A Dambold Blog

07
Mar

by Michael DamboldNo Comments »

The Terrible Ex-Employee

So what happens when you have to deal with the wreckage left behind by a disgruntled ex-employee?

As I sat there, staring at the screen full of asp.net code, it was as if the page itself was a riddle wrapped in an enigma, like a rubiks cube made of slightly different hues barely indistinguishable from each other.

He had struck again.

My fists clenched, I held back the fury of the angry coder that wanted to yell horrible things at the screen, as if it sat there taunting me with it’s carwreck pile of tags, divs, and tables so completely interwined it seemed impossible to tell where one began and another ended.

My web program didn’t even seem to know.

Yet somehow it had been working. The page was so rigged it was like looking into a car engine and finding that the thing ran on hamsters and hillbilly twine.

Yeehaw.

After a few hours of trying to untangle the code, I decided to just start from scratch. When my boss found out about this atrocity, he just gave me a look that said “I hate that guy, he’s dead to me.”

It might as well have just done this.

Eventually we got the page sorted out, (recoded from scratch). This wasn’t intentional sabotage, but frustrating nonetheless.

I did, however, work in a place where the ex-employee sabotaged a LOT concerning the computer system and essentially told me to do everything the opposite way it should be done.

Huzzah. Happy Monday.

Here’s a link for funsies.

Paula Deen Riding Things

05
Mar

by Michael DamboldNo Comments »

Dinosaur Friday

Great new article for today about the size of Pterosaurs.

PTEROSAURS 10 TIMES HEAVIER THAN BIGGEST BIRDS

Makes sense when you think about increased oxygen levels and thicker atmospheric pressure.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia, and Mark Witton and Darren Naish. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

04
Mar

by Michael DamboldNo Comments »

Sistene Chapel in 3-D

My friend Mary came across this absolutely amazing site the other day. We’ve been sharing it with everyone we can find. It is the Sistene Chapel in unadulterated 3-D 360 amazement.

Behold.

20
Jan

by Michael DamboldNo Comments »

The Logo, the Client and the Wardrobe

Oh how we often treat design as a fantasy adventure!

The logo is the unattainable glorious item we treat as divine, the client is many times the witch, and the wardrobe is our effort at creating a portal for entering a magical land of customer satisfaction.

If you’ve ever been in any graphic business, you know there are essentially three areas of the job. The logo (graphic work), the client (the witch) and the wardrobe (the emotional final product).

We treat the logo, or graphic work, as the ultimate wonder. With this we confront the client, who is often times set up as the adversary. Our victory is the Wardrobe that leads to the world of amazement and wonder with the finished product. So with Logo>>Confront and Win Client>>Win Project with satisfaction.

While the client is not always the witch, anyone who has been in freelance knows that there are some out there. Many times the client can be the ally, but if you find yourself confronting a witch, the ‘deep magic’ of sacrifice may sometimes win out against them. Because you usually reap what is sown, and as some say, karma happens. Treat clients well, and the witches will run away and the allies will come running.

Who knows, you may rule the Cair Paravel of Design one day.

19
Jan

by Michael DamboldNo Comments »

The Jingle

So jingles haven’t exactly existed in the mainstream for a few decades. No one really uses them, and most of the time when people try to resurrect the idea, it ends up being a Nevill-inspired rip-off of Growing Pains-like theme songs which leave you with a queasy feeling inside.

That said, a few people have done it right.

Consider, for a moment, an Austin-based company named Reid’s. They’ve resurrected the jingle perfectly.

18
Jan

by Michael DamboldNo Comments »

Graphic Design will degrade in 50 years

It’s been a while, but I’m back. The post is in stream of conscious.

Today we broach the subject of…

bum bum bum

…the fall of design!

Whut?

Something I see consistently in younger audiences is a lack of education and problem solving skills, combined with a taste in mediocrity fueled by those who are currently in charge of promoting musicians, tv shows, etc.

TV shows in the 80s and 90s tackled subjects like AIDS (X-Men), losing a loved one (Land Before Time), persecution, hatred, racism, drug use and other subjects that subconsiously and gently prepared us for a world full of serious danger.

I can literally pick the kids from my childhood who did not have such exposure to these issues, and as such, were unprepared and got involved with people who led them into dangerous and self-destructive lifestyles. I believe lack of exposure to these issues in a healthy level contributed to their choices later in life.

Cartoons, movies and content for us who grew up in the 80s did not exactly prepare us completely, but we were exposed to such issues in a healthy way much earlier than kids today are.

Honestly kids are not exposed to much concerning life-altering issues on TV, even with current action and feminine shows. Everyone wants to be non-offensive, non-aggressive. But what that has produced is a mediocre product that does not expose children to important educational subjects while diluting it to the point where they can psychologically handle it.

WHUT?

The counter argument is to say that “Kids today are exposed to things much earlier than we were.”

Note that I said in a healthy way. Today kids are introduced to sex before understanding the consequences of sex, and no amount of school-funded sex-ed or non-sex-ed can truly prepare kids for the consequences of getting pregnant, STDS, and other things if they are exposed to a subject like sex before their psychological development is able to process the complex concepts of sexuality.

Why are you talking about this?

I’m making the point that kids in new generations are not being raised with a level of psychological balance necessary to facilitate needed appropriate mental health levels as adults. Simply following a political affiliation means nothing if they have no problem-solving skills to understand how to weigh options and make choices based on logic.

Again, what does this have to do with Design?

What I see coming is a change in Design based on lack of education, over-simplification and lack of logical progression. I’ve seen more defenses for the mediocre and mundane in the last decade concerning major political, social, and economic issues than has occured historically in the US. The concern for this is that, combined with the “Either Or” mentality, that, if allowed to cement, we will see a drastic change in the logic of design, excellence in design, and adherence to the principles of design.

Are you sure? That’s kind of depressing, Mike.

Well, there’s a second possibility. The second possibility includes the total seizure of design by the educated, and a further widening of the gap between the uneducated and educated peoples. Not as depressing, but still concerning.

So what do we do about it?

Everything we’ve been doing. Educate, educate, educate! Educate yourself, your family, your friends. Because that little nugget of truth may stick with them, and the seed may grow into something palatable one day.

Coffee of the day: Community Coffee with French Vanilla Creamer.

09
Jul

by Michael DamboldNo Comments »

Super Duper Follow Friday! 150+ designers to follow on Twitter!

Whether you’re starting out on Twitter or just want to expand your follower/following base then this is the perfect stop! I recommend all of these awesome designers to follow on Twitter!

I’ve included the bio as it appears on their page to help. Enjoy!

The first and most prominent account I want to put on here is DCTH which stands for Design Community Twitter Hours. This is one of the central points for any designer on twitter and the fastest way to meet other genuine designers.

The link is here:

Design Community Twitter Hours
Design Community Twitter Hours Thursday 7-8:30pm (est) • Trying to help designers/creative through twitter.
This is THE place to meet other designers on twitter!

1st Web Designer
I am web-designer, who decided to dedicate his life to design few years ago. Now living happily ever after! Add me if you are web design fan!

10steps
Photoshop Tutorials and Design Resources

AIGA
Are you a member of AIGA, the professional association for design? Send us your thoughts and questions!

Behance
Behance is on a mission to organize and empower the creative world to make ideas happen.

Colorburned
Graphic design resources, tutorials, and more!

DesignNewz
Aggregating web design & development articles, news, resources & tutorials on a daily basis! Edited by @matcarpenter

DesignObserver
Writings on Design and Culture. Edited by Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, Jessica Helfand, Julie Lasky and Nancy Levinson.

DesignerDepot
Webdesigner Depot is one of the most popular blogs about web design trends, tutorials and much more. It’s run by Walter Apai, a web designer from Vancouver.

Drawn!
The Illustration & Cartooning Weblog

EliteByDesign
Web designer, graphic artist, blogger at Elite By Design.

FreelanceFolder
FreelanceFolder is a blog & community for freelancers & web-workers. Getting started & productivity; design, writing, coding, photography & more

FreelanceSwitch
FreelanceSwitch is a site for freelancers. Whether you’ve been freelancing for years, have just started or are considering making the switch…

Go_Media
We’re a creative agency based in Cleveland, OH that builds brands. We are also behind WMC Fest, GoMediaZine, the Arsenal, ShirtMockup and others.

LogoDesignLove
Twitter profile for logo design links and nothing more. Elsewhere @DavidAirey

NETTUTS
The internet’s best web development tutorial site.

PSDTUTS
The web’s #1 Photoshop tutorials site.

SmashingApps
Opensource, Free and Useful Online Resources for Designers and Developers

TheWebBlend

Keeping you current with the latest in web related news and trends. (please also follow @iBlend)

ThemeForest
Awesome ThemeForest Files, Community, News Chatter

ThinkDesign
We have freebies, resources, and information. Updated regularly.

VECTORTUTS
The web’s #1 vector tutorials site.

VandelayDesign
Vandelay Website Design - Mount Laurel, NJ

WebDesignBooth
WebDesignBooth collects useful resources for both web designers and developers. If you don’t want to miss any resources, make sure you follow us.

WebDesignDev
Learn web design the easy way!

WhiplashDesign
Insanely passionate about print and web graphic design, branding, digital media and creativity.

Fabio Sasso
Graphic/web designer and blogger founder of abduzeedo

Creattica
Creattica is a gallery of great design and inspirational imagery

Alen Grakalic (CSS Globe)
Web designer and developer, passionate about web standards. Owner of http://cssglobe.com and CSS workshop co-host http://webradionice.com. I swim-bike-run too!

Hongkiat
Designer, pro-blogger from Malaysia.

I Love Typography
Designer, writer, & founder of I Love Typography, the world’s most popular type blog. fonts * typefaces * design

PANTONE
Best Deals on PANTONE Products (US and Canada), latest color news, and industry insights. Ask us, tell us - we want to know.

Ronald Bien (Naldzgraphics)
A Graphic Designer. A Twitter Addict. A Blogger. NaldzGraphics.net is a design blog where you can find lots of design resources & tutorials.

Print magazine
Dedicated to graphic design, technology, culture, and how it all fits together. Got something you want us to see? Tell us!

Jacob Gube (Six Revisions)
Web developer/designer and founder of Six Revisions.

Smashing Magazine
Vitaly Friedman, editor-in-chief of SmashingMagazine.com and Noupe.com, online magazines dedicated to designers and developers.

Computer Arts Magazine
The world’s best-selling creative magazine

Chris Thurman (Visual Swirl)
Design Resources, Inspiration, Tutorials and more! Tasty Snacks for the Creative Professional.

DrewDouglass
Support Team Assist Lead at Envato. Owner of Dev-Tips. Creator of WP for Designers. WordPress Lover. PHP Guru. Kohana Addict.

Jacen_Xhan
I am a husband, father, web design & developer. I specialize in general ass kickery, specifically however, to a lesser degree.

LBOI
I am a web consultant, logo designer and illustrator from Sydney Australia. I create content, brands and design websites!

MarcPerel
Coldfusion, php, jQuery Developer and co-owner of Obox Design and host of From the Couch.

Minervity
Web/Graphic Designer/Developer. Founder of Minervity.com, BitRebels.com, RazorMade Mediaworks and The MonoTwins.

Adelle Charles
Founder, CCO at Fuel Brand Inc. ★ fuelbrandnetwork.com ★ madebytinder.com ★ adellecharles.com

Adam_Wagner
I’m a marketer, designer, songwriter, audio engineer & entrepreneur.

AdrianHerritt
Designer, Technophile, Mac Geek, Photoshop Lover, RSS Addict.

AtiKuSDesign
A web designer with a thirst for knowledge. Currently obsessed with UX and interaction design. Have just added the wordpress string to my bow

Brad_Strickland
Coffee Addict, Web and Flash Designer, PHP / Actionscript and Wanna Be iPhone Developer, Compulsive Moleskin Doodler. Trying to fill my brain with knowledge.

DavidAirey
Graphic designer davidairey.com logodesignlove.com @LogoDesignLove

Alex Harris
Work too much! Ecommerce Creative Director. Web Design & Online Marketing. Designer artist graffiti + mountain biking mtb + indie punk hiphop hardcore music.

Alex Linebrink
Tech entrepreneur, web and graphics design stud, and social media addict. Lover of coffee, wine, and raw vegan cuisine. GOAL: Make the whole world smile :)

Andy Jacobson
Began career as Graphic Designer. Works in print as well as develops/edits websites, social networks & blogs. Married, 2Kids & dog named Colonel Sanders.

Andy Sowards
Passionate Creative that never stops. Avid Blogger, Freelancer, Web Designer, Developer, Programmer. Happy Hubby and Father of 4, My family is my motivation.

Baffle Inc.
A 15 year old web designer in Australia that has written a book.

Wolfgang Bartelme
User interface & graphic designer from Austria.

Brian Hoff
Graphic designer [www.brianhoff.net] and Writer of @TDCBrand and www.BeHoff.com

Benek Lisefski
web design + development + flash + photography + architecture in NZ

Jay Hilgert (Bittbox)
Business Owner, Designer, Blogger, Web-enthusiast, Apple Geek

Brian McDaniel (BK MacDaddy)
Business web and graphic designer: SEO XHTML CSS PHP Joomla Templates, Magento Themes, Wordpress Themes, Twitter Backgrounds - all your web design dreams in 1 place!

Paul Boag
Founder of web design agency Headscape, host of the boagworld web design podcast and author of the website owners manual.

Chad Engle
Designer & Creative, Caffeine Addict, Editor @ FuelYourCreativity, Fulltime Freelance Designer.

Chris Coyier
Lead Hucklebucker. Master Cascader. Head Tag Closer. @Wufoo

Chris Spooner
I’m a creative Designer, avid Blogger and I’m generally crazy about pretty colours and shapes.

Chris Wallace
Cancer survivor, designer, developer, entrepreneur. Runs chris-wallace.com, alldevjobs.com, mashedjobs.com

Liz Andrade (Cmd + Shift + Design)
Designer of web and print. Blogger, internet nerd and crazy cat lady.

Chris Collis
Hi I’m Collis, I work at Envato where I help make awesome websites!

ConradK Design
I create simple, high impact brand identity through logo design and development.

Craig Farrall
I am a youthful 18 year old webdesigner, check out my portfolio at http://www.cfdesignz.co.uk and my blog at http://blog.cfdesignz.co.uk

Alex Ionescu (Crazy Leaf)
Dentist and Designer

Chris Barnett
I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. Web design, photography, design.

David Link
I’m a pixel-punching web designer. CSSer/JSer. Co-creator of getdispatch.com and @madewithsense. Also, I love cooking.

Max Stanworth
Lover of Typography, Web Design, CSS, XHTML , Illustration, Rock Music

Emil Wisch
Marketing Director at @loadsys (#CakePHP + iPhone + Android Applications). Also http://wischmedia.com = WordPress installs & setup.

Franz Jeitz (Fudge Graphics)
Freelance graphic designer. Founder of the design blog fudgegraphics. Tea lover.

Jason Walz
Art Director, Graphic/ Web Designer, Video Editor, day-old coffee drinker. Mac & Adobe enthusiast.

Jeff Finley
I build brands and start movements. I’m a partner at the design agency Go Media and founder of WMC Fest. I play drums for Parachute Journalists.

Khoi Vinh
Design Director, NYTimes.com

Calvin Lee
Self-Proclaimed Media Ho, Designer Guy and Twitter Addict. In his spare time, Stunt Doubles for the Hulk and a really Nice Guy! You can even ask Chris Brogan

Nick La
Creator of ndesign, webdesignerwall, bestwebgallery, and icondock.

David Perel (Obox)
Co-founder of Obox, a designer, a blogger.

Sean Farrell (Brandclay)
Graphic Designer based in Ann Arbor MI. Specialize in Logo, Branding, Web, & Mobile Device creation.

Phire Design
Hi everyone!

Piervincenzo Madeo
From a little city in the South of Italy, a web designer, a coder, a blogger. This is Piervincenzo, just a guy who has a great love for creativity.

Snook
I make stuff on the web.

Stuart Thursby
Freelance art direction + design. Community coordinator at Applied Arts Magazine (@appliedarts)

Tom Nußbaum
teacher, colorlover, booknerd, gamer, rookie designer trying to keep designs fresh and minds sharp. good friend with a passion for design and typography

Tutorial9
Get the latest Updates from Tutorial9.net on Twitter.

Tuts+
Run by Aaron and Skellie, the Tuts+ management team, this account aggregates content across the Tuts+ Network.

Michael Guill (107 Designs)
Web designer, traveler, amateur triathlete, stay-at-home dad, aviator, Japanophile, and a pretty damn good cook.

Jared Thompson
Product Designer & design writer. Find me on Coroflot, Behance & Design Juices, for the best inspiration, opinion and insight on all aspects of design.

Andi Graham
We build friendly and useful websites with attractive, goal-driven design. Let’s make things happen.

Kate Nickerson
Recent Cal Poly graduate, working full time at @etnainteractive as a web developer, with interests in graphic design and web design and development.

Ryan Cook
My objective is to test and build upon my imagination and knowledge with every opportunity that comes my way.

Thomas Sturge
Web Design/Developer and graphic designer going back to basics via uni. My professional Twitter is @arrowheaddesign

Michael Buckingham (Holy Cow Creative)
Founder & Creative Director of Holy Cow Creative, set out to make the church the most creative place on the planet!

Mary Shamburger
I’m a Graphic Designer that is slowly and surely on my way to becoming a Web Designer.

Noel Miciano
Likes illustration, design, and entrepreneurship.

Mike Garrett
Graphic and Web Designer. VCU Grad in GDES. Married to @lindsay_benson (Garrett).

Patrick Abel
Graphic designer + web developer + creative thinker, + 360° photographer + tea enthusiasts & tennis fanatic

Steven Heller
Print magazine’s favorite blog, The Daily Heller, is Steven Heller’s well-trained look at…well, everything!

Tiffany Reed
I’m a Fine Artist who fell in love with web design. I’m a daydreamer, I hate lima beans, luv tea, luv creating, and luv life!

Eric Rasmussen
★ Coffee Addict, designer, programmer and partner at Coffee House Ideas ★

Amanda Poehler
I am a graphic designer who loves exploring many avenues of creativity. I am enjoying the discovery of where this life will lead me.

Oscarte
CSS Web Designer, Foam Sculptor / Prop Maker, Visual Artist, Graphic Designer, Photographer; very creative nice person and hooked with internet marketing.

Alyssa Meadows
Freelance Graphic Designer … whut.

Ian Ryerson
Running projects efficiently and learning to code on the way!

Andrew Cohen
Web & graphic designer. arsenal fc fan. soccer player. mountain biker. runner. music lover. ebook reader.

Anthony Hortin
I do Web & Graphic Design stuff. I make things pretty.

PANTONE
Best Deals on PANTONE Products (US and Canada), latest color news, and industry insights. Ask us, tell us - we want to know.

James Bowman (g33kguy)
UI/UX/Web Designer/Developer for Capital One. I’m a GEEK and proud of it. #awesomeness

Justin Moore-Brown
I have many leather bound books and my office smells of rich mahagony. Partner of Mobo Media, Inc. Co-Founder of OCjobtalk.com

Sarah Whinnem
Graphic Designer/Mac Geek/Fashion Addict/Mini Fanatic/etc.

Gabe Diaz
Father, Web Designer, Developer, Family Man, Web/Tech Junkie, I love WordPress. Interactive Producer for Penthouse/FFN.

Tomo Kawai
Front-end web developer and graphic designer. I like to create clean and spiffy stuff.

James Abels
Comic Book Letterer, Flatter and Colorist in training

Antonea Nabors
graphic designer, typography lover, surfer, blogger, iphone fanatic

Matt Lewis
I design experiences for the web with my users in mind and a craft beer in hand. UX UI Front-End Dev Freelance

Marie Kyle (Fragholrok)
Web dev & designer….just tryna live the dream…

Hernan Valencia
The Construct Creative is a small design agency in Las Vegas. Creative direction is driven by Hernan Valencia’s passion for simple & beautiful solutions.

Gen One Studios
Christian Website developer - design graphics, develop code, maintain your site & content. How may I help you?

Eric Noguchi (Pixel Jockey)
Graphic Designer and fanatic about all things design-related. Let’s connect, share expertise, learn, grow.

Mika Kiviranta
Web Hybrid / design & social media marketing / #kirjanvaihto http://bit.ly/bBP5hd

Design Juices
tweeting about design and creatives in the world today. also seen to tweet as @jthompsondesign.

Matt Widmann (Fray)
A graphics guy with an addiction to good/bad kung-fu movies. Kobold Crafter for Kobold Quarterly. AIGA OC board member.

Cecycorrea
Works at a video game company in Austin, loves film, g33ky things and all things British

Font Burger
graphic designer staying optimistic. love design and the outdoors. fontburger is just a reminder to not take myself too seriously and enjoy my youth.

Pet Web Designer
Internet Entrepreneur, Husband, Father, Pet and Dog Lover, SEO and SEM expert, Social Media Pro, Domain Collector, Founder and CEO of Petwebdesigner.com

Martin Luff
Web designer, project manager, cyclist

Mickey W. Moore
Netpreneur, Owns Domains, Twitter API, Objective C++ 2.0 Application Development, Guitar Fiend, Skater, Biker and Jedi

Joshua Frankel
Im a Pixel-pushing Graphic / Web Designer and Closet Geek. Interested in creativity, ingenuinty, stupidity or any combination of the three.

Kim Smith (blueturtlefl)
Own/operate Blue Turtle Graphics, small design studio in SW Florida. Love design: logos, print, CSS/HTML, Wordpress. Scuba diver. Mac geek. Photog wannabe.

Gabe Taviano
irector of Digital Presence at 1049theRiver.com + design at GabeTaviano.com + disciple at DigitalDisciples.net + husband to @marlataviano

Michael Stevens
Art Director for print / web media publishing / advertising. Interested in all field of design: photography, theater, music, fine arts, interior design…

Zak Morris
Zak Morris: A chaotic creative with perfectionist expectations. Father. West Coast Swing novice. Always looking to collaborate and network

Stu Greenham
Front End Web Developer / CSS Machine / Wannabe Photographer who enjoys everything Apple, Magners, Music and Footy!

Catherine Azzarello
Award-winning graphic designer for web & print, specializing in custom WordPress theme design with modern, semantic coding for business websites and blogs.

Angie Bowen (FUEL Network)
I’m a 32 year old artist, designer & web developer living in the mountains of Colorado

Erica Costa (HeyErica)
Family, Friends, Graphic Design, Coffee and Conan O’Brien.

McGuire Design
Creative Ideas For Creative Clients™ — Logo Design, Website Design, Foodie, & Entrepreneur

Martha Wade
artist • painter • founder @aestheticcircle • producer @wgntv • arts entrepreneur professor • blogger • music luva • world contributor • just being me.

Sharon Landon
Designer. Illustrator. Photographer. Love God, my Husband, Food, Wine, Art & Music. Hiker. World Traveler.

Mike Smith
Freelance web designer. I also own @GiantThemes and @gfreelancing

Nicky Tillyer
creativity + connections = juice of marketing & design. I’m a marketing manager with design desire…

Tim Mather
Graphic Designer, Front End Web Developer, Web Technology Enthusiast, Music Lover, Co-Founder of @more_human

Aileen Pasion
Big things come in small, well designed packages.

Joshua Smibert (FUEL)
Co-Founder + CMO at Fuel Brand Inc. / Creators of the fuelbrandnetwork.com + madebytinder.com

Julia Klimentovskaya
I have over 8 years experience in Design Management and direct UI and Art Team activity at Cogniance Inc.

Stephanie Malone
Professional graphic/web designer, creative director, copywriter, design diva

Jason Lengstorf
I speak fluent Geek. My loyalties can generally be purchased with beer.

Doug Waltman
I’m the creative director at Ikon MG, where we blend creativity with smarts and technology. I am a total web geek, dad, and a typophile.

Mandi Harrell Leman (Blellow)
Microblog for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and professionals to collaborate, find work, and solve problems by answering: What are you working on?

Stephen Olmstead (Sonata Creative)
Graphic Designer working for @MediServe in-house by day, and @SonataCreative freelancing by night.