© 2011 dottDesign
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My name is Derrick and I am a Web Developer/Web Designer based out of Surrey BC Canada. I am avaliable for freelance jobs so please feel free to contact me

Design

I will work with your thoughts and ideas to help you and design the site that makes you feel good. I can design with a content management system in mind, or just plain HTML. My goal is to make you excited about the process, not scared.

Development

This is a tricky field, because some people think they need bigger and better then the last person, when in reality, simple is everything. I will help you choose (if needed) what kind of website we should build and if you need that bigger and better option.

S.E.O

Want to find out how your website is doing?
Who is getting to it, and how?
How long they stay?
I will set up a range of tools to help assess your site and work on getting the rankings in search engines up higher. †I can make NO guarantee of specific placement in search engines for specific keywords. I do NOT control the search engine results, the search engines do. I can legally and ethically make no guarantee, other than the fact that my work, process, past experience and proven system can give your website the best chance to rank well on the Major Search Engine Results pages for specific keyword phrases targeted.

Logo

Usually a first impression whether a business card or a website, your logo should convey the message about your company. Lets create a logo or word-mark that best suits "you" and your company.

Cross Browser

I ensure websites to work on 4 main Web Browsers; Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, & Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. Almost all web browsers are different and use the website code in a different way. I will ensure the website works in these browsers or advise a way around any issues.††I can not 100% guarantee that all aspects of the website will work on every targeted web browser.

Twitter Backgrounds

Custom Twitter backgrounds can provide some visual delight as the "followers" skim your feed. Let me create a background that looks great an is also functional with links, images, and even a blurb.



About

Now with just about 2 years experience in the real world of Design & Web Development, I have decided to work on my online portfolio (Yes it's long overdue).

After graduating from BCIT's New Media Design & Web Development program, I joined the team at deBruyn Design + Marketing as a Production Manager and Web Development Coordinator.

Long before I ever imagined I would be in this industry, I was an inspring Chef working my way to a dream career. After 10 years, it began to become a job more than a career, and I began to pursue a new path.

Realizing I spent a lot of time not only drawing and painting but a lot of time on the computer working with different programs which I soon found to be quite useful. With great research, and a few tough weeks of the thought of starting over, I found BCIT.

And that brings us to today.

And now, I may help you… so go on, lets get in touch!

Contact





Blog

Some helpful sites I use…
Posted: Apr 20 2011
One Comment.

I thought I would write a post about some useful online tools that I use on a regular basis. Some of these may be old and possibly outdated, but you know what they say, “You cant teach an old dog new tricks”.

FONTS

dafont: I use this almost on a regular basis to obtain new fonts for various projects. Te fonts range from freeware & shareware to demo versions & public domain.

Font Squirrel: This site has everything from some of the hardest to find fonts to some of the most basic. A great site to bookmark and come back to for not only inspiration, but what font are the new “trends”.

1001fonts: Just more fonts, basic fancy or retro. Sort through fonts by a multitude of categories, or search by specific name.

HTML

Dynamic Drive: Free, original DHTML & Javascripts to enhance your web site!

HTML Goodies: If you are brand new to the world of Web Development, and maybe even new to computers in general, then this is the place for you to start. It describes, in completely non-technical terms, the process you will go through to begin the creation of a website.

JAVASCRIPT/JQUERY

The Javascript Source: The JavaScript Source is an excellent JavaScript resource with tons of “cut and paste” JavaScript examples for your Web pages. All for free!

FeedSweep: FeedSweep is a service that “republishes” feeds. It pulls news and content from any Internet feed source and displays the contents on your web page or blog – all without any programming! Just set it and forget it…

EVERYTHING ELSE

Official PSDs: Official PSDs is a user-driven, community-oriented site where graphic artists of all skill levels can come together to share resources. These range from stock images to PSD cutouts of Musicians, Athletes, and every category in between. Use them in your banners, forum signatures, mixtape covers and personal projects!

Everystock Photo: We are a search engine for free photos. These come from many sources and are license-specific.

UPDATED: June 4th 2011.

Lorempixum: Webdesign or Print. It’s simple and absolutely free! Pick your size, your category, and either B&W or colour.

HTML-Ipsum: Basically, this is lorem ipsum, but it creates basic elements of HTML with lorem ipsum filled in.

Brands Of The World: Need a vector logo for a large corporate company. Try here first.

Comments

Jeff said:
Wow, wonderful blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? The overall look of your web site is fantastic.

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Website Content Pet Peeves
Posted: Mar 16 2011
No Comments.

Everyone has a few pet peeves but as someone who spends a lot of time on the web, I am finding more and more that the formatting of content is declining considering the knowledge we have and are provided each and every day. When I say formatting, I don’t mean long paragraphs and run on sentences. This isn’t English class, nobody cares how you write, in fact, writing for the web is almost the complete opposite of what you were taught. But that’s neither here nor there. This is about how people are formatting the look of text and why or why not they should be.

1. Links

This I find to be a big one, text links that are not defined, words that are styled like links but are not, or title that are links but no different from a non linking title. Here are a few examples:

Not specifying the link in a proper manor, as in having the link “Click Here” the same color and style as the regular paragraph text, but in turn, underlining “go to this page” items that are not links. As you can see this is very confusing.

The links should be clear that they are links, you should not have to tell people to click here to make it obvious.
I saw this site today that i really enjoyed. Note there is not underline, or words that will confuse this link.

Another issue is titles that link, but do not look any different then other links.

Normal Title compared to a linking title Linking Title

Again, this should be clear

Normal Title compared to a linking title Linking Title

2. Fonts

Nowadays, there are millions of different fonts and variations to choose from but somehow, some people still choose some of the worst fonts for readability.

  • Multiple Fonts: Huge annoyance not only for me, but I am sure there are millions of people this bothers. If you are reading a web page and then it all of a sudden changes fonts, the reading is automatically compromised.
  • Font Type: Lets be honest, some of us get kinda lazy or run out of time, but in all honesty, that is no reason to use the font “Papyrus“. There are many many free font source websites out there including;
    dafont
    Font Squirrel
    101 Fonts
    you can get fonts for any platform, any use, and any time!

 

Pop Ups

One word…STOP!. If I want to click on something, I will click it.

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