“The clarity, even genius, of REWORK actually brought me to near-tears on several occasions.”
-Tom Peters, New York Times bestselling author of IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE

The only reason my tears were pouring was because i was allergic to the inc (honestly!). But then again, the book wasn’t really written for my target audience (i still think that Tom Peters guy is a softy though). Rework is, just as i like it, a quick read. Those 280 pages has a lot of white space and art work and an average chapter is about 1.5 pages.

If you are a reader of 37Signals blog ”Signal vs Noise” or have heard any of Jasons talks, then you’re probably familiar with the concepts presented in this book. And even if you are familiar with Jasons and Davids concepts I still think Rework is a good buy. It’s nice to have their thoughts distilled down and gathered in one place.

So, are their ideas that radical? No! Not at all. Most of them are in my opinion pretty obvious. But do companies really work in this way? Do they encourage their employees not to work overtime? Do they trust their employees enough that they can make independent dessisions? Do they recommend their competitors if they feel their products is not a perfect fit for the customer? I think most of them probably don’t. And if you work on a place like that, you should plant this book on his desk or bathroom. Or maybe if you work on a place where your boss micro manage every move you make and have his own bathroom you should get out of there and start something on your own.

If you are an entrepreneur, or a “starter” as Jason like to call it, then this book is a must. But remember to, as I’ve said before, read it with your critical eye. It’s easy to just swallow everything as absolute truths. Especially when they write in such confidence. As they themselves put it “get inspired, don’t copy!”

“Sometimes you need to leave behind the best things to embrace something new. That is what I want to do with Boagworld and I would encourage you to do the same.” -Paul Boag

This is not the last we hear from Paul though. He points out that he will be experimenting with other formats throughout the rest of the year. So hopefully, next year, Paul and Marcus are back but in a new format. I’m hoping for a TV show!

To fill the Boagworld void you can head on over to 5by5 where Jeffrey Zeldman and Dan Benjamin recently started a new podcast called The Big Web show.

// Johan

What about Apple and Microsoft?

Safari indirectly supports VP8 through the quicktime plugin. It will be hard for Apple to admit that VP8 is a better choice than H.264 considering Steve declaring his love for it in his open letter.

Microsoft said in a blog post that the only codec they natively will support is H.264. But this was before Google bought ON2 and open sourced VP8. Microsoft has announced that IE9 will support VP8 if the codec is installed in windows. This is also not optimal but it is much better than nothing. And bear in mind that IE9 will not be shipped until 2011, a lot of stuff can happen until then.

Whats wrong with h.264?

Nothing. H264 is actually (according to these sources) slightly better than VP8. But H.261 is not open source. It has over a thousand patents owned by a total of 26 companies (Apple included). H.264 is not very expensive to use but just the fact that it is not open source makes companies as Mozilla and Opera not support it, out of principle.

Supporting VP8 is Apples chance to gain back the developers trust. Pretty please Apple, do it!

// Johan

Apple evicts flash way too early. I’m all for a web where plugins as flash is not required. Unfortunately HTML5 doesn’t cover everything flash covers right now. There isn’t even good tools to make HTML5 canvas applications. Right now I see flash as the spackling paste that fill all the holes that HTML, CSS or JavaScript leaves exposed. Some of those holes right now is live streaming, webcam access and multi-touch. In 10 years the browser coverage of HTML5 may be as good as flash and there will be some sweet tools to work with but right now we unfortunately need flash. And in 10 years flash has probably (and hopefully) evolved into something else covering up some other gaps.

In Steve’s letter he urges Adobe to make HTML5 tools. And as a matter of fact, they are working on it. Some time ago they demonstrated this. Unfortunetly it didn’t make it into CS5 but in the Web 2.0 Expo 2010 Adobes CTO Kevin Lynch said the following:
“We’re going to make great tooling for HTML5. We’re going to make the best tools in the world for HTML5.”

Jobs also talks about how stuff should be open like H.264. This is as Ida would’ve put it, “tossing beavers in a log house” and just plain wrong. H.264 is proprietary and costs money. That is as closed as flash. And that’s the reason open web browsers like Firefox doesn’t support it. And it seems a bit hypocritical to praise H.264, openness and the death of closed plugins like flash and at the same time use the equally closed quicktime format on the movie clips on the apple web site.

The codec question is not a simple issue, Robert Nyman has written a good article on the subject.

Take care peoples!
// Johan

During one of these coffee breaks a friend of mine was telling us about the progress he had made on one of his projects. After which someone told him “Cool, I wish I had your talent”. Instead of being flattered he got irritated and said: “Toka koka bitches!”.

A few of us burst into giggle, while the others got that “wtf” expression on their faces. “Toka Koka” means “equal exchange” and is a quote used quite a lot in a manga called “Full Metal Alchemist”. Basically it is about two brothers practicing the art of alchemy. The first rule of alchemy is: “To gain, something of equal value must be lost”. It is a great manga which brings up deep questions like “what is the value of a human life” and I highly recommend it. Back on topic, the reason he brought up “toka koka” is that in order to gain success in the project he sacrificed a lot of time.

If you want to be a successful web developer (or whatever your profession is) I think you have to be willing to sacrifice a lot of time. It is not always easy to put in all the effort. Sometimes when you code, you get sucked into that momentum where you feel on top of the world and the hours fly by. Sometimes nothing goes your way. You attack the problem from a thousand angles but on every attempt you just fall flat to the ground. When this happens it’s important to not give up. Just stand up, dust off and keep attacking. Stubbornness is great quality when things are getting tough.

In my opinion talent is pretty meaningless if you don’t have passion for what you’re doing. I’d much rather work with an idiot with passion than with a genius with indifference.

// Johan

Boagworld

Boagworld consists of the hosts Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington. They discuss web news and other web related topics and have interviews with interesting people. The topics are never discussed to deep and are more on the design/management side then on the tech side. Paul is a great storyteller and it’s always fun to hear Marcus interupting and disagreeing with Paul all the time.

Think Vitamin Radio

Think vitamin is a great blog from Carsonified so when I heard that they now have a podcast, Think Vitamin Radio, I got really excited. I have only listened to the three first episodes so far but I have really enjoyed them. They are a bit stiff and the sound is not top notch but I’m sure they’ll get the hang of it soon. Some of the topics discussed are web design, standards, accessibility, AB testing and events related to web development.

The Pipeline

This podcast came from nowhere for me. I had never heard of Dan Benjamin before (yes, shame on me). Dan is an experinced podcaster and that shows. In every episode Dan interviews a new person and the interviews are really interesting.
Most of the guests are from the web design/development/entrepreneurship world. For example people like Ryan Carson (from Carsonified), Jason Fried (from 37 signals) and Jeffrey Zeldman (from uhm… wherever gods hang out).

For the Swedish people there is a podcast called Webbradion that airs every two weeks. They talk both local and international web stuff and do some interviews. What podcasts fuel your inspiration?

// Johan

Fast forward to 1998 when Jakob graduated from Berghs School of Communication and sets up the “Graceland Sthlm” advertising agency with a couple of friends. Over the span of two years the agency grew from 2 to 16 people, won some awards and worked with quite a few high profile clients.

After a merge in 2000 Jakob split and sold his shares, moved on to a smaller ad agency before going freelance in 2001.

You have just released an art book, tell us about it!

A few years ago I released an art book called “Color Blast vol 1″, a collection of illustrations I had done up til then. It was a chance for me to do a project where I called all the shots myself. No clients with requests and no limitations at all. It was such a kick to do that! Even doing the first book I knew that I’d like to do more in the future. This year I finally did.

The second volume is even fancier than the first one. 68 pages (compared to 52) and with a dustcover that looks great. It’s printed with a partial holographic foil which really makes the colors pop. I had been dreaming of using that kind of foil for a very long time, and for this project I finally did. Was really hard to find a printer who was willing and able to do it though, quite a lot of detective work involved.

The book is released in a very small edition of 500 signed and numbered copies, and they’re available through my website.

Are there any books beside Color Blast that you’d like to recommend?

There are lots of great books in the same genre (i.e. independently published art books in small editions). There’s also a really good book store called Stuart Ng Books. It has a terrible site, but a very good selection of books. Chris Sanders, who designed Lilo & Stitch, has three sketchbooks out that are gorgeous. The books of James Jean are also very nice. But the one I’ve been the most impressed with lately is a book by Kevin Dart. It’s called Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7, and it’s such a brilliant concept and it’s perfectly executed.

I’m also a big fan of the Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose magazines, they’re so perfectly tuned into me that I even like the ads in them.

What is the biggest difference between designing for web and designing for print?

For me it’s the fixed format in print. The biggest challenge for me is always to use the size of the screen in a good way. Or rather, the different sizes of screens. Since a website is being visited by so many different people, and seen on so many different screen sizes.

What does the future of web design look like?

I’d like to see (and do) stuff using the Z-depth, and not only the X-width and the Y-height of the screen. I think we could (and should) do some great stuff in Z-depth.

Do you have any recommendation for people from the print world beginning with web design?

Try to get comfortable with not having a fixed format to work with, and try to do something fun with the big RGB color space. CMYK is very limited in comparison.

What is the most interesting case you’ve had?

The MTV Japan Video Awards was one of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on. I was asked to help out with some character design and turnarounds for a campaign that the Dutch ad agency “Kessels Kramer” were working on for the Japanese MTV. I did quite a lot of construction design for this big mascot that would be sculpted in clay in China.

It was also modeled and animated in 3d by a Swedish production company called “Fido“. And I did a bunch of poster illustrations that were beautifully designed by my fellow Art Director Nils-Petter Lövgren who worked at “Kessels Kramer”. The best thing about this project was that we were all these people, spread around the globe, and that we all brought our expertise to the table, and made each others stuff so much better than it would have been on it’s own. We were ”plussing” each other.

Can you tell us about your relationship with Hellboy?

I’ve been a big comics fan for as long as I can remember, and in 1989 there was a Batman comic called “Gotham By Gaslight” that I fell instantly in love with. It looked so good! A few years later I discovered “Hellboy“, and it turned out it was done by the same guy, Mike Mignola. Ever since then, I’ve been keeping my eyes on any- and everything he’s been doing.

In 2001, over the Christmas holidays I made some Playmobil customs, where I turned regular Playmobil Police officers into Hellboy and his friends. They turned out pretty cute and I posted them over at the Hellboy forum where other geeks like myself use to hang out. The photos were very well recieved and to my big surprise I also got an email from the Mignolas where they asked me if I’d be willing to make a set for them, as a commission. Needless to say, I was.

So I spent a lot of time making Hellboy and his fellow agents, and also his enemies from the first graphic novel. 10 different characters in total. In the summer of 2002 I took the custom made box and went to San Diego Comic Con (where Mignola was) and presented the set to him. He was very happy to see them and I had a great day. People were coming up to me asking about the figures and saying how much they liked them and how they thought someone should get them into production. Even now I get a few emails a year from people who have questions about the figures.

How do you tackle creative blocks?

I sleep badly and try to force my way through them. Leafing through books and websites can help too. But I don’t believe in waiting for inspiration. I mean, there’s usually a deadline.

Where do you find your inspiration?

In books and music. I don’t know how many illustrations that have been inspired by lyrics from songs I like. Good lyrics usually make images appear in my head.

Do you listen to music while working?

I do, all the time. As soon as I get to the office I put something on. When I leave the office I plug my headphones in and when I get home I usually put the same playlist on there.

What kind of music?

Lately I’ve been listening a lot to Owl City and PlayRadioPlay. They both come from my longing of a new album from Postal Service.

Is there any kind of artform that you’d like to explore more?

Yes, 3D. Not necessarily to do it myself, but I’d love to be involved in more projects where I design stuff that’s turned into physical (or digital) 3D. The stuff I’ve done so far have been really fun to work on.

ColorBox

• jQuery 1.3 and up
• Size: Less than 9KB
• My personal favourite. Very light weight, Utilizes jQuery and has a very well formed CSS.
• Get ColorBox

ShadowBox

• Works Standalone but supports both jQuery or MooTools
• Size: 1,2 Mb (full package)
• Works with both MooTools, jQuery and by itself. It is very configurable and has a well documented API. Unfortunately this ubiquity shows on the file size.
• Get ShadowBox

Slimbox 2

• Library: jQuery
• Size: 4 Kb
• As seen above, extremely light weight. It also has a little sister running MooTools for those in favor of that, also at 4kb.
• Get SlimBox 2

FancyBox

• Library: jQuery
• Size: 366 Kb
• For all you fancy pants mac people. Nice easing effects and transitions
• Get FancyBox

FaceBox

• Library: jQuery 1.2.1 and up
• Size: 7.1KB
• If you ever need a face bookish modal box it doesn’t get much better than this.
• Get FaceBox

There are obviously a lot more JavaScript modal boxes out there but these are our favourites. You may also consider writing your own modal box. The benefits are that your modal box will be custom tailored for the project and you get exactly the behavior you’re after. On the down side it can be a bit time consuming.

Do you have a favourite? Tell us in the comments!

Be Proud!

We are craftsmen and we take great pride in our work. And we should, even though we may only be a couple of small pixels in a big jpeg (or a stone in a cathedral if you will), cause our profession involves a lot of hard work and responsibility. I remember writing funny limericks or scrawling down funny pictures of work mates inside of walls when I was was working as a construction worker. The thought that, one day someone is going to rebuild this place and discover my witty scribbles inside a wall, amuses me.

In Handcrafted CSS, Dan Cederholm demonstrates how he leaves his mark on his creations (an ASCII beer in the bottom of his code). We should all have a witty tag to leave inside our code cause some day your code may be refactored. And doesn’t knowing, that someone is not only going to see your code but also a piece of your personality, make you all fuzzy inside?

For inspiration, click view source on SimpleBits and look up the beer tag right before the tag and/or visit this thread on stack overflow.

Down sides

There are some down sides of being in our profession as well. For example, you are really good at insulating buildings and you have insulated many buildings without any complaints, but one day you mess up, you use the wrong type of insulation and you get complaints from cold residents. So the only time you get feedback is when something goes wrong. I’m sure we all have had similar experiences in web projects and one of the things that makes up for this (for me at least) is being able to point at something and say ”I helped to build that” weather it be your grandmothers retirement home or a buddies twitter application.

A word of advise when you do mess up though is to not go the Microsoft way and say your supposed to wear to pair of socks in that building. Instead stand for your mishaps and offer ways to correct it.

Metaphors

I have to plug the books which inspired me to write this post. Both of them have very cool metaphor examples and my favorite right now is one from The Pragmatic Programmer. It’s called The broken window theory. In short this theory says that if you leave a broken window in a building it will give the residents a sense of abandonment and one broken window leads to another and people start littering and graffitiing the building. And finally the building will be totally tarnished.

This is very applicable on code to. If you leave bugs, bad naming conventions or temporary solutions etc unaddressed, you will soon end up knee deep in software rot. But if you keep your code clean and neat without any broken windows, no one is going to want to be the one that breaks a good rut.

// Johan

Past (that is the old year of 2009)

• We have two new writers (Johan and Ida)
• We are now on Twitter ( @swedishfika )
• We had a peek of more than 3000 pageviews on July 20
• Our most popular post this year was
  1. IE6, Let US Deal With All This Hate!
  2. Need To Test Your Website In IE6 It’s Easy With IETester
  3. W3C Valid HTML ≠ Good HTML

Future (that is the brand new year of 2010)

• Our goal for this year is to write at least one post per week. We have joined Project52
• Our New Year’s resolution is to try to keep that “Project 52″-commitment and get together for beer and rant more often.
• There is a new design in the pipeline which will be rolled out some time within the year.

Help us with our resolutions

We would be happy to get some input in what to post during this year. We feel pretty inspired right now. But who knows when the writing drought will hit us and we will sit with empty heads in front of our keyboards? So what is interesting to people? Interviews? Tutorials? More philosophic web-articles? Competitions?
Feel free to leave a comment below. The first ten suggestions will be rewarded with either a Spotify-invite or an invite to Google Wave. Don’t forget to write what you would like.

While waiting…

While you wait for all this awesome stuff to happen remember to follow us for updates on twitter

Happy New Year everyone!

/ Simon, Ida, Alex and Johan