* Image taken from the cover art of the world-famous Tetris video game.

Objects Shmobjects.

The first time I heard about Object Oriented CSS was from a tutorial on NetTuts. At the time, I viewed OOCSS as just another random framework somebody was imposing on the web community. I had not given it much thought since then, until I listened to Nicole Sullivan‘s interview on The Big Web Show. She’s a CSS pro who started OOCSS.org and the open-source OOCSS project on github. Nicole has been hired by mega-sites like Facebook to optimize their CSS files. FACEBOOK! That must have been insane!

Oh, OOOOOOOOOh CSS!

Having spent a chunk of the last 4 years of my life learning and working with CSS on a daily basis, I was intrigued to hear the thoughts of an elite CSS Ninja. Half way through the interview I found myself inspired to become an Object Oriented CSS-er.

I started browsing the Google tubes and found a nifty presentation created by Nicole. Enjoy:

The Fast And The Fabulous

If you didn’t have time to click through the slideshow here is a super tiny break down:

Two main principles

1. Separate structure and skin
2. Separate container and content

Applying these principles creates efficient CSS code. This means cleaner smaller CSS files that load faster.

What does it look like?

Well, kinda like this…

<div class="object">
     <div class="inner">
          <div class="header"></div>
          <div class="body"></div>
          <div class="footer"></div>
     </div>
</div>

This basic structure is very flexible. By adding classes you can “extend” the object class to fit each scenario the design requires. For example:

<div class="object simple half"> ...

Extending the object class is faster to write and to load.

I’m extremely guilty of writing overly specific CSS, thinking that everything has to have its own ID. Trying to be too semantic, I guess. I’ve confused myself by listening to too many different theories about how to structure your HTML and how to reference selectors in your CSS files.

I’m realizing that all I’ve needed was a little objectivity.

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Who are you?

Casey Doss. 28. Married to Lindsey Doss and father of two girls, Analeise (3 yrs old) and Katie (3 months old).

1) What do you do?

My first full-time design gig was for the Ramp. From there I opened a design/web company on my own (Fresh Pixel Studios). Then my father-in-law and I opened Digital Beauty which was web-based solutions for medical offices. I also designed for The Church Site Project, opened a blog called The Theological Circle, and co-owned a print shop called Printsmith with my brother-in-law. I have currently stepped out of all these roles and focus solely on ministry.  I am also attending school online at Regent University to complete my theology degree.

2) When did you get started in the creative industry?

I started working for our ministry about 6 years ago in the shipping department. It was HORRIBLE! I would get really bored so I had a friend install a version of Photoshop on my PC and I would play around on it when days got slow in shipping. It quickly became a lot of fun, so I started taking my machine home on weekends and read books and watched tutorials to tweak the skills. About one year into it, that became my full-time job at the ministry and from there I launched into my own design business endeavors.

4) How do you manage work and family?

It was very difficult during the 40+ hour office days. I would make myself schedule work time, family time, time spent with God… and the schedule was non-negotiable. Didn’t get very much sleep for a couple of years But it was all worth it. My family stayed strong and God rewarded it. Now my schedule is much more flexible and I am at home all the time. The main thing for me was organizing chunks of time for certain things. It usually went something like this:

• Up by 7 AM and at the office by 8 AM.
• Get off work at 5 PM (try to eat lunch at home as much as possible to see the family).
• Then from 5 PM to 9 PM was devoted family time; watching a movie with Lindsey, giving Analeise a bath, grilling out A LOT, etc.
• Then from 9 PM to about 1 AM was time to seek God, study, develop messages and the like.

Make and plan and stick to it. Once you get in the rhythm it is actually very manageable.

5) What are your plans for the future?

The current vision is staying faithful with where God has me now, with hopes to one day plant a church in an awesome city and shake it for God. A city like Jackson Hole would be primo! I also want to establish my own Bible school one day.

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I was looking at the asphalt walking slowly to my car, thinking, “This is it. This is the end.”

I’m not dying. But, it’s true. I’m moving to a different company. Starting Monday morning I’ll be sipping coffee, about 15 minutes across town from the people I’ve worked with the last 3 1/2 years.

Good people.

Friends.

Office life is an odd thing. After sitting next to the same group of people for most of your waking hours everyday, you become part of a community. Inside jokes, office enemies, team victories, Internet Explorer bugs; over time these experiences build a micro-culture. Different rooms have different auras. Each personality adds a unique flavor to the mix. No office is exactly the same.

Only those in the region around your desk belong to your tribe.

Outsiders are received with cynical squinted eyes. Sales people are watched with ninja laser beams. Only your eyes move, following them as they stroll gingerly past. Your heart sinks as they pause at your comrades desk.

“Be strong, my friend!”

But it’s too late. You can only watch in horror as they learn how the feature being requested has already been sold to the client.  Your fellow warrior is bleeding from the face.

You quickly send instant messages mocking the situation to ease their pain.

“… yeah, we’re gonna need this by the end of the day. Thanks! See ya later.”

More blood.

You resort to some hilarious tweets.

Your friend smirks.

Its working.

With a screech and a clank the gears of productivity jerk back on task.

Its battles like these that create soldier-like bonds between office mates.

Now I face the challenge of becoming part of a new tribe. Are they ninjas? Robots? Ninja-bots?

Whatever they are… I’m ready to fight.

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I’ve been published!!!! This photo was recently included in the book Historical Tweets.

My photo is used to represent the Biblical character Goliath. Halarious.

Thanks Alec for using my bearded mug in your awesome book!

Alec found me here on flickr

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Here are 5 places I visit regularly to find freelance work. Of the sites listed below, only Sortfolio and Coroflot have given me actual projects. I think my prices were too high for most of the jobs I applied for on the other sites. It’s hard to compete with Asia, but for now, there are still plenty of opportunities available for everybody with a solid portfolio and the willingness to work.

Yes, a lot of the jobs on these sites are posted by people shopping for the cheapest price possible without concern for quality. I pass on those jobs. This allows me to focus on jobs that sound cool or pay wads of cash. This strategy is starting to pay off. I recently landed a fun temporary job that pays handsomely for quality work and allows me to do what I enjoy (designing things).

If you’re a seasoned professional or even if you’re just starting out, these job sites are worth a look. Especially since most of them are free.

1. Sortfolio
2. Coroflot
3. Freelance Switch Job Board
4. Krop
5. Elance

Have you gotten a job from any of these or other online job boards?

*Updated July 1, 2010

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The Dandelion and its child.

Wisteria on wood.

A field of crimson clover.

Please share these with friends.

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I shouldn’t be giving you this information. As Spider Man’s uncle said, “With great power comes great responsibility”. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll hurt somebody. Keep that in mind if you choose to install the following plugins on your WordPress website. Make the wrong move around one of these bad boys and you’ll be peeling your face off the floor. These super-powerful plugins turn your website into search engine candy. When used properly you can boost your website’s position in search results related to your content.

WordPress SEO Plugins

1. All In One SEO : Automatically generate search engine friendly page titles and much more. Download All In One SEO
2. Google XML Sitemaps : Generates a XML-Sitemap compliant sitemap of your website. This format is supported by Ask.com, Google, YAHOO and MSN Search. Download Google XML Sitemap
3. Redirection : Allows you to manage 301 redirections, keep track of 404 errors, and generally tidy up any loose ends your site may have. A nice interface for those who don’t want to mess with a .htaccess file. Download Redirection
4. SEO Friendly Images : Automatically adds ALT and TITLE text to all of your images. This helps your site conform to W3C standards and adds valuable keyword text for search engines to gobble up. Download SEO Friendly Images
5. Global Translator : Automatically translates your website into 48 languages. Download Global Translator
6. SEO Smart Links : Automatically build internal links on your website by linking keywords and phrases in your posts and comments with corresponding posts, pages, categories and tags on your blog. Download SEO Smart Links
7. W3 Total Cache WP Super Cache: Google considers the speed of your website to determine where you rank in search results. This plugin makes your website 10 times faster according to the plugin author. Download W3 Total Cache Download WP Super Cache
8. Google Analyticator : Google Analytics right in your WordPress dashboard. Download Google Analyticator
9. WP to Twitter : Google includes Twitter activity in search results. Automatically post new articles to your Twitter account with this plugin. Download WP To Twitter
10. Yet Another Related Posts plugin (YARPP) : Automatically generate a list of related posts. This helps build more internal links and increase page views. Download YARPP

You’ve got some face juice on the ground there. Right… there. Yep. Got it.

What are your favorite SEO plugins?

Leave comments below.

Photo Credits

• Original Photo

• Photo edited by Paris Vega
  

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What kind of computer do you suggest for graphic design? Mac? PC?
My laptop is too slow to do a lot of what I’ve been doing lately so I’m looking for a new computer. Lots of people say “go with a Mac”, but I could build a PC with a much faster processor and better video card for a lot less. What do you think?

Let me start by saying buy a Mac. And let me follow that up by saying www.apple.com/store. I don’t care if you can mine silicon, weld transistors, and engineer the motherboard. Using a Mac is better than using a Windows PC for graphic design, like using a pencil is better than a rock and chisel for drawing portraits.

I’ll explain.

Now that Intel Macs can run both Windows and Mac OSX there is no need for other hardware. If you are only interested in comparing hertz and bytes, then there isn’t much difference between a Mac and a Windows PC. However, by only comparing hardware specs you’re missing the bigger picture. As a graphic designer your computer is going to be like your business partner. You will spend hours everyday interacting with this machine. Designing your latest masterpiece, communicating with clients, sending out invoices, getting lost in a Twitter/Facebook hole; all of these things will be done on this one device. That’s why I believe the software on your box is a little more important than the metallic bits inside.

This is where Macs move way ahead of PCs. The Mac operating system is an intuitive streamlined environment. It simplifies basic interaction to stay out of the way of your productivity. This efficiency will pay big dividends in the daily grind of being a graphic designer.

I use a Mac for all computing purposes, except for the occasional website debugging that I have to do for Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer isn’t made for Macs anymore. This means I must traverse into the nether regions of darkness to find a cheeto-crusted Windows-based PC to test my website.

The necks of PC fanatics are thick with veins by now. I haven’t given a lot of statistics, references and bar charts to prove my theory, so here is a super rocket scientist way to determine which is best for you:

Mac or PC Quiz

To determine if you should use a Mac or PC, answer these 3 questions (applies to guys and gals):

1. Its 10am on a Thursday. What are you wearing?
2. What is the current state of your facial hair?
3. Favorite cartoon?

If you answered any of these questions with a follow-up question, you’re a PC.

PC Answers:

1. Where am I? or What’s the occasion? or Sweater vest
2. Clean shaven or Mountain beard
3. GI Joe

Mac Answers:

1. T-shirt & jeans
2. soul patch
3. Ninja Turtles

I’ll end by saying I believe your work is influenced by your environment. As a designer it makes sense to use things that are well designed. Interacting with a well designed product actually teaches you how to be a better designer.

As usual, I don’t feel the need to regurgitate a balanced Mac/PC debate. That’s what links are for:

A well thought out argument for Macs

Balanced comments for both Macs and PCs

If you have any questions you would like me to try and answer, please send them to paris@parisvega.com or leave a comment below.

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1. As a beginner, how much should I charge?

I recently got a request to design a logo for someone in Paris, France. They found my site while looking for logo designers in Paris. How did they find me? Guess who’s number one in Google for the keyphrase “Paris logo design“. That’s right. ParisVega.com. I’m surprised there aren’t any search engine savvy logo designers in Paris to knock me down from number one. Oh well.

After this potential client realized that my name is Paris and that I’m not… a city in France; they decided to contact me anyway because they liked my work.

And then it happened.

They asked me to “bid” on the project by designing several concepts for them. Then only IF one my ideas was selected from a pool of logo designs sent in by other designers would I get paid.

Here’s what I said in response :

Hello ********,

I’m sorry, but I believe there has been a misunderstanding. I only work on a contract basis. That means my clients hire me based on my previous body of work and reputation. They sign a contract that we both agree upon before any work is done. Half of the total is paid up front. The other half is due upon completion of the project. As you can see from my portfolio I’ve worked plenty of clients who are pleased with this process. Its actually a very standard way to do business in the design industry.

I’m aware of some designers who are willing to do work before any agreement or payment has been exchanged. I’m not one of those designers. If you like my work, and would like me to provide you with the same quality of work, you are welcome to hire me. Otherwise, I cannot be of service to you.

Thank you for your interest in my work. I hope that we can work together. If I have misunderstood what you are proposing, please forgive me and send more information. If you have any other questions or comments I welcome them also.

Have a great day,
Paris Vega

Graphic & Web Designer
www.parisvega.com

paris@parisvega.com
http://www.twitter.com/parisvega
http://www.linkedin.com/in/parisvega

phone: (205) 409-0764

What do you think? Was I too harsh?  It was one of those moments where I could feel my adrenaline trying to take over the keyboard. Luckily, no expletives made it past brain-to-hands filter.

I’m not going to get any further into the spec work debate other than the links below:

Why Speculative Design Hurts the Client

No Spec

Giving away your work

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This is the first article in a new category I’m starting for my blog: Reader Questions. I’ll be answering questions that I’m frequently asked by young designers just starting out in their careers. If you have questions about freelancing, graphic design, web design, or anything really, I’ll do my best to find the answer for you. It’s not like I’m some wise old world renowned designer pro, but I’ve learned a few things over the past 5 years as a freelancer.

Our first question is from Nick Elam who contacted me through Facebook:

Hey Paris,
We got the brochure (actually it was a rack card because we didn’t want to spend a lot printing brochures) printed. They look nice. I got Office Max to print them for us because we only needed 100 and Office Max is pretty good at small print jobs like that. (The Green Printing company you suggested would have been great had we needed more than 100…)
Someone received on of the cards last night and asked me how much I would charge to design a postcard for their company. As a beginner, how should I decide how much to charge? They said they could handle the printing, they just need an eye-catching design. I have absolutely no idea how to go about this. So far I have just done volunteer work. Could you give me some advice?
Thanks,
Nick

Thanks for the question, Nick. Pricing is a challenge for every new freelancer. It’s hard deciding how much your passion and energy are worth.  Here are a few things to remember that will make the process easier.

How to decide what to charge

1. Watch the clock. Start timing yourself today. This will give you an idea of how long it takes you to finish different aspects of your job. Figure in how much you need/want to make per hour and you’ve got an idea of how much to charge. Using this information is key to giving an accurate quote in the future. Even if you don’t charge by the hour, knowing a rough estimate of how long a project will take can save you from over committing yourself.
2. Ask questions. Every job is different. Get as much info as possible up front. I send my clients a survey, or questionnaire to help better understand each project before giving any specific prices. You don’t want to get locked in to a project at a certain price without knowing the details. The client may not think to mention , because they assume it isn’t a big deal. Well, is a big deal, and will probably cause the project to double in price. It is your job to gather the info. You’re the professional. You’re responsible.
3. Look around. Consider what other people charge for the same service you offer. You want to be priced competitively, especially if you’re a new freelancer. Why would the client pay you a great deal more for the same thing they could get cheaper from someone else? You better have one heck of a portfolio if you expect to charge high above the industry standard for your services.

Taking the time to get things right from the start will save you countless hours later. Using this process should help you come to a more accurate quote in less time and with less headache.

For those who are interested, my rates would probably be between $250 – $1,000 for the job Nick mentioned in his question.

Check these links out for more detailed info on figuring our exactly how much to charge:

• Figuring Out How Much to Charge
• Pricing Yourself

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