Larissa Meek

Yep, things have been quiet around here… because I’ve been a little busy bee working on a redesign of my blog. It will  include a bunch of new features, a fresh design direction and improved usability.

It seems every time I started a new design, life got in the way and I was never able to finish. After too much time had passed, I would lose my train of thought and start all over on a new design.

Here are a few designs that I did over a year ago that  DID NOT make the final cut.  As you can see, they are all only half way  done. I tend to start off in black and white and add color as I go. These are merely wire-comps if you will…

Let’s just say that looking back I’m glad none of these directions made the cut, as now they seem a bit archaic with newer technology available — or maybe I just got wiser. :)  Anyhow, I’m excited about the direction I ended up going in.

Stay tuned for the new site!!!

Entry Filed under: Personal | Web Design

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.Net magazine published an article about what makes a world-class designer… And I made the list!!! Check out the article here.  I admire everyone on the list so it’s a huge honor to be grouped with so many talented designers. (Thank you .net magazine).

“It’s a simple question and yet once we started compiling this list we realised it’s not at all simple to answer. Is it about pushing boundaries or holding fast to traditional principles? Should the body of work be judged on aesthetics or usability? Is fame or notoriety important, or just a distraction? Ultimately, we’ve tried to balance all these considerations and more, and picked 20 figures who we all feel act as a beacon of inspiration to web builders everywhere. We hope you agree…” [SOURCE]

Entry Filed under: Personal | Web Design

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This will be my fourth year in a row for the South by South West Interactive Festival (SXSW).  (I’m almost a veteran!)

A nice group of the AgencyNet crew will be attending so if you see us, be sure to say hello!

A few of the events I will be attending are:

“Digerati Mixer”

• When: Saturday, 14th of March, 6pm to 8pm
• What: The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) will host an evening of conversation and drinks
• Where: The Gingerman – 304 W 4th St, Austin, TX 78701

This is a great opportunity to meet current and prospective SoDA members as well as discuss the current market and trends in the digital space. We will be giving away drink tickets and an iPod touch!

Join us for the “SoDA unConference”

• When: Sunday, March 15th.  Come and go from 2 pm to 5 pm
• What: Hosted by SoDA. Walk in/out of a roundtable-like discussion with industry peers
• Where: SXSW Mezzanine Room 7

This year’s theme: “The Inflection Point — How the recent changes in technology, culture
and economics are changing the game.”  Join us in a casual setting and lend your thoughts
and opinions to these important discussions.

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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I saw this on the Fail Blog and it made me LOL! Clear Language is not an after-thought.

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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Finding a reputable web designer or programmer can be a mind boggling process for those who don’t work in the digital space. When I get emails asking if I know any good web designers, I usually direct people to the same list of job boards.

Finding a good fit for your needs is a challenge but it all starts with the right job platform. The best interactive job boards are a niche industry and well-known within the interactive community.

Below, I’ve compiled a list of the most reputable job boards that target high-end talent and offer a variety of opportunities. Job post duration is 30 days unless otherwise noted and most are free for applicants with a few exceptions. Cost is on a per job post basis.

*(Alex Rank as of 9/15/08 & the Craigslist rank is based on the root URL not the job section.)

Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
1. Jobs on the Wall This board is fairly new, thus few jobs are listed as of today but it is hosted by a popular web resource.	Freelance – $50 Fulltime – $75 (30 Days)	80,800
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
2. Smashing Jobs Hosted by one of the most popular resources in the interactive industry.	Freelance – $100 Fulltime – $200 (30 Days)	11,687
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
3. Krop Krop has a prestigious reputation for high quality talent.	$199 (30 Days)	74,060
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
4. Freelance Switch Jobs Freelance Switch is for freelance jobs only and it costs applicants $7 a month to apply to jobs.	FREE* (30 days)	123,552
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
5. FWA Job Board FWA is well known for attracting some of the best Adobe Flash designers and developers.	Approx $105.14 £58.75 (GBP) (30 days)	64,753
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
6. 37 Signals Job Board The 37 Signals board attracts the cream of the crop because it’s featured prominently on three industry-leading sites.	$300 (30 Days)	78,242
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
7. Crunch Board Leading companies, such as Facebook, MySpace, CNET, Yahoo, Microsoft, Digg and others that have posted jobs with CrunchBoard.	$ 200 (30 Days)	70,352
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
8. Wired Jobs Wired offers a discount for the more jobs posted and features an extremely high Alexa rank.	$50 (30 Days) ($10 add’l cats)	877
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
9. Authentic Jobs This board is a targeted destination for standards-aware designers and developers and the companies seeking to hire them. They also offer a money back guarentee.	Full time – $250 Freelance – $75 (30 days)	64,096
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
10. Post a Position This is powered by advertising so posting jobs is free. However, it doesn’t have the quantity of posts and traffic that other job boards offer.	FREE (30 days)	2,376,937
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
11. Craigslist Craigslist is more popular than the “big dog” employment sites but tends to attract a poorer quality of skill-sets.	Varies by City ($0-$75) (30 days)	37*
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
12. Boxes + Arrows Job Board This board has 20,000 unique visitors a week, a newsletter reach of 6,500 good addresses, and over 17,000 rss subscribers.	$250 (30 Days)	66,606
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
13. Coroflot Allows designers to post their own portfolios. And they offer discounts for bulk listings. Postings stay live for 90 days.	$265 (90 days)	15,580
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
14. Read Write Web Jobs Read Write Web is a premium tech weblog, thus the jobs tend to focus on technology and programming more than design.	$99 (30 Days)	39,066
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
15. Open Source Flash Jobs This board offers a discount for bulk postings and targets Flash designers and developers.	$100/post | $25 add’l cats (30 days)	53,888
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
16. AIGA Design Job Board Employers can view portfolios and attract some high quality designers through AIGA’s prominent  reputation in the design community.	Members – $95 Non Members – $195 (30 days)	310,264
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
17. Sitepoint MarketPlace (looking to hire) Sitepoint is a popular publisher and online resource for the interactive industry.	$10 – $50 (30 Days) (Cost varies by options)	4,077
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
18. Slash Dot Jobs The tagline is “Jobs for Nerds”. Need it say more? There are discounts on bulk postings.	$400 (30 Days)	6,238
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
19. Fresh Web Jobs This board is featured on several popular web sites such as Smashing Magazine, Freelance Switch, Logopond and CSS Remix.	$75 (30 Days)	256,123
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
20. Programmer, Meet Designer This is a site for programmers, web developers, designers, entrepreneurs and writers to find each other and work together to create websites that look and function great.	FREE (30 Days)	239,532
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
21. Indeed One Search. All Jobs. This isn’t a job board but it’s a good place to do some research because it scours the web for all Jobs.	N/A (30 days)	949
Title + Description	Cost	Alexa Rank
23. Just Tech Jobs This board tends to attract developers and programmers not designers.	$279 (30 Days)	217,964

If you want to start your own job board you can get open source software here.

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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