The ingredients list is dead simple (pun not intended) – the only trick lies in the cornstarch. Of course, being a tradition, what great leader wouldn’t take pains to assure his love and legend results in the finest? A sauce that will mortify guests and procure enemies? To be sure, this was a recipe that must be carefully watched while at the same time allowing room for self governance.

All followed well until cornstarch time, the final thickening touch before a silent rest and generous application. ‘I like to do it this way,’ the Master so tactfully illustrated, ‘it’s not a science, but I like having extra just in case’. Immediately I think to myself, ‘this isn’t the way I’d do it’, but watch with a glossy eye imbued by nervous anticipation. Both parties assured to the execution of cornstarch, we go our separate ways – one to the shower, the other to the stove. Wooden spoon ready, I take the small porcelain dish of excess cornstarch and prepare to carefully stir the pièce de résistance. Pouring and stirring, waiting, and pourrrring – OH NO, it’s the whole bowl! It’s smooth beauty destroyed with an oatmeal consistency – expectations are dashed!! LIFE AS I KNOW IT IS FINISHED.

As anyone would do in the midst of a crisis, I looked for the nearest exit before finally assuming a temporary calm to figure out how best I could compromise. Should I put more water in there? More hot sauce, but will I risk erupting stomachs in ulcers? Before finalizing my plan of attack, I soon realized that (a) I should never have agreed to make something perfect, and (b) I should have communicated my own approach to cornstarch execution. Very similar to any design project, as well. With a variety of people invested comes a variety of hopes and dreams, and as much as one might document design goals, it’s terribly difficult to guarantee award winning design. Not only that, but if one person forgets to communicate something somewhere along the line, the project suffers even more. So what is a good recipe for non-disaster? Maybe it’s honesty, communication, trust – and perhaps a bit of mercy for the tough spots.

Thankfully we had all those at the crisis point, and our hot wings hardly suffered paired with hot mashed potatoes and a summer salad. A lesson learned and a step ahead, I can now say I am a successful, independent hot wing extraordinaire. Thanks Dad!

Download a recipe card and make your own hot wings!

Original recipe inspired by Jake’s Buffalo Wings.

These days it seems people are more aware of the benefits of a website, particularly in today’s dense online culture. From publications and business directories, to shopping carts and conversations, there is not one aspect of life that isn’t either fully or at least partially conducted online. If you don’t have a good reason for avoiding a website for your business, you might as well set up shop on the side of a barren dirt road.

What a more difficult sell is: the redesign. Your website is there, why does it need a change? People can see the contact information they can get relatively accurate information. Piece of cake. You just sit and wait for the phone calls! Except… they’re not really coming in, but why?

One brilliant analysis

Thanks to the insight of my hairstylist, she found a wonderful comparison to the purpose of a website in asking ‘what was life like without the internet’? Who was the first introduction to your company? Can we all agree it was the secretary? I certainly can. The secretary was the person who greeted me with a smile, sat me down in the comfy chair, and got me a hot cup of coffee. She helped book me in with an interview, setup payments through my bank, and showed me which brochures I’d be interested in or who was best for me to talk to. Before I even got down to business, I was happy and caffeinated, informed and prepared. With pampering like this, you can bet I’m going to make some kind of transaction.

So if you find yourself re-assessing your website, you might ask these questions: how does it treat your customers? Does it help them make a decision? Finally, are they happy at the end of their experience? This is what marketing, copywriting, and design can help you figure out.

Or you could just get pampered yourself – Maffeo Salon is my hotspot ;)

I completely understand the use of graphic sensationally grotesque material for promotional purposes, although why it needs to be used for such an obviously dangerous practice is beyond me. To further add to my confusion is the question of how and why the graphic use of a man and his fully identifiable face was deemed worthy to be used for such a warning, and whether him or his family had approved of his dead, morbidly grotesque, entrailed, severed body for advertising a message – regardless of it’s intent.

I’m less disgusted by this image than I am with such an ignorant display of disrespect for the dead. If you’re interested in obtaining facts, get them from places like CBC news or an informed campaign. Please consider this, *if* you decide to pass it on.

A concerned graphic designer.
-gels-

So without further adieu, here is the slur of words from my notes:

Memorable moments

• IE9 is going to be hawt. With the preview now available, it’s surprisingly accurate at rendering every CSS3 selector, recognizing both HTML5 *and* SVG 1. *Also: discovered this little gem that forces IE browsers to behave like modern compliant browsers).
• Andy Clarke is the same old awesome. Seriously British, irate, and constantly pushing the envelope. Great words of advice in rethinking the web. Again, recommending the book.
• Paul Irish who? Peppered throughout several of the presentations, paulirish.com has a ton of info on troubleshooting web type – and he maintains the HTML5/CSS3 stuff with the Modernizr.
• Ditch your PSDs, we’re proofing in HTML. Understanding that this can evoke several emotions in the design crowd (cliff jumping, anyone?), I can also understand the benefits to this approach, especially if you’re looking to incorporate CSS3. A sentiment reinforced by both Andy Clarke and Molly Holzschlag, a constantly changing digital platform does not comply with a ‘pixel-perfect’ attitude – especially in today’s world of iPhone/iPad/netbook/etc.* Each experience doesn’t have to be horrible, either. Case in point: Dan Cedarholm’s question (view: Safari & Firefox).
  *But please, for the love of God, don’t ever talk to me about holograms.

Notable notes: the presenters

• Molly Holzschlag, CSS3 Layouts. Here’s some shiny new words to add to my vocabulary: advanced layout model (ALM), Flex Box, and Grid Positioning. Let’s not forget the amazing Multicolumn either, where text flows into columns like you would expect it to in InDesign (heart!). Some of these are more suitable for a desktop screen, but a great example of added functionality to the box model.
• Sean Gaffney & Matthew Smith, Typography. The SquaredEye guys had a lot of good stuff to say about the state of type on the web, mostly on @font-face (font embedding). Biggest take-aways: watch your end-user license agreements (EULA) when embedding, there is an actual type format for the web (WOFF), and you can do some amazing stuff with type. Check out their full presentation at SlideShare.
• Andy Clarke, Think Different. The message-at-large (again): websites do not need to look the same in every browser. How do we do this? Past methods used ‘graceful degradation’, where designs largely ignored incapable browsers. Andy suggests the inverse, ‘Progressive Enhancement‘ – building a good framework first, and adding richness as you go along. Love, love, love his design examples of CD Displays (animation in Safari).
• Jina Boulton, Visual Effects – co-author of Fancy Form Design and The Art & Science of CSS, Jina ran through some interesting visual effects of CSS3, including RGBa, Box-shadow, Box-sizing, borders, and multiple backgrounds. I’d love to offer her PDF for download, but better check on that…

Rewarding Resources

• http://www.css3.info – well documented
• http://creatingsexystylesheets.com/ – a la Jina Boulton
• http://webfonts.info/ – check this out for free fonts to embed in your site
• http://www.keithclark.co.uk/labs/ie-css3/ – use JavaScript to force IE to identify CSS3
• http://delicious.com/ellentk/css3conf – all or most of the resources covered

With all of this information now available, including excellent working examples, it’s easy to pickup and run with CSS3. Although, Andy is definitely right: more than just a way of styling, it’s a different way of thinking – and *that*, I feel, is still going to take some time.

Here’s the thing about blogging: it takes time.

You would think I’d have learned this lesson by now, having run two blogs at once, then watching them suffer enough neglect before a co-author had to finally write the epitaph. I now realize that this is the ‘marketing’ that people budget for because it’s not always a hobby but usually a chore. A rewarding one, if you write well and enjoy the subject, but a task none-the-less.

I think one of my biggest problems is my overt-concern of presentation. Especially in the early stages of being self employed, it’s hard not to write in that ‘professional’ tone so common in white-paper documents and case study critiques. Seriously? *Who wants to read that*. It’s mundane and tedious, and unless you have the time to read countless reiterated bland statements, then why should you bother reading what I have to say? After delivering a talk today on how to compete in the current design industry, I should probably take my own advice: anyone can sound professional, but there’s no one else like you (aw, thanks Mom!). Well, moms aside, it’s true. The difference between you and everyone else is your experiences, your attitude, your quirks. Your self. So here’s for new beginnings.

Looking back at reasons why I started to work on my own (I still struggle with calling myself ‘a business’…), it’s not enough for me to repeat what many Internet freelancers say: ‘you call the shots’, ‘work anywhere’, or my personal favorite, ‘flexible work hours’, are like siren calls to the forlorn company bound, but you learn pretty fast that these aren’t reasons enough to keep you afloat when times get tough.

Here’s where I find inspiration in the Olympics. Where gold, silver, and bronze are certainly appealing, but the true reward isn’t so much in recognition, it’s in achieving your personal best. Athletes have the confidence to compete not because they can ‘call the shots’ as experts, but because of their tenacity in training, their integrity to the sport, and most importantly (I think), the incredible support of their community. How could a medalist not burst at the seams with joy, if not for their own personal gain, but for the fact that they know mom is watching? Or that half a million of their country’s citizens are cheering from checkered sofas and hard plastic chairs?

On the contrary, I don’t think self employment is to actually serve yourself, it’s in having the flexibility to better serve others. We have the opportunity to do just what those athletes are doing: be the best that we can be, and honour our communities.

Good luck and God speed to all those participating in the Olympics!

College.
“We have no money, no experience, and no jobs – let’s move to Vancouver!”

Career.
“Blogging is good for self promotion, I’ll make it an end of January goal!”