If you are really on a shoestring (i.e. you cannot afford a graphic designer), then I would really recommend Inkscape - which is to Illustrator as Gimp is to Photoshop. It's a bit foreign if you've never done vector graphics before, but if you're working on logos it really is the way to go. For colors & palletes, go over to colourlovers.com - that's a good place to start anyway. If you are only after the odd pic or two, any of the stock photo sites is good and relatively inexpensive. Also, there are a ton of sites such as deviantart.com where you can find free graphics and fonts, etc. or at the very least you can find some really talented artists that might be able to get it done for you.
Hello Yxven, I'm sort of in the same boat as you... I have been working on my start-up for a few months now, but I'm basically at a point where there's too much to do by myself. I'm more or less committed to seeing my project through, but I give each other a little advice or whatever.
The recording industry's bigger problem has been that for the past twenty years or more, it seems to have gotten the idea that its consumer base consists almost entirely of twelve year old girls, and at the same time the bigger companies have been absorbing or destroying all the smaller labels that actually produce the innovative music that people want to hear and would willingly pay for. You know there's a problem when kids are saying that all the new music is garbage and listen to music that was made before their parents were born. That's not to say good music is not out there, it's just really hard to find sometimes.
I have heard a few owners of small labels say that they actually welcome the emerging distribution models, and if some of the music is downloaded or whatever (within reason) then that's cool too. That means that they are reaching an audience that is increasingly hard to reach, and so have the potential to find revenue by less traditional means. So while the days of super-bands are probably over, small labels and bands can actually make a decent living now doing what they love to do - producing good music that people like.
Consider this: most bands make their money through live performances and licensing. When you look at the total record sale for a band like the Rolling Stones versus their overall net worth, it becomes pretty apparent that, considering their percentage of the sales, they could not have made all their money by moving boxes full of vinyl, CDs or whatever. The same is true for just about every artist you've ever heard of.
To the irritation of the big labels, though, these new models are quickly cutting out the guys in the middle who don't really care about the quality of the music. They don't seem to get the idea that if they made an effort to produce a product that people want, then (surprise) people will but it. Instead of putting a pile of money into five "artists" that suck, spread it out to smaller projects that collectively do well - like the small labels do it.
I actually heard one of these boring suits discussing the downloading problem on a business program, and he said that if illegal downloading continued on its present course then they would no longer be able to finance all the mega-expensive music videos. All I can say to that is that we should all fire up BitTorrent and make it happen.
Just sent an email. Actually, I was addressing one of the previous post, but the entries were displayed in a wonky order... so sorry if you thought that was directed your way.
Anyway, yeah I get the Feedburner/WP thing, but that was really my starting point. I was working on something else and sort of found my way to this. I was somewhat frustrated by some of the limitations with what was out there, so I went about doing it myself.
So yeah, having taken it this far, I'm very keen to work with a couple of other people to explore the concept further and to basically get it out in front of some users.
Thanks again and give a shout if you have a chance.
Sorry, I was just after some basic advice... maybe there are some websites specifically for this sort of networking or something? I'm really just throwing it out there in a generic sort of way to see where others might have started or lessons learned etc. because I'm sure there are many others in the same general posistion.
To be specific though, I have been working on a social site that combines RSS/Atom managament with networking to allows users to publish and share content in interesting ways. For example, users can copy from another user's posting and receive updates (to the actual feed) when the author edits it. I have been fine tuning the the actual website, but I would like to begin extending the idea to a mobile app - which is one area where I fall short for lack of experience. I would imagine the project will develop much further with fresh eyes looking at it.
More than anything else, it sounds like a great way to surround yourself with smart, creative people with a lot of ideas - sometimes you just need someone who doesn't know your project intimately to just point out the obvious or provide some constructive criticism. It seems like a strong network (including the alumni) of like-minded people working towards similar goals and a passion for doing what they like to do.
I've been looking for someone to work with on my social networking project, so give a shout if you would like to discuss it. Would be nice to reapply (or get funding elsewhere) with a strong team.
I typically generate css with php, usually in the header but sometimes in a linked file. Using this method I can easily alter site wide color or fonts, etc or feed the style atrributes from a database. This method also allows me to create blocks of css for different page elements and include them as needed - forms, menus, etc - or dynamically include definitions when conditions are met. This offers a lot of flexibility in terms of organizing and making changes to the css.
I've keep thinking about the design for a solar messager bag for my laptop - I was looking for one online, but they're all naff. So I've been thinking about how I could just make one myself that I would actually take out in public.
I love Photoshop and have been using it forever, but it is really for photos. For web graphics its really all about Illustrator, and maybe InDesign if you want to get into layouts - they're almost the same, but InDesign is geared more towards print so you get a lot more visual queues for object placement, etc. I would go with Illustrator though, and with growing browser support for the SVG format knowing how to create vector images will become an increasingly important skill for developers/designers.
If you just want something to touch up photos, GIMP is pretty good and free. Its like an older version of Photoshop. If I just need to fix the color balance or crop an image, I usually find myself opening up GIMP just to knock it out quickly.
With any of these programs, its good to spend time playing around (sometimes known as practice), and then you'll have a better basis for understanding the more in-depth features. There's tons of stuff on Youtube dealing with specific tasks, you just need to know what to search for in the first place.
The conversion rate is embarrassingly low right now, but to be fair its only been live for a few weeks so maybe I'm just being impatient. I don't think so though, or at least I don't think its ever too early to start tackling the problem.
Anyway, as far as the single user is concerned, it is a free feed management site - maybe a bit unexciting, but I think the features are an improvement some of the other options out there. Where it gets cool though, and this goes back to what I was saying about the social-networking aspect, is how users can share and redistribute content. This is the exciting stuff that seems hard to convey to my visitors in the few seconds they're engaging. I know how impatient or hurried I can be while browsing, so I am not entirely surprised by the problem.
I've place a link below if you are still intersted in having a look.
I think my site works well for individual users, but would work even better within a community of users. My problem seems to be in making it clear what the benefits of the site are compared to similar sites out there. I get quite a bit of traffic so I guess I have a good starting point, but now I need to convert that into registered users.
From what I am reading, that has been the big hurdle for just about every startup out there. To your point, antidaily, having more users, real or otherwise, does seem to have a snowball effect in terms of traffic and users. It would be nice if all of my users were the real sort with their own ideas and content.
Yeah, I think about it constantly. I think everything was explained as clearly as possible - I hope so anyway - but there's still a nagging feeling that I missed something. And then there's the competition, i.e. all you other guys. I'm sure everyone has really good ideas, and I'm really hoping to have the opportunity to see them all take form in SF. This public fretting should probably reassure us all thet we're at least dedicated to our ideas.
With the exception of the slides, how might the presentations differ from a one-on-one pitch where you still might only have the same two-three minutes to convey the same basic info? I would image investors are very busy and would often want brevity regardless of the venue.
The bottom line is that people don't like CAPTCHA, and it cannot leave a good impression to irritate potential customers/users within the first five minutes of a visit. Most people don't really understand what they're used for, and they get frustrated when they cannot read them and/or get rejected. I have have definitely been taking steps to limit my use of them or dispense with them altogether.
This seems like a great list to keep handy from the very earliest stages of development. Some of the questions might not have an answer yet, but at least it's there to think about (even if no one ever asks a particular question).
I'm really new to this game, but it just cannot image how going around talking about an idea could be remotely productive. I've got a lot of ideas - so what? It seems to me that if you fall into that category, then this is probably good advice. On the other hand, it's probably not a bad idea to set out some sort of target for a prototype or whatever so you don't spend all of your time and resources in development. It just seems like a better conversation starter to say something like "Look at this!" rather than "I've got this great idea!"
I appreciate all of your points concerncing the evaluation of design, in the early stages of development or otherwise, but I wonder what are your thoughts on the subject when considering a target audience/customer/end user? Certain people expect certain things straight away and are easily confused by any sort of deviation from the norm, whereas others can jump right in and find their way around a new environment with ease. I would image that to be a very trick balancing act if you are developing something new - are you going to be bold and different and risk alientating more timid or inexperienced users, or do you stay conservative in your design and hope to still stay fresh and trendy?
I always think of the ubiquitous "home" logo on the top left of almost every page you see (I see you up there "Hacker News"). It's always amazing to me how much people freak out if it's not there or doesn't include a clickable link - they will just keep clicking and scratching their head. There is absolutely no reason for it to be there, but it's like it's some irrational, unwritten rule from on high - even smart designers twitch a little if you suggest leaving it out.
It seems to me that the conventions are followed by just about everyone in order to display information in the quickest and least confusing way possible, and the degree of flexibility in design, from the earliest stages and beyond, really relates back to your target audience.
It amazing how quickly the company seems to have developed into something with a recognition beyond the development community. I first cam across it a few years ago while working in England, and that could not have been too long after its launch. What struck me about it at the time, and this has been said more succinctly elsewhere, is how simple and elegant it was to work with - this was confirmed when even the thickest of non-techies in the office could work it out in less than a couple of minutes. Reading the comments here seems to verify my initial thoughts.
I have heard it said before that some of the best ideas are those that take complicated things and make them simple or easily understandable, and their success goes a long way to proving that point.