Lipstick on a Pig

Drupal Resources

2009-06-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Drupal is my CMS (Content Management System) of choice -- it allows me to organize huge amounts of information in a flexible, scalable, modular format.

I was very excited to find this collection of resources through noupe: The Ultimate Drupal Toolbox.

All about colour and type

2009-06-11T09:48:00.001-07:00

I realized this blog has been ignored for some time... my apologies to my reader. One of the hardest things to deal with when you are working with a client is colour and typeface issues.

If you want to show them why bright blue text on a red background isn't going to work, hop over to Visibone's Color Lab and with a few clicks you can show them how hard it is to look at.

For typeface, keep it simple and similar. For reference, check out the list of typefaces at Wikipedia.

If that doesn't work, point them toward Your Logo Makes Me Barf.

Everything you ever wanted to know about CSS but were afraid to ask...

2008-05-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

This one comes in from SoftwareDeveloper.com -- Designing on a Dime: 100 Freebie CSS Resources.

If you have a lot of ambition and a few extra hours, you can build your own professional grade CSS Web site in no time. In this article, we've assembled a guide of 100 of the best CSS resources on the web to help you keep your money in your pocket

The article links to everything from introductions and tutorials to templates and galleries plus some great articles about CSS.

Almost instant websites

2008-05-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

If you can't afford Dreamweaver, don't know HTML from Hormel, but want something quick and easy, check out these options:

Google Page Creator is one of Google's many online tools; with it you can build a very basic page that is fine in a pinch.

Webon provides really basic, template-driven websites. You can select a subdomain for free (think back to the days of Angelfire or Geocities) or, for a fee, point your own domain at the page. (As seen on Lifehacker: Web Publishing: Webon Makes Building a Web Site Easy)

Prefab Site allows you to pick the style of site you want and a template; together they are the foundation for a flexible site with a content management system at its core. Once it's installed, all of the administration is done through a built-in web-based interface.

Why "Lipstick on a Pig"?

2008-05-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Whenever a group of people talk about web design, someone inevitably voices the adage, "that's just putting lipstick on a pig" -- meaning you can dress up a pig all you want but it will still be a pig. Sometimes, you need to find something better to use as the base.

Of course some pigs (as Charlotte the spider reminded us as children) are worth keeping around, so why not try the lipstick and see if that silences the naysayers? In other cases, you may not have the choice of exchanging the pig; you may be forced to reach for the concealer.

What I hope to collect here are tips and tricks to sprucing things up -- and shortcuts for getting them done fast -- primarily in regards to web media. I hope this will be a useful resource for guerrilla marketers, small businesses, so/ho entrepreneurs, and web designers.

I've been using the internet since its early days and building web pages since 1996, but I am not a professional web designer. Rather, I am always looking for a better shade of lipstick -- how can I quickly but effectively dress up this pig? Whether it's a quick fix, a resource, a new program, or a new way of thinking, I will post it here for my reference and yours.

And, finally, I always welcome input from readers - just leave a comment any time!