Larissa Meek

I recently took some time to chat with Krupt. This was quite a different interview than the normal industry based questions. Here’s an excerpt:

Ok Larissa, you are quite unique so excuse my intro but I HAVE to try and figure you out. my questions are going to be very weird and diverse…here goes

(Krupt): If your house was on fire, name your top 3 things you would have to grab?
Larissa: Wow, that would suck. I would have to rescue my dog “wicket”, my favorite painting “Hollywood” and my laptop.

U: What turns you on in a guy?
L: Confidence without being cocky.

Read the full chat. Click Here

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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Smashing Magazine selected 3 questions, which main purpose was to give fellows designers more insights in practice, and in the experience prominent designers gained during their work over the last 5-10 years. It was an honor take part in this Q&A with some of the most well known designers in the industry.

The focus of these questions is on practical knowledge and personal experience. What are the things you should know before starting designing / programming? What things should you be aware of? How to get your project done?

The first 3 Questions

• What is one typical myth about web-development (which is not true)?
• What is one bulletproof method to get over creativity block?
• What is one thing you wish you knew before you’ve started programming/designing/… ?

You can read part one here.

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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Last Friday a talented blogger and freelance designer, Adii (pronounced “ay-dee”), published a mini but in depth interview. It is always an honor to chat with brilliant individuals whom are making waves in the interactive medium. Adii is a freelancer designer, Wordpress rockstar, blogger and Web 2.0 strategist located in Cape Town, South Africa. His blog is a great resource for design inspiration, Wordpress themes and industry leading interviews.

You can read the full article here.

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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Ideas

• Idea Generator
  If you’re ever feeling stuck in a rut for a simple or big idea give the wheel a spin! The best ideas are the simple ones. In this case, get yours in only three words.
  
• Staying Motivated
  Feeling inspired and staying motivated is a huge challenge. A List Apart provides much needed insight on how to stay motivated.
  
  
• 18 Tricks to Make New Habits Stick
  Breaking BAD habits is tough. Starting a good habit is easy and keeping it going is - not so easy. Here’s 18 tricks that might help. Tape not required.
  

Art

• Damon Soule
  Damon Soule’s work is a mix of collage and modernism. It mixes a sense of tangibility with futurism. This site holds his works back to 1997 and you can capture an idea of how his work has transitioned to the unique style it is today. Also notice the repetition of triangles throughout his work. It is both cute and spooky.
  
  
  
• Amy Sol
  Amy Sol is a talented artist who brings life to muted color on wood surfaces. I’ve never seen colors so pale have so much life. Her work is inspired my manga, folk art, vintage illustration and modern design. And - she’s self taught!
  
  
• Drawer Geeks!
  Drawer Geeks is a fun thing where professional artists (mostly from the comic book, animation, illustration and design fields) all draw their version of a fiction character.
  

Crafts

• Paper Critters
  Paper Critters is an on-line application for creating and sharing digital paper toys. Make your very own critter or just take a gander at the colony.
  
• Craft Zine
  CraftZine is a hidden jem, full of DIY projects. Celebrating the DIY spirit, CRAFT’s goal is to unite, inspire, inform and entertain a growing community of highly imaginative and resourceful people who are transforming traditional art and crafts with unconventional, unexpected and even renegade techniques, materials and tools; people who undertake amazing crafting projects in their homes and communities.
  
• Craftster
  Get your creative on! This community site is for people who have crafty urges, but who are not excited by cross stitched bunnies and crocheted toilet paper cozies, can show off their current craft projects, ask advice on future projects and get inspiration for new endeavors.
  

Design

• Old Fashioned Advertising
  A Flickr Gallery full of old fashioned packaging. You will feel nostalgic or inspired - or even maybe both.
  
• Design Fckr
  An e-zine which keeps track of all things creative, so you don’t have to. DFCKR™ is a publication created with the intention of keeping track of design related news and resources, and as a place to give recognition to up and coming designers and illustrators.
  
• 30 Elm
  Looking to re-decorate or maybe even re-design your whole place? Then 30 Elm is the place to start. 30elm is the first online community for professional home design. Their goal is to make home remodeling and building easier, from concept to completion. For savvy industry professionals, 30elm provides unparalleled tools for showcasing their best work to motivated homeowners.
  
  

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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I get more emails about how this than anything else:

“Dear Larissa,

How do you achieve that cool image gallery affect on your about page where the images overlay your content? It is so cool! I would love to do that on my site!”

For some reason I assume the whole world has heard of Lightbox JS but then I remember not everyone is a web designer. The great news is, it is really easy to achieve! Lightbox JS is the best invention next to sliced bread YouTube. This effect is achieved using JavaScript and CSS. Basically an external image is loaded into a hidden div which becomes visible when called. This has been growing in popularity over the last 2 years and is a great method for displaying larger images without the use of pop-ups (*cringe*) or a page refresh.

Here’s a variety of useful LightBoxes.

• Lighbox JS
• Light Box 2
• ThickBox 3
• WP lightbox JS WordPress plugin
• Lightbox 2.0 for WordPress
• Highslide JS
• Suckerfish HoverLightbox Redux
• Grey Box
• Lightbox Gone Wild

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