Kim From Dallas http://www.kimfromdallas.com/ en Copyright 2010 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:04:49 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Hi everyone - I'm giving up the ghost, here. Please visit me at YoLadies, where we have plenty of Style, plenty of Techish stuff, and more and more bright, talented women to make your imagination spin.

Thanks to the few who check in regularly, and to the many who love the Butterfly Alphabet and Legal Graffiti images. I guess I'm too hyper to stick to one subject. :)

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/03/hi-everyone---im-giving.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/03/hi-everyone---im-giving.html Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:04:49 -0600 Yo Ladies! My project is now live, and I'm really proud of it. We have five women blogging on subjects like family, health, technology, style, environment, and some catch-all stuff in the Frankly Speaking section. We plan to feature an inspiring women each week - our first featured article is about fashion designer Michelle LaFortune-Wamego. Check it out!

yo ladies dot com

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/03/yo-ladies.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/03/yo-ladies.html Blogs Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:00:10 -0600 Another project - this one, live! In addition to working on YoLadies.com, as mentioned below, I have been working on a simple site for the Thinking Like a Mountain Foundation. It is a wonderful program, and I'm so happy to have been a part of their web presence.

screenshot of the thinking like a mountain foundation website

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/02/another-project---this-one-liv.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/02/another-project---this-one-liv.html Art Design Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:57:30 -0600 What I've been up to, lately yo ladies dot com logoIt was a crazy 2009, and 2010 is proving to be maybe even crazier. Hopefully the crazy this year will go in a more positive direction. I've been focusing on launching a site for women called YoLadies.com. It's an exciting prospect, and a challenging one. There are a lot of websites for women out there - Mommy sites, female developer sites, retiree and general advice sites - tons of womens' health sites. There really isn't one that combines the different demographics of women, though, rather than segregating into groups. There also is a tendency to avoid the topic of Technology on many sites for women, and we plan to maintain an awesome tech blog that is just that - a tech blog. Not a tech blog about cutsie chickie stuff, just tech.

We launch on March 1 - wish me luck! If all goes well, I'll hopefully have more time for this blog as well. It needs some loving attention.

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/02/what-ive-been-up-to-lately.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2010/02/what-ive-been-up-to-lately.html Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:19:20 -0600 The Jane Hotel Update - February 18 2010
We ended up staying at the Chelsea Hotel - what a great experience! I'm sure the Jane rocks, but we had to check out what we were more drawn to. I think we're ready to take root in NY. :)


I've been researching a trip to New York, today, and in looking for affordable-but-still-cool places to stay, came across The Jane's website. It is very clever and well designed, and if the hotel is as fun as the website, it's definitely going on my short-list. Check it out!

the jane hotel in new york city

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/12/the-jane-hotel.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/12/the-jane-hotel.html Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:36:09 -0600 T Magazine's New Layout I really love the new layout of T Magazine. It's different, sleek, clean, and beautiful. The only thing I don't like about it is the fixed center column...it's just not user friendly and it's weird. If they use the rest of that column for more content, or maybe stretch some other feature across the center of the page, it would make the new look more enjoyable.

screenshot of t-magazine

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/12/t-magazines-new-layout.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/12/t-magazines-new-layout.html Design Usability Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:28:08 -0600 Creative Environment I recently got a new job. I have moved from working in a very stressful news environment to working in what seems like the complete opposite. The best part of this move was taking twelve days off in-between. Everyone needs to do that when they can. I got so much done during that time - closets and computer files were organized, trash was trashed, blankets were cleaned. I also ended up getting creative in a way I've been to stressed to do in a while. I painted and put up Christmas lights, changed my Ikea desktop from a plain natural Vika to a blue, peanut-shaped Vika Manne - it is a great thing, to refresh the home place.

So, as I try to get re-inspired web-wise, I'm going to post a pic of a refreshed area of my home that I particularly love...off to surf for all the fab design I've missed out on in the past couple of months.

photo of a painting by me, and our column circled in white christmas lights

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/12/creative-environment.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/12/creative-environment.html Pretty Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:00:09 -0600 Where can I find a last-minute-fake-crow? Wow...seriously cool Halloween costumes for the ladies.

"The trick is simply to think laterally, not prostitutionally."

tired of catwoman and

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/10/where-can-i-find-a-last-minute.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/10/where-can-i-find-a-last-minute.html Ticklishly Cool Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:55:21 -0600 Legal Graffiti? Found via Cakehead Loves Evil - Cellophane Graffiti. She includes a link to a great video about the process...and the results are truly cool. Check it out here:

cellophane graffiti

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/10/legal-graffiti.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/10/legal-graffiti.html Art Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:10:42 -0600 DNA21 - Funky Inspiration I was lucky enough to come across this beautiful Czech magazine called DNA21. It's in Czech, but you don't need to know how to read the language to get inspiration from the amazing photography, graphics, fashion etc. Here are a couple of examples of the great stuff you'll find:

shot from czech mag dna21


another shot from czech mag dna21

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/10/dna21---funky-inspiration.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/10/dna21---funky-inspiration.html Art Design Pretty Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:10:47 -0600 Kinetic Photography Smashing Magazine has a great article on "Kinetic Photography," which is photography using a camera that is in motion. There are some amazing examples, obtained by tossing, flipping, shaking, spinning, or otherwise moving the camera - be sure you can catch it, if you decide to try the tossing method.

I gave it a try, and came up with a much cooler result than I've gotten from just taking blurry pics - the on-purpose blurries can really deliver. This is nothing compared to the examples in Smashing's article , but it's not bad. :)

kinetic photograph of my lamp

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/09/kinetic-photography.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/09/kinetic-photography.html Pretty Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:33:22 -0600 Music in Websites I'm a believer that including a surprise soundtrack in websites is a bad idea. I'm not talking about sites for musicians, obviously, or games or any other site where it makes sense that music would play upon loading. I'm talking about just normal business sites, portfolio sites, etc. I don't even care how cool the music is - I came across a beautiful site playing a cool Kruder and Dorfmeister song when I loaded it, but the K&D was cranked up really loud and when combined with the what-ever-I-was-listening-to through my earbuds at work, it didn't work.

However, I recently came across this beautiful portfolio site by Jin Young Kim, and I totally forgive her for the music. In fact, the music helps make the site more magical. It really is magical design - check it out (and turn off whatever else you're listening to, turn the speakers on, whichever applies):

Jin Young Kim's Oxcube site

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/09/music-in-websites.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/09/music-in-websites.html Art Design Pretty Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:14:48 -0600 Finally, time for surfing... I'm sure it won't last long, but it's been nice to have a lull in the workload and to have time to find some great inspiration out there. A friend and I are planning a new site, and I've had a terrible mind-block on how it should look, function etc. Six months or more with little time for checking stuff out can atrophy your creativity. But, I found several sites that are curing that little problem, particularly the two below. I love the bright colors of Design Finds, and this article about using vintage colors directly from the original image makes a lot of sense and can provide beautiful results.

screenshot of the Design Finds Me site

Another nice design site is Let's Kiosk. I'm partial to minimalist sites, but they tend to all look the same after a while. Let's Kiosk has a really nice layout that functions differently than a lot of minimalist sites out there - I like the fixed right and left columns...works well here. Check it out:

screenshot of the Let's Kiosk website
]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/09/finally-time-for-surfing.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/09/finally-time-for-surfing.html Design Pretty Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:21:36 -0600 Very cool copywriting/design I was passed a link to NoCilantro.com by a friend, and felt like I was reading an old choose-your-own-adventure book. Do I digress, regress, or move forward? Even though I am completely pro-cilantro, whether it's in Tex-Mex or Asian food, I love the way Wayne Geyer communicates his dislike of the herb.

I think I like his main site even better - it is kind of like being on the web for the first time so many years ago, and getting lost in all the possible paths. The interface is so minimal as to almost not even be there - check it out:

screenshot of wayne geyer dot com

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/08/very-cool-copywritingdesign.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/08/very-cool-copywritingdesign.html Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:57:39 -0600 Brooklyn Collective A great friend of mine, who lives in NYC, strongly suggested that anyone who can go to the Brooklyn Collective this summer should. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I can make it. Fortunately, I can not only hear about the fabulousness from my friend, but I can see much of it on their website.

So, those of you who can go, please do and tell me about it.

If you, like me, can't go - at least visit their site. It's beautiful.

Brooklyn Collective

]]> http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/06/brooklyn-collective.html http://www.kimfromdallas.com/2009/06/brooklyn-collective.html Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:04:40 -0600