css

Style it Up

Designing for the front end of a website is one of my favorite things, and greatest focuses. There’s something about creating a beautiful usable interface that I that gives me a sense of satisfaction. It’s awesome.

trends

New Trends

Like fashion, the internet is always changing, and so is the technology being used. With HTML5 and CSS3, mobile devices, and an array of different browsers, I strive to stay on top of what’s new and where the market is going.

html

Web Markup

Less is more – this old adage also applies to the web. Clean code is good code, it helps load times, accessibility, and the end developer to make changes seamlessly. Trying to find better ways to code cleanly is a challenge I enjoy.

balance

Balance

I find balance a critical part of web sites. The portion of design and flashy widgets to the portion of usability, load times, and standards is a fine line that needs to be studied with each and every project.

growth

Good Growth

With the world wide web always changing, it would seem silly to hunker down and refuse to learn new things. There is something I find fun about learning new things, even if it means late nights, lots of coffee, and occasional sugar rushes.

plans

Plan it out

“Plan your work and work your plan.” My grandpa was known for saying that, and I love it. There are many popular workflows which all have their places. Without a plan, a website is destined to be in limbo for much longer than it needs to be.

Best Enterprises

Design, Development, Marketing

September 2009 - May 2011

My responsibilities were diverse at Best. I created and maintained the companies websites, created print and digital marketing pieces, and fullfilled most other “techy” things.

ad3pt

Design, Development, Marketing

February 2008 - August 2009

I began as an intern with ad3pt and was eventually hired full time. While there I was responsible for quick turnaround designs and websites, working in WordPress, Magento, and standard xhtml, as well as flyers, online banners, and print.

Jon

About Me

I’m Jon Best, a web designer and developer in Minnesota. I have a passion for making unique experiences online. My goal is to continually simplify the creative process keeping it pure, and eliminating all the muddled mess of extra steps and redo’s. I say let’s get it done right, the first time. I bring a fresh creative perspective to the table backed by proven work and experience.  Everyday my ambition is to learn one more thing, no matter how small, that I hadn’t known before. I am Jon, and the Web is where I live.

What’s the Best Free CMS pt.2

Well the project has been wrapped up for a while and it’s about time I share my results. Upon Diving into Joomla! I was not very impressed with the general workflow for the back end administrator. Being someone accustomed to working with WordPress, building themes, and blogging, the Joomla! CMS seemed like it just had a case of detail-itis. I can see in some circumstances where this could be effective, but for the particular project I had taken on it caused more confusion than anything.

As I built the custom theme for Joomla, there were some fun things I had to struggle with in order to achieve something that would be very simple in WordPress. Case in point, Joomla’s Blocks. This in itself just didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. These blocks basically give you the ability to point your different pieces of content or navigation to different ‘blocks’ on the joomla layout. The problem is, figuring out what block goes where and when it’s calling what, and when I don’t want or need that particular block what to do to fix that. Sound confusing? It was.

I’m accustomed to the methodology of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid), and I’m also accustomed to WordPress, whose administrator area boasts a clean elegant design that can cater to anyone, whether they are just starting out, or building full blown websites.

From this first experience, I’m still much more in favor of WordPress. In the end I found Joomla lacking in many areas, one more of which I’ll mention was their community.

In open source development this is pretty much the staple that will keep people happy and continue to develop a great product. I couldn’t find nearly the documentation or community development I have with WordPress.

Thanks for reading, hopefully it wasn’t too much of a rant, just my personal findings.