Running The Ladder is the company blog of Bainbridge Studios, a tiny runt of a design practice based in lovely Tacoma, WA.
So what's the deal with the fish?
Browse by Topic
Recommended Reading
Flickr at the Office
Latest via Twitter
RSS Feed
subscribe to the rss feed
End of the Year Links of the Week: December 31st
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 | Tom Carmony
How Entrepreneurs Can Survive a Cash-Flow Crisis
BusinessWeek discusses ways for small business owners to deal with cash-flow difficulties from the current recession and credit crunch.
Outdated Security Threatens Web Commerce
Researchers have successfully faked the digital certificates that Web browsers use to verify a site’s authenticity, spotlighting the failure of some security firms to upgrade their technology (Bits Blog – NYTimes.com).
Adobe’s Flash and Apple’s Safari Fail a Privacy Test
In a test of the privacy protections in major Web browsers, Adobe’s Flash and Apple’s Safari performed poorly (Bits Blog – NYTimes.com).
Use Flickr to Find Images Free and Easy
A nice basic walk-through on different license restrictions for use of Flickr imagery in personal and/or commercial projects.
Google 2009: The Painful Details
Ian Lurie’s follow-up on the reasoning and methodology behind his “SEO 2009″ post.
SEO 2009: Adapt or Die
Portent Interactive’s Ian Lurie makes a great argument for the changing face of search engine optimization (SEO).
9 Year End Tax Tips | Dumb Little Man
Some good end-of-year advice for ways to save during the upcoming tax season.
Flexible Fuel: Educating the Client on IA
(A List Apart): A great introduction to working with clients on understanding information architecture issues related to web design and development projects.
You can see all of our recommended links on del.icio.us »
Happy Holidays and Time for a Break
Monday, December 22nd, 2008 | Tom Carmony
I just wanted to take a quick moment to wish all of our clients and happy and healthy holiday season. Thank you immensely for your business here in 2008 and we look forward to hopefully providing you with even more great design services in the coming year.
A quick note on holiday scheduling: The Bainbridge Studios office will be officially closed beginning Wednesday, December 24th for the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. I’ll be checking email regularly and will be doing some minor work for a couple of ongoing projects (you know who you are), but won’t be maintaining regular office hours during that time. I will be back in the office as usual on Monday, January 5, 2009.
Happy Holidays!
Links of the Week: December 19th
Friday, December 19th, 2008 | Tom Carmony
How To: Separate WordPress Comments and Trackbacks
A handy tutorial for editing WordPress blog comment structure.
WordPress “Art Direction” Plugin
This new WP plugin, currently in beta, allows you to individualized styles for each post (ala Jason Santa Maria‘s redesign of his personal website).
Viewzi: Rich Interactive Search Results for WordPress
Derek Punsalan’s review of a new search plugin for WordPress.
Ajaxload – Loading GIF Generator
This is a handy little free web app to quickly crank out animated GIF loaders for websites.
45 Beautiful Free Fonts for Modern Design Trends
Six Revisions offers a nice round-up of free fonts available online.
Flexible Fuel: Educating the Client on IA
A List Apart provides a great introduction to working with clients on understanding information architecture issues related to web design and development projects.
You can see all of our recommended links on del.icio.us »
Links of the Week: December 12th
Friday, December 12th, 2008 | Tom Carmony
Mobile Awesomeness
This one is an excellent gallery website showcasing mobile website and web applications.
Amazing Myspace Pages
This is a good roundup of some really solid design work on custom MySpace pages.
20+ Great WordPress 2.7 Compatible Plugins
This is a handy reference from Mashable.com on some of the top plugins that are fully supported with the latest WordPress release (ver. 2.7).
Force Targeted Links into New Tabs in Safari
Make Safari open targeted links in new tabs instead of new windows.
For Web Designers – Website Design Resources
Hundreds of useful links for website designers and developers.
Local Development on Mac OS X
Setting Up a Killer, Local Web Development Environment on a Mac with MAMP and VirtualHostX.
You can see all of our recommended links on del.icio.us »
Ski Lodge is an Ideal Example of a Top Notch iPhone User Interface
Friday, December 12th, 2008 | Tom Carmony
Since it’s introduction this past summer, the iTunes App Store has exploded with content, as thousands of applications across a range of categories vie for users’ attention and dollars. One of the toughest tasks for the consumer is separating the wheat from the chaff; identifying high quality mobile applications that provide value for their dollar.
There are different ways an application can stand out from the crowd. Word-of-mouth certainly plays a huge part. So to, for the lucky few recipients, does ending up as a featured app within iTunes or on the Apple website.
One other distinguishing characteristic is design. Specifically, user interface design. Currently, the App Store doesn’t allow for any means of demo or trial downloads of applications, so in many cases, one of the only pieces of information the user has is screenshots of the app in action (along with the much maligned user reviews).
The most recent iPhone app that’s really grabbed my attention, based solely on its UI, is David Watanabe‘s new Ski Lodge. Ski Lodge is an app that gives you access to information and current conditions at hundreds of ski resorts throughout North America. And it does so with an absolutely beautiful user interface.
I haven’t skied in more than a decade (though we’ve got some great runs within an hour’s drive of Seattle), but I’ve downloaded the app anyway. Why? Because gorgeous, functional apps like Ski Lodge are exactly what the iPhone platform is all about. Sure, there are a probably other ski information applications available for mobile phones, but Ski Lodge gets it right. It’s not just about the information; it’s about presenting the information in a novel, fun, engaging way that feels like a natural part of the whole iPhone experience.
Ski Lodge Website | iTunes Link