Category: Experiments

  • Starting a watch brand… or maybe not.

    Starting a watch brand… or maybe not.

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    Paris Vega
    in

    I started building a watch brand in 2019. It didn’t work out. Here’s the story about what happened during one of many entrepreneurial experiments I pursued in 2019. In the past, I never thought about watches much. Wore them a few times, but couldn’t get into it. The Apple Watch [1] had enough utility to…

  • Permaculture.

    Permaculture.

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    Paris Vega
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    All humans need these three things: Clean air, clean water, and clean food. Everybody wants them. Everybody needs them. Sadly, the concept of a clean “environment” has become politicized and saturated with unnecessary baggage. After a few years of learning and experimenting on my own land, this is the beginning of documenting my exploration into…

  • Explaining Pi

    Explaining Pi

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    Paris Vega
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    One day my wife and I noticed our boy, 6 at the time, repeating something to himself while holding a dollar bill. Suddenly, he says, “I got it!” He then quoted back to us the serial number from the dollar bill without looking. That’s a random 10 digit number that muh boy decided to memorize without any instruction from us.…

  • Floating Simple Robots: Sketch Meditation Day 3 (WIP)

    Floating Simple Robots: Sketch Meditation Day 3 (WIP)

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    Paris Vega
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    That feeling when you walk into a room full of floating robots…

  • Sketch Meditation Day 1 (WIP)

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    Paris Vega
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    Starting a new sketching habit each day of whatever shapes or imagery feels good to my brain at the moment. This started while drawing with my kids at the kitchen table. I started feeling such a high from drawing simple things with them, that I’ve decided to try and make it a daily habit. Might…

  • The easiest way to start buying, selling, and mining Bitcoin

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    Paris Vega
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    Despite all the negative news around bitcoin, I believe cryptocurrencies are the future. Bitcoin may not be the one to take off, but one of them will eventually. Here’s how I started earning bitcoins. Create a Wallet: I setup a digital “wallet” with Coinbase where you can save the bitcoins you’ve mined, or just buy and sell bitcoins directly…

  • Quick Tip: LESS Mixins for Pure CSS Pinterest / Masonry style grid layout

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    Paris Vega
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    Pinterest popularized the masonry grid style layout. Here’s a simple solution for a masonry layout built with pure CSS3, and no javascript or floats. [css] // Parent Element, or Container .grid (@columns: 3, @gap: 10px, @width: 100%) { -moz-column-count: @columns; -moz-column-gap: @gap; -webkit-column-count: @columns; -webkit-column-gap: @gap; column-count: @columns; column-gap: @gap; width: @width; } // Child Element, or…

  • My plugin gets added to WordPress core!

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    Paris Vega
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    WordPress 3.5 was released yesterday. After upgrading my site, I checked the editor screen and noticed a tiny tweak that made me smile. It looks like my humble suggestion finally made it in to WordPress core. Notice the Add Media button… it’s an actual button! The previous version of the button looked like this: It was an easily…

  • Button It Up version 1.2 released

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    Paris Vega
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    With the release of my first public WordPress plugin last month I received encouraging nods and tweets from the community, as well as some constructive feedback. One user requested a very specific set of changes: Paris, Thanks for making this plugin! After reading your article a while ago, I went and wrote this exact plugin but…

  • Button It Up

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    Paris Vega
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    A better WordPress Upload/Insert button In response to the positive feedback from my last post about making the WordPress Upload/Insert button look more clickable, I’ve written my first WordPress plugin that’s open to the public. I’m calling it Button It Up*. All it does, for now, is change the style of the upload insert button…

  • Actions do more than words.

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    Paris Vega
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    Use words to source actions. As an independent contractor/freelancer I’ve realized that selling plays a critical role in business. Like it or not, it’s a necessity, but it’s not my strength. In an effort to learn more about sales I signed up for a sales-related email newsletter filled with quotes, inspiration and advice on sales…

  • My first dribbble post: Strategic Arrows

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    Paris Vega
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    The first shot I posted on dribbble! Thanks to Joshua Pekera for the invite. These grainy arrows were part of the Selective Marketing website’s hero image slider. These arrows were part of the Strategy slide.

  • Old-School Dark Color Palette: Sportomatic

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    Paris Vega
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    Inspiration Cruising through designspiration.net I found an old poster of a Porsche 911 “Sportomatic” at the Nurburgring in 1967. I was drawn to the green monochrome photo and the overall color scheme. The green and orange reminded me of old video game cartridge labels. The Porsche poster’s dark background and muted colors are a theme I’ve…

  • Mid-Century Modern Color Palette: Modern Hero Suit

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    Paris Vega
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    Inspired by the hero graphic on hulu.com for The Colbert Report (as of 4/12/11), the color scheme really connected with me. Calm, powerful, and bold. I had to create a color palette in tribute. Enjoy.

  • How does social media impact SEO?

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    Paris Vega
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    SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization …and yes, social media does affect SEO. To better understand how SEO works, let’s look at the story of Billy Joe Awesome and his Pappy’s Comb. Pappy’s Comb Billy Joe Awesome needs a new comb to stroke his cherished mullet. The houndstooth-patterned mullet comb that Pappy gave him was lost…

  • How to rip the faces off WordPress hackers… their cheeto-encrusted life-sucking evil faces.

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    Paris Vega
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    How to deal with website hackers Find hacker that attacked your site and destroyed the efforts of your labor. Insert hand grenade into hacker mouth. Pull pin. Kick in the nuts. Run, laughing as their head explodes. If that doesn’t work, here are some plugins to protect your WordPress site from future hacker evil. WordPress…

  • How to Write Object Oriented CSS

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    Paris Vega
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    * Image taken from the cover art of the world-famous Tetris video game. Objects Shmobjects. The first time I heard about Object Oriented CSS was from a tutorial on NetTuts. At the time, I viewed OOCSS as just another random framework somebody was imposing on the web community. I had not given it much thought since…

  • How much should I charge as a new freelancer getting started?

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    Paris Vega
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    This is the first article in a new category I’m starting for my blog: Reader Questions. I’ll be answering questions that I’m often asked by young designers just starting out in their careers. If you have questions about freelancing, graphic design, web design, or anything really, I’ll do my best to find the answer for…

  • Retro Vintage Color Palette: Vinyl Polaroid

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    Paris Vega
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    All the faded luminescence of photographs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s expressed in a simple swath of muted hues. I created this mellow palette on COLOURlovers.com after being inspired by this beautiful photo of a woman flipping her hair: COLOURlovers is a great place to find inspiration. I visit the site often when deciding…

  • Free Desktop Wallpaper Background: Black Boxes

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    Paris Vega
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    My latest free desktop wallpaper design is an arrangement of dark gray blocks on a black background similar in layout to Piet Mondrian‘s Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, that he painted in 1930. I’m not saying its as revolutionary as his painting, only that it shares the same balance of visual weight. If…

  • Typography Diagram

    Typography Diagram

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    Paris Vega
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    While rummaging through my old files I came across this typography diagram I designed in a typography class way back in art school at The University of Alabama. We had to create a diagram based on our recently gained knowledge of the intricate parts of letter forms. Looking back I realize my design was a…

  • How to edit your host file on a Mac

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    Paris Vega
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    Changing the contents of a computer’s host file is extremely helpful skill for web developers to have. You can basically manipulate the way your computer looks at the internet. I use it to keep Google Analytics from counting me as a visitor on my site (or any site for that matter). Whatever your reasons for…

  • Free High Resolution Wallpaper: Black Burst Design

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    Paris Vega
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    Black Ray Burst Wallpaper Here is a free wallpaper background I designed. It contains a dark gradient with rays beaming from left to right. I use it on a Mac to highlight my Dock that I’ve positioned on the left of my screen. If you download this wallpaper, enjoy. If you use it in your…