I Like To Design » Design

Solar Tracker

pizzapockets — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:24:38 +0000

A Sample Solar Tracker

I recently learnt that in Ontario Canada, we have a little program called microFIT. What this is, is a guaranteed 20 year contract from the government to pay you x amount for all the power you put into the grid from a solar install.

So, if you live in a rural area and have plenty of space, why not put up a solar tracker?

A solar tracker gathers the most sun light and is your best bang for your buck. It doesn’t take up too much space and makes you look modern & green.

How many T-shirts do I have for sale again? Inventory Management

pizzapockets — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:43:32 +0000

In my last post I relieved my desire to start my own T-shirt business. I started by creating a few for a test market. I have been running a niche blog about Mennonites and thought, hey, why not see if I can shill a few on the site. I have sold a couple of them and started noticing one large problem: inventory management.

Every time I sell a shirt, I have to do a recount of the total left. I try to remember how much of each size is left but then ultimately, I forget again. Who wants to keep in mind: “In green, I have 3 large, 2 medium and 1 small. In blue, I have 2 large, 2 medium and 1 small … ” You see where I am going with this. I have much more interesting things to remember.

Most good inventory management is handled by software and incorporates all aspects of adding new products, removing sold items and letting you know of stuff that isn’t selling. Now I am not at a point where I quite need software to handle it for me but I’m certainly going to have to think about it down the road.

Designing the perfect process: production planning

pizzapockets — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:13:33 +0000

As I mentioned in a previous post, design is more than just making physical objects but also incorporates non-physical entities.

I’ve entertained the idea of starting my own business for a while and as a result have become fascinated with the idea of production planning. Basically, it involves the design of the most streamlined manufacturing process with minimal raw materials, least amount of excess product on shelves but always having enough to supply every customer with your widget.

I started by doing a bit of research on Wikipedia and it seems like the first genius to think about this was Joseph Orlicky. He observed the production at Toyota and how efficient they where with their process and whether or not there were excess cars sitting in lots that weren’t selling.

I’m interested in this process as I’d like to design T-shirts for people to wear but don’t want excess sizes laying around that don’t sell. These days production planning is mostly handled with software that analyzes all aspects of your and outputs a figure. I think that finding some good software will be the next step in my journey.

Design is more than just creating physical objects. Example: Mortgages

pizzapockets — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:51:03 +0000

Ask anybody what requires design and they’ll be quick to mention buildings, posters, cars, clothes and so on. These are all physical objects. Objects that are most often created by hand and can been seen or touched. Now this is completely true and should be not discounted. Experiences can be designed too. A good holiday experience is designed an curated in such a way that it provides a fun and memorable experiences.

But what about a Mortgage? Is it designed? Of course. It is something that would be very near to the bottom of anyone’s list when they were to talk about design but the reality is it is one of the most crucial places for good design to take place. Take this Toronto mortgage broker, they design each mortgage to fit your exact needs and as a result have serious accolades to their name.

I would go as far as saying that design is much more important in boring and mundane things like mortgages and loans than pretty buildings because any can make a pretty looking house but not an exciting financial deal.

Simple design wins: think reed switch

pizzapockets — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:31:00 +0000

via wikipedia

When it comes to design, the simplest solution is usually the best. Trying to come up with a heavily convoluted idea that is clever and highbrow will usually just cause the audience to turn away. Simple ideas that speak to people with a straightforward message usually have the most impact.

It’s a lot like reed switches which quiet simply are an on and off switch controlled by a magnetic field. It is simple and straight forward, but when combined with a bunch of other electronic components, it’s extremely powerful. A reed switch can be found in a guitar, amplifier and many, many other electronic components

The future of motorcycles

pizzapockets — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:03:49 +0000

I enjoy riding motorcycles. In fact, I own one and use it is a daily commuter. However, it is petrol powered and that will eventually have to change.

Currently electric motorcycles are leading the charge but who knows where it’ll go. So to follow that journey, I’m currently writing for a motorcycle blog.

Professional Graphic Design Leads To A Top-Notch Image

pizzapockets — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:09:20 +0000

One of the elements of success in a business is the presentation. Presentation is half of the game – some might say it is even more. Have a polished look and you already have the attention of your potential customers. After all, what kind of customer would want to avail themselves of products or services from a business which can’t even bother to have a good looking image?

Professional graphic design is an important piece of the formula. Making sure everything that needs layout is well designed can be the master key to success. Take note of the letterheads, business cards, envelopes, websites, posters, banners and logos. All these may seem like very small details but these comprise of the overall look of the business. These are the little details which tell all about the business. Examining for these small details is definitely of utmost importance.

For example, a website is an important part of every business today. No business is able to fully compete unless there is a fully functional website available. Of course, website creation may sound too basic today but having a professional website designer to actually layout and work on the site makes a big difference.

A professional website designer knows how to create a website, paying close attention to the creative and the technical aspect. A professional website designer has a good grasp on what the target niche might find appealing. The layout and the colors will all be chosen carefully. The page will be created by making sure it is completely readable and navigable by the visitors. Many attempt to create their own website only to end up creating one that is all cluttered and unreadable because of its color and layout.

As for the technical aspect, a professional website designer knows how to create codes and plug-ins to come up with a stable and useful website. There are websites that though visually appealing, fail to be visited by its target because it is unstable and goes offline most of the time. Making it available 24/7 is important. Also, the search engine optimization of the site lies in the technical aspect. The professional knows techniques that will make the site more searchable.

With high quality graphic design a professional looking website can be created. The result will be more viewers and more prospective clients. Having professional graphic design is like sending a message to the public that the business is ready to serve their needs. The company means business and the quality of the services and products they produce is of top quality.

Original Article: Bob Hamilton

How to Create a Custom WordPress Page Template

pizzapockets — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:14:23 +0000

The Best Word Press Template Guide

Originally developed as a blog site, WordPress by default shows all comments in a loop, listing the newest entries first and the rest in chronological order from the date of entry. I love this about word press for blogging it allows all your visitors to see your latest comments and suggestions, while giving them the chance to look up older post by month of day.

Making sure that your word press blog only has one landing page, is not that hard to set up but finding the right layout is super important, and sometimes you will want and shouls create your own. By static, I mean that unlike the typical WordPress blog page, the content remains the same. You will be able to create your own custom navigation menu to make sure visitors have the right options on every page.

Sadly creating your own landing page and customizing it will take some knowledge and you will need it in normal then one language. In this simple article I will not be covering the steps in which you need to create a custom word press template, because there isn’t enough room, but I will be going over the tools that you will need to make sure you have before we start.

When creating any type of website and even your own custom word pres template it’s important that you remember that you should always test it on your local computer before placing it on the web. Having a local server will enable you to keep all of your files in one place without having them get lost in transition. You will also need XAMP, if you run Windows or MAMP on Mac and the newest version of WordPress installed on your server. Note pad ++ is a free download that you can get for coding your own wordpress template and a web browser like firefox.

You should also look into taking some, usually free, tutorials on HTML, CSS and PHP. Hypertext Machine Language, Cascading Style Sheets and Hypertext Preprocessor, originally called Personal Home Page, will be used to create your custom page. I’m not saying that you will have to be an expert at these but your going to need to understand them and be able to read parts of them, for server instructions.

For many bloggers creating a custom WordPress page template can be a struggle as they manage their site and replenish content, not to mention trying to learn new languages. If your not willing t learn the code or it just seems to hard then comsider the customer template generators that are avaiable online, along with the free templates that come with word press.

These theme generators will allow you to define many areas of your blog to match colors and styles to your choosing, but for the most part are somewhat limited in the types of designs they can offer. But of course you click a couple of buttons and then your done, you have a custom word press theme on the other side. This is just a guide to the tools and different approaches that you can have when building a word press template and if your looking for extra functionality then look into word press membership site plug ins.

Original Article