Jim Barraud » Design

Manifest – Two Months Later

Jim — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:46:27 +0000

It’s been two months since I released my first Wordpress theme, Manifest. And in those two months the response has far exceeded my expectations. Since it’s release, Manifest has been listed on various Wordpress theme blogs and used on countless personal blogs. It’s also enjoyed over 1100 downloads. Which still boggles my mind.

I’d like to say Thank You to everyone who’s commented, downloaded and enjoyed Manifest. I really do appreciate the support.

That being said, I’m considering making some updates to Manifest based on how I’ve seen it being used in the wild. While I have my own list, I’d like to hear from you as to what you would like to see (if anything) in an updated version.

Manifest : A Wordpress Theme

Jim — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:30:48 +0000

I’m proud to announce my first publicly available Wordpress theme, Manifest. Manifest is based on a previous design of my personal site. It’s a theme I rather liked and didn’t want to see go to waste. So instead of letting it die off in a folder on my hard drive, I decided to clean it off, polish it up and release it into the wild.

My goal with Manifest was to create a clean and streamlined theme that focused on the content and not the distractions. It utilizes a single column, 500 pixel wide layout. No sidebars. No widgets.

Some highlights:

Valid XHTML Markup. It currently validates as XHTML Transitional. That is until you start embedding all those crazy YouTube videos and Google Ads ;)
Microformat support. The posts are marked up using the hAtom microformat. Which an increasing number of search engines (like Yahoo!) are beginning to support and index.
404 page. I’ve included the standard Wordpress 404 template, which in addition to a nice “not found” message, it provides your readers with a list of recent articles.
Archives template. An archives template that supports categories, tags and monthly views.
Links template. A basic links page template. This isn’t a standard Wordpress template so you’ll need to add it as a new page. But it will pull in any links you add to the Links section in the admin.
Google ad (sorta) support. There a designated spot on the single post pages for Google or any other type of text ads. Commented out by default, but there if you want it.
IE6 unsupported. This is a feature, not a bug. If a user attempts to view your site in IE6, they’ll be presented with an unstyled (but perfectly functional) site. Along with a friendly message suggesting they upgrade their browser.
Some webkit visual candy. It’s minor but hovering over the buttons will provide smooth rollover transitions in Safari 4 and Google Chrome thanks to their new CSS based transition properties.

Feel free to use as you please, I just ask that you keep the Manifest link at the bottom. Thanks and enjoy.

Demo and Download Info

New Site Design

Jim — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:36:48 +0000

It’s been a while since my last major redesign, so I figured now was as good a time as any to launch this one. I’ve ditched the single column stream of news format for a more traditional approach. With this design I was aiming to get a bit more organized in how I’m presenting content on the site. Two sections in particular that I wanted to break out were my photography and projects I’ve worked on. Each of these now have there own separate sections on the site.

I’m not going to go too much into detail with what’s changed visually or technically. I’ll just invite you to check it out and let me know what you think. I’m still cleaning up a bit of the code and will probably be making tweaks over the coming weeks, but overall I’m pretty happy with this one.

One thing I will mention though is that I’ve completely dropped support for IE6. So the 36 of you out there who are still using it to visit this site will get a completely unstyled experience. It’s time to upgrade people.

Office of the Tooth Fairy

Jim — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:13:22 +0000

Beautifully designed letterpress Certificate of Record for filing with your local Tooth Fairy. I wonder what the ROI is on this.

Gmail Themes

Jim — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:35:47 +0000

I’m a big fan of Gmail but have never been a big fan of the design. My opinion my be changing with the release of Gmail Themes. It hasn’t been added to my account yet, but I’m checking regularly.

This. Fucking. Election.

Jim — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:47:41 +0000

Great typographic overview of this fucking election.

Type Tweets

Jim — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:04:16 +0000

Type Tweets is an interesting site that parses out the most recent twitter messages that contain type related comments. (via webmonkey)

Design Refresh

Jim — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:16:06 +0000

Here it is, yet another redesign. Although I think this one will last a while since I’m getting a little burnt out on doing them. I’m going super simple this time. A single column layout with a clean aesthetic design.

I’m going to try and focus and posting more of my own content and less of the video embeds and random links that I’ve been posting lately. Which was a bit of an experiment on my part.

Anyway, here it is. I’ll be making tweaks here and there as I grow into the design and start adding content. Oh, and that photoblog I was all hyped up about a week ago? Yea, that’ll probably be taken down and supplemented with this new design. I’m not liking the feel of my content being spread on several sites so I’m bringing it back under one roof. Well, as of this week I am.

Steve Jobs on Paul Rand

Jim — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:37:40 +0000

“I asked him if he’d come up with a few options. And he said “No, I will solve your problem for you. And you will pay me. And you don’t have to use the solution; if you want options, go talk to other people.””

Conversations with Paul Rand

Jim — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:15:03 +0000

“You never call it art. Art is if you’re lucky.”