BlogmyQuery – BMQ

On 27 July this Summer, athletes from 204 countries from around the world will head to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. With social media integrated into everyone’s lives, this years Olympics looks set to be the most recorded and most talked about Olympics since the great spectacle was reintroduced in Athens in 1896.

Today we would like to share with you 28 centerpiece Olympic stadiums. These stadiums, while used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, are also traditionally used for other athletic events as well. Due to this, they are the focal point of many large and historical events and usually have the largest capacity of all stadiums used in the Olympics.

From the stadium at Olympia to the newly built Olympic Stadium in London, we hope you enjoy our list of Summer Olympic stadiums.

Stadiums of the Olympiads

1. Stadium at Olympia – 5th century BC Olympia

The stadium at Olympia hosted many events from the ancient Olympic Games. In its day around 50,000 spectators would sit in mud seats on the grass slopes that looked upon the main field. A stone platform was placed in the Southern slope for judges. The shot put events for Athens 2004 were also held here.

2. Panathinaiko Stadium – 1896 Athens

Panathinaiko hosted the first modern Olympic games when they were reintroduced in 1896. It was also used for Archery in the 2004 Olympics (Athens) and as the finish line for the marathon.

The stadium looks as impressive as it did 116 years ago despite its age. Between the 5th and 4th century BC the stadium had wooden seating. It was improved in 140 AD to a capacity of 50,000 seats and was built entirely from white marble from the nearby Penteliko Mountain. To this day no other stadium has been built entirely from marble.

For the 1896 Olympics the capacity was increased again to 80,000 though today the capacity is 45,000. Panathinaiko has stood the test of time and remains one of the best looking stadiums in the world.

3. V̩lodrome de Vincennes Р1900 Paris

Initially built as a velodrome (cycling track) in 1894, the Vélodrome de Vincennes was used as a the main stadium for the 1900 Olympics in France and had a capacity of 50,000. Most centerpiece stadiums host athletic events though for the 1900 Olympics athletics were held in the nearby Stade Yves-du-Manoir stadium that football club Racing Levallois 92 used. Whereas other events such as cycling, rugby and gymnastics were held at the Vélodrome.

The Olympic games were held in conjunction with the world fair that was held in Paris that year. Bizarrely, the organizers downplayed the Olympics so much that many competitors apparently didn’t even realize they were participating in the games. The games are remembered as being the first time women participated in events.

4. Francis Field – 1904 St. Louis

Like the 1900 Olympics, St. Louis had a world’s fair going on in the same year and just like in Paris 4 years before, the Olympics were overshadowed by the world’s fair.

The Francis Field stadium was built for the world’s fair and then used as the main stadium for the Olympics. It originally had a capacity of 19,000 but this was reduced in the 1980s to only 4,000. Along with the games in Paris in 1900, the 1904 Olympics are regarded as one of the worst events held under the Olympic banner.

5. White City Stadium – 1908 London

The 1908 games were originally supposed to go to Rome but London got them instead on short notice due to Rome not being prepared. One of the reasons London was easily ready was due to the ‘The Great Stadium’ in White City (London). It had been built for the Franco-British exhibition in 1908 and was perfect for such an event. With a capacity of 68,000 it was considered one of the most advanced stadiums of its time.

The stadium was host to a lot of historic events. Over its lifetime it was used for greyhound racing, speedway, rugby and one of the matches in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Sadly, the stadium was demolished in 1985 and replaced by a series of buildings for the BBC.

Photo Credit: Telegraph

6. Stockholms Olympiastadion – 1912 Stockholm

The 1912 games were the first Olympics to have competitors from all 5 continents. The main stadium that was used for the event was the Olympiastadion. It was designed specifically for the 1912 games, and with a capacity of around 14,000, it is one of the smallest stadiums ever used in the Olympics.

The stadium would later host the equestrian events for the 1958 Olympics in Melbourne due to Australian quarantine rules. It has also hosted a lot of football and athletic events and concerts for The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen.

7. Olympisch Stadion (Antwerp) – 1920 Antwerp

Due to the 1916 Olympics being cancelled due to the ‘Great War’, the 1920 games were awarded to Antwerp in memory of victims lost there during the conflict. The Olympisch Stadion, sometimes referred to as Kielstadion or simply Kiel, was built specifically for the games. Back then it had a capacity of around 30,000 but over the years the stadium capacity was reduced. Today it can accommodate just under 13,000 people.

8. Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir – 1924 Paris

Having been used for athletic events for the games in 1900, Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir was an obvious choice as the centerpiece stadium for the 1924 event. It had a capacity of around 45,000 during the events but has since been reduced considerably. The now familiar closing ceremony was first introduced at these games.

9. Olympisch Stadion (Amsterdam) – 1928 Amsterdam

Another stadium that was designed specifically for the Olympics. It had a capacity of 31,600 when it was first built, though 9 years later a second ring of seating was added to the stadium, increasing the capacity of the ground to 64,000.

The Olympic flame was lit for the first time at the 1928 games.

10. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – 1932 & 1984 Los Angeles

Created in memory of those who died in World War I, the stadium was completed in 1923 with a capacity of 75,144. With the stadium being used as the main stadium for the Olympics in 1932, it was upgraded in 1930 to a capacity of 101,574. Despite the stadium being built in a remote area of California, over 100,000 people attended the opening ceremony.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was used again for the 1984 Olympics, making it the only stadium in the world to host the Olympics twice. It has also hosted the Super Bowl and World Series.

11. Olympiastadion (Berlin) – 1936 Berlin

Berlin was chosen as the host city of the Olympics for 1916 but due to the war the games were cancelled. They later got the games in 1936. For the 1916 games the Germans built the Deutsches Stadion, which had a capacity of 64,000. That stadium was demolished in 1934 and replaced with the Olympiastadion for the 1936 games. It had a capacity of a whopping 110,000 and a special stand was built for Adolf Hitler.

The games were the first to be broadcast on television. Those who watched would have witnessed Jesse Owens winning 4 gold medals with trainers made by Adi Dassler (creator of Adidas).

12. Empire Stadium – 1948 London

Due to World War II, the 1948 Olympics in London were the first for 12 years. Once again London had been called upon with short notice to host the games. Empire Stadium, which was completed in 1923, was used as the centerpiece stadium. Most will know the stadium by the name it was later adopted – Wembley Stadium. The stadium had a capacity of 82,000 during the games.

Wembley, as it was later called, is synonymous with football and is famous around the world due to the games that were held there. It hosted the 1966 FIFA World Cup final, 1996 European Cup Final and 5 European Cup finals. It also hosted countless events and concerts. It was demolished in 2003 to make way for the new Wembley stadium.

Photo credit: Daily Mail

13. Olympiastadion (Helsinki) – 1952 Helsinki

The Olympiastadion was finished in 1938 in time for the 1940 Olympic games. Due to war, the games did not proceed, though Helsinki were awarded the Olympics for 1952. During the games the stadium had room for over 70,000 people though today the capacity is around 40,000. It remains the largest stadium in Finland.

The 1952 games were the first to include Israel and the Soviet Union, who would go on to dominate gymnastics for many years.

14. Melbourne Cricket Ground – 1956 Melbourne

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, often shortened to the MCG, is one of the oldest modern stadiums in the world. It was originally built in 1954 with just a wooden stand and subsequently upgraded on numerous occasions over the following 100 years. By the time the ground was used for the 1956 games, 103,000 were in the stadium to watch the opening event. Today the capacity remains just over 100,000.

Closely beating Buenos Aires in the vote, Melbourne was the first Olympics held in the Southern hemisphere.

15. Stadio Olimpico – 1960 Rome

Opened in 1937, the Stadio Olimpico is the home stadium of football clubs Lazio and Roma. When the stadium was used for the 1960 Olympics it had a capacity of 65,000 though today it has room for over 7,000 more people.

The games are famous for a boxer named ‘Cassius Marcellus Clay’ winning gold in the light-heavyweight category.

16. National Olympic Stadium – 1964 Tokyo

Opened in 1958, the Olympic stadium was first used for the 1958 Asian Games and was later used for the 1964 Olympics. It has a capacity of 57,363. The stadium will be used for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and with Tokyo one of three cities in line for the 2020 Olympics, there is a possibility that the National Olympic Stadium will be the centerpiece of the Olympics again.

The 1964 event marked the first time the games had ever been held in Asia.

17. Estadio Olímpico Universitario – 1968 Mexico City

Opened in 1952 with a capacity of 70,000, the Estadio Olímpico Universitario was upgraded to accommodate 83,700 spectators for the 1968 games. Today the stadium has a capacity of 63,186 and is home to American football team Pumas Dorados de la UNAM and football team Pumas de la Universidad.

Mexico City proved to be a controversial choice for many athletes due to the city’s altitude of 2,300 metres above sea level. This proved to be a big problem for long distance runners and others in endurance events.

18. Olympiastadion München – 1972 Munich

The former home of football teams Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich, the Olympiastadion was initially built with a capacity of 80,000. In addition to the 1972 Olympic games, this beautiful stadium also hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final, 1988 European Cup Final and European Cup Finals in 1979, 1993 and 1997.

Sadly, the 1972 games will always be remembered with the terrible acts of the terrorist group Black September in which two Israeli athletes, nine hostages, one policeman and five terrorists were killed.

19. Olympic Stadium / Stade Olympique – 1976 Montreal

Built as the main stadium for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, also known as ‘The Big O’, has one of the most unique designs in Olympic history. The design was one of the main causes for the stadium not being completed in time for the games. When the games opened it had a capacity of 58,500 though the planned roof was not added until several years later.

22 African countries boycotted the games due to New Zealand attending as their Rugby team had toured apartheid South Africa.

20. Luzhniki Stadium – 1980 Moscow

A grand stadium that was opened in the Summer of 1956. During the 1980 Olympic games, Luzhniki Stadium had a capacity of 103,000 though today the capacity has been reduced to 78,360. The stadium will be used for the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The USA boycotted the 1980 games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

21. Olympic Stadium (Seoul) – 1988 Seoul

Used for the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympics, the Olympic stadium initially had a capacity of 100,000. It has since been reduced to around 70,000.

The 1988 games are remembered for Ben Johnson setting a world record in the 100 metres, only for it to be revoked after he tested positively for steroids.

22. Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys – 1992 Barcelona

The Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys was built in 1927 for the international expo that was being held two years later. It was also used for Barcelona’s bid for the games in 1936 though they lost out to Berlin. The stadium was renovated for the 1992 Olympic games. Today it has a capacity of around 56,000 but during the games it had a capacity of just over 67,000. It has been used for a lot of large football events and concerts over the years.

23. Centennial Olympic Stadium – 1996 Atlanta

A great looking stadium that was built specifically or the 1996 games in Atlanta. For the games the ground had a capacity of 85,000.

The stadium was later renamed Turner Field and is home to the baseball team the Atlanta Braves. As a result of this its capacity was reduced over the years.This was clearly planned from the start as the stadium has a similar design to most baseball grounds. Today the stadium can hold 49,586 spectators.

24. Stadium Australia – 2000 Sydney

In 1956 Australia used a stadium which could accommodate 100,000 people in Melbourne. When the games were held in Sydney in 2000 they built a stadium which had a capacity of over 110,000. Stadium Australia is nothing short of impressive and is the largest stadium ever used in the Olympics.

25. Olympic Stadium (Athens) – 2004 Athens

In 2004 the Olympics finally returned to Athens. This time the newly renovated Olympic Stadium was used instead of Panathinaiko Stadium as the main venue. The Olympic Stadium had a capacity of 71,030 during the games though the official capacity for football games is 75,000 (it is a 5 star UEFA approved stadium).

The stadium is used as the home ground of all three football teams in Athens: AEK Athens, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos Piraeus.

26. Beijing National Stadium – 2008 Beijing

Known as the ‘Bird’s Nest’, Beijing National Stadium is a beautiful design that captured the world’s attention. It initially had a capacity of 91,000 but this was reduced to 80,000 after the 2008 Olympic games.

The games were the most watched to date with over seven hundred million people watching the events worldwide.

27. Olympic Stadium (London) – 2012 London

This Summer the world will be watching as London hosts the 2012 Olympic games. The newly built Olympic Stadium was built on an island and has a capacity of 80,000.

With many cities struggling to find a use for stadiums after the Olympics are finished, a lot of thought went into how the stadium would be used in 2013 and beyond. The bottom tier of the stadium accommodates 25,000 people whilst the top tier can hold 55,000 people. This top layer can be removed or modified easily later to reduce the capacity of the stadium if necessary.

Currently there are a lot of different parties bidding to use the stadium including the football teams West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur. As yet, no decision has been made as to who will own the stadium and how it will be used after this Summer’s games.

28. Estádio do Maracanã – 2016 Rio

The world famous Maracanã will host the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. The stadium was opened in 1950 in time for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. That years’ final between Brazil and Uruguay had an unbelievable 199,854 people inside the stadium watching.

The current capacity is 92,000. Rio is also hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup so is making some improvements for these events. The roof is being extended in order to cover all seats in the stadium and the seating arrangement inside is being changed (which may change the capacity of the stadium).

Let the Games Begin

That finishes up our side of the collection and history of Olympic stadiums, so now we turn the post over to you. Which out them all is your favorite Olympic stadium, and why? Use the comment section to share your thoughts.

(rb)

If you’re a front-end developer mostly focused on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then you’re probably always on the look out for ways to be more productive. In this post we’ll share some tools and other resources for front-end developers that you might find useful to include in your workflow.

Tools and Scripts and Resources, Oh My!

Font Stack Builder by Erin Lawrence

This font stack builder lets you select a font stack and will tell you, using percentages, how likely it is for the fonts to be present on users’ systems. It includes options for a number of different font category styles and summarizes how the different options size up for different operating systems (Mac, Windows, Linux). Very easy to use, and, best of all, it gives you the necessary CSS to copy and paste into your projects.

Browser Support by Paul D. Waite

This simple tool lets you type in the name of any CSS feature (including properties, selectors, at-rules, values, and more) and it will display a simple graphic-based chart that outlines browser support. The individual results’ pages even have links to test cases and the official specification for the selected feature.

CSS Hat

This looks like quite a revolutionary tool. Although it might disturb purists who prefer to code everything by hand, it certainly looks like an excellent productivity tool. In a nutshell, CSS Hat is a Photoshop plugin that converts layer styles in Photoshop to CSS3 code. The site embeds a video review and demonstration that shows the tool in action, so be sure to check that out. The plugin adds conversion support for gradients, opacity, shadows, inner/outer glow, rounded corners, and more. It’s not free, but for $19.99, if it does what they claim it does, it’s well worth it.

WYSIHTML5

According to the website, “wysihtml5 is an open source rich text editor based on HTML5 technology and the progressive-enhancement approach. It uses a sophisticated security concept and aims to generate fully valid HTML5 markup by preventing unmaintainable tag soups and inline styles.” You can see the the tool in action right on the page and it has excellent browser support. In non-supporting browsers, a simple <textarea> element is displayed. Looks like an excellent choice if you want to embed a WYSIWYG editor in your HTML5 project.

OpenWeb Icons

OpenWeb Icons is an open source icon set that’s embedded with @font-face in your CSS. What’s great about these icons is that the icons themselves are placed on the page using pseudo-elements. Using an icon is just a matter of adding the necessary class name along with the appropriate HTML tag. Also has an optional CSS file for use with Twitter’s Bootstrap.

Gradient Scanner by Kevin Decker

This is a unique little tool that lets you upload an image, select a portion of the image, and then the tool will spit out the CSS3 gradient syntax that produces the gradient in the selected part of the image. It seems to work really well and is quite fast. So, similar to CSS Hat, this can save you some coding time when you’re creating your gradients in Photoshop.

Fixie by Ryhan Hassan

Fixie.js lets you easily add Lorem Ipsum text to any element in your HTML. Just include the JavaScript file at the bottom of your page, and for any element that you want Fixie to add filler text, just add a class of “fixie”. With Fixie your markup stays clean for development while letting you view the page with filler content.

CSS3 Code Snippets by WebInterfaceLab

This is a user-contributed library of CSS3-based user interface components built with “modern HTML, CSS, and SASS”. Includes lots of different components — drop-down menus, form elements, animated progress bars, and much more.

site44

This service is touted as “absurdly simple web hosting”, and it seems to live up to its name. The site44 service lets you host files by connecting to a Dropbox account and hosting your static web pages in a Dropbox folder. You can use a custom domain name as well as a custom subdomain based on site44.com. The biggest drawback here seems to be that you can only serve static HTML files (no PHP, for example). But this certainly looks like a viable option for showing demos to clients or for doing simple hosting.

Em Calculator by Piotr Petrus

If you’re accustomed to building your web page elements using pixels, this tool can help you convert pixels to ems so you can build sites that are “scalable and accessible”. Looks like a nice little tool to use for responsive designs. It lets you visually build your HTML’s tree structure, and then you can calculate your ems accordingly. This is useful, because ems are calculated based on inheritance.

Symbol Set

Symbol Set is an OpenType-based “semantic symbol font”. The icons in Symbol Set are touted as “accessible” because you’re including them using unicode values in pseudo-elements that are applied to elements containing keywords. For example, the word “alert” displays an alert icon, the word “twitter” displays a Twitter icon, and so forth. Not a free option, but certainly a unique font to consider if you’re concerned about accessibility and clean markup.

Microjs by Thomas Fuchs

This is a fantastic little tool that helps you track down a JavaScript library for virtually anything. Just type in a keyword related to the type of library you’re looking for, or just select from the options presented in the auto-complete drop-down. So if you don’t want to include an entire JavaScript library in a project, or are looking for something specific that a library doesn’t cover, this “micro-site for micro-frameworks” will help you find just what you need.

Animate.css by Dan Eden

Animate.css is “a bunch of cool, fun, and cross-browser animations for you to use in your projects.” You can view all the animations demoed on the home page, and you have the option to do a custom build that lets you pick which animations you want and create your own mini CSS library. Although it says “cross-browser”, this is a reference to modern browsers that support CSS3 animations.

Redactor WYSIWYG Editor by Imperavi

Another WYSIWYG editor. This time, it’s a gorgeous jQuery-based solution that claims to be up to 9 times faster than two of the most common editors of choice. It’s supported in IE8+ and the latest releases of all other browsers, includes drag-and-drop support for file uploading, various display modes, fullscreen view, and much more. It’s free for non-commercial use and has options for commercial use starting at $19.

DocHub by Rafael Garcia

DocHub is a great one-stop resource for documentation on CSS, HTML, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP and more. Type in a keyword related to the feature you’re researching, and results will load in the right pane automatically. The docs are scraped from MDN, jQuery’s documenation, and PHP.net.

JavaScript Enlightenment by Cody Lindley

JavaScript Enlightenment is a free E-Book by Cody Lindley. In the past, the book was sold either as a print version, or as an E-Book. It’s now available as a free download. It’s not a book for JavaScript beginners, nor is it a complete reference. It’s primary purpose is “to give the reader an accurate JavaScript worldview through an examination of native JavaScript objects and supporting nuances.”

Conclusion

We hope the above resources will prove useful to some of you, helping you solve some of your front-end coding challenges. In the meantime, if you know of any other similar tools or resources that have helped you in your workflow or overall web design education, feel free to share them in the comments.

(rb)

Art and design are often very subjective fields when it comes to who and what is good. They can also be very subjective in determining where a particular piece fits. Is it art, or is it design? There are, however, basic principles we all tend to agree on; design is generally more calculated while art is more free. Every so often, you stumble upon a piece that gives you the best of both worlds, great design and great art.

It does not happen often that the piece of work is surrounded by other works that are just as amazing. This time, we’ve stumble upon a wonderfully kept secret by the name of Andrew Archer. He’s an illustrator from New Zealand that has a great artistic eye that works with various design principles. Today, we get to pick his brain a little to see how he comes up with such amazing work.

Question & Answers

Q: First off, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Could you start by telling our readers a little bit about your creative process? How do you get a project rolling?

A: I always bounce a few emails back and forth or hit Skype with the Art Director to get a clear idea of what he likes about my work or thinks would be good for the project. From here, I put a series of thumbnails (sketches) on paper – I normally pick 1-3 of my strongest, [because] I’m not a super fan of sending a huge set of thumbnails unless I’m lost for ideas. From there the client/art director and I will make any tweaks if necessary and I’ll do some research on the subject for the good linework/image. At this point I don’t really care for anything but a strong composition, everything else can come after.

Q: When it comes to your work, what are your weapons of choice (your go to tools)?

A: I do all my thumbs and refined sketches on paper and most of my good linework, also. I use the tablet for fills, controlling colour and values. Pencils, Photoshop, charcoal, acrylics and watercolours are my most used tools. I often make silk screens for certain things and/or scan anything I need – sometimes it can be coffee stains, sometimes crayons – it really is determined by the project itself, but I don’t limit myself to a set process for every project. Sometimes I use more by hand, others more digital – it really depends.

Q: How did you get started in the art and design fields?

A: I studied graphic design originally and worked in the field for 1-2 years. I studied when I was around 18 and didn’t really know what I wanted from design except to ‘design cool things’. The industry is a lot different than most think it is – I was one of those people who thought you would [get] into a job designing snowboard artwork, realistically it’s far from this. I worked as a graphic designer for around 18 months. Most of my design work was illustration related but with a lot of design attributes.

Q: Of your many fantastic pieces, what is your favorite? What is the story behind this piece?

A: ‘Little Large Tokyo‘ and ‘Bully School‘ are probably two of my favourites, mainly due to them relating to me personally. ‘Little Large Tokyo’ reminds me of everything I love about asian culture, the art style, the food, the transport and system. ‘Bully School’, I like the rawness and contrast.

Q: How do you stay inspired? Do you have any inspirational tricks for beating creative blocks to pass along to our readers?

[I'm inspired by] Travel, cultures, food, music and a massive Tumblr dashboard that fires awesome work from awesome artists at me all the time. Except the [aforementioned], I’m naturally an extremely motivated person and will not give up on anything until I have done or mastered it. It’s a good and bad thing, drives me nuts some days but also I know it’s what fuels me. I feed off knowing I can do better/greater work personally. There’s no real trick for me, I dont really feel like I need to beat a creative block – I’ve always been full of a lot of ideas and can normally picture in my head how I want something to look when I first read the project. My frustration/hard work comes with colour and the delicate process of achieving an interesting palette. [The] Trick is to keep going!

Q: Are there any projects that you are currently working on that you could tell us a little bit about?

Currently working on some fashion spreads, a film poster and a few editorial pieces.

Q: If you had your way, what would your future in this arena be like? 

To be able to keep illustrating, build a long term body of personal and commercial work that I’m proud of, is true to me and enjoyed by others. I see my personal work as the ‘bigger’ thing which brings the most enjoyment.

Q: Do you have any side hobbies — that thing you do really well when you are tired of doing illustrations?

I play basketball a lot; around 3-5 times a week. I’m super good at eating and obsessed with food, watch a lot of korean film/movies, play some games and watch way too much NBA. I never really get tired of illustration, I believe you really need to be obsessed with your craft to do well, so it’s always in and around my life.

Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced getting started that you wish someone had warned you about?

A: That it takes time, it really does. You need to be prepared to work hard for quite a long time to develop the portfolio and work ethic to do it professionally. You need to be prepared to be in it for the long run and really work on it every day – it’s definitely not easy, but it is rewarding. There’s quite a big difference between illustrating as a hobby/side thing and professionally. The business side is so important and very rarely talked about.

Q: Do you have any bits of advice that you would like to impart before we wrap-up the interview?

A: The most important thing in my opinion is dedication, persistence and diligence. It’s a competitive industry but I strongly believe those who are really passionate and loving of their craft will shine through.

The Work of Andrew Archer

A set of illustrations for an editorial about eating, food types, digestion and general tips to losing weight.

Illustrations for ESPN magazine about record-breaking big wave pro surfer Garrett McNamara and NHL Philadelphia flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

[Archer] worked together with Oktobor to create and develop a city and 13 characters for Twisties new animated commercial and campaign. The characters and city were all related to music and interact with each other using various instruments and environments.

Cover of the NY Observer … An exclusive tally of the wall streeters who never die.

Illustration for OUT’s Symposium section – A Single Man.

Poster illustration of X-rated movie characters vs G-rated movie characters having a full scale battle in downtown Auckland.

Personal Work (Sharing Alike)

Opener and spot illustration for Triathletes World about drafting and slip streaming within triathlons.

Illustration for Q Magazine of John Niven reading quotes from his new book about people with Tourette’s syndrome.

Illustration for an article about barbie and her 50th birthday coming in 2009.

Series of illustrations & type created for the World Nude Day website.

Various illustrations for John Niven’s column for Q Magazine UK.

Illustration about the growth of steroids and the top steroid influenced outcomes of sporting history.

Conclusion

Via the interview questions, Andrew really dropped some jewels for those of us trying to make a path or living for ourselves, not just with Illustration but any type of artistic career. Not to mention, his work is definitely pleasing to look at and draw inspiration from. What artists inspire you creatively, as well as professionally?

(rb)

Do you want to get better at what you do? Well, getting feedback is the most important step in doing that. The world is much more social and information is flowing faster than ever before. We can’t afford to be doing things without listening to our followers or users. The only way we can survive and even stand out is by shaping ourselves with the help of others. So let’s get our customers involved in building our business better, with some feedback tools and services.

Now don’t get confused with all these feedback tools and services. Knowing what each tool is good at will help you get feedback more effectively. We’ve categorized each method of getting feedback into 7 different concepts to narrow your search.

• Voice of Customer Feedback – Get visitors to complain or give feedback by using widgets
• Process Level Feedback – Feedback forms trigger when an action is taken in the site
• Web Design Feedback – Get opinions for design mockups, ideas, or projects
• Crowd Sourcing Feedback – Build forums and communities for bugs, requests, or praises
• User Testing / UX – Test what you want and get feedback about it
• Surveys – Collect user opinions with multiple questions
• Website Chat – Get instant feedback about any situation

Voice of Customer Feedback Tools and Services

Wishbox
By pressing a button, it takes a screenshot of the current page, goes to the feedback wizard, and then allows users to paint, write, draw, blackout, crop, and give comments to show exactly what they want.

BugMuncher
Highlight a specific area on the web page, blackout unnecessary stuff, write a description, and check out the feedback preview before sending in the feedback.

WebEngage
A classic feedback widget which you usually see on the sides of a website. Start by setting up a basic feedback form, customize the fields, add some CSS styling to the feedback window, integrate it with code, and wait for the feedback to come in.

OpinionLab
Arrange the feedback places on any part of your touch/curiosity points and start collecting customer feedback.

Feedbackify
Create & customize your feedback form and put it on your website easily. Put custom scripts on your feedback form to pop up automatically in certain places.

UserEcho
Customers can vote on their favorite bit of feedback so you can track which changes are working, monitor feedback with a statistical system, and organize your content with an automatic duplicate search system.

GrabFeedback
Sign-up with the service, manage your forms, and put it on your site with a piece of code. Check out the analytics of your feedback in 3 different dashboards.

KissInsights
Target your questions to any customer type, keep questions short, and get results privately if you prefer to be exclusive.

Process-Level Feedback Tools and Services

Kampyle
The system triggers when a unique action takes place such as downloads, checkouts, uninstalling etc.

Webreep
Collects customer feedback in three ways. A feedback button, a direct invitation, or when users leave the website.

ForeSee
Measures satisfaction throughout the web experience across the purchase lifecycle (from browse to checkout, purchase, post-purchase, etc.), across brands, and across a lot of points to find out where a user fails to succeed in your specific pages or actionable items.

Web Design Feedback Tools and Services

Notable
Captures websites and makes it useful for web designers and developers to check up on their work, get constructive criticism, and improve their projects.

Concept Feedback
Post your landing pages, mockups, wireframes, apps, and interfaces and get feedback from experts with real world experience.

ProofHQ
Proofreaders will be able to see each others’ comments and be able to work more effectively while managing conflicting feedback.

ConceptShare
Visually review print, web, and video assets with markup tools like a pointer, pen, crop, highlighter, shapes, and images. Comment pins allow you to see a “heat map� of commenting activity on an asset.

Redmark
Upon uploading a design, an automatic e-mail is sent to clients which makes it easier to receive fast feedback.

Bounce
Grab a web page, give feedback, and bounce your idea around the web.

Launchly
Test your ideas, designs, and services from an audience that is passionate about new websites.

Crowd-Sourcing Feedback Tools & Services

Get Satisfaction
Engage customers on Facebook, your website, searches, or on any mobile device to build better relationships.

SuggestionBox
Create unlimited categories for suggestions such as, feature requests, bugs, in progress, and so on. Makes sure you don’t lose track of them.

User Voice
A feedback forum to maintain customer satisfaction and support. Answer feedback instantly on the platform or on your favorite mail service.

Sitepoint Reviews and Critiques Forum
Sitepoint review and critiques forum has a large community which is available to help fellow designers out by providing feedback on their design elements and website reviews.

IdeaScale
Create a feedback community by giving your customers a platform to share, vote, and discuss feedback.

SparkBin
This tool works for your employees rather than your customers. It can quickly gather ideas and drive your employees to submit ideas more frequently.

Gripe
Helps users complain with a location-aware mobile app to one of any 100 million+ local businesses or service providers worldwide.

Zendesk
Get customer satisfaction ratings, advanced analytics, and open your customer service up to social media like Twitter and Facebook.

User Testing / UX Tools & Services

FiveSecondTest
Upload a screenshot/mockup, prepare questions, and wait for people to give feedback.

UserTesting
Select your participants from specific demographics or choose your own customers to perform tasks that you want.

Usabilla
Test designs at any stage by selecting popular predefined tasks or creating your own tasks.

Userfly
Implement to your site with a single line of code, start testing immediately, and watch your users’ mouse movements and clicks.

Feedback Army
With a cost of $20 submit your URL and arrange questions you want to get answered by an army of feedback people.

OpenHallway
Create tasks, share the link with your participants, and then watch and listen to the recorded sessions anytime, anywhere.

Loop11
A remote usability testing site which requires no coding and no downloads. Create a usability test, invite participants, and analyze data with quality metrics.

Userlytics
Handpick any demographic from age, gender, hobbies, occupation, etc. and get qualitative research results in a matter of days or hours.

WhatUsersDo
Prepare some sets of tasks for your users, their demographics, and watch them complete the tasks, or not.

UTest
Choose a test from a variety of user testing types and learn more about the process and engagements.

Survey Tools and Services

Confirmit Survey Software
Create surveys fitted with your company branding, and send them to your customers or employees.

SurveyMonkey
Create surveys by choosing question types, survey templates, skip logic, and many more customization options. Get responses and analyze with analytics.

4QSuite
Use an invitation rate to control the impression rate of the surveys. Upon completion, get real-time results and reach out to your respondents.

Zoomerang
Create surveys, send them out, get responses in real-time, and monitor the results.

SurveyGizmo
Combine 26 basic question types with customizable options for research, insights, tracking, and marketing automation. Use logic, branching, and jumping to make your survey dynamic.

JotForm
Drag and drop form fields to create any type of survey, embed to your site with a single code, or share it via a link.

Website Chat Tools

WebsiteChat.net
Put a live chat button on your site and wait for a user to click on it.

Mibew Web Messenger
This open-source live support application enables one-on-one chat assistance in real-time directly from your website.

Chatango
Add to your site including Facebook, Blogger, or many other social networks. Have control over the chat group where you can ban users, delete messages, add moderators, and even ban words.

Olark
Know who’s on your site, chat with them, and improve your business.

AjaxIM
Open-source extensible, customizable, instant messaging framework with an easy installation.

To Wrap It Up

We’ve got lots of feedback tools and services and tried to cover them all for curious and passionate listeners. However, if you know other tools, methods, or even experiences that might fall into this article range, feel free to comment below.

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Studies show that the website header is one of the first things a visitor sees on your website. That is mainly due to the way we are used to browser information on the computer presented from top to bottom, and due to the way HTML is built with the header being the first thing it’s loading on the page. Thus the importance of the header.

A beautifully designed one can help make a difference when attracting visitors to your website and getting them to stay awhile. Of course, content is still the most important website element, demonstrated by the latest Google algorithm updates, Panda and Penguin. But no matter how good your content is, if the visitor decides not to stick around long enough to see it, then your website suffers.

A visually appealing header design can assist in this department. To further add to its importance, a header often contains the website’s navigation and logo. Having solid, user-friendly navigation facilitates the browsing of your content and keeps users on your site for longer.

A website footer is like a book’s foot note. When you need more information, usually you find it there. In the case of a website, a footer usually features copyright information, a second navigation and in some cases contact details. But the footer has a more important role than that. If a visitor has made it to the bottom of the page, that tends to mean they are hooked. They have gone through your offerings, and are now looking for more. So it is important to keep that in mind as you build yours.

Below are a few examples of beautiful header and footer designs that stand as effective testaments to the roles these web design elements play.

Header Designs

Cult-Foo has probably one of the most well known header designs around the design community. The use of colors and pixelation effects is stunning.

Corvus Art uses a beautiful canvas effect with awesome illustrations and a functional menu to achieve the desired visual impact.

Merchand de Trucs is like a story of its own. The overall feeling of the header is simply “Welcome! What would you be interested in?”

Viget Inspire has a simple yet powerful header. The menu is basic and very functional.

Glamping‘s vivid illustrations give an overall feel of delight. It bids you to stay longer and see what it’s about.

Ten 24 Media‘s header invites you to “Enter the Show”, and join the game if you will. Hurry if you don’t want to be left out.

Komodo Media‘s header is a preview for the wild and beautiful design resources available there. Brilliant use of illustrations.

Octwelve is another great example of the use of an illustrated header. The author uses the header to introduce himself and his skills.

That Indie Dude features one of the best uses of Twitter integration in the header around the web.

Ozon 3, the header makes you think of ecology and the concept of “eco-design”, as one of the categories of the blog also suggests.

Pixel Resort has a beautiful animated header. The overall feeling is, as the title suggests, one of relaxation and joy.

Helmy Bern features one of the most innovative headers and menus on the web. The stitched cardboard design does the job well, and raises the eyebrow of the visitor; making them want to see more.

PSD Layout‘s header suggests many things coming together in harmony and creating the web layout. The message is clear and the design is great.

Koko Digital has another header that makes excellent use of illustration and really stands out on the web.

Larissa Meek uses a very simple, personal, and efficient header. Need we say more?

Dana’s Garden…as the subtitle says: “A storybook setting for memorable events”.

Blog Solid makes excellent use of Photoshop brushes and effects.

Sprintime Tennessee, “Tennessee is calling”…the beautiful landscaped header almost single-handedly makes you want to be there.

Bits and Pixels has a simple, yet effective design. This header features a beautiful logo and diagonal menu.

Toucoleur‘s header is an amazing blend photo-manipulation and illustration.

Veerle’s Blog is probably known by nearly every designer. Not just the website, but also the talented designer behind it. Nothing more to say than an amazing website overall with a beautiful illustrated header.

20CM Records‘ header is for a Romanian hip-hop band, and the functionality is quite stunning. On the push of the button the light is turned on or off and the disk is rotating and playing one of their beats. Truly beautiful.

Ernest Hemingway Collection has an amazing storybook-like header featuring the journey through the life of one of this highly regarded American author.

Footer Designs

Black Sheep Brewery‘s beautiful use of footer space features the mascot of the brewery reading a sign saying “To the Baa..r”. Excellent integration of Twitter here also.

Ready made Designs features another great integration of Twitter in the footer, this time with Facebook also. The middle of the footer is used for the most recent blog posts.

Sand and Starfish has a beautifully illustrated postcard blog footer, inviting users to subscribe to the posts RSS and comments RSS.

Golden Boy Media‘s organized footer with a good Twitter and newsletter subscription integration shines. The left column is used for information where you can reach the company both online and offline.

Inchoo has a beautiful multiple row, multi-column footer featuring a contact form, Twitter integration, social media reach and services offered.

Pound and Grain uses the footer to summarize the services they offer to effectively drive the point home.

Visionssuche is an example of a simple, yet beautiful, use of the footer to display the copyright information and website sections.

V Dezign Studio‘s footer features a beautiful and creative “Back to top” section.

Chriswi has an amazing illustrated footer which includes a contact form and social media information.

Keith Cakes uses the footer in a very efficient way, displaying the running schedule, address, map and telephone information for the business.

InfinVision uses a creative footer featuring social media info and contact information.

Gauvain Bricoult‘s footer doesn’t do much in terms of functionality, but it sure says something in terms of beauty. Amazing design with a “Back to top” button for user’s convenience.

Matthew D. Jordan has a clever and impressive footer. First of all the message “It’s You, It Was Always You” brilliantly fits the site, and the contact box…well, we’ll let you discover that on your own.

Munch 5-A-Day employs a beautiful, organized footer featuring a newsletter subscription module, social media links and copyright information.

Mike Dascola has an amazingly creative footer displaying the different awards won by the website as well as social media info.

Simply Artifice‘s extensive footer features a beautifully designed contact form.

Jay Hafling is another extensive footer example with 2 sections. A section presenting the services the website offers and another with the most recent blog posts organized in columns.

What Do You Think?

We would really love to hear your opinions on the importance of header and footer designs. Do you know of other websites with amazing header and/or footer designs that were not featured here? What were some of your favorites from the showcase?

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