DIGITAL ALCHEMY @ WORK

Discover what creates the magic in our work.

Jul 29, 2011

Land ho! Sail ho!

Jul 29, 2011 3:31 PM Posted by Unknown
I gotta say, the 1st half of 2011 passed so fast I don't quite remember what happened... Well OK I do remember but maybe it's not that spectacular.

Not memorable.

But I intend to make the 2nd half a lot more exciting, and to prove the point, we actually headed East
to Bukit Gambang, Pahang for a Retreat, all 12 of us. And it was a hoot!


We reviewed our strategy and to-do-list and made a collective promise to push for the next 5 months to deliver on our Product Development aka Nimbus or XTOPIA in the Cloud. It is a 3-tiered software se
rvices model that, when we get it shipped, will transform XIMNET from a project-focused company to a software services global setup.

Sure, we dream BIG.

And yes, we've also promised to ACT BIG TIME to achieve our goals.

During the trip, we tinkled with our Design Direction with a user-focused philosophy that will outline our UX Manifesto, sharpened our Marketing Focus with Mobile offerings, and most of all, laid the foundation for our R&D to transform the company, as mentioned above.

And over the next 5 months, Deborah & I will be a lot more diligent in posting our thoughts and journey snippets and you will see that we will be sharing the highs and lows of this ambitious journey.

And I will be working on publishing 3 eBooks to be shared with you.

More details to come...

And here's for a wildly exciting 5 months before we wrap for the year with wine and Christmas holidays.

I will end with a group photo of the team at Bukit Gambang. Here you go.


Jul 4, 2011

Mar 24, 2011

Web Design & The Chief Alchemist?

Mar 24, 2011 8:01 PM Posted by Unknown ,
I've been asked many times, in meeting rooms, sales presentations, wedding dinners, old boys gatherings, why do I carry this rather unusual title?

"CHIEF ALCHEMIST"?

Why indeed?

There's the long answer and the short answer thing.

So for this post, I will get to the short answer, which might be more relevant within this context.

Whichever ways you see it, the Internet is fertile ground for innovation. When I first got interested in web design circa 1996, I knew that the value of the web was not in any new fangled, multi-million inventions coming out of research labs within the guts of the Silicon Valley. The value of the web will be on how we put existing stuffs together to produce something valuable.

You throw text, images, videos and a bunch of codes together, stir them with imagination and make it do things for people in never before imagined scenarios or those areas that are blatantly under-served and bingo! you've opened NEW DOORS into this brave new, connected world of ours.

Look at GOOGLE.

Look at FACEBOOK.

Or YOUTUBE, for that matter.

Great ideas, YES! But really, it's always been there, those materials. You mine them out, connect them, slice & dice 'em, and whooosh, GOLD!

That's alchemy. Making gold out of ordinary things.

For us at XIMNET, we look at your content, your context with eyes of possibilities. That's our thing, OUR CREED, if you don't choke on that kind of words.

And we've done this for more than a decade. I am proud to say this without any sense of irony, we've got to be one of the top web design company. In Malaysia at least, if not in the region.

And we've seen promising competitors flamed out in the lean years after the 7 fat years, watched some losing their ways, gazing starry eyed, hallucinating under the desert skies, and witnessed some new ones sprouting like tiny mushrooms after last night's rain. (OK, I'll be honest, there's one I like a lot, web warriors, kindred spirits)

But we, we've been tested thoroughly in the crucible of fire. And for that reason alone, we dare to say we know what's its worth, this web thing.

I will whisper to you... it's about results...

Yes, it's all about delivering results my friends. And we've gotten the rituals and chants down pat. And a dash of love to work it too, but that's for another day.

So there, that's my passion, transforming everyday things into gold over the Internet. And if you don't mind, I want to get back to my lab. :-)

Have fun, my friends!


Chief Alchemist.

Mar 22, 2011

Feb 21, 2011

Creating Depth In Web Design

Feb 21, 2011 12:49 PM Posted by Unknown , , , ,
Have you seen one of those website that makes you want to touch the monitor to feel the texture or a beautiful big image so real you want to jump right into it? No, we're not talking about those fancy 3D flash websites but one that plays with depth so well it creates a whole new dimension right at your flat screen.

Nike Better World used the mixture of fluid movement and layers of images to replicate a faux 3D effect to the website. Everytime you scroll the page, the different layers of graphic moves creating a space between the objects. We especially enjoy looking at the page with the orange running shoes. They looked as though they are in the midst of falling everytime the page is scrolled.

It is not difficult to put some magic touch to your website to give them more depth.

Here are some quick tips we've learned to share:

1. The 1px Wonder
Notice how the white box stands out from the background? Actually a 1px grey line was applied to the box to give it a faux shadow between the white box and the background. This works especially well if you just want a simple touch of depth to your website and easily achievable using CSS.

Same method can be applied to navigational bars, buttons and others to create the effortless faux 3D effect for your designs.

Apple did a great job in using these magical 1px lines on its navigation bar to separate the section of the pages. The darker lines works as shadow whereas the lighter ones creates highlight.

2. Foreground and Background
While choosing an image to use, always choose one that has a strong perspective and focal point. Otherwise, try editing the image to emphasize more on the object at the front and a blurred out background to show depth. For instance, we've edited this image with two cows. The cows are nearer to you hence the color is brighter and clearer where as the background is blur and darker. This helps to make the cows stand out from the background creating a good depth of field.

3. Size Does Matter
 An object on its own does not show any depth unless it is being compared to. By playing with the size of an object near and far it creates an instant depth. This method is commonly used in carousel styled photo gallery or operating system UI.


Although depth is not an important element in web design, but why limit yourself? There are so much more methods you can try and explore to give your design more flair.

Here are some of our favourite websites using depth beautifully:

http://www.floridaflourish.com/
http://www.wearecupcup.com/
http://www.joshsender.com/
http://riotindustries.com/
http://365daysofastronomy.org/
http://www.jonabel.com/
http://www.nineflavors.com/
http://www.motocms.com/
http://substrakt.co.uk/
http://carlcartee.com/