BKB Design Group

It's Time to Order Your Holiday Cards

2008-11-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Impress your friends, family, and colleagues this year with custom designed holiday cards from BKB Design Group. You choose the theme, the colors, the size, you name it! Up to three photos and your company logo can be included.

All orders placed by December 1 receive 15% off.

Click here for more information.

Free iStockphoto Credits

2008-09-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hello all... Just a quick note to let you know that we have a few dozen coupon codes for iStockphoto.com that will get you 10 free credits. New or returning customer, doesn't matter!!

Just contact us and we'll reply with your own personal one-time use code. No catch or commitment required.

iStockphoto: "The Designers Dirty Little Secret." Hundreds of thousands of high-quality stock photos and illustrations for as little as $1.

Does Your Website Suck?

2008-07-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

If you don't know which web design techniques on your site are hurting your business or organization, you can't fix them. WebPagesThatSuck will show you where you're going wrong.

Google Themes Time-Sensitive Style Switcher: How'd They Do That?

2008-02-15T12:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed that some of Google's themes are dynamically generated based on the time of day? Pretty cool, huh? Have you ever wanted to know how to do that on your own site?

Well, I don't know specifically how Google does it, but I can tell you how I did it.

Last year, I found code to switch styles based on day of the week, and month of the year, but not time of the day. The month/day code all used php, which used the SERVER time. So,

Sunrise

Morning

Noon

Afternoon

Sunset

Twilight

it would switch styles based on the time stamp of the server where my website was hosted. But, since my styles were of the morning/noon/night variety, that wouldn't work. I was told I would have to use javascript, a client-side code, so it would work based on visitors' local time.

So, I began posting in various forums, hoping to find someone to help me. Still, no luck. I was beginning to think I would have to abandon the idea.

But I just couldn't let it go. I was like a dog with a bone. I kept searching...hoping that somehow I would find a buried treasure somewhere online. I was about to give up when I decided to ask one of my coworkers, a web programmer. I felt guilty asking for his help on a personal project, but I got over it!

Sure enough, in just a few minutes, he whipped out some code and told me to give it a try. And it worked! I was giddy. I awaited the turn of the hour, so I could see the magic in action. At 3 pm, I hit refresh, and voila. The stylesheet changed from my blue "noon" theme, to the blue/orange "afternoon" theme.

I have six different stylesheets. See the thumbnails at right.

From 5 am to 8 am, it displays the "sunrise" theme.
From 8 am to 12 pm, it displays the "morning" theme.
From 12 pm to 3 pm, it displays the "noon" theme.
From 3 pm to 6 pm, it displays the "afternoon" theme.
From 6 pm to 9 pm, it displays the "sunset" theme.
And finally, from 9 pm to 5 am, it displays the "twilight" theme.

Here's the code I used to make it happen:


<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- Begin
function getCSS()
{
datetoday = new Date();
timenow=datetoday.getTime();
datetoday.setTime(timenow);
thehour = datetoday.getHours();

if (thehour > 20)
display = "tree_twilight.css";
else if (thehour > 17)
display = "tree_sunset.css";
else if (thehour > 14)
display = "tree_afternoon.css";
else if (thehour > 11)
display = "tree_noon.css";
else if (thehour > 7)
display = "tree_morning.css";
else if (thehour > 4)
display = "tree_sunrise.css";
else if (thehour > 1)
display = "tree_twilight.css";
else
display = "tree_sunset.css";

var css = '<';  css+='link rel="stylesheet" href=' + display + ' \/';  css+='>';

document.write(css);
// End -->
}
</script>
<script language="javascript">getCSS();</script>

You can select a default stylesheet, to account for folks with javascript disabled, by adding the following:


<noscript>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="tree_sunset.css" type="text/css">
</noscript>

You can view a demo where 1 second = 1 hour to see it in accelerated action.

The Basics of Logo Design

2007-11-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

I came across another article that you all might be interested in reading. "The Basics of Logo Design" will help you avoid the most common logo design mistakes.

Save the Date Magnets

2007-11-08T14:38:00.001-08:00

As a graphic designer, when I got engaged, I was horribly disappointed with the selection of "save the date" magnet templates out there. So, I decided to design my own. They turned out so great, I decided to offer my services to other brides to be. It's just been a few weeks, but I'm amazed by the interest. I think I might have found a new niche. Here are a few of my recent client designs:

Below are some samples I mocked up when I set out to test this endeavor of mine.

The Best Colors for Branding and Marketing

2007-11-03T13:20:00.001-07:00

Just came across this interesting list of colors and what impression they will give your audience about your company. Thought you all might be interested in taking a look: Best colors for Branding and Marketing.

Some other interesting color-related resources:

Color Schemer
A professional color matching application for anyone from hobbyists to advanced professionals.
Color Wheel
Need help picking a color scheme? This nifty little tool will help you find unexpected and unique color combinations.

Color Lovers
If the idea of picking your own color scheme is too overwhelming, check out this site. There you'll find hundreds of five-color palettes from which to choose.
Color Blender
Another neat little tool to help you come up with new color schemes.

How to Hire and Work with a Graphic Designer

2007-10-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

This is a must-read for anyone looking to hire a graphic designer. Full of great background information and details about the industry you probably don't know! Even I learned a few things!

Part 1
Part 2

Introducing the BKB Design Group Blog

2007-09-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Keep an eye on this page for regular updates from BKB Design Group. Here you'll find details on our latest clients, interesting design related news, and information on online tools and resources for small business owners who want to make a big splash online.