Recent Blog Posts
Blogs ยป Archive for October 8th, 2004
Powerful Duplication in Illustrator for a Stamp Shape
One of my favorite tricks to use in Illustrator which I forgot to mention in my “favorite Illustrator tips” blog is Ctrl-D (Command-D), which allows you to duplicate your last transformation and is especially useful when you’re copying objects and want them to be spaced an exact distance apart. The command can be found under Object > Transform > Transform Again. In this example, I’ll make a postage stamp shape, using Ctrl-D to duplicate the circles that I’ll eventually cut out of the sides.
Start with a rectangle and a little circle on the edge of the rectangle. (I’m not too concerned with exact dimensions here, so I’ll resize the rectangle “to fit” the circles eventually.)
Use the black arrow tool to select the circle, then Shift-Alt-drag (Shift-Option-drag) the circle to the right to duplicate it (and constrain the movement to a straight line). Move it over as far as you think it will look good when cut out of the rectangle.
Now, don’t do anything else, but immediately hit Ctrl-D (Command-D). The circle will duplicate itself again, at the exact same distance as your original move! Keep hitting Ctrl-D until you have enough circles to fit the top …
Blog Software Breakdown
Owen Winkler has a nice matrix of weblog platforms with requirements, capabilities, cost and more at his own WordPress-driven blog — asymptomatic.
This can be a tricky area to track as there are many views on “blogging” and what other apps can be included in this sphere. I tend to agree with Winkler on a few of his points and not on others.
Instead of starting a battle of semantics over blogging and open source in this post – I will just say that from a pure blogging perspective, he tracked the right software in his breakdown (server installed packages only, not a broad web site CMS (i.e. drupal, mambo and so on) but for personal CMS).
He did not include community-oriented CMS packages like Post-Nuke for the same reasons – those are more site-wide content programs that also drive file management and non-personal weblog functions.
I would encourage folks to review the matrix and submit updates.
Interface Inspiration From Real World Devices
I tend to design a lot of interfaces for both Fireworks and Flash extensions, some can be simple, some are more complex with many different parameters that the user has the ability to control. Most of the Flash command panels that I’ve written for the SitePoint blog have had simple controls (such as dials and sliders) that the user can relate to as they have there feet firmly planted in the real world and have been designed based on controllers (knobs, dials and sliders) from my experience of products that I use on a daily basis
It’s easy to give the user basic input boxes to enter their data when designing an interface that the user will interact with, but I find the experience to be enhanced when ‘touchy-feely’ controls are used. After all, from switching on the TV to using the toaster there are a multitude of devices that we control around the home, so if you are looking for inspiration then there is often no need to step out of the front door, it could be looking you right in the face!
Take the following example, an interface for a free Fireworks MX command which is an overhaul of the …