Art and Website Design

I've got something to say about website design!

The world is full of folks who say they are web designers. It seems that every time I turn around, someone or their uncle is now a web designer. Of course I have been designing web sites since 2003 so I've seen a lot of changes but mostly I've seen the advent of template web design sites where anyone can become a "web designer."

I really question the validity of such sites as I know that a template is rigid and unlikely to help business owners reach their goals.

The complexity of custom web site design means it is not for the part time designer – it is very important to have a cleanly designed site that not only attracts the search engines but one where traffic flows logically and allows not only visitors but search engine spiders to move through the site easily. Template websites impede the flow of traffic.

Search engine optimization is also important in web design. Given that most visitors use a search engine to find what they're looking for, a website must be designed with SEO in mind.

Given that my business name is Art Guy Creative, it follows that I incorporate ART in the design of all my websites. That's what's missing in website design today – artfully designed websites that are both creative and easy to navigate. When you marry art and science, you get

Did you know that you have 4 seconds to get the attention of website visitors or they will click away?

Website development is more than slapping together a few pages and taking the site live. It's about creating visually exciting web pages - custom websites with original artwork and visually artistic compositions.

I'm not complaining – I just would like to see more thoughtful and artistic website design. After all – I am the Art Guy!

Dana Ball

Art Guy Creative

Sustainable Vision Roundtable 5/28/09

We had our second Sustainable Vision Roundtable on Thursday May 28th, 2009. Twenty members shared their views on positive economic signs from real estate to finance.

We had quite a few speakers:

Glenn Schulke – http://www.gosolarlife.com/ - demonstrated his line of portable solar photo voltaic products which are designed to recharge cell phones, digital cameras, laptops and even car batteries. He indicated that he's receiving a great deal of interest from military, the forest service, and outdoors men.

Helen Pugh – offered information regarding senate bill SB 1403 which is being supported by her friend and Arizona state senator Barbara Leff. The bill is geared toward job creation in the green industry.

Linda Sloan – enlightened us to the potential dangers of electromagnetic fields which are prevalent in our everyday life. She then offered several products which can help to mitigate potential harm.

Lee Lewis – offered a passionate monologue regarding the need for more common sense approach to energy use and energy resources. Furthermore he discussed energy sources such as wave energy, geothermal energy, heat siphoning, magnetic, and hydrogen in relation to an individual's common sense use of these resources.

Dana Ball and Laura Orsini discussed forming a website that would serve as a clearing house for information and a referral source for quality professionals in the sustainable field. Helen Pugh also suggested forming a Speakers Bureau for those interested in speaking about their specialty.

In general there was a great deal of knowledge shared – done so with vim and vigor and a good deal of humor.

Next meeting: Thursday June 25th, 2009 4pm to 6pm

Sustainable Vision Roundtable

We had our first Sustainable Vision Roundtable yesterday. It was a big success!! Over eighteen interested parties where in attendance.

If you are interested in Sustainable Living, please feel free to attend the next event.

What: Sustainable Vision Roundtable
Who: Discussion group for those interested in Sustainable Living, Green Home Design, Simple Living, Eco Design and anything related to intelligent living.
Where: 6350 N. 78th St Unit 259, Scottsdale AZ 85250 (cross streets McDonald and 78th St)
When: 4th Thursday of every month 4pm to 6pm
Cost: Free, refreshments provided

The meeting is an opportunity to learn more about what's going on in the industry, to begin to lay the foundation for further relationships, and to learn what we can do to promote and further intelligent living.

In future meetings we will begin a conversation about the opportunities that will very soon avail themselves to those of us who are open to the possibilities.

To be sure, there is going to be more than enough opportunity for everyone allied to this industry once the recovery begins in earnest. Though this is NOT a networking event, bring plenty of business cards.

Please email me if you would like to attend: dana@artguydesign.com
Dana Ball, Art Guy Design
480-235-4532

Priming the Pump for Sustainability

There is a lot of talk about the stimulus plan. Is it stimulus? Is it spending?
Pick your terms, define them as you will.
Here's what we know:
The massive growth (building, transportation, infrastructure) occurring in many parts of the globe - China, India, petroleum-producing countries, etc. - is based on the same template on which the US has been built. There is no leapfrog in technology or in choice of energy resources being used. Europe has been much more forward thinking than the rest of us (Germany accounts for 40% of the total global solar energy use, France gets 78% of its electricity from nuclear energy, Denmark is the world's leading exporter of wind turbines and has an unemployment rate of about 2% - in part because the way it has taxed energy has helped to stimulate a whole new clean-tech industry.) There are presently not enough known traditional resources (petroleum, coal, natural gas) to support this growth. It is estimated we would need up to three earths to meet the need. The green industry (I really don't think the term "green" does justice to the scope and importance of the industry) is one that is absolutely on he brink of bursting in this country. We will almost literally need to rebuild the vast majority of our built environments to adjust to a new reality. ("In the year 2035, three-quarters of the built environments in the US will be either new or renovated." Green Building A-Z by Jerry Yudelson) If we, as a country, can position ourselves on the vanguard of this movement, the rest of the world will be knocking on our door. That translates into jobs - millions of jobs - because virtually every aspect of our way of life will be affected.
To be clear, this is a paradigm shift. (As a point of reference, it was a mere 500 years ago that we thought the earth was flat.)
Solar, wind, hydroelectric, tidal and biomass energies will be the new petroleum of our post-paradigm shift world. (Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman)
Interesting Statistic: Every 20 minutes enough solar energy falls on the United State to power the entire country for a year.
Here's what I foresee:
We will soon discover that a common sense approach to energy will cease to be a trend of choice, and become the standard out of necessity.
There is a good chunk of change in the "stimulus" plan allocated to green technology.
Mark my words on this - The multiplier effect from this investment will be astounding.
There is opportunity in the solving of the problems that ail us.
These solutions will require a non-linear thought process.

Dana W. Ball

Architectural Designer / General Contractor
Art Guy Design, LLC
http://www.artguydesign.com

Solar Basics, Part 2

In my opinion, our sun offers an energy source that is virtually inexhaustible, plentiful, and relatively easy to harness. Solar energy should and will be a huge part of our overall energy solution. Following is what I consider to be the Basics of Solar.

As I see it, solar energy is harnessed by three means – Passive, Thermal and Photovoltaic. In my previous post, I addressed Passive and Thermal Solar.

Photovoltaic Solar
Technology becomes the harnessing mechanism here. The photovoltaic process is a simple transference of the suns radiation into electricity. Specifically, silicon chips (similar to those used in computer technology) absorb the suns rays, photons from the sun force electrons into a state of high energy, which then creates direct current electricity. This electricity can be stored in rechargeable batteries, or run through an inverter to be converted into alternating current for home use.
At present, a photovoltaic system in a residential application should be considered supplemental to grid-supplied power, not a substitute for. The inefficiencies and technological realities do not yet allow this system to afford its user energy independence. The addition of an array of batteries to store energy does add a certain degree of grid independence, not total, but also adds a significant cost to the system.
The future of Photovoltaic Solar technology (pun alert) is bright. Many of the brightest minds that helped shape the PC revolution have started to shift over to PV. It seems certain that the technology will become more efficient and cheaper over time. Even now, there exist significant tax breaks and other incentives for those willing to venture headfirst into our energy future. For those who make the commitment now, they do so out of an understanding of a societal need to shift our energy resource perspective, not out of a desire to save money. In time, we will all be able to realize the advantages of PV for all the right reasons.

Dana W. Ball

Architectural Designer / General Contractor
Art Guy Design, LLC
http://www.artguydesign.com

Solar Basics, Part 1

In my opinion, our sun offers an energy source that is virtually inexhaustible, plentiful, and relatively easy to harness. Solar energy should and will be a huge part of our overall energy solution. So, you might ask: How do we harness the sun’s energy? I’m glad you asked. Following is what I consider to be the Basics of Solar.

As I see it, solar energy is harnessed by three means – Passive, Thermal and Photovoltaic. Following is a quick overview of Passive and Thermal.

Passive Solar
This is the direct interaction of our environment & us with the sun. There is no physical mechanism that serves to harness the energy. Instead, there is an intellectual mechanism – common sense.
We are a witness of and participant in Passive Solar every day. It is the warmth of the sun’s rays on our skin or the movement of air as it warms and shifts. Common sense serves to remind us to use sunscreen when exposed for prolonged periods of time. Common sense should also afford us the knowledge to take advantage of Passive Solar energy in our homes.
Given the opportunity, a home should be oriented on an east/west line, exposing it to the travels of the sun in the south. With a proper overhang, the suns heat can be blocked during the warm summer months when it travels high, and allowed inside during the cooler winter months when its warmth is welcome. Light can be allowed in through the use of clerestory windows configured in a way such that the light is forced to reflect and diffuse before entering the interior spaces, which also serves to eliminate the damaging UV rays.

Thermal Solar
This is the harnessing of the sun’s heat. Generally, it is used for the purposes of heating water. Most commonly, it used to heat pools or to supplement the task of a water heater.
The harnessing mechanism here is a heat-absorbing element through which water is pumped and subsequently distributed. In its most simplistic form, this mechanism is comprised of black, or dark, pipes or tubing enclosed in box with a glass panel. The heat is trapped and absorbed by the pipes or tubing and transmitted to the water as it passes through. Of course, it’s not a perfect system, as more energy is required to pump the water through the somewhat larger network.

Dana W. Ball

Architectural Designer / General Contractor
Art Guy Design, LLC
http://www.artguydesign.com

The End of Oil

So, apparently, we as a species are facing the end of an age that has defined our time on earth, perhaps more than any previous period of time. We are on the precipice of the end of oil. Within the big picture of the entire history of the universe, our love/hate relationship with the age of oil will be merely a blip in the continuum. We will find ourselves on the other side either living more as we did 200 years ago, or thriving in a new age of technological innovation and global enlightenment. I’m hopeful for the latter.
I’m confident that we, as the dominant species of this relatively small rock, can and will overcome greed, hunger for power, and lack of foresight to unite in a common goal to explore for and harness new sources for energy.
The dialog is presently at a fever pitch. The question I would put forward is this: Why didn’t this dialog, once begun, continue on to its conclusion over 30 years ago during the energy crisis? The cynical answer is obvious: Big Oil wasn’t prepared to take control of whatever new technology or resources might emerge, and thus, began the process of squelching and/or buying up these new technologies and resources as they emerged (“Who Killed the Electric Car?) Another explanation might be that we, as consumers, weren’t ready or eager to make the necessary sacrifices that such a large-scale shift in life-style and perspective would require.
In any case, here we are. Myriad possible energy sources are being investigated, and, over time, the most feasible and effective will filter out and vie for the position of successor to oil. I’m betting on solar, though I think the final solution will be a combination of several energy sources and technologies. So, it is now incumbent upon me to become more educated about these energy sources and technologies and how they will impact the spaces where we live and work, and then to subsequently share the knowledge.

Dana W. Ball

Architectural Designer / General Contractor
Art Guy Design, LLC
http://www.artguydesign.com