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#95 Book Writing http://blogs.sitepoint.com/thinking-web-voices-of-the-community/ What a productive month June has become! With my new book on it's impending countdown to publication, I've managed to gain another co-authoring credit with none other than my good friends over at SitePoint. This community project inspired by an idea I had while a Mentor has come to fruition, taking the community spirit and collective knowledge of our forums, and forging it into a free book that anyone can get some useful tips from. I contributed two chapters myself along the way! Alexander Dawson 2011-06-01T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#94 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/css/colors-webdesign/ Apart from layout and typography, nothing is more central to the field of Web design than color. It impacts every page of our content, every flourish we employ and it can both influence and affect our users perceptions. I not examine how we can implement solid colors within CSS (and CSS3), I provide details on opacity and transparency effects, Websafe considerations, color blindness and color psychology, and provide some useful links to color charts, swatches and pickers too! Alexander Dawson 2011-05-27T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#93 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/05/27/instant-attention-in-web-design/ Getting a users attention and keeping it on the page can be tricky. In Web design, there are a number of rules of attention that can help us, but how do we really take advantage of such psychological tools? This is the question my next article aims to answer. By using a mixture of solid examples and plenty of best practices, you'll find a lovely array of ideas which could help you plan and cope with your visitor's unique needs, and keep the experience fresh. Alexander Dawson 2011-05-23T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#92 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/the-evolution-of-internet-enabled-devices/ The Web is changing and we all need to know about it. Since the dawn of the Internet, the way in which we utilize our devices has altered, going through many unique iterations and versions. Within this article I present a fun, comical guide to how that change has and is still evolving. From the dawn of the desktop computer, to the cellphone revolution, to the handheld device revolution, right up to the bleeding edge eras of the entertainment revolution and the digital home era. Alexander Dawson 2011-05-16T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#91 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/smarter-web-designs-responsive-and-customizable/ Responsive design, two words that have been making many a Web designer jump for joy lately. However, when it comes to our designs, should we really be looking toward just enhancing the visual experience or providing something a bit more customized? Within this piece I examine the benefits which scripting and interactivity may bring to our layouts, how we can utilize these technologies to make our work more responsive, and I provide a few examples to get you started on the path. Alexander Dawson 2011-05-11T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#90 FreelanceSwitch http://freelanceswitch.com/freelancing-essentials/a-guide-to-better-freelance-health/ If there's one thing we know about freelancing, it's that it leads to unhealthy work habits, self-neglect and caffeine addiction. It's important to keep your health in check else you'll end up with more sick days than workdays! I'll examine the implications of sleep, exercise, diet, stress and social awareness, the physical, intellectual, emotional and social issues involved in freelancing, the risks associated with burnout and a RAPID philosophy toward staying healthy. Alexander Dawson 2011-05-10T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#89 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/05/10/the-hollywood-effect-direct-to-the-web/ Designing Web sites has become quite stereotypical these days. Influenced by the factory like methodology we apply to the Web, it could be said that we're joining the stars of Hollywood in their route to getting movies to the screens. In this article I examine the different styles of site production, drawing comparison to how they match up to the movie way of thinking. You'll never look at another site again and wonder whether it's a blockbuster or bomb! Alexander Dawson 2011-05-03T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#88 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/designing-for-different-age-groups/ Age affects us all (no matter what we say). Yet on the Web, few people take the time to consider just how much of an influence these critical socio-biological factors can actually be. Within my latest article, I highlight the influence that age can offer between defined age groups, place emphasis on the stereotypes drawn to particular groups and then outline some very basic best practice considerations for working with this diverse audience group, and their needs. Alexander Dawson 2011-04-25T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#87 Freelance Mingle http://freelancemingle.com/blog/general/promoting-freelancing-in-education/ This is my first post on the Freelance Mingle social network blog! Within this article I examine the problems that budding freelancers face in education, the lack of opportunities available to them in the classroom and why educational reform has become a requirement. In addition, I've outlined eight different types of course that schools should offer, if they want to avoid forcing people into the way of thinking that they should always work for others, not themselves. Alexander Dawson 2011-04-22T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#86 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/content-strategy/effective-communication-tips-for-web-designers/ Communication is critical in the web design workflow. If we can't get our ideas across effectively through content, design and interactivity, our brands entire message will be lost. This fundamental tool also plays a part in our ability to get new clients, talk to them, find their needs and the needs of their own users, and even our ability to have a friendly relationship with the boss! This article highlights a bucket-load of tips to improve your communication techniques. Alexander Dawson 2011-04-21T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#85 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/04/21/showcasing-skills-in-web-design/ Here is a lovely, short article I've put together for OneXtra Pixel on the importance of well documented portfolio designs. For many of us, we focus on things like the about and contact pages (which are fair enough), but ultimately, what your visitors and future clients are really interested in are three components. Within this article I briefly overview these critical features, and give a nod to some well implemented examples from across the web. Alexander Dawson 2011-04-04T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#84 Web Designer Depot http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/04/saturation-in-web-design/ This is only my second posting with Web Designer Depot, but it's certainly an ambitious one! We all know how overuse of certain techniques and components can lead to saturation and the total loss of inherent value in our designs (just think of Comic Sans!). This article aims to underpin the issues surrounding saturation, how it's desensitizing our visitors, how it can be used for both good and evil, plus some common solutions and examples of saturation in action. Alexander Dawson 2011-04-04T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#83 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/user-interface/progressive-disclosure-in-user-interfaces/ When building user interfaces, the needs of our content must ultimately come before the design and layout. This often leaves us with questions over how we should ensure that everything fits onto the page. Within this article I examine a powerful technique which reduces the necessity for scrolling, gives the impression of depth within structure, and it even professes to allow the feeling of navigating within single page layouts: this technique is progressive disclosure. Alexander Dawson 2011-03-25T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#82 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/03/25/creative-paths-to-better-screenshots/ Every designer with a portfolio makes use of one essential item to showcase their skills... screenshots. Whether it's displaying the wonderful service you've built, highlighting functionality in a desktop product, showcasing the luxurious visuals of a mobile app or a visualisation of some design work you've done for a client, you'll want screenshots that stand out. This article highlights a few simple methods to make these precious images a bit more unique than flat basic visual. Alexander Dawson 2011-03-23T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#81 FreelanceSwitch http://freelanceswitch.com/start/getting-started-the-first-steps-to-freelance-freedom/ Making the decision to become a freelancer is never easy, especially if you already have a successful full time career. The transition from employee to self-sustaining freelance professional can be quite lengthy and full of barriers, and therefore it's best to approach the subject with caution. This article will highlight some useful best practices to dodge some of the major pitfalls and ensure that you can meet that goal of becoming a successful freelancer. Alexander Dawson 2011-03-18T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#80 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/why-ie9-is-a-web-designers-nightmare/ This is probably my most controversial article to-date (but in light of the issues this site has faced in addition to the many things I've noticed since the early beta stages of IE9, I feel they need to be aired). IE9 has just been released, and with it comes an improved experience for designers and users alike. But is this the whole story? Within the article I'll pinpoint a few of the flaws in the "modern browser" ethos, and state why I think IE9 is the next IE6! Alexander Dawson 2011-03-07T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#79 Learnable https://learnable.com/courses/a-crash-course-in-mobile-web-design-195 The Internet is changing, and with it comes an entirely new league of devices and browsers to cater for. Increasing numbers of web users are taking advantage of cellphones and alternative devices such as TV’s to browse a sites content, and It’s your job (as a designer) to ensure that visitors can access and use what you provide. This exclusive course for Learnable contains over 4 hours of content, 24 videos and lots of best practices (in a cheat sheet format) for only $29.95. Enroll today! Alexander Dawson 2011-03-02T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#78 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/03/02/best-practices-for-mobile-app-sites/ The mobile app development scene has come a long way in such a short space of time. And with these simple yet powerful products making their mark, comes the need to advertise them and promote them in the best way possible. Many apps have their own dedicated site, some have one as part of an organization who produce these products professionally. This article aims to underpin some of the primary principles involved in producing such a site for such a product. Alexander Dawson 2011-02-28T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#77 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/content-strategy/the-importance-of-historiography-on-the-web/ Our content has a legacy, one which needs to be preserved in order to allow future generations to benefit from our knowledge and wisdom. Unfortunately, our less than friendly methods of showcasing content (and preserving it) mean that we currently live in a disposable data society. Looking to the past and future, this article not only promotes the importance of content, but the lessons we can learn about avoiding sudden losses of shared insight (on a Geocities like scale). Alexander Dawson 2011-02-23T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#76 Book Writing http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/02/23/new-smashing-ebooks-professional-design-web-typography-sm-book-1/ When you have a good thing going, it always pays to try and keep the hard work up. This is the second time that one of my articles has appeared in one of Smashing Magazines eBooks and I couldn't be happier! In this particular instance, my piece "The User Is The Anonymous Web Designer" has been included within the title. If you remember back to it's release, I examined how the decision making process between user and designer is being blurred (to a role reversal state). Alexander Dawson 2011-02-21T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#75 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/situational-design-for-the-web/ The web is evolving and the need to cater for many different devices (and device types) has never been greater. Within this article for Six Revisions I examine the problems that single solutions provide and why a more dynamic, situational solutions will help us to improve the ubiquity our layouts have with alternative devices. We shall examine the benefits of having multiple designs and device optimized content - to aid our users consumption in a way they see fit. Alexander Dawson 2011-02-02T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#74 FreelanceSwitch http://freelanceswitch.com/general/why-freelancers-should-never-retire/ Many of us pick web design as a career because it's something that we enjoy. But what about the future and our retirement? It's something that most of us get scared of (thinking about) and consider avoiding at all costs. Within this article for FreelanceSwitch I explore the reasons why instead of settling down to a nice easy retirement, we should continue to work, freelance and have the time of our lives. After all, you're work shouldn't just be a job, it should aim to be a career! Alexander Dawson 2011-01-31T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#73 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/01/31/enhancing-brands-within-web-designs/ Brands are the inner most central element of your website. You want to give off a professional feeling which endows trust with your audience and the customers who will hopefully like what you say and continue to use what you're offering. We are going to examine some beautiful sites which take the pro in professionalism to new heights and explore just what they do so right that gives them a distinct edge over much of the competition they face from other sites and services. Alexander Dawson 2011-01-12T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#72 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/01/12/css-pitfalls-for-web-designers-to-avoid/ CSS is one of those languages which many of us struggle with every now and again. If it's not the choices we make as to whether proprietary vendor prefixes should be used, it's the justification for inline styles verses one or more StyleSheets. This article aims to highlight just a few of the pitfalls designers fall into, and why we need to do our best to ensure our sites are as optimized, clean and semantic as possible. Avoidance is no longer an option, you must now think ahead! Alexander Dawson 2010-12-28T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#71 Website News http://www.upassoc.org/ Over the past year, I've been a proud supporter of a few great organisations who are doing their best to promote better standards and help evolve the industry toward a brighter, friendlier future. I'm a member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers and the International Webmasters Association, and now I've joined the Usability Professionals Association (there's no stopping me lately!). Any group that tries to make sites more usable is worth the membership money and loyalty! Alexander Dawson 2010-12-21T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#70 SitePoint http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=719967 Every year, Sitepoint hold an award ceremony for Designers and Developers they feel provide the highest quality levels of contribution to the community. In the past I've won a couple of awards (plus a mentor position) and it stuns me that I've actually won two more awards (making it up to five in total). This year I won the "(X)HTML Guru of the Year" award, and for the second year running, the "Dan Schulz Award for Web Design Guru of the Year". Thanks to all who voted! Alexander Dawson 2010-12-20T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#69 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-development/ultimate-guide-to-microformats-reference-and-examples/ Microformats are one of those technologies that really doesn't seem to get the attention in our industry that it rightfully deserves. One of the critical problems with HTML is the lack of contextual value it can provide us with. While HTML5 does offer a range of new elements thereby giving us some added form of context, the purpose built Microformat allows us to mark up specific types of content by their intent! This is a guide to the range that exists, and some cool code samples. Alexander Dawson 2010-12-16T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#68 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/12/16/structure-your-web-content-designing-large-documents/ One of the trickiest things to get right in web design is how to deal with large bodies of information and content. Designing large documents aims to help you with this task by underpinning a few essential best practices to making your content get the attention it deserves, even though there may be piles of stuff on the screen. If you've ever had to try and represent something like a technical guide or book on the web, you'll know the problem well. Alexander Dawson 2010-12-15T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#67 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/60-questions-to-consider-when-designing-a-website/ So often in our industry we find ourselves thinking toward the possibilities of what kind of website we could make in preference to designing something of value which meets our visitors expectations. This time on Six Revisions I'll examine not 10, not 20 but 60 different questions which designers around the world should be asking themselves. This isn't a list of tips and tricks to make the perfect site, it's viewing things from the reversed perspective! Alexander Dawson 2010-12-09T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#66 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/12/09/understanding-the-laws-of-the-digital-jungle/ Web design and the law often go hand in hand, from copyright and trademarks to accessibility... it touches everything we produce. While most web designers are pretty scared about the implications of the law, I believe that as working professionals it's our responsibility to know about the legislation which could affect our work and potentially get us in trouble if we violate. As such, this article is a good solid overview to the implications of these acts. Alexander Dawson 2010-12-06T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#65 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/css/100-exceedingly-useful-css-tips-and-tricks/ CSS is a beautiful syntax language which allows us to apply lashings of stylistic flourishes to our interfaces (and it's one of the most popular languages used on the web). Within this article I have pulled together 100 (hopefully useful) CSS tips and tricks which I would have loved to have known about when I first got started in the industry. If you want straight talking advice without the excess and fluff then this is the article for you! Alexander Dawson 2010-12-02T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#64 Smashing Magazine http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/12/02/a-study-of-trends-in-mobile-design/ The mobile revolution has taken hold of the consumer. And these days, nobody can really build a website that isn't mobile friendly (or risk losing a huge proportion of their audience). With many of the top 100 websites having a mobile friendly design I decided to conduct the biggest research study of it's kind to see how such implementations were made. Thus, you'll never run out useful advice from the results in this huge study on mobile design practices and trends. Alexander Dawson 2010-11-16T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#63 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/usabilityaccessibility/human-behavior-theories-that-can-be-applied-to-web-design/ If you didn't know, Psychology is one of the most influential and important aspects of design. Understanding the behaviour and influences upon your visitors can give you a greater insight into how you can make your site better. We'll analyse the effects of empowerment (and the Hierarchy of needs), Attractiveness bias, the Serial positioning effect, Depth of processing, Fitt's Law, Cognitive Load and Zombie browsing alongside classical and operant behavioural conditioning. Alexander Dawson 2010-11-09T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#62 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/usabilityaccessibility/privacy-and-the-user-experience/ Privacy has become a huge issue in regard to the Internet. My latest article for Six Revisions highlights the problems with requesting high volumes of details from our visitors, why we need to know less about the people who visit our websites and how the future of design will depend on being more transparent with our visitors valuable details. Quite a controversial and up-front post, but it's an important subject! Alexander Dawson 2010-11-04T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#61 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/11/04/web-design-lessons-from-an-idevice/ While many people dislike Apple, I am a huge fan of how intuitive their user-interfaces are. Usable by infants, adults and elderly alike (plus with their ability to work fluently for disabled people) this article highlights some important lessons the Apple devices give the rest of us. If you're a designer (even one that hates Apple), the lessons themselves are still worthy of your attention so give this article a look. Alexander Dawson 2010-11-03T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#60 Book Writing http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/03/ebook-4-mobile-design-for-iphone-and-ipad/ It's been a few months in the making but finally, my second book has been released. Well, when I say my book, I actually mean a co-authored title which I produced a 90 page extensive report on mobile trends and best practices. If you want to read some awesome content from multiple Smashing Magazine authors (plus this report by myself which is the largest study of it's kind), it's time to get your wallets out. Alexander Dawson 2010-10-31T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#59 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/ways-to-horrify-website-designers/ Especially for Halloween, I've put together a fun post analysing some of the scariest things web designers will encounter. With comical looks at some of the webs most hideous scream queens (such as automatically playing music), we examine how the web can be just as creepy and horrifying for people in the industry as the latest Horror movie. It's time to embrace the horror and let your spine be chilled to the core! Alexander Dawson 2010-10-27T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#58 FreelanceSwitch http://freelanceswitch.com/clients/successful-client-relationship/ Working with your clients is important (not just for harmony). Within this article I examine the various principles which should be considered when taking on a client project. It's a great short article if you only have a small amount of time and the knowledge within it simply underpins how you can turn those stressful client situations (where you don't know how to handle the situation) into easier and more empathic solutions for their visitors. Alexander Dawson 2010-10-26T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#57 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/project-management/becoming-a-better-web-designer/ Education is important in the web design industry, and the great thing is... there's tonnes of ways you can become a better designer. This article highlights a whole bunch of useful resources including free online ebooks, schools on design, internship details, conference and workshops, networking and mentoring, awesome web design blogs, podcasts, video training, and even some side projects. It's your one stop guide for learning new stuff! Alexander Dawson 2010-10-21T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#56 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/10/21/progressive-enhancement-the-beauty-of-alternatives/ There are many ways to improve your content, one of the most important elements of such designing for end-users is providing alternatives for those with technologies either disabled or unavailable. Within this article I examine the case for alternatives and how you can not only improve your alternative quality for images but audio, multimedia, Plug-in content and even the source content itself. Alexander Dawson 2010-10-19T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#55 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/the-a-z-list-for-web-designers/ While in school, one of the first things you ever learn is your ABC's. In a similar fashion this article for Six Revisions examines the A-Z for web designers. Covering everything from Accessibility to Zipping we look at the central elements of web design and development of which everyone in the industry should know about or be proficient in. Perhaps this will encourage you to learn a new trade or get to grips with a fresh perspective. Alexander Dawson 2010-10-14T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#54 Smashing Magazine http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/10/14/the-user-is-the-anonymous-web-designer/ My latest article from Smashing Magazine is a sociological piece which examines the deep connection between web professionals and the end user. While some clients may drive us mad and our roles may be traditionally set in stone... a slow moving reversal of fortune is causing our perceptions to alter and as such, the very people who use our websites are becoming the designers (and we are becoming the consumers of user-centered design). Alexander Dawson 2010-10-11T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#53 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-technology/evolution-of-websites-a-darwinian-tale/ Every now and again it pays to have a bit of fun and write something that reflects nostalgically upon the web of old. In this Six Revisions article armed with some hand drawn graphics (so call this fair warning of my poor graphic design skills) I underscore how the web (just like humans) has gone through a long process of evolution. If you want to read more about the days of Netscape, bad standards and Bonzi Buddy... read on! Alexander Dawson 2010-10-05T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#52 UX Magazine http://uxmag.com/strategy/the-invisibility-of-disability I'm pretty proud of this article, A couple of months in the making and defining a totally new concept for accessibility, I aim to redefine the issue of disability in making our websites work for the widest audience possible. Published by UX Magazine this article underpins a few of my core beliefs in hopefully a manner which you'll find particularly interesting if accessibility is important to your design process. Alexander Dawson 2010-10-04T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#51 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/the-science-behind-a-single-page-website/ If you don't have much time to read yet another article, never fear! This is a short but important piece highlighting and showcasing the benefits of a single page design, one of the web's most recent but popular conventions. I denote how various implementations are put forward and show off some of the web's most elegant examples of this in action (though I didn't include my site as that would be biased). Enjoy the read. Alexander Dawson 2010-10-04T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#50 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/10/04/user-experience-using-empathy-to-empower-your-users/ My next article with OneXtra Pixel has gone live so show it some love! This time around I discuss the importance of empathy in a user-experience and why showing our visitors a bit more consideration and care can drastically improve things for everyone involved. While it won't solve all of life's problems, it's certainly a useful tool in the web designers toolbox - especially as psychology is central to the perspective. Alexander Dawson 2010-10-01T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#49 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ It's been a while coming but there's some new updates to the site. First, you may have noticed the article feed items have been properly categorised based on the site it was featured within. The site also now fully supports IE9 Beta, has more books I've read added, more web resources and all of my articles have a subsection (based on who they were written for) - purely due to how many of them I've done! Enjoy. Alexander Dawson 2010-09-27T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#48 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/09/27/web-project-pragmatic-prompt-planning-prototypes/ If you're anything like me, you seem to manage the incredible task of pulling ideas from the strangest of places. When under pressure, our minds are capable of extraordinary things and this is where the inspiration for my latest article has arrived from. I examine the basic practices and ideals behind a one night quick start session to getting ideas - think of it like when you studied exams in school and crammed like crazy. Alexander Dawson 2010-09-20T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#47 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/usabilityaccessibility/improve-site-usability-by-studying-museums/ Museums and art galleries are fascinating places, even if you exclude the wide range of cool exhibits the way in which they layout their offerings actually has a lot to teach web professionals. How so? Check out the article and find out! I analyse the tools museums and galleries use to get people examining and finding their way around the buildings to showcase the information architecture benefits which you can take advantage of. Alexander Dawson 2010-09-17T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#46 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/09/17/how-to-become-an-eco-web-designer/ The environment is something many of us consider of great importance. With features in the news about global warming and other factors, it's worth taking the time to see how we can not only save ourselves energy (and possibly cash) but our visitors too. Using the techniques laid out in this article we shall examine how small changes to the way you develop could potentially save money and precious resources. And you'll end up a digital eco-warrior! Alexander Dawson 2010-09-14T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#45 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-standards/a-comprehensive-guide-inside-your/ My latest Six Revisions article has been released, and it delves into the wonderful world of HTML header elements. Covering everything from the title tag to the multi-purpose link and meta elements we shall explore the various standards and common practices which enhance the thinking code of your design. Never before had a blog covered the extensive range of awesome head elements to this level. It's well worth checking out! Alexander Dawson 2010-09-08T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#44 FreelanceSwitch http://freelanceswitch.com/finding/benefits-of-business-networking/ Networking is one of the most important things that we undertake as professionals. Knowing how to get yourself into a community can be the difference between having a successful career and waiting by the phone, hoping that someone will call. Because there are so many benefits you can get from networking in web communities, I've outlined (in my first FreelanceSwitch article) why you should start networking right now! Alexander Dawson 2010-09-07T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#43 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/09/07/web-project-weighing-cost-vs-speed-vs-quality/ Here is my second post for OneXtra Pixel and it's a nice piece which highlights the necessary balance between cost, speed and quality in web design. It's something we all have to encounter on a daily basis and it affects all of our clients. So here we analyse which is the most important to consider, which should hold more weight, and can we really have that idealistic "one of everything" model that our work seems to demand. Alexander Dawson 2010-09-06T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#42 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/css/css3-card-trick-a-fun-css3-experiment/ There have been many examples of recent years of experimentation toward the new CSS3 standard. So I decided to follow suit (no pun intended). Within this article for Six Revisions I shall showcase how I produced a cool script and image free demonstration which creates a realistic and lifelike playing card which has some awesome animated effects (if you use the Webkit browser). Sometimes in life, you just need to experiment. Alexander Dawson 2010-09-03T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#41 Smashing Magazine http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/09/03/checkmate-chess-for-success/ Chess is a game enjoyed by geeks old and young alike, yet very few people appreciate the lessons which chess can teach web designers. From knowing when to make your move to protecting your assets, this article will highlight the philosophies which the ancient game can enlighten. Not only will we look at the strategy of the pieces but this Smashing Magazine article will showcase the subtleties of the board itself. Alexander Dawson 2010-08-31T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#40 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/designing-by-numbers-data-analysis-for-web-designers/ Statistics are confusing for web designers, let's face the facts - very few of us know what all of those numbers really mean in the big context of how our visitors browse. This article for Six Revisions aims to break away the complexity and showcase exactly how you can make use of these vital components of a website. Using locally sourced, independent sourced and socially sourced material, it's one cool journey! Alexander Dawson 2010-08-27T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#39 OneXtra Pixel http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/08/27/web-design-reboot-or-just-upgrade-instead/ My first post with OneXtra Pixel has been published, and in this article I take a look at the decision making behind whether you should reboot your website and start from scratch or whether you should keep your existing design and make enhancements and upgrades. If you've ever come to a point where you need to make a decision, perhaps this article will provide you with some food for thought in making your mind up. Alexander Dawson 2010-08-24T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#38 UX Booth http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/how-choice-impairs-your-visitors/ Choice is something that many of us consider a luxury. However on the web the matter of choice can actually be a tricky business, we invest so much energy and time into empowering our users to be able to experience a site or service in the manner they feel best meets their needs that we give little thought to what happens when we offer too many options or choices. This article explores the danger of choice further. Alexander Dawson 2010-08-18T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#37 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-development/mobile-web-design-best-practices/ Ensuring that your website functions for mobile users can be a tricky task, with so many devices out there how do you best approach such a task. This article aims to underpin the most critical best practices that will influence your visitors to the greatest extent, and hopefully guide you on the path you need to do the job well. In addition to practical advice, there's a huge list of 20 emulators to test your work on all the major devices that exist. Alexander Dawson 2010-08-10T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#36 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/the-art-of-distinction-in-web-design/ Making content stand out from everything else that exists can be quite a challenge. My latest article for Six Revisions aims to underpin the fine art that distinction offers (which leads on closely from my previous article on reductionism) and highlights (no pun intended) that sometimes, just knowing how to approach making information visible can produce results that seriously impact the ways your visitors will interact with your content. Alexander Dawson 2010-08-06T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#35 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/reductionism-in-web-design/ If you are anything like me, you tend to waffle a bit when you talk, my latest article on reductionism within web design focuses on the benefits of minimalism and cleaning up your act to give your visitors the best chance of finding what they need at the quickest rate possible. Using a mixture of optimization between content, code and design, we shall examine the benefits of dropping 50% of everything and getting your site into a fit performance state. Alexander Dawson 2010-07-28T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#34 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-technology/the-webs-undead/ We all know that dead browsers, technologies, languages and practices exist on the web, so what is causing these zombies to arise from the grave and haunt our code until what seems like the end of time? This fun and comical article highlights what to look out for and how education is potentially the only cure from a future where standards are eclipsed by an ever increasing range of zombies and dead technologies which manage to consume our everyday lives. Alexander Dawson 2010-07-22T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#33 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/a-guide-on-layout-types-in-web-design/ My latest article is up on Six Revisions and ready for your enjoyment! This time I have examined the various different layout techniques that exist in web design. As professionals we are used to the likes of fixed, liquid and elastic structures but is that all which exists? Within the article you shall learn that there's many more than you may have expected, actually there's 10 in all! It's a great overview if you're about to decide on a layout for your web designs. Alexander Dawson 2010-07-15T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#32 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-standards/5-web-files-that-will-improve-your-website/ Here is yet another article for Six Revisions (and perhaps one of the most useful for the average web designer). The essence of this article is to highlight the unsung heroes of the web design toolkit. I examine and showcase a crash course on how to build robots.txt, favicon.ico, sitemap.xml, dublin.rdf and OpenSearch.xml which are five very easy files to produce but seriously underestimated small pieces of code that can enhance your website externally. Alexander Dawson 2010-07-09T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#31 Smashing Magazine http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/07/09/web-designer-as-the-artist-scientist-and-philosopher/ This is a truly exciting moment for me, it's my very first article to appear in the illustrious publication - Smashing Magazine. The Artist, Scientist and Philosopher is a simple but hopefully inspirational tale of web professionals and the way in which our mindsets function. Are you the artist who has a love for all things pixel, are you a scientist who cultures all things code, or are you (like me) a philosopher who loves the theory of user-experience? Alexander Dawson 2010-07-07T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#30 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/250-quick-web-design-tips-part-2/ Because of the sheer size of my quick tips article and the number of entries we had, the second part of this article (from where the first left off) has now been published independently. Covering the remaining 100 tips and tricks which had not been previously mentioned I provide you with hopefully some useful pieces of information that will allow you to better undertake your roles as producers for the web. It's the concluding part of this epic article! Alexander Dawson 2010-06-29T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#29 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/250-quick-web-design-tips-part-1/ This is probably one of the most straight forward articles you could ask for, and with so many useful tips it's appearing in two parts. This article highlights 250 quick web design tips which I feel are important to anyone actively building, designing or running websites. Sometimes reading small pieces of information can help make the digestion of best practices easier, which is why I produced this fun and informative guide. Alexander Dawson 2010-06-22T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#28 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-technology/web-languages-decoded/ There are a wide range of languages for the web. Unfortunately knowing what acronym accounts for what and the available choices you have requires a lot of thought and consideration. My latest article aims to account for some of the most popular web languages in existence, categorise them based on the position they serve and then showcase some benefits and pitfalls which may give you some enthusiasm toward learning a new skill. Alexander Dawson 2010-06-16T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#27 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/css/css-only-tooltips/ CSS3 has brought a wide range of gorgeous eye candy to the web designers toolbox, this article aims to uncover how using a bit of clever HTML and CSS can produce some fantastic sexy CSS powered ToolTips. If you're the kind of person who doesn't like being tied down to jQuery or scripted enhancements, this may well be worth checking out as it only uses CSS and is entirely cross browser compatible. It's a great starting point for enhancement. Alexander Dawson 2010-06-07T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#26 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-standards/problems-with-using-website-validation-services/ My latest article is now live on Six Revisions, this time we examine the controversial issue of website validation tools and services. More of a debate style article I highlight the problems with being overly dependant on these useful tools, which tools are affected (code, accessibility and even translation) and I look to how professionals should better consider when they bring in the tools VS when they simply hit the validate button. Alexander Dawson 2010-05-28T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#25 Web Designer Depot http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/05/browser-testing-a-family-tree/ Another article has been published, this time it's with Web Designer Depot and it's all about browser testing, the highlights of this article include justification for cross browser testing and some cool images which showcase all of the major rendering engines and browsers for various operating systems which actually use one of the four major renderer's (Trident, Gecko, Webkit and Presto). Well worth giving it a look! Alexander Dawson 2010-05-26T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#24 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/css/semantic-css3-lightboxes/ My next article is up on the Six Revisions website. This time around I'm showcasing a brand new method to provide web browsers with a CSS3 powered lightbox, this requires no JavaScript or jQuery (beyond a quick progressive patch for Internet Explorer) and the great thing is, you can customise it quickly and easily to have whatever content you want within it. In the example provided I show an image, scrollable content and a YouTube Video! Alexander Dawson 2010-05-13T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#23 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ Finally I have gotten round to adding more updates to my website. On top of getting my content up-to-date with all the latest things I've been up too, I have made some minor tweaks to the website to further enhance the accessibility of the website and to make things even more semantic than before! The site now takes advantage of purpose built microformats and I've licensed the design under Creative Commons (if you wish to examine and try the code in your own designs). Alexander Dawson 2010-05-12T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#22 Website News http://www.iwanet.org/ Any organisation or group which promotes web standards and accessibility gets recognition in my book. Those of you who follow me will know I'm a member of GAWDS (The guild of accessible web designers). Now I've gone and joined the International Webmasters Association (connected with the HTML Writers Guild) to show my support for their best practices for Web Designers (and to perhaps take a few courses to boost my knowledge further). Alexander Dawson 2010-05-05T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#21 Six Revisions http://sixrevisions.com/web-technology/anatomy-of-a-website/ My first article with Six Revisions has been published on the Anatomy of a Website. This article aims to show how a websites internal structure closely matches that of the human anatomy. Examining such aspects as DNA, skeletal structure, muscles, nerves, the heart, blood vessels, skin and the brain (with memory, behaviour and identity in focus), you'll soon find yourself understanding how the various elements of a website interlock together. Alexander Dawson 2010-04-14T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#20 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ If you've seen the website today, you'll notice that resources relating to my portfolio have finally been added. I've provided links to all the appropriate websites, screenshots for portfolio and application items, theres a great list of all the books I've read in the published writing section and the download link, manual and method for payment for SnipClip. There's still some details to add such as Readme files and the other downloads but it's a good start. Alexander Dawson 2010-04-09T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#19 Website News http://www.gawds.org/showmember.php?memberid=2691 Anyone who knows me will be very much aware as to my standing on accessibility on the web. I am a huge promoter of accessible web design on SitePoint, Twitter, HiTechy and pretty much whenever I speak or write anything web related. I have been accepted into the Guild of Accessible Web Designers to aid the promotion of what's in our users best interests... accessibility is paramount, and I'll be enforcing this idea whenever I can. Alexander Dawson 2010-03-30T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#18 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ I've been busy working on getting my entire back catalog of portfolio added to my new look web design and you'll notice on the site that all the content that describes each item has been added giving each product it's own page! Soon you will be able to see and download the associated resources or visit the website that's linked to the item in question. Apart from that, I've been doing some general fixes to the website to make it run better. Alexander Dawson 2010-03-17T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#17 SitePoint http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/applying-lessons-from-css-frameworks My very first web design article has been published on SitePoint! "The Right Frame of Mind: Applying the Lessons of CSS Frameworks" explains why these controversial tools can be beneficial to the way you apply style to designs. Whilst looking under the hood of these misunderstood creatures, I take the opportunity to show you that by learning a few well intentioned lessons from the way code is used in these libraries, you can improve your own workflow and maximize your productivity. Alexander Dawson 2010-03-05T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#16 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ With the previous website design came pro's and con's. The pro's were an unusual design which had some very unique stuff held inside (like pure CSS Lightboxes), CSS3 integration, etc. However this came at a price, there were some major issues with usability (which is bad). As such (and after more experimentation) I present version 3.0 which uses many of the previous designs unique elements but is much more gracefully degrading, doesn't have the usability issues (as before) and is cleaner, leaner and prettier than before... and so I say to you dear visitor, enjoy! Alexander Dawson 2010-01-05T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#15 SitePoint http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=654249 I can't believe it! I've won yet another award on SitePoint. You will remember that I previously won the Member of the Month award and was given a promotion to the position of Mentor on the forums. Well now it has been announced that I won the Web Design Guru of the year award. This is one of their most prestigious awards and is only given out yearly. I am both flattered and happily surprised at winning such an accolade. Alexander Dawson 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#14 Website News http://www.twitter.com/AlexDawsonUK Happy new year to all the people who visit this website. Sorry about the lack of updates but when Christmas comes around, things tend to get a little busy! You will notice over the next couple of weeks a lot more additions are coming to the website such as lightbox panels containing all the services and products I offer plus some social networking icons linking to the places I will be contributing to. The first social network you can find me at is Twitter where I shall be micro-blogging about my own thoughts about web development. Hope to see you there! Alexander Dawson 2009-12-22T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#13 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ To coincide with the release of my book and move toward web design I have redesigned the entire HiTechy website. Now a single page website it makes use of the latest techniques to give the design a fresher appearance. Much simpler to navigate you can just scroll the design in chronological order (left to right) to see what I have been up to. Of course there is also the usual information pages, now in the upper and lower header to give you extended details. Hope you like the new design and I hope next year is as successful as this one. Alexander Dawson 2009-12-16T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#12 Book Writing http://www.friendsofed.com/book.html?isbn=9781430225171 Here it is people, the reason why I have not posted much on the website (or for that matter doing any updates elsewhere). I have spent much of the year... writing a book! My very first published piece of professional writing with the well known web design publisher FriendsOfED (APress) is a beginners guide to building websites from scratch. Basically it's aimed at the self-taught enthusiasts who want to make a website, beyond the example based "color-by-number" books. I've gone for a more progressive pathway style of writing to give you all the basics you will need to experiment and end up with a site that can compete with the best of them. If you want to support me and make your own website, why not purchase a copy for yourself and see how knowledgeable I really am! Alexander Dawson 2009-12-02T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#11 Website News http://www.the1secondfilm.com/crew/28127 Finally a new piece of news worth reporting on, I have a secret project which will soon become very apparent (I wanted to keep it a surprise until it's released so keep checking back for details). But the news I can tell you is that I have become an executive producer on a social collaboration film project called the One Second Film. Basically it's funded by micro-payments and anyone who donates gets a credit (pretty cool!). They have some high profile celebrities on board and I have been in contact with the project owner and have agreed to give some of my time to beta testing the user experience. Alexander Dawson 2009-06-02T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#10 SitePoint http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=625058 Just a month after receiving my award as the SitePoint community Member of the Month I have been made a Mentor on their forums, essentially that gives me a more long term status as a recognised professional. I am even more shocked to be added to the team in such a short period because even though I have given a lot of time to the website the position of Mentor and other staff levels are reserved for the real gurus and experts. I joined the forums with the intention of making a difference to the next generation of professionals, I guess I am doing just that. Alexander Dawson 2009-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#9 SitePoint http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=619691 I have been given the Member of the Month award on SitePoint! It is a real surprise as I have only been there for a few months, usually people who get the award have been around for years and have some seriously elite skills to offer the web design community. Obviously I am really proud to accept it so I have the badge attached to my username for the entire month to show my award. Alexander Dawson 2009-02-05T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#8 SitePoint http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/member.php?u=316859 I have decided to join the SitePoint forums so that I may be able to give some of my time to helping other people. It's not entirely selfless though because it gives me a decent place to establish myself as a web designer. As SitePoint is one of the most populated networks I have decided to go with them, it will give me some decent brain exercises to work out my web design knowledge and keep me running at the forefront of my passion. Hope to see anyone visiting this website over there as I may be able to help you with some of your questions. Alexander Dawson 2009-02-01T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#7 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ After a year of writing software (more specifically HiTechy SnipClip) I have decided that I am going to direct my business toward web design in preference to carrying on as things are. Part of the reason has been due to the software market being overcrowded and other factors include the repetitive nature of coding which has left me feeling slightly burned out. Don't worry if you have purchased a copy of the product as I will be continuing the SnipClip project and evolving it further however I will have it as a sideline project and therefore, less update cycles will occur (the product may even turn free eventually)! Alexander Dawson 2008-10-30T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#6 HiTechy SnipClip http://www.hitechy.com/ A brand new update has been released for HiTechy SnipClip. Version 1.35 is a free update for all existing 1.0 users. The new version contains no new features however contains many updates and fixes which caused issues in previous builds of the product. The updates include that demo users of the product can now email and print snippets within the software, and the program has been compressed further to reduce memory usage. Alexander Dawson 2008-10-10T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#5 HiTechy SnipClip http://www.hitechy.com/ A brand new update has been released for HiTechy SnipClip. Version 1.3 is a free update for all existing 1.0 users. The new version contains no new features however contains many updates and fixes which caused issues in previous builds of the product. Over 12 bugs have been fixed and 8 elements of the program have received updates which will improve the general usability of the program. Download the new version today. Alexander Dawson 2008-09-28T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#4 HiTechy SnipClip http://www.hitechy.com/ A brand new update has been released for HiTechy SnipClip. Version 1.2 is a free update for all existing 1.0 users. The new version contains extended functionality to users of print (includes print preview) or email (now fully integrated) snippets. Not only this but minor improvements have been made throughout the program, including extended error support and many additional bug fixes. Download the new version today. Alexander Dawson 2008-09-23T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#3 HiTechy SnipClip http://www.hitechy.com/ A brand new update has been released for HiTechy SnipClip. Version 1.1 is a free update for all existing 1.0 users. The new version contains the ability to move snippets using drag and drop, includes increased functionality, uses less system resources and contains a demo mode for people who want to try the product before they purchase it. Not only that the program contains lots of updates and bug fixes, download it today. Alexander Dawson 2008-09-17T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#2 HiTechy SnipClip http://www.hitechy.com/ The first version of our product HiTechy SnipClip 1.0 has been officially released. SnipClip is a code snippet manager which has been produced to work across all drag and drop enabled software, rather then for one specific application. For further details about this product and to purchase a copy for yourself, please click the more details link. This will direct you to a complete overview of the newly launched application. Alexander Dawson 2008-09-01T00:00:00Z http://www.hitechy.com/#1 Website News http://www.hitechy.com/ Welcome and thanks for visiting the newly launched website for HiTechy. Please feel free to browse my website and bookmark it for later on. I will be updating content on a regular occasion and adding new products and services, so remember to check for new features. Also the website will gradually improve over time to meet the needs of my users. So if you find any bugs or issues please contact me and I will try fix the problem as quickly as possible. Thanks again for visiting the HiTechy website.