There are three relative minor updates. I have fleshed out the text styling by adding list styles. I have adding extra white space between content and comments which causes the comments to move off my laptop screen. I added a comment form.

Now, there is one major update. Scroll all the way down to the bottom. I have started to work out the rethought and improved advanced browse/search (if you think of a better name tell me). The current design has a browse and search which you can toggle open. Shortly after creating it, I saw many issues with it—oh well. This is a second take on it. It is a mashup of a search and browse by category. The x-axis is for search relevancy and the y-axis is how many categories the result is in.

I am really happy for the CSS display inline-block. It does so many little things I need. For instant, I used it for the post links in the search/browse at the bottom of the page. I can have the links be compact so two can be on one line but it also prevents the links from creating a messing line wrapping which breaks the bubble feeling.

1. Evolve the current design. Instead of starting fresh, I am going to use the current design as the starting point. It will be a self test for myself to see how to improve upon the flaws of this design.
2. Improve the navigation. Since the site grew rather organically, the navigation never really kept up with it.
3. Push web design layout. When I did the current layout, I was trying to pushing the current thinking for web design and I see no reason to stop.
4. Switch to Druapl from WordPress. I want to learn Drupal because I like to learn new things and it gives me a better understanding of systems more of them I know. I have nothing against WordPress and I still recommend it. This website was my very first WordPress website and now it will also be my first Drupal website from start to finish.
5. Change the spelling from Mo Jebus to Mojebus.

Here is the in-the-works design of the redesigned Mojebus.

But I just keep coming back to one single idea. It is centered around what the user is looking at on the page. Since reading the users mind is even more out of the question, it would be awesome if the webpage knew what the user was currently looking at. If it knew you were reading the main content it would dim the chrome of the page. Or if your eyes were darting around looking for something, it could start highlighting useful items based upon what your eyes have already looked at. Lots of ideas, but a lot less on how to actually do them.

“Creative integrity” is a term I hear thrown around by graphic designers; and since I am new the scene, it is new to me.  I did not give it too much thought until today when I read it in HOW magazine.

When seeing the words in print, it hit me: what does creative integrity mean?  The word integrity, to simple put it, means someone is moral and ethical or something is intact.  I crossed off the first since creativity is not a person and hence by itself has no morality.  Which leads to, how can creativity be intact, be whole, or in perfect condition?   If creativity can have integrity, then surely we can have imaginative integrity and inspiration integrity. I do not know how you truly measure imagination, inspiration, or creativity—or measure the wholeness. Creativity is simple not concrete enough to have integrity.

Perhaps instead of creative integrity, people mean artistic integrity or the integrity of the design. In either case, the use of the descriptive terms is a better choice.

It really seems that most of us are of the same opinion in that MySpace should not be used for designer networking or portfolio display.

I believe in keeping the design standards as high as possible, for myself, and the industry. There are so many great, professional, resources available to us for these purposes. Oh yeah, like AIGA!

This and the entire conversation irked me. I responded. The following is based upon my response.

I kept thinking and dwelling about the utilizing MySpace all that night. Blank, blank, blank were the first several dozen ideas I had as to why to do it. Then I realized I was wrong, and perhaps most of us, in my approach. Think MySpacing—not MySpace. What action—what emotionally connected action—what addictive action—what MySpacing will they do to your profile? How will they be MySpacing with you?

This is not really my idea and regrettable I do not remember who, out there in the wild, suggested this idea. But the idea finally sunk in with me: “MySpace is about the action and interaction. It is the activities that keep coming back for more.”

Let us put this to mental use; what could our MySpacing page be? Instead of making it our portfolio, we will make it a portfolio piece of MySpacing.

Our MySpace page will be the home to the Dancing Baby II—Da Bay Deuce as the wanna be cool kids call it. Get people to come and come again because they it is a weird bad pop culture addictive quality. Make it something that people will not admit to liking to their friends until that one brave friend admits it and then its ok to fancy it (heck even the emo kids will like it, they just will not admit it). But, there is more to this. People then want to befriend Da Bay Deuce so that a cheesy animated GIF or Da Bay Deuce shows up in there friends list. Then we kick it up a notch; we create a full persona and start commenting on their profiles to tease them back to our profile. In addition, people leave comments on our profile where they can shout out what they want to see Da Bay Deuce do next. Then let’s say, Da Bay Deuce visits your company, for some contrived reason, and an awkward yet funny situation occurs.

Maybe that is not the best example; but, hopefully you can see my point.
MySpace may not be suited to display your portfolio; but, instead it is suited to be a
portfolio piece, in itself, of designing MySpacing.

The Problem

When dragging an item, the target is underneath (hence blocked) by a window, pallet, toolbar, etc.

A Solution

If a window can accept the draggable and the window below it can also accept it, then the top window can display a Hide button that is triggered not with clicking but with the motion of the mouse. See DONTCLICK.IT for example of buttons.

Before dragging the triangle, the second window is over top of where the desired drop location for the triangle on the first window :

While dragging the triangle over the second window, the window displays a button to hide itself:

By moving the cursor over top of the Hide button, the confirmation button for the button is next to the Hide button:

Then to hide the second window the user moves the cursor from the Hide button to the confirmation button:

Finally the second window is hidden (after the draggable is dropped, the second window would show back up again):

When dragging an item, the target is underneath (hence blocked) by a window, pallet, toolbar, etc.

A Solution

Any window (and such) that cannot accept (meaning your cursor changes to a circle with the cross through it when over) the draggable item will get out of the way. They can shrink, resize, move, or fade to get out of the way. Better yet, only do so if a possible target is beneath it.

Before dragging the triangle, the pallet is full size and over top of the canvas:

While dragging the triangle, the pallet shrinks in sizes and dulls because the pallet does not accept the triangle shape: