There is a pervasive impression that quality web design and development can only be found in the US, Canada and some European centers. Who would have stopped to consider, say, South Africa? More →

It’s 2010! A new year is a great time for a fresh start, which explains why so many of us make (and try desperately to keep!) New Year’s Resolutions- and they always amount to striving to be better at something.

If you’re a web designer or developer, here are five Resolutions that just might make you a better one this year:

1. Cleaner code: proper indentations and comments.
   Strive to always use proper indentations and intelligent commenting in your code. Yes, I know that this requires extra effort, but it’s worth it. Trust me- you’ll be thanking yourself later when you have to edit some code you haven’t seen in six months.
2. Less flash, more interactivity.
   I personally would be glad if flash movie “intros” completely disappeared from the web. When you visit a new site, do you want to sit through a few seconds of some flashy animation and bad GarageBand loops? Or is your hand on your mouse, looking for something to read or download or comment on? Web users are a lot more sophisticated these days- they understand that the internet isn’t like television.
3. Keep ASAP: As Semantic As Possible.
   When you name your HTML and CSS parts semantically, it becomes easier to make changes in the future. Resist the urge to name that column on the left “left-column”. What if you decided to move the column over to the right? You’d have to change all instances of “left-column” to “right-column” (the more semantic, and smarter, choice in this case would be “column”).
4. Think ahead.
   Keep in mind that content on the web is always changing. If, for example, you’re creating an original WordPress theme for a client, consider adding support for embedded videos and/or music files. Even if your client won’t be using it now, doesn’t mean he won’t want to do so in the future. Try as much as possible to cover all bases, and future-proof your designs and code.
5. Speed things up.
   People are busier than ever, and don’t have time to sit around waiting for pages to load. Make it your policy to optimize, optimize, optimize. Remove unnecessary files and plug-ins from your servers, regularly optimize your databases, and learn how to optimize your images properly so they load as quickly as possible.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

Welcome to the first Friday Focus of the year and the new decade! Here are some fantastically designed websites that should inspire you to be more daring and adventurous than ever starting right now. Ready?

Designs of the Week

I just love it when a site creates animations without the use of Flash. I like the idea of a rooftop view too—a nice change from the skies and skyscraper views we see so much. There only needs to be a bit of refining in the inside blocks of text, but other than that, I enjoyed the overall vibe of this site.

The hover effects on the side are all such fun. And the splatter shapes used as masks for the different image thumbnails in the gallery? Great idea.

This is what we call the full experience. From top to bottom you get immersed into the world created by the design. It’s probably the most enjoyable type of site. Using the branches as separators is brilliant, and all the little icons maintain that quirky, storybook look.

Social Media Weekly

Design – 10 Beautiful Sketches for Website Prototypes
“In this post I want to suggest you some interesting examples of beautiful sketches for website prototypes for your daily inspiration.”

Programming – Don’t Miss Out Latest 10 jQuery Plugins Before Closing The Year 2009
“This entry is in jQuery Plugins series that I love to give my readers fresh and useful plugins for inspiration.”