Incorporating photographic elements

One of the trends I see more and more of on the web is the incorporation of photographic elements into overall web design. The photos add texture and depth to a site which would typically be very flat. One of my favorite sites that I use to illustrate this is the Stemilt Winery site. The depth, texture and overlapping elements just make this a beautiful site.

Check it out at: http://stemilt.squarespace.com/ 

Got Milk?

 My how time flies, can you believe the "Got Milk" campaign has been running for 15 years now? And the stars they have put in their ads appeal to every age demographic. I just received an e-mail for my girls that you can now download the new Miley Cyrus "Got Milk" poster, is there anything she isn't on? And not to be outdone by the ads, the website, is a beauty itself. With trivia, games, and information all put together in a nice package, I appreciate the white milk and apple-esque reflection and the fun of it all. They are even giving away an Apple Air.

Check it out here http://www.gotmilk.com/

Can Quark make a comeback?

Tuesday May 13th www.appleinsider.com reported that Quark is looking to make a comeback in August when it releases an new upgrade to version 8. The questions is, is this too little too late? I was a hard core Quark fan, but a few years ago, the Creative Suite just just a bit too appealing and I made the move. Ironically, as I was installing the suite on my computer, I received a call from Quark customer support asking what features I liked best and what they could do to better support the program. I had to be honest and tell them I was jumping ship for the smoother seas promised by CS. Not unlike many other designers, I felt as if Quark seemed complacent to make changes and Adobe stepped in filled that need. While competition is good, I am glad to see that Quark is aggressively going after regaining the market. Will I switch? I don't know. But, will it in time and enough, only time will tell.