Back in February I posted a article with 5 Unfair Facts About Web Design. Guess what? Nothing has changed *shocker*. This time I am going to focus more on clients, and what you should expect (if not already). Now don't get me wrong. Not all clients will have some of the tendencies that I am going to list. The good will out-weigh the bad I promise!

Most of my clients are new, or small business owners from the States and Canada. Some of them have an idea of what they are looking for their website to do, and some don't. 99.9% of them don't know anything about designing a website. Which is fine, this is why they came to you! Before I go any further keep in mind I am not trying to bash anyone or anything here. I am simply trying to give you an idea of what you should prepare your business for.

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When it comes to web design and development staying on track with deliverables, time-lines, email, tasks, communication with the client, requested changes, etc (the list goes on and on...), can be extremely difficult and a little bit overwhelming at times. But all is not lost! Thank goodness there are many so many useful applications and tools that can be a very helpful solution to many of these problems.

Ok, so there are literary tons of applications and tools that you can get to help, some free and others not. But which ones are actually worth using? Which ones are actually going to save you time and  a whole lot of frustration? And which ones are just distractions and are only going to waste your time! Being a good web developer isn't always all about a kick-butt design, usability, etc. It is also about being efficient at all of the above.

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Speculative design may seem like a good idea to many people when they are in the market for a new website design. Some of them even go down the path of holding design contests, which is probably one of the worst things you could do.

What people don't realize is that speculative design is both bad for the design firm, and yes the person looking for the best design for their website. But why? Why are so many design firms, including the two I work for refusing to do any work without getting sign-off and a down payment first? Is it because they are worried about loosing money and design time?

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Ok lets face it, there are tons of design galleries out there and it's hard to find the ones that are actually worth visiting. In this list I am going to just post the ones actually worth going to for inspiration, eye candy, or if your just bored and looking to kill some time, you will not be disappointed or be able to go wrong with these!

This post will cover website design, logo/identity design, and business card design. I would also like to add that these are not the be all end all of getting inspired. Go outside, go for a walk, look about around you. I also find that print is a great place to find inspiration. Eg: A book/magazine cover. Album art, things like that.

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Motivation comes from within. You might be inspired by achievements of others, but, to go far in life, you need to feel charged and determined to achieve your goals. Well that's a really nice saying and all but, staying motivated sometimes can be hard. This is especially true if the project you are currently working on...well sucks.

In this article/list am I going to try and help you find new ways, or ways of staying motivated that work for me. Some of these motivational techniques will not work for everyone, but I will try to please everyone with this post.

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Yes as we all know it... JavaScript sucks! It's been around since the dawn of time and it's slow even on "optimized" web browsers. Most of the time it doesn't even make sense, especially at 2 or 3 am the night before a project is due and your scrambling to try and get things done! But wait...there is light at the end of the tunnel: Enter jQuery. 

This little gem simplifies JavaScript programming, while increasing speed and usability of the code. It works across multiple browsers, it has a light foot print, and is CSS3 compliant!  Everything good so far it seems. But let's look a bit deeper.

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