FictiveDesigns.com blog http://fictivedesigns.com Perspective Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:22:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Crossing another border http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/crossing-another-border/ http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/crossing-another-border/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:22:27 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/?p=1234 Continue reading →]]> After a long finally i reached for my blog again. Coming out of the lift when I could not stop noticing Fengshui frogs, religious books, shiny little bags hanging on most of the apartment doors probably converting all the energy into positive entering inside, I met the spiritual side of this part of the planet. Singapore – The country with abundant food courts, where favorite time pass is shopping, noodles are the Best breakfast, soup is loving, people are warm and this generation seems Eco-friendly, this is the first time I am writing after reaching here, crossing another border.

A week of stay at eric & mun made things so much easier for me to survive and I finally started looking for a rent place in the city preferably next to my work which i found much expensive than renting a place near a good beach in Sydney. Had to hire a taxi to review a place which made me reach 30 min before the train. I observed rules are very strict here, that’s why everyone is following hence the train stations, streets, transportation’s – very clean.

Met the the first rain in Singapore last week and it was one hell of it. I realized that when it rains, it doesn’t let the mind think of anything other than ‘oh it’s pouring while we have to run through it. It rained very heavy and beautiful that morning, Looked like the whole city was getting washed up, people were trying to make space for each other to walk, streets got covered with colorful tiny circles of umbrella tops.
Same weekend somehow my search of a cooking pan ended up at the door of a famous Buddha temple. The subtle mantras in the air, quietly praying people, the red and the gold everywhere, the beautiful statues of Lord Buddha, the whole environment was so perfect, no wonder there were tourist from all around the world trying to capture all the beauty in their large SLR’s. Funny thing is, you can pray and then go straight to gamble coz the back door opens up to a large open air Chinese chess(checkers) place where you can see big crowd of mid aged people playing checkers, gambling money on it. The whole area is covered with red lanterns saying out loud this is – ‘The Chinatown. The market is filled with good stuff, food, souvenirs, clothes etc. Bad luck that there is a very famous Indian temple next to it and it was closed somehow.

Well i could not find the pan but i sure enjoyed the day looking for it and finally had a conversation with god, I guess sometimes you just get something on your way unexpected when you are not exactly looking for it.

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/crossing-another-border/feed/ 0 Updating fictivedesigns to Html5 http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/structural-lift-with-html5-elements/ http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/structural-lift-with-html5-elements/#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:12:54 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=471 Continue reading →]]> HTML5 is an updated improvised version of web markup language for web applications as well as documents with a plenty of new semantic elements. Atlast,

  1. <embed> appears validated now.
  2. No errors if you don’t close the <img> tag.
  3. Less use of repeating <div> and <span> tags;

I have updated my website to HTML5 standards and sharing here how I did it. If you are looking for some fine resource on HTML5, check http://diveintohtml5.org or http://www.html5rocks.com/

 

List of new Semantic elements in HTML5

<header>: The header part of your site or page.
<nav>: The links to other pages.
<section>: A chapter in a book or a section in a chapter or anything that has its own heading.
<article>: An independent entry or paragraph in a chapter or blog.
<footer>: The footer part of your site or page.
<blockquote>: Any block to quote.
<mark>: Anything to mark.

Oh yeah, I also made some changes to the syntax of my site according to the improved HTML5 syntax, header.php in this case, before proceeding to the semantics. Check the list below for the previous and the current syntax used.

 

Updating to HTML5 Improved Syntax

Before Now
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”> <!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” lang=”en” xml:lang=”en”> <html lang=”en”>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″> <meta charset=”utf-8″ />
<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”style.css” type=”text/css” /> <link rel=”stylesheet” href=”style.css” />
 

Applying New Semantic Elements

I am using WordPress for my site and like usual themes, I have a general header, menu, content, sidebar and footer in the design which I had defined in as <div id=”header”>, <div id=”nav”>, <div id=”content”>, <div id=”sidebar”>and <div id=”footer”> previously. I started with :-

  1. Replacing those generalized divs with the new semantic elements listed below.
  2. Replacing everywhere I found the post been called (<div id=”post”>), to (<article id=”post”>)
  3. Removing the default <div id=”container”> completely from everywhere.
  4. Using <blockquote> for highlighted blocks and <mark> to mark stuff.
Before Now
<div id=”header”> <header>
<div id=”nav”> <nav>
<div id=”content”> <section>
<div id=”post”> <article>
<div id=”sidebar”> <aside>
<div id=”footer”> <footer>
 

Code view of the pages with sidebar and the visual example.

<body>
<wrapper>
<main>
<header>
<img src=”logo.gif”><nav></nav>  
</header>
<section>
<article></article>
</section>
<aside></aside>
<footer></footer>
</main>
</wrapper>
</body>
fictivedesigns
 

Code view of the static pages without sidebar and the visual example.

<body>
<wrapper>
<main>
<header>
<img src=”logo.gif”><nav></nav>  
</header>
<article></article>
<footer></footer>
</main>
</wrapper>
</body>
fictivedesigns
 

The structure need not to be necessarily how i used here, it does depends upon the theme and your design flexibility. You can make use of the new semantics as per the demand of your design so just start playing with these amazing elements I am sure it will prove to be handy as possible.

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/structural-lift-with-html5-elements/feed/ 0 How to add favicon to your site http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/how-to-add-favicon-to-your-site/ http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/how-to-add-favicon-to-your-site/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:56:58 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=332 Continue reading →]]> What is favicon?

Favicon i.e. favorite icon or shortcut icon is an image with .ico extension used to display a more customized appearance to any website or the page in the browser’s address bar and next to the page’s name in a list of bookmarks. The favicon file is 16×16 pixels in size and contains text or image. As the icon size is so small, there is not much room for creativity but you can use static or animated even transparent png or gif favicons where generally website’s logo, main name or any graphic is used to stand out of the crowd.

How to make favicon image?

  1. Make your own favicon using Photoshop:

    You can make and generate your own favicon by creating 16×16 pixel image and converting it to ico format in Photoshop. You need to download a plug-in for Photoshop where you get the option to straight save the image as .ico extension. Use this link to download and install the plug-in.
    http://www.telegraphics.com.au/sw/#icoformat

    2. (or)

  2. Use Online tools available:

    There are many sites or tools online available some of mentioned below which lets you convert the jpg, png or gif images or text to ico format creating a favicon.

How to apply favicon to your page?

  1. Rename the image generated as favicon.ico and Place it to the root of your website.
  2. Copy and paste this link to the <head> section of your page defining the location of your favicon (root in this case)

<link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”/favicon.ico” />

Note: You can also use PNG or GIF formats for your favicon and you can have a different location too but ICO is a standard format and root is the standard location accepted by all the browsers.

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/how-to-add-favicon-to-your-site/feed/ 0 Facebook like button on my posts http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/facebook-like-button-on-my-posts/ http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/facebook-like-button-on-my-posts/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 01:49:39 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=278 Continue reading →]]> Wanted to test placing facebook like button on my blog, just breaking down the steps how i added it to my posts.

How to Put Facebook Like Button On WordPress Blog posts

  1. Open the single.php from wp-content/themes
  2. Then find the lines where the post loop is running, it differs from theme to theme.
  3. I found the <div> containing the post loop for my twentyten theme

    <div id=”post-<?php the_ID(); ?>” <?php post_class(); ?>>
    </div><!– #post-## –>

  4. so i put this code right before the <div> ended containing the post loop.

    <iframe src=”http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=<?php echo urlencode(get_permalink($post->ID)); ?>&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowTransparency=”true” style=”border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:60px;”></iframe>

  5. Added the code wherever I wanted the button to appear.
  6. Adjusted the parameters like show_face=true/false and colorscheme=dark/light depending on preferences.
  7. Saved the template.

Here it was, the Facebook Like Button at the bottom of each posts. Done.

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/facebook-like-button-on-my-posts/feed/ 0 Valentines day 2011 http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/valentines-day-2011/ http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/valentines-day-2011/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 04:20:50 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=246 Continue reading →]]> Nothing more louder than my door bell ring made me take my ass out of the bed today and after long hours of morning coffee, I realized its Valentine’s Day of 2011.. Gosh the time looks like flying. But well, even being not much into these special made days lately I just couldn’t resist myself not to sketch something on my new scrapbook which was laying exactly right angled view on my table. Temptations carried me away with my tools and I ended sketching a heart full of other hearts crunched together as if it is never enough filled for more and more love. But, the hearts were black and I loved it like that plus I had no color box to try something colorful so later I did some photo shopping to enlighten a little bit my fantasy little hearts.


fictivedesigns.com

I guess every day is a love day if you are in love with someone somewhere, so my friends I wish you all a nice and romantic Valentine’s Day if you celebrate this day and still be loving even if you don’t.

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/valentines-day-2011/feed/ 0 Kangaroo steak special! http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/kangaroo-steak-special/ http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/kangaroo-steak-special/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:10:07 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=218 Continue reading →]]> Few days passed in a restaurant I was quite surprised to see kangaroo meat on the special’s menu. I couldn’t resist doing some reading about it when I saw it again on TV. Ultimately bumped into some interesting stuff about Kangaroo’s meat and my myth that we do Not eat National animal or at least it’s not legal got busted. It is allowed to eat kangaroo from last 20 years in Australia. A large percent of Kangaroo meat gets exported. The kangaroo has been historically a source of food for indigenous Australians and its meat is very high in protein and low in fat. I wonder how it tastes though? never in my wildest dream i thought to get a chance to eat this cute creature of nature, it was always a dream to get a chance to visit Australia to see them.
Apart from the topic, While looking for an answer, I reached a page with related category questions and I couldn’t stop laughing to see few, have a look on the highlight…wahahaha!! Weird to accept the fact that we do have people asking this kinda queries.

fictivedesigns

Some fun thoughts came running to my mind while reading about this as chicken is not considered anywhere as of a national value? It is the most consumed and common bird overall the world, religiously non-controversial to cut, cheaper than any other meat and tasty as always, i wish one day The chicken little do get it’s credit :P

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/kangaroo-steak-special/feed/ 1 Making site height 100% http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/making-site-height-100/ http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/making-site-height-100/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:03:22 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=207 Continue reading →]]> You can make the height of your site 100% using CSS unless you do make <html> 100% high too. Even if you make the <body> height full, it doesn’t work till you do not make height of the <html> the same. The height of the object must be related to another 100% height and for that it is important to make <body> and <html> tag to 100% height.
Here is the straight formula to make it work.

For <div> users
  • <style>
    body, html { height: 100%; margin: 0; padding: 0; background: #F00; }
    #full-height { width: 100%; height: 100%; background: #000; }
    </style>
    </head>
    <body>
    <div id=”full-height”>
    your contents
    </div>
    </body>

For <table> users
  • <style>
    body, html { height: 100%; margin: 0; padding: 0; background: #F00; }
    #full-height { width: 100%; height: 100%; background: #000; }
    </style>
    </head>
    <body>
    <table id=”full-height”><tr><td>
    your contents
    </td></tr>
    </table>
    </body>

It worked for my site, hope it helps everyone :)

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/designers-view/making-site-height-100/feed/ 0 Show me the money. http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/show-me-the-money/ http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/show-me-the-money/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:20:51 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=195 Continue reading →]]> I have been significantly thinking on clients asking a quotation upfront of work and wants the designer to estimate the fixed price based on not enough explained project briefs hardly mentioning how much is the efforts they exactly are looking for us to put, mostly avoiding to tell where their market stands and what is that they can afford. In the end I started googling more and more about it, if it is only my dilemma or every designer’s nightmare.

 

When a client asks a quotation, there is nothing wrong in asking straight what’s in their mind in terms of money. If you have to serve a client, it’s good to ask how much they can afford before telling or showing the whole stacked line of products if they walk in to your store. Surely It would be an old fashioned store but if it saves you time and energy, why not?
Sometimes after sending quotations, you never hear back and we wonder if we did something wrong? but i realized if you quote something which makes them feel not right and they won’t come back to even negotiate or to talk may be either
- They are not interested in your work but just for the sake of having options, they asked you.
- They don’t really need the work right now.
- They wanted something very very cheap but were hesitant to tell you.

 

My question is, if I want a quotation to build up my yard, why it would be difficult for me to mention what is it I can afford in the first place avoiding a lot of to and fro play discussions?

 

Later in the day, I stumbled on few links and I really liked how david wrote about the same facts of why it is difficult to quote a fixed price on a design work that is completely based on your choice of taste.
You can read more on this link and the discussions, it’s really amusing facts
http://www.logodesignlove.com/how-much-does-logo-design-cost

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/show-me-the-money/feed/ 0 here I am & this is me. http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/test/ http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/test/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:41:25 +0000 Heera Tamang http://fictivedesigns.com/blog/?p=19 Continue reading →]]> The work almost dead for ages is finally alive and I am quite content with the restart of my blog this year along with renovation of the site. I hope to get more time so that at least i can work on my writing skills online if not on paper and make worth most of the time I am not doing much writing, sharing my perspective of possibly everything.

]]> http://fictivedesigns.com/the-possible-perspectives/test/feed/ 1