I’ve decided as of today that I will be creating several new changes to the layout scheme here on BeLink’d. I’ve got a new design pending, but essentially what I’m looking at is an almost complete rebranding.

I’m going to retain the logo; it’s the logo I’ve used ever since I created the design. It was inspired by the old Firefox loading, and the position it occasionally paused in when a page loaded quickly. However, I’m going to try some other very different things in the next scheme, and we’ll see how well they play out.

For now, though, this weekend I’ll be in California, spending some time with family and friends to see the fireworks and to celebrate Independence Day. It should be fun, even if it does put me back a notch on the redesign (workaholic? I don’t know what you’re talking about!)

In a past post, I compared several different job boards which I utilized in my daily life. I summarized the most effective job boards as those which cost a freelancer a very insignificant amount of money, did not spam the freelancer, were not overly intrusive to the normal business operations, were easy to sign up for, and did not compare freelancers to one another. Generally speaking the post was met with nods of approval; after all, why should my earnings on one site determine whether or not I was a decent web designer? For all that site knows, I could have already grossed double the amount reflected using a different service. And, additionally, why should I limit myself to one service when I know that job posters will be posting to different sites? And after educating myself and working towards certifications with W3C and Adobe, why should I pay for another web site to certify me?

Then, I recently noticed that CSS Mania had released their own job board. There is no subscription fee; the site is paid for by the advertisements on the main CSS. Read more »

When going into design, the majority of students are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They were the kid who was always drawing and painting, the one whose parents probably covered their fridge in water colors. So, they would certainly think I’m crazy to say they should also program.

However, design is not art.

There, I said it.

One of the most common misconceptions I receive from my family is that I am in some shape or form an artist. While I do illustrations (such as the one pictured in this post – which, by the way, was inspired by this Adobe Illustrator coffee cup tutorial), I do not consider myself an artist. Granted, I am currently working toward a degree in software engineering, with design as my secondary major (and the way I put the food on the table), but this is why I have come to the conclusion that programming is an invaluable skill to any designer. Read more »

I was one of perhaps millions disappointed this year when the Apple 3G S was introduced. Why? Because I so happen to use Verizon, and I so happen to not like Apple well enough to change to AT&T.

I like my Verizon plan. I like my 450 any-time minutes and free calling for in-network numbers (the majority of my contact list also happens to utilize Verizon). Now, granted, I’d like a new cell phone – I’ve been looking in the market – and I really wish that I could say that the phone I plan on purchasing within the next year will be an iPhone. However, instead, I will most likely purchase an LG Dare or something similar when the time comes.

In addition, Apple has stated that they will not be introducing netbooks and that their lineup will remain as it is – that is, very high-price computers that most normal people perhaps would not purchase because of the tag on the machine. This slices out the sector of the market which cannot possibly afford this type of computer.

So my question is, is Apple genius in choosing to cut out parts of their market, or are they making a big mistake? Read more »

Today, I looked at my design on a Dell monitor whose resolution is 1024 x 768. I was surprised at how cluttered my design had become; the original aspect of the design was to remove the clutter, and make the design itself one which was very sleek and elegant, similar to my older design in which there were four navigation choices, and one place for content.

Well, allow me to clarify. I like the top of the site; the choice of very simple horizontal navigation and a central logo. I like the front page, with its “Welcome” written in a sans-serif and a pulled title and 200 characters from the latest post in my blog. Read more »