Graphical User Interface Design

Currently, we are working on building a new desktop application. It all begins with good planning and beautiful design. Here are four steps with tips that will help designers design a successful application.

Using the Factory Method Pattern

 Introduction to a Classic OOP Design Pattern

Throughout my career as a developer I have had the occasion to use the Factory Method Pattern when appropriate, and grown to rely on it extensively in recent months as several projects have dictated. I find this pattern to be extremely useful in creating a loosely-coupled application architecture, which (as we’ve all been indoctrinated) is the cornerstone of well designed apps. It is my hope that this introduction will illuminate this pattern for the uninitiated. Even if you don’t find an immediate application for the Factory Pattern, just understanding the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of this design can be important in grasping the importance of the “open-closed” principle, and will help you to write better code. 

Let me start off by giving the standard text-book definition of the pattern:

The Factory Pattern “…define[s] an interface for creating an object, but allows the subclasses decide which class to instantiate. The Factory method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses.” 

Illustrator graphics to After Effects animation

When it came time to create a new animation for our homepage, we decided to go with bold, fun and eye-catching. Our talented designer Beth came up with the graphic treatments for each section. I was then given these as layered Illustrator files and animated them in After Effects. After exporting them to .mov files, they were converted to FLV video.

Conceptualizing a Successful Logo

My Sketching Process for Seeds to Green

I am currently working on a new logo design for a site we are building.
Getting started is the hardest part. The most important things to keep in mind when designing a logo are:

• Keep it simple so it will be memorable
• Represent your clients company/business and branding
• Design for you audience.
• Make the logo scalable