Hello, my name is Joshua Powell. I am a designer, developer, and entrepreneur.
I build websites with Drupal and promote brands online with email, advertising, and social media tools. I live and work out of my studio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The New Internet
“The internet is becoming this thing, where it’s just people trying to become successful on the internet, by showing other people how to become successful on the internet” (via @hotdogsladies)
That’s a quote from Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero book website. I’m a sucker for people that state obvious things that I don’t think about. I enjoy Merlin’s approach to creativity, life, and his approach to systems like GTD. I’m really excited about the book, can’t wait for it’s release, and I enjoyed the video, even though I didn’t actually watch it, I just listened.
Is Drupal targeting the wrong user-base with D7UX? →
Drupal is really good at what it does, helping developers create highly customized websites quickly. Drupal shouldn’t try to be all things to all people, stick with what you’re good at Drupal
This is a really great read, with some very valid points, and I hope it opens up a whole new approach in the Drupal community.
Drupal Modules to Enhance the User Experience
Since Drupal is more a developer-oriented framework, than a user friendly content management interface, some must rely upon contributed themes and modules to make the user experience of the admin area as positive as possible.
Several modules are available or will soon be available to help in these areas.
- Better Formats allows more fined-grained, role-based control on who and where Input Format selections are available. (e.g. comments form, node body form, contact form)
- Check Heavy UI is a module that will soon be ready, possible for Drupal 7, adding “Select All” checkboxes to forms like the Permissions page
- Form Defaults allows administrators to change descriptions, labels, and visibility of form fields within the Drupal admin area
- Taxonomy Super Select allows for taxonomies, especially ones that use the un-user friendly multiple-select fields, to be displayed as checkboxes
Finally, while WordPress Comments provides no enhancements to the admin area of Drupal, it does allow for a quick and easy solution for the unorganized and highly un-stylized Drupal comment form.
The Personal Branding Begins: Part II
A few days ago I mentioned that I was starting to rebrand my general identity on the web. Up until now it has been pretty lackluster, all type, no photos in blog posts, no logotype, no brand connection across my Twitter & Facebook accounts, my personal blog, and my professional website Developed Simple.
In late August I began to work on a new type treatment for Developed Simple. Since then I’ve been consistently working on ideas for a mark or logo that I can use across multiple platforms easily for personal and professional branding. The mark had to be simplistic and be a metaphor of minimal design.
After much thought and toiling the mark that I’ve come up with is twelve block igloo with a circular door. The igloo is in itself of simplistic design whose primary building material is water.
This is the first refined iteration [Top: Solo Mark, Bottom: Promotional/Tag Mark with Logotype]:
