technique - How credible is wikipedia?

I understand that this question relates more to wikipedia than it does writing but...

If I was going to use wikipedia for a source for a research project (for example) would the information be correct? I know that anyone can go on there and edit it, but the Internet has other invalid information that isn't on wikipedia. I'm thinking that over time as an article matures on wikipedia, it would have gone through a large amount of edits and be correct, but I could be wrong. The reason I want to use wikipedia is because all of the information is consolidated in one place with references.

I do believe that I should use google to search my information (which I do) and might come off as "lazy". This question may be closed because it is off-topic as well.

Answer

Do /not/ ever, under any circumstances use Wikipedia as a source for an academic paper. Because it can be edited by anyone and there is nothing validating Wikipedia's articles, they're highly unreliable and not acceptable in any professional or academic circles. Internet sources in general are frowned upon unless they come from professional or academic sources - colleges, academic journals, government studies, etc.

That's not to say Wikipedia is entirely useless. It's a great starting point. It can give you a great overview of a topic and help you get a basis for your paper/project/whatever. And the best part? Lots of it is sourced, so you don't have to go find information for yourself. If you want to say That George Washington did not return to military life until the outbreak of the revolution in 1775, that's fine. But instead of citing Wikipedia, click on the source and cite the source that Wikipedia uses.

career development - What can I do now without schooling to get me experienced in UX?

I'm out of school for the summer then I start community college, I do not want to waste time. Is there anything I can do to gain knowledge and experience? I doubt I can score an internship without any knowledge or experience so..

copywriting - Relative dates/times- Rounding and how accurate?

I was reading this question about formatting relative dates and times, but there are still some issue that I felt have not been addressed yet.

I would like to:

• 
  

  Keep relative times to just 1 unit, for example 1 hour ago as opposed to 1 hour and 24 minutes ago.

  
  


• 
  
  

  When the time/date is hovered, we display the localized date, for example, Tuesday, 24 July 2012 at 10:00 PM.

  
  

Given the above:

• 
  

  Should I round up or round down times? For example how should I turn 1 hour and 24 minutes ago into just hours?

  
  


• 
  

  Should I display relative days as Yesterday, 2 Days ago, 3 Days ago, or Yesterday, Tuesday, Monday?

  
  
  


• 
  

  At what point should I stop with the 2 Days ago, Tuesday, Monday and revert to displaying localized dates?

  
  


• 
  

  Should I bother having relative time/dates for weeks and months?

  
  


• 
  

  When should I drop the time component and just display the date/day?

  
  

Answer

• 
  

  Rounding - you should apply the same rules you would to a floating point number so "1 hour 24 minutes" is less than 1.5 hours so it should be rounded down to "1 hour". When you pass 30 minutes then round up.

  
  


• 
  

  I'd go with "Yesterday", "2 days ago" etc.

  
  


• 
  
  

  A quick check on Stack Exchange shows that they use "Yesterday", "2 days ago", localised date, while (as you point out) Facebook goes for the days of the week. I think that the answer depends on how accurate you need the date to be. Do your users need to know the exact date (easily worked out from "today" and "yesterday", but slightly harder to work out from "Monday" or "Friday") or is "some time this week" or "recently" good enough?

  
  


• 
  

  If you're already displaying older dates as the actual date rather than "some time ago" when the date is a 2 or 3 days old, then having relative dates for weeks and months seems to be irrelevant.

  
  


• 
  

  While the time component for a date that's a year old appears to be irrelevant, it's probably not worth the extra coding effort to hide it for older dates. The benefit (if any) of hiding the time probably isn't worth the cost of writing and maintaining the necessary code.

  
  

However, with all of these it depends on how accurate you need your dates and times to be. Is it important that the displayed value is as accurate as possible or is the exact date/time on a tooltip OK?

input fields - How should I implement Language selection in a CMS?

One of my client must be able to post News to both french and english language on his website. I would like to know how I should design the CMS to be the most convenient for the admin as possible.

Below is captures of what I thought would solve the problem but I doubt it's the best way to do it as I am no UX expert.

I would like your advices on that if possible.

Answer

Vertical workflow is more natural than horizontal unless the user is comparing content side-by-side. Moreover, horizontal arrangement requires users to have very wide monitors to work comfortably. Finally, there's no need to force users into a particular sequence of languages - let them decide what version is going to be posted first.

Thus, the mock-up will look like this:

Note that the radio buttons should be listed vertically despite the available space in the line (unless you have multiple columns of languages) and that the "Add translation" button should be placed closer to the editor than to the publishing controls.

Clicking "Add translation" (or whatever you want to call it) should duplicate the language selector and the editor controls right above the button so that the publishing controls stay separate from the editor.

resize - Gimp : difference between crop and canvas size

I would like to know the difference between the crop tool and changing canvas size.

If I reduce the size of the canvas, a yellow dashed line stays around the previous size. On the other hand, when I crop an image, the yellow dashed line follows.

What is the difference between resizing the canvas and cropping an image?

Answer

When you make your Canvas smaller you are allowing for larger layers around the Canvas, you are just saying: "this is the area of my image that I want to show". When you crop, you crop all the layers, ie: you delete everything outsize the cropping area.

forms - Is a confirm email address field still considered a best practice?

Having an input field to confirm an email address is pretty standard. However, I would like to know if using a confirm email address field still considered a best practice.

The Email and Confirm email input controls account for a majority of the form abandonment for a client of mine. There are a variety of different reasons for it but i'm offering the following suggestions.

• Remove the confirm email address. My rationale is that no one actually double types so if they've copied an pasted from the email input control they'll both match but you can't guarantee either is right.


• Keep both boxes but provide immediate feedback to users with a javascript enabled browsers (ARIA - will be introduce in the next phase, so accessibility will fall back to server side validation) if the email addresses match/don't match.

Personally i'd like them to remove it. I think they are pointless and the form is very long as it is but i need evidence not just my opinion.

adobe photoshop - Transparency is lost in illustrator CS6 when I use image trace. Help!

so I'm pretty new to illustrator so sorry if this is obvious - but, I'm having troubles with the transparency of a flower image.

I placed the image of the flower which has no background from a saved photoshop file (psd) and then image traced in illustrator. But I can't now seem to overlay it on itself without the back ground, and also every time I transform, it re-renders the image.

resize - Does Photoshop scale better than Illustrator?

Is it advisable to scale a raster image in Photoshop to the final size before embedding it in Illustrator or does Illustrator use the same bicubic algorithm as Photoshop when (up)scaling pixel images?

Answer

Photoshop interpolates pixels. This means when you scale in Photoshop, Photoshop uses mathematical algorithms to determine either the best pixels to remove (if reducing) or the best color pixels to add (if enlarging). When you scale a raster image in Photoshop you alter the pixels of the image itself.

Illustrator does not interpolate pixels. Illustrator simply alters the outer dimensions of a raster image to fit the desired size. This will either condense pixels (if reducing) or stretch pixels (if enlarging). Illustrator does not alter raster images at the pixel level.

Both methods can be both useful and detrimental depending upon the project. However, it is exceptionally unwise to enlarge raster images beyond 100% within Illustrator if you are concerned about image quality. You should always use Photoshop to enlarge a raster image, never Illustrator.

icon - How to export to SVG from Illustrator using Artboards

I am designing some icons. To keep the proportions correct, I designed all the glyphs in one artboard.

Now, I want to experiment a little with SVG icons, so I want to export these icons to different SVG files. How do I go about doing this?

I thought that I'd surround each icon with an artboard, then exporting would be easy... Turns out that the Export option has the 'artboards' option, but does not present any workable vector format. The Save for the Web also has the artboards option, but again, only offers gif, jpeg and png formats. The Save-as option does let me save as SVG, but does not offer any way to save the icons into different files.

Also, I have like 150+ icons, so I can't use artboards anyways (CS6 restricts me to 100 artboards only). So I tried to use slices, but where do I go from there?

Any pointers?

Answer

In Illustrator CC - the Save As dialogue has a Use Artboards checkbox. Checking this will save each artboard as a separate SVG file (don't forget to select SVG format).

If you have more icons than available artboards, I'd probably just copy/paste the excess into a new Illustrator document.

Source: http://creativedroplets.com/export-svg-for-the-web-with-illustrator-cc/

graphs - What's a pie chart alternative that continues to occupy a predictable amount of screen space?

Pie charts have many problems.
Among them:

• Hard for humans to visually distinguish between slices of similar but different sizes.


• Nearly impossible to effectively label with more than 5-7 pieces or a few very small pieces.

But pie charts do have one major design benefit:

• Occupies a predictable amount of real estate on the page/screen.

What is an alternative to a pie chart that continues to occupy a predictable amount of real estate?

interaction design - How does something become "common knowledge"?

There was a time when there were no smartphones and computers.

Now terms like "Tap", "Swipe" or "Double-click" are common for most people in the world.

How do some interactions turn into common knowledge?

For example, even with rules of the road. There are learned rules and there are unspoken rules like this one: Someone flashes their lights at you because your high beams are on. You just know.

There are lots of times when I'm designing something and I try to lean towards established norms because I assume that's usually the path of least resistance. But how do these things get established to begin with?

More specifically: What is the process to reduce learning curve and create convention?

Note: i've read this other post ( Is it ever acceptable to break extremely common interaction functions? ) but it doesn't answer the question of how these commonly accepted interactions become convention in the first place.

Answer

You are blending two distinct concepts here: The development of ideas and the propagation of ideas.

The examples you have listed were all developed through a great deal of user research over many decades of interaction design. "Swipe" and "double click" did not emerge out of the ether, they were developed by industry leaders through an iterative process of observing and developing. This is the scientific research field of human-computer interaction, and there are a huge number of research papers on the physiological, psychological, technological and sociological drivers for interface design.

Those ideas were then propagated through widespread dissemination and imitation of both the the final products and the supporting research literature. This process is the research field of socio-cultural evolution and memetics. There are a similarly large number of papers on the driving factors behind technological adoption patterns.

The interaction of these two concepts is what you are describing as "becoming common knowledge". Hopefully I have given you enough to continue your own research.

How are limit orders selected from the order book?

I'm sure there is a simple answer to this but I haven't had any luck with searches. I'm just wondering when someone places a market order which order(s) from the limit order book are selected to fill that? Let's say the order book has the highest bid at 100 and the lowest ask at 101 and I place a limit order to buy at 100. I'm now bidding the same as all the other highest bids, so when market orders to sell come through get matched with highest bids, how are the bids selected? Is it random, in order by time, size, or some other mechanism?

And just in case it is by time like FIFO, let's say I placed many limit orders long in advance at prices well out of the money 99, 98, 97, etc. Could I get myself to the top of the list at all these prices that are out of the money just by placing my orders anticipating a possible drop?

american options - How far the spot price is likely to go from the current level in three months if its volatility is 15.7%

On Page 24 of N. Taleb's "Dynamic Hedging" the author gives the following example

Example: Assume that an asset trades at \$100, with interest rates at 6% (annualized) and volatility at 15.7%. Assume also that the 3-month 80 call is worth \$20, at least if it is American. Forgoing early exercise would create an opportunity cost of 20 x 90/360 x .06 = .30 cents, the financing of \$20 premium for 3 months. The time value of the equivalent put is close to zero (by put-call parity), so the intelligent operator can swap the call into the underlying asset and buy the put to replicate the same initial structure at a better cost. He would end up long the put and long the underlying asset.

The possible position of the operator before swap:

• 1 call worth of \$20 a


• \$80 in cash.

The position after the swap:

• 1 asset worth of $100 at the current spot price


• 1 put worth of almost zero

If I could earn 6% both on \$80 in cash and on 1 asset (i.e. if the asset is another currency for example) and the spot price would remain the same \$100 then I would agree with the calculations of the author:

1 asset x 90/360 x .06 - \$80 x 90/360 x .06 = (100 - 80) x 90/360 x .06 = 30 cents

But if the price of the asset will go down to say \$75, then I'd better stay with the call because:

1 asset x 90/360 x .06 - \$80 x 90/360 x .06 = (75 - 80) x 90/360 x .06 = -7.5 cents

So,how far the spot price is likely to go from the current level in three months if its volatility is 15.7%?

Answer

Keep in mind that there is nothing dynamic about this at all...it is only a snapshot and it is only a 1 sigma range.

High side:

([Price] * (1 + ([Vol] * SQRT[days to expiry]/365)))
(100 * (1 + (.157 * sqrt(90/365)))
107.7960

Low side:

([Price] * (1 - ([Vol] * SQRT[days to expiry]/365)))
(100 * (1 - (.157 * sqrt(90/365)))
92.2040

adobe photoshop - How to Insert an Image in to an Ellipse and Hide Overflowing Parts

I'm trying to insert an image in to an ellipse shape layer, I need to hide the overflowing parts around the circle/ellipse.

How do I insert an image in to a circular selection and hide the parts that are outside the ellipse using Photoshop?

Essentially, I want to put a normal image in to a circular object, creating a round image.

Answer

1. 
   

   Paste your image in to Photoshop. Drag and drop or use Open dialog

   
   


2. 
   

   Create the shape layer (ellipse).

   
   


3. 
   

   Make sure your image is above the shape layer in the Layers panel.

   
   
   

   

   
   


4. 
   

   Right click your image in the layers panel, and choose Create Clipping Mask.

   
   

   

   
   

Et voila! A non destructive method for creating circular or elliptical images.

I know this has already been answered with a very similar answer, but I felt it wasn't descriptive enough. Screenshots make a lot of difference.

Simulate pressure brush with mouse in Illustrator

I want to get a brush working like in Adobe Illustrator Draw where the ends are thinner than the main body. I cannot figure out how to apply a fake pressure like this without having a drawing pad/tablet, but I know this exists. I'm using the latest Illustrator CC. Thanks!

Answer

Okay so first I have to tell you that there is no way you can simulate pressure with a mouse. It just cannot work since you will need to provide a value of pressure before you draw the line and then provide another value of pressure for the end of your line.

As you can see it would be very difficult but don't worry there is hope. You can make an outline of what ever artwork you wish to make with your mouse using the brush tool. Then you can edit the brush strokes with the direct selection tool and add depth and variation in the brush strokes by altering the position of the anchor points. I know it sound like a lot of work but adding a little depth and make basic artwork look impressive.

I hope my answer helps.

website design - What are some advantages of left-aligning columns within the browser window?

Youtube and Google Plus have changed their layouts such that in a very wide browser window, the content columns are left-aliged, leaving a large white space on the right side. This is a change from sites like this one, where content columns are center-aligned within the browser window.

I would like to know the reason behind putting web content on the left side like youtube and google plus did. I know they did not do that just for fun; they must have some reasons? Since I remember web layout was middle centered, why is this starting to change?

Answer

This style of fixing certain things relative to the left of the window has the advantage of stability, (in Google+) my profile is always going to be here (relative to the window), my circles is always going to be here regardless of how wide the browser is. Makes for slightly faster use once you learn these items stay fixed and learn their locations.

There's an assumption that people will use this page often enough to develop enough familiarity with the fixed locations of key things that usability does increase.

I'm sure the designers realize the negatives of an unbalanced page (at some widths) and the disconcerting expanses of white space but thought fixing things this way would be (might be?) a worthwhile tradeoff.

website design - Photoshop on a retina screen, how to fix?

I am curious what's your favourite fix or option for using photoshop on a retina screen like a macbook pro 13' like mine.

I'm quite upset with this computer as it is a pain to do web design in, because as you may now, the photoshop canvas looks very very small at 100%.

For example a canvas of 1280x2000 px at 72dpi , is really small in photoshop (normal mode). But if we select the low resolution mode, the fonts don't look crisp and I find myself scrolling all the time , left and right.

So for a person like me that is constantly working on 99designs, what should I do to fix this. Besides connecting to an external display. As my HP 23xi is not working with this macbook pro, don't ask me why, it gets cut and blurred.

Some help would be appreciated.

My Warmest Regards,

Luís Fernandes

forms - Friendly format for phone numbers

Currently, on my website, users are required to input their phone number in a very specific format (555-555-5555). If you forget the dashes it breaks. Does anyone have a good suggestion for how to be more flexible with allowing users to input in any way they choose, but still allowing the system to validate if it is a real phone number? How are phone extensions handled?

adobe photoshop - Reduce file size without losing quality

I would like to save files in Photoshop but keep them as small as possible.

I use Save for Web (and Devices) and save as a JPEG. Here are the settings I used:

I really do not want to lower the quality settings because I use text and sometimes I see artifacts if the setting is too low.

This produces file sizes of several hundred kilobytes depending on size of image. While this isn't a huge issue these images are used for the web and smaller is better. What are techniques without reducing quality to reduce the file size?

Update:

To add some more information here:

Many of the images I use and create get sent via email. This severally limits what I can do with placing of text using HTML and CSS over the image.

Also I use a variety of fonts. Some I could use for the web using CSS's @font-face but you can run into large file sizes and in some cases you cannot upload the font to the web legally. I could use a service like Typekit but again many fonts I use are not available with Typekit.

Here is an example image:

Answer

Choice of the best compression method depends on your image content. If you're trying to save image with a lots of colors and smooth transitions between them, your choice would rather be JPEG. Otherwise, if you've got some lineart, text, image with a couple of colors you should try PNG instead.

Specific compression scheme, parameters, color reduction etc. depend on the specific case. There are some images you can safely save with JPEG compression "slider" set to 30 or 40 without making artifacts apparent. Some other require settings 80 or more. Your eye should be the judge.

When we speak about JPEG compression, don't hesitate to try to use e.g. "Progressive" option or to set "Blur" to non zero value (subtle blur can mask severe compression artifacts).

In the case of PNG, you should try to reduce ammount of used colors as much as possible (use PNG-8 for that). When some "smoothing" is required try different dithering algorithms.

Here is a couple of examples:

Left to right, top to bottom, their parameters are:

1. JPEG, Progressive, Quality: 40, Blur: 0.18, Size: 9 672 bytes


2. JPEG, Optimized, Quality: 60, Blur: 0, Size: 16 898 bytes


3. JPEG, Progressive, Quality: 60, Blur: 0, Size: 11 104 bytes


4. PNG-8, Dithering: diffuse, Colors: 256, Size: 4 528 bytes

Compare them visually and then take a good look at their respective data sizes. First pair is about 9.7 kB vs. 16.9 kB. Second is 11.1 kB vs. 4.5 kB. All that by (IMHO) negligible visual difference.

creative writing - Do I really need to have a scientific explanation for my premise?

So, in my post-apocalyptic novel, the world was caught up in an international war (basically WWIII), and all the world's nuclear superpowers launched their warheads and killed much of the global population. Ambient radiation from the nuclear fallout has caused humans to develop supernatural abilities.

And that is not science.

I totally get that radiation just hurts/kills people, it doesn't give someone the ability to manipulate life force or become pyrokinetic like I assert in my story. That's not scientifically possible.

But does my story need to be scientifically accurate or plausible? Will I lose readers because all they can think of is "that would never happen"? Can a story like mine with inaccurate/nonexistent science still be appealing?

Answer

Without reading the other answers, my answer is that your premise is fine as long as you set the contract with the reader.

The reader is fine with your premise if you do not promise a science-based story.

Imagine this. Imagine you start your novel with the story of the navel-lotus of Vishnu. Or the bush that burned but was not consumed, of YHWH. Or the tale of Icarus, the young woman who aspired to greatness by flying too closely to the sun, and fell to the depths below when the heat melted her wax.

There is truth in mythology. There is a truth in story. Science is distinct, but you can start your story with a commonly held 'truism' that is not scientifically based.

After you establish that you are speaking in layers, within your story, you say something (contract-driven like): Sometimes truth lies not in the facts, but in the ideas beneath the facts. CHAPTER 1.

This sets you up to have a story that is not science-based.

What you do not want to do is promise science... and then deliver nonsense.

Story is a distinct quality of being human that predates the human experience of the scientific method. It's been told from the dawn of language. Hard science fiction, if that is what you're aiming for, has less allowance for nonsense. If you are writing hard science fiction, then you must approach this problem differently. It sounds as though you are not aiming for hard science fiction, so the answer to your problem is straightforward. Set up the contract to fit your story.

Illustrator: Text shown not to have a fill has a fill

I have two text objects in my Illustrator file that look the same, but their Appearance properties are showing up differently and I don't know why.

Here they are, with their Appearance properties:

Text 1 is shown to have a black fill, and this makes sense because if I remove it I am left with just the thick white outline. Nothing mysterious here.

Text 2 is shown to have no fill, yet you can clearly see from the screenshot that it is black just the same. It shows "Graphic Style 7", which leads me to believe this lack of a fill may have been inherited from a Graphic Style, but there are currently no Appearance properties showing that indicate what was inherited. And regardless of where the Appearance properties came from, there is still no explanation for why a black fill is showing where no fill is supposed to be.

Have I overlooked something? I would love an explanation for this discrepancy. Thanks.

Answer

For type objects, the item in the Appearance Panel also contains a base fill and stroke for the type.

Double-clicking the item will highlight the text and show it's base fill/stroke. This the same fill/stroke you see in the Color panel if you were to select the text with the Type Tool

Graphic Styles tend to ignore this base fill/stroke when being applied to text objects (which is annoying, but a long-standing issue). In other words, regardless of the Style's configuration, the base fill of type is typically left as it is, by default - black.

Note that graphic styles typically do not alter the fill and stroke under the . Other than, when applying a graphic stye to text objects in some instances a default base fill may actually be added to type objects. It's very rare that the default fill is removed though. Even if that's how the style was saved.

gui design - What do you call embedded dotts/lines which indicate sliding in GUI?

I have attached an image which explains which element I am talking about. I am trying to find out it's proper name.

Can anyone help me please?

Answer

"Handle". However, it's usually prefixed by its intended use: "drag handle", "resize handle", "scroll handle", etc.

(From left to right: scroll handle, rotate handle, resize handle, sort handle.)

Indesign and syntax highlighting

I have a poster which I have made, it is basically lots of java code and looks like a wall of text.

I want to add syntax highlighting to this so that the code is more readable. I know that I can create styles and then apply them by selecting the text and adding the desired style, however there is so much code in the poster that I want t automate/batch this process.

Is there either a plugin I can use that will add the syntax highlighting or is there a way to add styles globally so that it adds the style to every instance of a certain character?

If anyone can think of a different way to achieve this using a different piece of software then please share :)

style - Showing a Brief Hesitation

I'm working on a revision of my novel and noticed that I mark the passage of a very brief time, of a hesitation, using a small number of descriptions that become repetitive, e.g. variations of

for a heartbeat or two

he breathed in, held the air, and let it out

What strategies can I use to find fresh ways to convey a brief hesitation or pause in action or dialog?

Answer

A character who hesitates is probably thinking about something. Maybe deliberating about the wisdom or consequences of the action. Weighing risks. Deliberating.

If you're in the hesitating character's POV, write what the character is thinking and feeling that causes the hesitation.

If you're in another character's POV, write the POV character's reaction to observing the hesitation.

chapters - Character feelings?

I have 2 characters that I want to have a romantic tension with. The feelings are unrequited. Can I have it so that 1 chapter basically introduces and then ends the conflicting feelings or is this something that should be drawn out?

Answer

Drawn out, most likely. In special circumstances one chapter could be enough.

If you are introducing something like this, it shouldn't be "filler", it should have something to do with the story. It needs to have ramifications in the story, there must be some kind of consequences for this unrequited love.

Simple unrequited love may drive a character, but not once it gets resolved. Just like sexual tension can drive the story, but once it is resolved, the question of "Will They / Won't They" is answered and is no longer a reason to turn pages (or watch episodes, when that has happened on television shows).

If A is in love with B, and B turns down A definitively, then the question is what does A do about this? If A accepts that and moves on, then why was this all brought up in the first place?

If A resents it and grows to think B was unfair, and cruel, and evil, and deserves to die: Well, that's a driver for A, certainly, that can inform future chapters and cause a spot of trouble for B.

Or say A comes to terms and realizes the crush was more about the physical attributes of B, there was never any "love" of B as a person. So A matures after chapter 1. Then B realizes they have been making wrong choices in their life, and the real type of person they want is A, they should never have been so egotistical and self-centered to turn down A, and voila: B seeks out A, and finds A happily dating C.

Without consequences of some sort (learning, motives, regrets, etc), any romantic tension for the sake of filling a chapter is worthless. It wouldn't make a difference if it was drawn out or stuck in chapter 1 alone. These things have to go somewhere, and shape the story, or they don't belong in it.

internationalisation - Is the mental model of time advancing to the right in charts globally accepted?

Is it a common mental model, that in a chart visualizing a time dimension, the time is advancing to the right?

I'm currently working with the Internation Business Communication Standards (IBCS). They are trying to establish a globally accepted standard for business commications, e.g. charts.

Their proposal for dimensions in charts is, that an axis displaying a time dimension is always horizontally oriented with the time advancing to the right (in contrast to axes displaying structural dimensions which are always vertically oriented):

3.3.3.1 Visual direction of time periods
In charts, horizontal axes visualize data series over time. In tables, data series over time are presented in columns. In both cases time moves from left to right. http://www.ibcs-a.org/standards/109

© 2015 IBCS Association. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 International.

To me this sounds quite natural. But I was wondering if this mental image of time advancing to the right holds true globally.

I could imagine, that in a culture writing from right to left (or from top to bottom) the natural interpretion of time flowing is different.

Are you aware of any cultures who think about time advancing differently?

Answer

The mental image of time is indeed thought to be influenced by language and culture.

Scientists discovered years ago that spatial representations of time are affected greatly by linguistic conventions. If English is your native tongue, you're likely to think of time as moving from left to right, but if Arabic is your language of choice, time moves from right to left. These differences can be traced to the direction in which one's language is written, either left-to-right or right-to-left.

From the Psychology Today article Is Before to the Left of After?

Interestingly, some cultures don't follow the left-to-right or right-to-left convention and instead associate time with the compass:

The languages of the Pormpuraaw, a remote aboriginal community in Australia, include relative spatial terms like left and right, but they're rarely used. Instead, speakers of these languages rely on absolute terms that correspond to the four cardinal directions. Pormpuraawans generally think of time as moving from east to west, just as the sun does in its daily journey.

With regard to charts, time is generally the independent variable and it is convention for the independent variable to be presented on the x (horizontal) axis.

vector - Preserving font type in illustrator SVG file

Hi I am new to illustrator and created an image that uses "Skia-Regular" font. But when I save that image in .svg format, it changes the font type. And when I open the .svg format file in browser the font is completely different. Can anyone please tell me what am I doing wrong. I have opened the .svg file in notepad++ as well and it says font-family="'Skia-Regular' as well bu still the font is not Skia Regular.Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

Image is also attached for reference

Answer

If you want to be sure that the text will have the same appearance in every case -

First, you can Expand the text before saving as svg

Second, in font part of saving dialog you can press "convert to outline"

risk - Indicators and research for stress-based investment strategies

In reference to this paper:

Can risk aversion indicators anticipate financial crises?

and the investable UBS Risk Adjusted Dynamic Alpha Strategy:
http://www.ibb.ubs.com/mc/strategyindices/ubsrada/downloads/rada_factsheet.pdf
(see here for their UBS Dynamic Equity Risk Indicator and here for a real track record of this product on the DAX).

My questions are:
Do you know of any other research on the topic, i.e. different levels of financial markets stress (however measured) that forecast rising, flat or falling markets?

It would also be interesting to know if there are any other strategies, products, funds etc. out there that have comparable approaches.

EDIT:
Since some of the answers are about sentiment indicators: That is not what I mean! I am more interested in "hard" measures of risk (like volatilities, swap spreads, credit spreads etc.) and their relation to future equity returns.

EDIT2:
Two of the links were broken - fixed them.

Answer

This is one index I find to quite credible (Kansas City Fed Financial Stress Indicator): http://www.kansascityfed.org/research/indicatorsdata/kcfsi/

What does the size of the font translate to exactly?

I have a 40 pixel font that I'm trying to translate into custom images. I'm trying to match the size of the image exactly, but I'm having some problems getting exactly the right size. Basically, what it comes down to is this. When a font says it is X pixels, what does this physically mean?

Answer

This is an excellent question, which has a rather unsatisfactory answer.

The size of type, whether specified in pixels, points (1/72") or millimetres, is the height of an em-square, an invisible box which is typically a bit larger than the distance from the tallest ascender to the lowest descender.

Given this is a somewhat arbitrary measure which

• is dependent on the exact technical design of the font



• can't be precisely measured from a printed or rasterized sample

it's not very meaningful or useful, other than as an approximation.

In your case, work out what size you need to specify in Photoshop to match the browser's rendering by experimentation. You should find this to be a constant ratio for any font, but I wouldn't expect this to be the case if you change browser or OS.

terminology - Is naming things helpful in the UX world or not?

Inspired by this question What is the information that's always present in a toolbar called in UX lingo? we have to consider how much jargon is too much.

Because too many names have the effect of creating communities who speak this jargon and therefore “they know while others doesn’t” and this allianates designers who might have the empathy but are not yet familiar with the jargon. Don’t get me wrong, this is meant to happen more or less in any community but too much makes it counterproductive for the community itself.

On the other hand I am all in for jargon that corresponds to unique names of components that are already built and you can find them easily online to integrate them in your software products.

So what’s your thoughts about it?

(as another example note that this principle is valid in coding itself since you do not use variable names for everything. Sometimes an anonymous function is ok)

Answer

Naming things isn't necessarily useful for the user as they often don't care what somethings called, they just want things to work intuitively to get things done/solve problems etc. For the UX community however I'd say naming is vital and natural evolution of the discipline.

Each named UI component or pattern is a simple word (or a few words) that summarises a broader concept. For example, if I had to explain 'Toasts' in conversation it would become laborious and ineffective, whereas if my peers and I all understand the definition and/or specification of 'Toast Notifications' then we're all on the same page:

Windows Toasts definition:

Toasts allow your app to provide time-sensitive or personally relevant notifications to users regardless of whether they are in another app or on the Start screen, lock screen, or desktop. For example, you could use a toast to inform a user of: an incoming VOIP call. a new instant message. a new text message.

from https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/apps/hh465391.aspx

Imagine if I had to say all that each time! Ever industry has specific jargon and if it served no purpose it likely wouldn't be so common. Ask a friend or family member what Toasts are and they'll start talking about breakfast, and rightfully so. Just like they probably don't know what tiles, headers or widgets are.

Summary

Users aren't typically interested in how the design, development and UX community name components or patterns etc but for UX professionals it's important that there is a continuing evolution and development of definitions.

vector - How do I turn off anti-aliasing while drawing shapes in Photoshop?

Whenever I create a square shape at 100% zoom, I get perfectly sharp edges. However, once I zoom in at any amount, drawing a perfect square (without anti-aliasing) is very difficult. Is there a way I can turn this off?

fixed income - Why is the 1 month OIS rate so stable?

I was just playing around with bills prices data from CRSP. It is well known that short term bills rates tend to be lower than corresponding maturity OIS rates this is often attributed to some liquidity premium in short term treasuries (they are money-like securities).

Still, looking at the graphs below, it is amazing to me how stable the 1m OIS was in 2008 compared to the volatility in short term yields: surely people had very volatile expectations of what the FED was going to do in the next month, at least at some points, why was this not reflected in the swap rate?

I believe there is something about the mechanics of OIS rates that I am missing, any comment would be helpful!

Answer

The OIS rate is the market rate that is most dependent on the Central Bank Deposit Rate (i use that as a broad term since it is called something slightly different across currencies but principle is the same). The transmission mechanism (that is of central concern to Central Banks) therefore impacts this rate more than any other with high correlation. OIS also operates slightly differently across currencies but the general practice is the same.

Your comment about volatility of what the FED will do in next month are not entirely warranted. Firstly the next month is very often not the most volatile since the economic conditions are generally well known and comments/speeches/reports have been analysed and the consensus about the next rate move is usually quite clear. It becomes more uncertain about future meetings since there is more chance for unlikely economic changes and sentiment change of central bankers, not to mention other market factors.

But the main reason is that central bank reserve periods usually last between 4 and 8 weeks, i.e. policy meetings are separated between that length of time. If the OIS rate is effectively tied to central bank deposit rates then most often a high proportion of the 1M OIS rate is already pre determined. For example say there was a meeting in 3W time where you expected a big change in rates. That would only affect a quarter of the 1M OIS since the first 3W of it are defined by the current bank rates (only the latter 1W part of the month would be affected). Also the day to day belief about central bank rate changes does not shift significantly. Usually there is an indicator which shifts the market and then wait until the next indicator.

One final point is that your chart has a very poor scale. In these markets basis points can be considered big moves to traders so from one day to the next (and for reasons above) a few basis points daily move in the 1M rate would be meaningful. There are these types of fluctuations in your chart but they are hard to see.

Considering averaging the T-Bill close yield over a rolling 30day period as a proxy to what 1M OIS represents and then consider a comparison of the charts.

Labels in a zoomable interface

I am working on a zoomable Sankey diagram hoping to be able to display small and big elements at the same time and I con not decide if labels should zoom or keep constant size.

Firstly the whole thing resembles a map, lets see what would Google do:

From perspective:

Zoomed to detail:

Zoomable Sankey with fixed size labels

I did something similar but I was told the in detailed zoom the labels looks lost, too small and disproportional inside larger element.

From perspective:

Zoomed to detail:

Zoomable Sankey with proportional labels

But if I zoom the labels too they are not readable from larger perspective at all.

From perspective:

Zoomed to detail:

What approach is more suitable for a diagram? Should I try to combine both approaches to overcome the shortfalls? Any ideas are welcome.

Please disregard other differences between the two models. To see any of the images in real size open it in new tab.

Answer

To me, the labels in both zoom levels of your original example look too small. It's possible that simply having a larger fixed label size will solve the problem.

If that isn't adequate, then you will have to do some kind of scaling, whereby the labels increase as you zoom in, but at a less than linear rate. This is do-able, but will be a bit tricky to get right.

Note: the Google example you show doesn't have fixed label sizes. They are slightly increased in the second map image. Appropriate labels with dynamic zooming are no easy thing to get right; Google and other mappers have put a lot of effort into this area.

Attributives in dialogue

I normally stick with "he said" and "she said" to keep things simple and transparent to the reader but wondering about questions. Is "she asked" and "he asked" appropriate when a character asks a question? Can "he said" and "she said" be okay attributives for questions?

Answer

'Asked' is generally not considered a said-bookism by most editors and readers AFAIK. In fact, I always use it when a character is asking a question. Because something like "'But how can that be?' he said." sounds wrong to me.

An aside related to comments on @LaurenIpsum 's answer: I only use the following:

• said - always


• asked - always for questions


• yelled, called - only when the scene won't work if the character delivers his line at normal volume


• interjected - when one character cuts off another mid sentence, but even then, rarely.

Edit: I also use "replied" occasionally.

controls - Grouping unrelated settings

I'm setting up some options/settings pages for a wordpress theme. There are a lot of options and I think splitting them up will help navigating the different controls. I'm thinking of splitting the controls in to different tabbed groups, my problem is deciding how to split the controls across different tabs. There is no obvious logical grouping, the settings are mainly unrelated to eachother and not all users will use or even understand all of the settings.

Some options:

1. 
   

   Keep all the controls on one page. This means a lot of scrolling and is visually too busy and hard to navigate.

   
   



2. 
   

   Split the controls in to very specific tabbed groups - with a lot of relatively empty tabs. From experience I think this is easier to navigate on larger screens but less so when there isn't enough screen space to accommodate all the tabs. The contrast between the large number of tabs and the few controls in each tab also doesn't work visually in my opinion.

   
   


3. 
   

   Split the controls in to more manageable sized tabbed groups. This visually seems the best option, but can mean using very general groupings that don't really help navigating the options.

   
   

I understand this will vary depending on the specific case and controls being grouped - so, assuming there is no obvious logical way to split the controls in to manageable sized groups, what is the best approach? What other approaches are there to splitting settings/controls?

Answer

Your second option is the best. Follow what WooCommerce do, they have one of the largest sets of options of any plugin, and they group them logically, not caring if one tab just has one option:

Tab contents for usability need to be grouped logically. The label at the top needs to be able to succinctly describe what will be laid out in that tab.

From Jacob Neilsen's Tabs, Used Right:

It logically chunks the content behind the tabs so users can easily predict what they'll find when they select a given tab.

How to structure logos with different color combinations in Illustrator?

I'm sure this is a common problem, but I haven't found an efficient solution yet.

I've created a 4 color logo and I want to create a few versions of it with different colors for use on different backgrounds. I'd love to be able to use the same symbol as much as possible.

My natural inclination is to duplicate the symbol over a number of artboards in the same file, and have a different color scheme in each artboard, but it seems like I need to break the symbol to accomplish this.

My assumption is that there's no quick solution to this, but is there a common workflow that keeps things more-or-less linked and organized?

Answer

This probably isn't an ideal workflow in all cases but it shouldn't take too long to set up once you know what you're doing and does leave you with a single(-ish) unbroken symbol and will save you a lot of time and effort if you're spending any amount of time exploring different colorways whilst still working on the logo.

1. Create a symbol for each color and give the shapes within each of those symbols a color you will not be using (you can actually set them all to the same color — I only used different colors here so that you can see the different layers), greyscale is ideal here if possible (more on that later).

2. Color each symbol by adding a fill using the appearance panel.

3. 
   

   Group your symbols. You can now duplicate your group and change colors by simply selecting a group and using the Recolor Artwork tool.

   
   

   The reason we set our underlying shapes to greys is that the Recolor Artwork tool will give you both the colors set in the appearance panel and the colors within the symbol... But there is a "Preserve Grays" option which will stop those underlying symbol colors from cluttering our list of colors (they'll appear locked at the bottom).

   
   

sketch app - Print Preview showing bottom gap when set to scale to fit. Why?

With SketchApp, I used A4 artboard preset and exported to PDF.

When i see print preview of that pdf, it shows like this:

Answer

Normally printers can't print to the edge of the paper. There is always a white margin.

When choosing Scale to Fit, your document is scaled down to fit within those margins.

If you instead choose not to scale it (100%), your document will be printed at the size you intended, but since the printer can't print to the edge, your document will be cropped at the edges.

If you need to print the full A4 to the edge of the paper, you need to print on a larger piece of paper (A4 oversize or A3) and then afterwards cut it with a knife. This is how commercial print is normally done.

You need to add 3 mm bleed to your document. Since it is impossible to print with 100% accuracy, you cannot have objects at the edge of the page. So you have to make sure that these objects exceeds the paper by 3 mm. If you fail to do this, you might get thin white stripes without print at the edge of the paper after cutting.

You also need crop marks, to cut by. I'm not familiar with SketchApp but, crop marks can normally be added automatically when exporting a PDF.

When cutting, remember to only cut out the A4 rectangle. If you cut all the way through the paper, you'll loose the other crop marks.

Placeholders for missing images

If a data source doesn't contain images for certain items, what is the best way to indicate that the image used is a placeholder image?

The type of placeholder image would probably alter dependant on the type of image that should be there. For example if its a missing image of a person then a silhouetted image of a person would probably be used. But what if its a generic image whereby I don't want to indicate the type of image that's missing, only that this particular item doesn't have its own image.

Any thoughts?

EDIT/ADDITION

Ok lets get into specifics then. Lets assume a placeholder is needed. it has to be a generic placeholder i.e. no human silhouette or identicon or file type. Is the best solution a variation on the flat grey mountain and sun icon? I believe it is but what are peoples thoughts on this?

Answer

I believe it depends on content too much to give a single answer.

what is the best way to indicate that the image used is a placeholder image?

Generally, you want it to be easy to tell the placeholder from the real thing. So if the expected image is a photo, do not use a photographic image as a placeholder, but rather an icon.

Always make sure that the placeholder matches the style and colors of the system, visually showing that this piece of graphic is a part of the program controls, not a part of the user contents, or perhaps just leave the space empty.

Some variations:

• 
  

  Layout does not necessarily require a placeholder. Not finding a good example right now, so this menu will have to do:

  
  

  

  
  


• Containers can be used so that it does not matter whether there is an image inside or not (Empty folder below)


• 
  

  Icons: could be used, depending on the situation, just like the silhouette you mention, or the Empty Image below:

  
  
  

  

  
  

Edit/Addition (see question)

If the image that needs a placeholder is the type of image that actually could be The Sun and the Mountain, then yes, using that metaphor would work.

If the image, when existing, rather would be a picture of a tool (a hammer), a shape (a polygon, a border, a rounded corner), an organism (an amoeba), then pick another metaphor accordingly.

If you really need a placeholder image/icon for your "generic image", then the job starts in finding that metaphor, and many systems find The Sun and the Mountain appropriate.

How to edit palette in an indexed image in GIMP 2.8?

I remember in GIMP 2.4 editing palette in an indexed image was as easy as changing the foreground color but I'm a little lost in GIMP 2.8 as there is no Dialog menu. So, I played around a little and found out it was in the colors > Map > Set color map > hit Default > scroll to the top > right click the image palette and bring up the palette editor and I figured out I can't do anything after that. Neither can the palette be edited on click nor can we edit the HTML notations that refer to respective palettes. How can we edit palettes in an indexed image(for this I'm using an indexed image with eight colors).

Answer

In GIMP 2.8 for an indexed image you can use the Colormap dialog, which is very simple to activate (see the provided link):

In this dialog the entire palette is shown and you can edit each color by right clicking on it:

Choosing Edit color, a color editor appears:

And the effect is immediate:

Create a clockwise gradient in GIMP

I was wondering if anyone knows a relatively easy way to create a clockwise gradient in GIMP.

If you could imagine a vertical line 1ps wide (The length of the radius), and then rotate it 360 degrees, with the bottom of the line being the transform point, with it loosing opacity gradually until it makes a full rotation ... That's basically what I need Lol ...

Answer

You can do the following.

1. Create a new transparent layer and choose the "Blend Tool" and in the tool options, set the gradient to "FG to transparent".

2. Select the color you want to use for the vertical line and draw a gradient from one side of the canvas to the other.

3. Go to "Filters->Distorts->Polar Coordinates" and the default settings should be fine but you can make the gradient map go in the opposite direction by checking "Map backwards".

4. The radius will be half the size of the image at this point but if you want it smaller you can go to "Layer->Scale Layer" and enter the diameter for the width and height. If you want the diameter of the circle to be larger than the image, I suggest you create a new image which is larger and copy and paste the gradient layer to the image you are working with then right click the floating selection layer and choose "To New Layer".

adobe indesign - Is it possible to allow a user to attach a file in a .pdf form?

I created an interactive .pdf in Indesign, but I want to ad an option to let the user attach a file that he or she has on his computer. Is that possible?

adobe illustrator - What program is used to make a triangular mesh illustration?

What program did this designer used to make this image? and the dot link effect? and if there is any tutorial?

Should I have a text size widget for accessibility on a charity website?

I'm a developer at a small web agency that works primarily with charities. We tend to put a simple textsize widget on every site (eg. top right on www.embraceme.org). I find myself wondering if that's necessary: if someone has difficulty seeing, then there's a number of tools at the OS/browser level to help them out. If each website reinvents the wheel then that's a new tool the user has to keep relearning (not to mention extra and unnecessary complication on the site). We don't have an accessibility/usability specialist, so would love to hear people's views on this.

Answer

Providing such font size options within individual websites isn't as important nowadays than it used to be (for instance when IE6 was a more common browser as it didn't really have a suitable font resizing option) but that doesn't mean it no longer has its place; it is particularly useful if the target audience for the website is more focused to users with disabilities - such as for the London 2012 Paralympics.

However your main priority with font sizes is to ensure you put your site together using correct modern HTML standards rather than focusing on minor 'widgets' here and there.

The main accessibility requirement around text resizing is that:

WCAG 1.4.4 Resize text: Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality. (Level AA)

This can be achieved in a variety of ways, all using good HTML standards. For example, use standard readable fonts, don't set your default font size too small, keep your fonts in ems instead of px so that they resize correctly when the user adjusts the font size via the standard browser controls, and keep your layout adaptive / fluid so the content doesn't expand out of the screen / containers when the font size is increased.

There are some good suggestions about how to keep your text accessible at the w3c site - Understanding SC 1.4.4 Resizing Text as well as at webaim.org

Check your target audience for your project. If the users are more likely to benefit from the in-page font resizing due to minor visual disabilities or those that suffer from dyslexia, or (and I hope this isn't the case anymore) if they're locked into using IE6 then yes, it's probably going to be useful to provide that option, but for current web design it's more important to get your code in shape and use good HTML and you can let the users take control of how they want to experience the web.

business - What should I do if a potential client claims my pricing is too high?

I gave a possible client a price estimation for concept of a character, and making it 3D as well. Now I find out that my estimation is double what he is paying his current artists. He never mentioned a budget and I believe he was under the impression I was a college student that would work for $50. He even mentions that he has an artist with 40 years of experience giving him concept work, for just $150.

I find it highly unlikely that this is true. With so many years of experience, an artist wouldn't sell their work for $150. Their work is worth so much more. I feel this client was trying to take advantage of me. Now I'm in a tough situation. Part of me wants to salvage the situation, apologize in some way and accept $150 for my work. Likely he won't give me that now, since I don't have the experience to be worth that.

Doing that however feels like I'm saying "I'm sorry, I'm a cheap artist, I'm not worth more money but I dared ask for more. sorry about that, please still hire me."

In this economy, every penny counts. Even if I did want to say "just give me 150 bucks for something that clearly costs more", how would I say that professionally?

Answer

This is a bit of an opinion-based question, but I still think there's value in it. Also somewhat belongs on Freelance.SE, but may fit here as well.

To be honest, the most difficult part of freelancing is sticking to your guns during negotiations. This is compounded if you financially need the work. The best option is often to simply stick to your price "Sorry, my prices are my prices. I understand if you need to seek other venues." I realize that is more easily typed than done in many situations. However, you'll gain far more client respect by quoting and sticking to it. After all, people don't haggle pricing with their electrician, or plumber, or doctor, or any other professional. And 8 out of 10 times, I've found that if I'm adamant about my pricing, the client pays it. They all want a better deal if you'll cave. That doesn't mean you have to give in to their "my brother can use Photoshop and he'll do it for $20 and a beer." argument.

Now, if you must accept anything the client offers, realize first that you are immediately setting the tone for the relationship. Lower your price once and the client will tend to expect it each and every time. Whether consciously or subconsciously clients pick up on your weakness in negotiations and will use the same tactics on their next project when discussing pricing. Be prepared for that the next time the client contacts you. If you lower your price a second time, you immediately lose all footing for future negotiations. A second price reduction will permanently set the client in a power position and that client will almost never be a profitable client. Once is a "deal" or "special bargain". More than once is just poor business practice.

If you really need the work at much less than you think it is worth, then I'd suggest something like, "I'll offer you a one time discount of xx%. This will be for this project only since we haven't worked together previously. If you like my work, future projects will be priced at my traditional rates."

One of the most difficult lessons I learned was to not waiver when a client (especially new client) argues pricing. They never stop arguing it. I don't mind the initial asking if they can get things done for less, but if I say "No", then that's the end of the conversation - either pay what I've bid/quoted or find someone else. My rates are set for a reason. That's what I need to make to pay my bills and live. If a client doesn't respect my rates, they won't ever respect my time or my work. And for every client that whines about pricing, there are 5 others that won't.

---

Addendum:

The following is more anecdotal than anything else, but I feel it shows a valuable exchange I dealt with a just a couple weeks ago. I've never had a conversation with a client that so clearly showed almost every possible red flag a client can send up for me. I've been freelancing for over a decade and still get approached by clients that prove themselves to be problematic. Experience doesn't prevent bad clients contacting you. But experience does help you spot them faster.

I've trimmed things down a bit, reading the email chain can be quite hilarious (to me) at times.....

• Client: How much for this?


• Me: For that project the price would be $X.


• Client: That's too high, can you do it for $X?

No harm here. His offer was about 2/3rds of my quote. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a client asking if they can get things cheaper. It's very common and almost expected.

• Me: Sorry. I simply can't complete this project for that amount. My price is $X.


• Client: How about I pay you $X an hour? That's more than fair.

Red Flag #1: At this point, I pretty much know this clients is a loss and won't pay my pricing. Yes, it happens that fast. Any client who takes it upon themselves to price my time without fully understanding my experience or abilities, doesn't respect me. Not to mention, clients have no way of knowing my overhead and what I must make in order to survive. It's sheer arrogance for anyone to assume they can put a price on my time without first fully understanding my responsibilities. And to think it's "fair" that he does so is astounding to me. Realistically, his offer was lower than my rates, but it wasn't overly insultingly lower. Someone just starting out freelancing would have seen his offer as decent. But nonetheless, it was below my rates and below what I quoted. Noted, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, why, I'm not really certain. I should have left things here comfortable in the fact that I avoided a bad client. But, it was a slow day and I was a bit bored ....

• Me: That is fair, if that was what I priced my work at. Unfortunately it isn't. My price is $X. I have a great deal of work and it makes no business sense to cut my rates for a single client. I'm sorry but my pricing is my pricing. It is not going to change. I understand if you need to explore other avenues for design. Thank you.


• Client: We will have a lot of work in the future. We deal with XXXX marketers and will need designs to be updated and created regularly. If you give us a break here, we'll be sending you a lot more work.

Red Flag #2: The "promise" of "tons of work" in the future is also a common ploy used by bad clients. Anyone who truly has a lot of work to be done "in the future" will be more than willing to accept the promise of a future discount based on their promise of future work. I was pretty certain at this point I don't want this client. Even if he agrees to my pricing. And actually now, I'm thankful he never did.

• 
  
  

  Me: That's great. I would love to be able to assist. In the future I'd be happy to discuss discounts based on the quantity of projects when you're prepared to move forward with design. However, at this time, for this initial piece my pricing is $X.

  
  


• 
  

  Client: I have an in-house guy who says it's only a 3-4 hour job.

  
  

Red Flag #3 Ahh... so factor the 3-4 hours his "in-house guys" say's it'll take plus the $X per hour offer... he's basically pushing to pay about half of what I quoted. Comparing my services to some random in-house person, who I know absolutely nothing about, shows a complete disregard for me and my abilities. Why isn't his in-house guy doing the work if he has an in-house guy? Why is he even discussing pricing with me if he has someone on-staff capable of doing this? He's clearly coming to me for a specific reason. He's merely unwilling to pay me for that reason.

Red flag #4 This is a very narrow-minded, solipsistic, view of things. He's not seeing me as a business or even as a person. He's only seeing me in terms of the money he needs to pay not in terms of my time, my skill, my responsibilities. Is he going to provide me with a 401k, vacation time, sick leave, paid holidays? Is he going to cover my electricity and other operating expenses the same way he does for his "in-house guy"? Does this "in-house guy" have a proven track record of creating successful pieces over the past couple decades? If not, how can he logically reduce my work to what he thinks I need to make to pay my bills? And how on Earth could he possibly know how much time it would take me to complete this project?? The reality is the time his "in-house guy" suggested was inaccurate. Does he think I do what I do just for fun and don't need to pay a mortgage or support a family???

• Me: Great! I'm sure your in-house guy will do a wonderful job.

I should have ended the conversation here. I've told him at least 3 times what my pricing is and that it will not change. Any further response from him trying to alter my pricing is clearly just an attempt to badger me into giving him what he wants. It was my fault for responding any further once I knew there was no way this client would ever be a respectful or happy client. At this point I was 100% certain I did not want to work with this guy, regardless of any pricing.

• 
  

  Things went like this for a couple more rounds with my explaining that he came to me initially because he liked the design I did on another piece and pricing reflected the design not just minutes of pushing around a mouse.

  
  



• 
  

  From here the client became increasingly insulting and exceptionally condescending. Even going so far as to call my pricing "retarded" and me "crazy". It was a clear attempt to bully me into lowering prices to what he wanted.

  
  


• Me: I've tried to remain polite throughout this entire exchange in spite of your repeated insults. I'm sorry but I'm not interested in any work from your company at this time. Thank you.


• Client: We feel the same way.

One Month later

• Client: Hi. Sorry about the miscommunication before. I apologize if I insulted you. You were right. This is more difficult than we thought. Can we pay you $X (DOUBLE my quote) to do this? Would you be interested in completing it? I promise I'll be easy to deal with.

This surprised me. I figured he'd go off and have his in-house guy do whatever he was going to do and I'd never hear from him again. He'd then use a "borrowed" design based on the original piece he liked of mine. It may or may not have had a good return, but I wasn't holding out any hopes he'd contact me again in the future.

There was a great deal of satisfaction in seeing that email, as I'm sure you can imagine. In the end he gave validity to my pricing and he's probably less argumentative when discussing pricing for conceptual work in the future.

• Me: Hi. I'm sorry you've had a difficult time creating the design. However, as I stated before I'm not interested in any work from your company at this time. Thank you.

I haven't heard back, and don't expect to. I really didn't want to work with the guy for any reason.

Now, I could have easily accepted that final offer at more than what I originally quoted. However, the exchange with this client threw up red flags with every email. It's clear from the second he offered to pay me X per hour that he had absolutely no respect for me or my rates. The "in-house guy" comment then solidified that perception. Clients like this are destined to always be a problem, always take more of your time, always be slow to pay, and always have scope creep (wanting as much as you let them get away with). It would have been an "abusive" relationship at every turn with me being the one getting the short end of the stick.

If I were desperate for the money, I may have taken his initial, lower, offer. However, I'd have realized half-way through the project that his lower rate was making completing the work even more unpleasant and I'd be kicking myself for ever agreeing to less than what I thought the project was worth. In all likelihood, the scope of the project would have grown well beyond what I, myself, initially quoted. And again, I'd be left with an unpleasant conversation about scope and pricing and I'd be kicking myself then too. Bad clients cause nothing but stress. I don't like stress.

It is always unpleasant to deal with stuff like this. But it is an excellent harbinger to the type of client they are. I would much rather have an afternoon of unpleasant emails than to put in hours of work and then find out how difficult the client can be. The more you deal with clients the quicker you can spot the signs of a bad one. Those clients that see you as grunt labor, or just some person pushing a mouse around, will never respect you or your work. It's best to simply not deal with them if it can be avoided.

Side note, after a couple weeks I learned this particular client was working with a few vendors I also work with. Every single one of those vendors expressed to me how much they disliked working with this client and how they regretted ever agreeing to the work they were doing.

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Interesting update in the saga of this client....

6 years later he contacted me again with a "strict budget" for a different project and demanded native files be delivered when the project was complete.

While his "budget" could have been acceptable as a one-off for a good client, the inclusion of native files meant his "budget" was woefully low and a clear mechanism for taking advantage of any designer. In short, clearly he hasn't changed.

There's a difference between "Cater my wedding for $300." .... and... "Cater my wedding and provide me with every recipe you use for $300 so I can remake anything I want, whenever I want." The first may be feasible, the second is just taking advantage and ridiculous.

navigation - An enchanced bottom menu for mobile

Since the hamburger menu is slowly starting to bleed out I was wondering about including the bottom menu in my website projects. Now the bottom menus usually do justice for 6 or less elements, but I was wondering how to make them work with lange scale menus. After a day of thinking I've come up with this mockup.

My question for you about this is do you believe a menu like this would work as a substitue with large menus for mobile. Any additional feedback would be well appreciated

transparency - Can I change the default Gimp transparent background to white?

I'm using Gimp 2. The default grid-style transparent background makes it incredibly difficult to get a sense of what the image will actually look like, when I finally display it over a background. Is there a way I can make the transparent background display as something other than the default grid, for example as a simple white background?

Answer

Yes, that would be very easy, I just opened up Gimp 2 my self and tried it out to make sure! :p Anyway, in the layers panel, right click and choose New Layer.

Then make sure you select White for the Layer Fill Type.

Now, click OK and move the new white layer to the bottom of all the current layers.

To change the layer color, select it and just paint it in with any color you want!

Hope this helped.