http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/ en dave@rockbeatspaper.com Copyright 2011 2011-11-30T15:26:45+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/obvious-easy-possible/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/obvious-easy-possible/ Hello all!  It has been a long time since our last post.  2011 has been a great year for RBP and we have been extremely busy!  I ran across a great article post by Jason Fried at 37Signals that sheds a new light on how designers and developers should begin to view interface design & web development.  It introduces the concept of "obvious, easy & possible" when planning and desiging a project.  This is a big paradigm shift from the traditional concept of "low, medium & high" priority and a great way for web designers and developers to begin to plan … Design, Development 2011-11-30T15:26:45+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/sunday-best-websites-has-launched/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/sunday-best-websites-has-launched/ Drum roll please....  We are proud to announce that we have finally launched Sunday Best Website!  This has been something that we have wanted to do for several years and it has been a long time in the making!  And this explains why we have not posted anything to our blog since May 2011!  ;-) Anybody who knows us well and have seen our portfolio, knows that we are very passionate about doing quality work for churches.  In our years at RBP, we have worked with many churches in many different situations and have come to understand the challenges facing churches … Business, News, Miscellaneous 2011-09-16T00:30:20+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/check-out-sunday-best-websites/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/check-out-sunday-best-websites/ Rockbeatspaper is partnering on a brand new venture called Sunday Best Websites.  This is a venture that is a long time in the making and something that we are very excited about!  Our passion for working with churches and ministries to help further God's kingdom combined withe our past portfilio of successful church projects have led us to create this new company. Our mission at Sunday Best is to provide churches and ministries with high-quality, yet affordable websites based on a 2-package model involving custom templates.  We want to make our high level of custom design accessible to all churches and … Business, News, Miscellaneous 2011-05-27T00:53:21+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/preach-on-brother/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/preach-on-brother/ I know it has been awhile since my last post, but I have finally pulled my head above water and found an article to explain exactly what I have been so busy with lately.  And no it is not fantasy football!  Although I am on the fringe of my first visit to the playoffs this season!!  ;)  We have been busy developing great sites for great clients using the Expression Engine (EE) CMS platform.  Jamie Rumbelow over at Think Vitamin has written a great article explaining why EE is the cold blooded killer in the CMS war and Why You Need … Design, Development, Miscellaneous 2010-12-01T15:09:56+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/we-are-launching-new-mobile-services/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/we-are-launching-new-mobile-services/ As web designers and developers, we often consider ourselves to be on the forefront of technology and newness and we hang out with all the cool web kids in the hottest internet spots. So you can imagine the head-scratching that was taking place as Dave and I asked ourselves the following question: "WHY are we not offering any mobile services to our clients??!!" Here we were, two fairly connected and well-informed dudes running a sophisticated web firm that had answers to all of the major concerns that exist within our clients' brains. Simple, elegant and highly usable web sites? Check. Search … News, Mobile 2010-05-18T15:34:04+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/the-problems-with-flash/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/the-problems-with-flash/ Flash development definitely has a place in the world of the web.  While Flash has several beneifts including practically no browser issues, great interactivity and easily handling complex animations, there are many disadvantages to using Flash.  These disadvantages are the reason that we discourage the use of Flash except in cases where it is absolutely the best tool.  Given the advancements that have been made with web standards and javascript libraries, including Jquery and Prototype, there are more alternatives methods to Flash at this time.  Our recommendation has always been to use Flash where it makes sense and stay away from … Development, Miscellaneous 2010-02-22T14:13:41+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/start-with-why-work-from-the-inside-out/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/start-with-why-work-from-the-inside-out/ Simon Sinek is a marketing consultant and author.  He is best known for developing "The Golden Circle," a model based on human decision-making that guides organizations on how to inspire people to buy or support any product, company or idea.  Simon has been invited to talk about this concept across the United States and around the world.  You can view a great video of a recent talk that he gave at the TEDx Puget Sound Conference in September 2009.  In this simple talk, Simon does a great job of detailing "The Golden Circle" concept, explaining the concept behind starting with why … Business, Miscellaneous 2009-12-16T12:47:39+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/our-comment-design-is-hot/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/our-comment-design-is-hot/ Rockbeatspaper was one of many sites featured in a article on hongkiat.com about great comment design.  The article is entitled Comment Design: Considerations, Best Practices and Examples and it goes through several best practices and examples of great comment view and comment form design.  Our site is the first one featured in the part of the article discussing comment view design in general.  We are really happy that our site was featured in an article citing great design and it means alot to us!!  And since they are such big fans of our comment design, we want to hear what you … Design, News, Miscellaneous 2009-12-10T12:51:19+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/above-the-fold-fact-or-fiction/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/above-the-fold-fact-or-fiction/ In the web design industry, "above the fold" is a term commonly used by professionals and clients alike to describe prime content placement.  For those that do not know, above the fold is a graphic design term that refers to the most important content being in the top half of the page or above the fold in a newspaper.  For a long time standing, the standard has been to keep all important information above the fold and is an expected request of the client.  However, recently the concept is becoming more of a myth as users become more accustomed to the … Design, Miscellaneous 2009-10-12T00:09:37+00:00 http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/content-is-king/ http://rockbeatspaper.com/blog/content-is-king/ Anyone familiar with a creative design project, from print to web-based initiatives, understands that content is king and a major player in the success of a project from the very beginning.  Since our inception at Rockbeatspaper, we have been preaching to our clients the value of content from the beginning of a project, which has been met with mixed responses.  Some clients understand the value of great content and others believe it can play second fiddle to a great design or concept.  So let's set it straight... content is the keystone of a project and everything builds upon its successful creation.  … Design, Development, Miscellaneous 2009-09-01T23:40:18+00:00