Designing professional websites with Linux

Most web design companies and professionals do the majority of their work using either Windows or OS X. The primary reason for this, I argue, is that the industry standard tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks only run (natively) on these platforms. For many professionals using Linux as a primary platform for creating websites just isn’t even considered. Nevertheless, using open-source tools on Linux to design and develop websites is becoming more popular for many different reasons. In this article I’ll take a look at why Linux and it’s open-source programs are gaining steam, as well as address some of the challenges designers face when creating and designing websites with Linux in a professional environment.

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Designing Websites With Inkscape

design-web-inkscape

Inkscape is a great program to have in your toolbox as a web designer. It’s similar to Adobe Illustrator, but the user interface and tools are slightly different. It’s also an open source program released under the GPL, and is available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. This program can be used on on its own without the use of photo editing software like Photoshop or Gimp to create professional websites. This tutorial will walk you through some basic techniques for creating websites with Inkscape using this very basic blog design as a guide.

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Moving to Tokyo Metro Area (Saitama)

I just moved from Gifu and am now living in the Ageo city, which is located in Saitama prefecture – part of the greater Tokyo metro area.

Unfortunately I am living in Saitama which is in the greater Tokyo area, but it’s not exactly in Tokyo, but it is 20 minutes from Akabane, 35 minutes from Ueno (on an express train) and close to Ikebukuro, so it’s not too bad. It’s also an inexpensive place to live and kind of nice to not have to deal with the volume of people tipically The high point is that it’s near Tokyo, about 40 minutes to Shibuya on the good old Takasaki line. The low point would be that it’s in Saitama, and there’s not a whole bunch to do besides go to Tokyo. The new house is small but nice. Pics coming as soon as I get a camera!

Blog Redesign

I recently redesigned Tucson-labs.com, adding an articles section for tutorials and design related topics.

I also added a journal section for short posts that aren’t necessarily focused on web design or development. Tucson web design at Tucson Labs is now powered by an updated WordPress 2.3.1 and is being hosted in Tucson while I’m working in Japan. Hopefully in the near future I’ll be releasing a series of tutorials on design focusing on Inkscape as I feel there aren’t enough good tutorials on this program and its capabilities.