Evolution: A Weblog by Third North Creative

Things have been pretty quiet on Evolution since September.

But we’re back! And although it may have seemed as if we dropped off the face of the earth during November, December and January- we were in fact, hiding out at the studio for days on end, putting the finishing touches on a suite of sports specific web applications that we are ecstatic to introduce today! These applications can be found at the new Team Sport Technologies website.

As previous posts have pointed out, development and design of Version 2 of our Puck Systems web application product was our primary focus for a majority of 2006. As the Puck Systems Version 2 project progressed, our clients made it remarkably clear that the tools we were developing for hockey organizations were needed for other sports organizations as well.

We took this to heart and took the Version 2 project one step further… creating a multi-sport organization management and communication platform unparalleled in the industry. From that day forward “V2″ became “Team Sport Technologies”. It may have taken us a bit longer, but the result is well worth it.

Take a look at what we’ve been up to, and drop us a line if you get a chance.

The completely redesigned Lasker Jewelers is live! The legendary jewelry store approached us with a number of goals for the design and development of their new site. Lasker Jewelers was founded in Eau Claire, WI in 1928 and now has showroom locations in both Eau Claire, and Rochester, Minnesota. The design goals for the new site were very clear: provide a fresh face to a timeless and exquisite company. We let the jewelry steal the show through use of a subtle color pallet and non-obtrusive design elements. Site functionality includes a custom CMS and online store integration. Take a look, and enjoy the bling.

We are thrilled to announce the addition of Greg Blasko to the Third North Creative/Team Sport Technologies team. Greg’s programming talent, along with his conceptual prowess, will be immediate assets to our web development crew. Plus Greg is a really cool guy.

As Puck Systems Version 2 nears completion, Greg will be working closely with Mike to develop and implement the new features, additions and modules that will be available on V2. Welcome to the circus Greg, we’re excited to have you on the team!

Working on the American Birkebeiner website redesign has truly been an honor. The event itself carries with it such positive connotations, and for good reason: it has touched and empowered countless individuals over the years, fueled lifelong friendships, and brought families closer together. We’re proud to have played a part in this legend they call “The Birkie”.

There were a handful of key Birkie concepts that helped guide my design decisions: (1) The Birkie is a life-changing event, both physically and emotionally. (2) Crossing the finish line is awesomely empowering. (3) The race promotes nature, community and a positive lifestyle. (4) The Birkie is a true adventure, steeped in both history and tradition.

The site design focuses on the “adventure, experience, history, and tradition” aspects of the event in both its imagery and color-pallet. The imagery celebrates the location and season of the race, while the brightness and saturation of the colors inject visual excitement. The page title photos have been colorized and stylized, reminding us that this race is a modern adventure with timeless historical roots. The typography was carefully selected to follow the same themes.

When I started this project, I definitely had a desired outcome in mind. That outcome was to have a beautiful website that truly captured the spirit of the Birkie. The content and features needed to be well organized and accessible. I wanted the site to be a hub, not only for the Birkie, but also for the cross-country ski community as a whole. The finished site also needed to be an effective tool for the event organizers. Last, but certainly not least, I wanted visitors to be inspired by the website.

Enjoy!

Here at Third North the line between web designer and web programmer continues to blur. As a company we have made the leap from PHP to Ruby on Rails, much to the delight of Mike… and while he transitions between programming languages with relative ease and grace, I usually end up stumbling around for a bit (as most creatives do when they venture into the world of logic).

Kevin Clark, author of the weblog Gluttonous, has posted a fantastic introductory guide to Rails aptly titled Rails for Designers, which I have referenced back to a handful of times while getting my feet wet in the new language. The post summarizes the key concepts of RoR for designers including: MVC, URLs, and the basics of RHTML. All of which are essential to successfully designing and working with a Rails application.

Until recently I assumed that Windows users were doomed to seeing nothing but ugly pixilated fonts on their favorite websites. However, since Windows XP was released in 2001, the ClearType feature has been included in the operating system to smooth screen fonts. The problem is that ClearType is set to off by default, and many people don’t even realize the feature exists. ClearType will be included and enabled by default in the forthcoming IE7 for XP, but to take advantage of the great feature on your current XP machine just follow the steps below and start enjoying your favorite sites in all their anti-aliased glory.

To use ClearType for screen fonts:

1. Open Display in Control Panel.
2. On the Appearance tab, click Effects.
3. In the Effects dialog box, select the Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts check box.
4. Click ClearType in the list.
5. Click Ok and Apply.

Blattner Brunner of Pittsburgh has created a fantastic series of powerfully simple Lego ads. The ads effectively capture the essence of what makes the classic toy so amazing. Imagination. I am convinced that the hours and hours my brother and I spent creating our own Lego masterpieces has directly effected the way that I design and envision creative solutions today.

UPDATE: Photography Credit: CWENAR Photography

Recently a handful of new web design galleries showcasing Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) based websites have been popping up everywhere. These constantly updated galleries are a great snap-shot of current trends in the CSS design community and provide overwhelming inspiration. So set aside a few hours (or days) and dig in!

CSS Beauty | Design Shack | CSS Zen Garden | CSS Bloom | Design Melt Down | CSS Galleries | Best Web Gallery | Stylegala | CSS Drive | CSS Vault | Unmatched Style | The Daily Slurp | CSS Mania | CSS Remix | Screenspire | CSSElite | WithStyle | CSS Thesis | InspirationKing | Light On Dark | tom.ma | screenblog

There is no doubt that the digital revolution has enhanced every nook and cranny of the design world- and produced a whole new genre of design centered around the web. Projects that once required an army of creatives and artists are now produced by small creative teams (or single individuals). Information and resources lay at the fingertips of anyone with a Google search bar and a RSS reader. Amazing work is being produced at break-neck speed. It is a great time to be a designer.

The largest downfall to these amazing machines and tools is their tempting ability to increase efficiency by sacrificing conceptual time and truly original creative interaction with a project. It is all to easy to skimp on sketches and head straight to the Mac, letting the software drive a design- instead of letting the design drive the software.

Sketching is a physical interaction with visual and conceptual ideas. Paper provides a freeform playground that removes all of the restrictions that a computer puts in place. We are forced to think about design in terms of flowing ideas instead of filters and trends. Instead of managing menus and pallets, our pencil can wander and explore.

Never be too quick to forfeit the physical side of the creative process for speed and efficiency. The sketch is where truly great design begins.

We are proud to announce the launch of the Puck Systems V2 demo site. Stop by the site and check out the new “Add a Page” and “Edit Page” functionality. The demo site is a sneak-peak of what Puck Systems clients can expect in the upcoming V2 release.

V2 represents a total overhaul in functionality and design and truly brings professional internet communication tools to the youth sports realm. Since the inception of Puck Systems we have had the great fortune of working with incredible clients. Clients who are as passionate about their youth sports organizations as we are about web development. It’s these passionate clients that have provided an incredible amount of inspiration during the current development cycle… and ultimately influenced a number of great enhancements and features that will be present in the final release of V2.

Please experiment with the demo, add, edit or delete anything you want. Brief instructions can be found on the “Instructions” page. After you play with the demo, stop back and leave a comment- these comments will serve as valuable input as we put the finishing touches on V2.

UPDATE 2/14/07: We have launched a new Puck Systems Demo Site at: http://demo.pucksystems2.com/