Recently from the journal
I wish I could quit you, IE6
I’ll preface this entry with this: There isn’t a soul on this earth that despises hacking styles for Internet Explorer more than I do.
I have no intentions of kicking a dead horse here, everyone on the planet is fully aware that the sixth version of Internet Explorer is outdated and a total pain in the ass for designers and developers; but I still write CSS for it and would like to tell you why.
A few months ago I received a call from a potential client (who just so happened to be a Finnish handset maker) regarding some custom icon development for an upcoming project. The woman who called me had discovered my portfolio by asking uncle Googs on her personal computer using Firefox. Upon reviewing my site and deciding I was a worthy candidate for her UI considerations, she decided to take note of my portfolio and give me a call.
So far, off to a good start. Every part of this story is awesome: A high profile client is in need of a service and discovers a suitable vendor and all is right with the world. Not the case, friends.
There is nothing more uncomfortable (except for wearing newborn baby vomit) than experiencing the following conversation that shortly ensued:
“Hello, thanks for calling Hold Fast Creative, this is Derek.”
“Hi, I found your portfolio online last night and really like your style! I work with [Finnish handset maker] and we are in need of some custom icons for a new project.”
“Great, I would love to help out! Can I ask how you found me [nods head and makes air hump gestures at wall]?”
“Sure, I found your site… Let me just pull it up here… Oh, hmm… I’m sorry. I guess I’m using the wrong browser here at work apparently… Chowderhead, it says?”
This potential new client has just tried to access my site using IE6. Instead of viewing my portfolio, she’s greeted with a clever little quip about IE6 being lame, and all content is completely without style. At this point, my clever IE6 strip-all-styles-away-and-insert-some-bonehead-remark doesn’t sound all that clever. It’s not clever. It’s downright embarrassing. I try to explain my humor and why my portfolio looks like a grenade of stale wit and Times New Roman, but it’s to no avail. Needless, to say, this potential client didn’t call back.
So what did I learn from this? Well, for starters, if you are in the business of making websites: Ensure your personal website looks great in all browsers. I also learned that there are a ton of folks who are bound to IE6 in the workplace, and their employers are the types of clients all studios strive to obtain. If you’re like me, and your website is responsible for your family’s only source of income, write the extra 102 lines or so of code. It’s much easier than explaining why your site looks like shit in IE6 to a potential client over the phone.
With that being said, if your site is a personal project, or you don’t rely on it to survive; screw ’em, do as you please! You could also hire the awesome John Martz to illustrate a custom IE6 denial cartoon for you like we did for Momentile.
Here’s Chase!
On December 29, 2009, we welcomed our new son into the world. Queue the last minute tax deduction jokes.
Technically, it was less of a welcome and more like a uterine blitz™. After lingering around six days past our expected due date, Breezy and I checked into the hospital at 11:15AM on Tuesday, December 29. Within 30 minutes of our arrival Breezy was in full blown labor! Everything was progressing so quickly there wasn’t time for an epidural or any pain meds, and our midwife was still 40 minutes away from the hospital. At 12:50PM our son, Chase Balmer, was born at a healthy 7 lbs 15 oz and with just about as much hair as his old man.
Happy Holidays, See You in February
I’m hunched over behind my MacBook right now attempting the impossible task of wrapping up my last two projects of the year before Christmas arrives. We are expecting a new son any day now (due date was yesterday). Once he’s born I’m going to unplug, turn off the phone, and take January off to spend some much needed time with my family. I’m really looking forward to taking advantage of my downtime and coming back in February, fresh and ready to motor. I realize a month with a newborn and 16 month old isn’t necessarily downtime, but I will happily accept the sleep deprivation and diaper duty in exchange for a month of hanging out with my family.
Next year is already shaping up to be an exciting year for myself and Hold Fast Creative. We have a couple exciting projects on the horizon, as well as a new office! I have intentions of writing about all of this, but then again, this is my second post this month. That’s a world record for me, so I’m not going to promise anything.
From my family to yours, here’s wishing you happy holidays and a happy new year! See you in February.
8 Planets iPhone App Now Available
New educational iPhone game for children is available on the iPhone App Store.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of working with some old colleagues from a previous mobile company for their new iPhone app, 8 Planets.
8 Planets is the initial offering from BrightSlide, a new mobile application company that seeks to create educational mobile games and applications for children. I designed the user interface for this iPhone application, Brett Duncavage worked his code fu on the application programming, and the folks at BrightSlide developed an analytics platform for parents to track their children’s progress. Check it out →
Glen Helen
Ditching the laptop, and traveling to the left coast for a weekend of getting pelted with rocks and choking on dust.
Every year I head out to Glen Helen with a handful of my close friends to race the World Vets MX Championship. We all grew up racing together, and it’s a great excuse for us all to escape our daily grinds and make an annual moto road trip. After missing last year due to some personal tragedies, I’m ready to pick it up again this year.
I’ve been preparing for this race by sitting on my ass designing/coding all day and consuming ample amounts of coffee and whiskey. I haven’t ridden a bike in a few months either. Who wants an autograph?
Photo by stryder10464