Greg Evans on success

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

I do not have superior intelligence or faultless looks. I do not captivate a room or run a mile under six minutes. I only succeeded because I was still working after everyone else went to sleep.

(via Dumb Little Man)

Posted in Quotes • Comments Off

HTML5 for Web Designers Mini Review

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

I’ve written a review of Jeremy Keith’s book HTML5 for Web Designers. Head over to Web Do’s & Don’ts to read it.

Posted in Links of interest • Comments Off

Yesterdayishere… 4?

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

I’ve lost count of the versions. The new version will be more in a Tumblr style, which I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time. It seems funny now, but this is exactly the concept I had in mind when launching the site back in 2004, even before getting the domain. Between then and now, it seems the whole world has started microblogging. The new layout is in the making, I’ve quickly put together a new WordPress theme to get me started. Hope you enjoy your time here.

Posted in Yesterdayishere • Comments Off

35 Lessons in 35 Years

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.

35 Lessons in 35 Years

Posted in Links of interest • Comments Off

Life’s Soundtrack, Part Two

Posted on July 25, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

This is the second part of the list of my favorite songs. You can check out the almost forgotten first part if you like.

  1. Mojave 3: Give What You Take
  2. Soundgarden: Tighter & Tighter

    Most probably my favorite Soundgarden track, although there are so many to chose from. I have a soft spot for songs that build up to a big climax.

  3. U2: Acrobat
  4. Hood: Untitled #2

    Many of you may not be familiar with Hood, a lo-fi band from Leeds, UK. Their music is not everyone’s cup of tea, but give them time if you decide to check them out.

  5. Ride: Paralyzed
  6. Godspeed, You Black Emperor!: Moya

    The song and the band that (along with Mogwai) got me into the wonderful world of experimental, instrumental rock (post rock). An amazing track.

  7. A Perfect Circle: The Hollow

    One of those songs I can have on repeat all day long.

  8. Sigur Ros: Untitled #6

    I’m lost for words when it comes to describe this one. It’s just stunning.

  9. Screaming Trees: More or Less
  10. Tool: Aenima

    The hardest of tasks, picking just one favorite Tool song.

  11. Interpol: Leif Erikson
  12. The Arcade Fire: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
  13. Queens of The Stone Age: Go With The Flow
  14. Nirvana: Lounge Act

    This one has been a fav of mine since childhood.

  15. A-Ha: Hunting High and Low

    I just wish he got the pronounciation of tearing right.

  16. British Sea Power: Blackout
  17. The Smiths: How Soon is Now
  18. Radiohead: Pyramid Song

    Again, I had a really tought time picking my fave, but settled with Pyramid Song. Goosebumps.

  19. Urban & 4: Odlučio sam da te volim
  20. Pearl Jam: Black
Posted in Music • 2 Comments

And the Dribbble invite goes to…

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

…Tin Kadoić aka Blackduke. Congrats, Tin! Hope to see many, many shots from you.

The response to the Dribbble invite giveaway has been overwhelming. I got way more e-mails than I expected. Thanks for participating, the decision was by no means an easy one.

Remember to follow me on Twitter, I will hold another contest when I get new invites.

Posted in Giveaway • 2 Comments

Seth on jobs

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

Are you doing work worth doing, or are you just doing your job?

What’s the point?

Posted in Quotes • Comments Off

Dribbble invitation giveaway

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

I’m giving away one Dribbble invite.

To get drafted and join me on Dribbble, e-mail me 3 of your best portfolio pieces.

I’ll decide who will get this valuable invite on July 16th. This is also your deadline to submit your graphics. My email is bojan@yesterdayishere.com. Good luck!

Posted in Giveaway • 21 Comments

My Hypermedia History

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

The Early Years

  • Stumbled upon some WYSIWYG app on a CD from Bug magazine back in high-school days.
  • FrontPage sucks.
  • Learning the way websites work almost just as fun as Age of Empires or even Need for Speed.
  • Wrapping one table around another to produce a one pixel border.
  • Made my first website in Dreamweaver.
  • Read about this thing called CSS in summer of 1998. Thought it was rubbish.
  • Started taking more interest in web design.
  • Dreamt of being online non-stop and not using dial-up.
  • Got into a Web Design learning course. Did not learn much but got the confirmation I was heading in the right direction.
  • Dumped Paint Shop Pro, fell in love with Photoshop.
  • I don’t like you much, Flash.

The “I do not need a Mac” Years

  • Switched from Dreamweaver to Notepad. Foolish enough to hand-code over 120 pages of pure HTML in Notepad on my first major job, with no color-coding and no templating system. Did learn a lot from it, though.
  • Read Jeffrey Zeldman’s From Table Hacks to CSS Layout: A Web Designer’s Journey in 2001. Eyes opened.
  • Switched to Programmers Notepad.
  • Created Yesterdayishere in 2004. Designed it in just a few days and built the site while learning WordPress. Bought Yesterdayishere.com in February of 2005.
  • Blogging is cool.
  • Finally realized I wanted to make websites for a living.
  • Got listed in CSS galleries like CSS Beauty, CSS Vault, etc. Crazy traffic.
  • Shortstat addiction.
  • Daily RFP’s.
  • Won the award for the best Croatian personal website, called Rudjer. Look Ma, I’m in today’s papers!1
  • Job offers. Several job interviews, but decided to continue working from home. Freelancing kicks ass.

The “Mac is my Best Friend” years

  • Client: want to design an iPhone app? Me: never saw an iPhone app, don’t own an iPhone. Client: let’s get you one. Me: alright.
  • iPhone is awesome.
  • Designed several iPhone apps.
  • Finally switched to a Mac in 2008. Why I hadn’t done so sooner, I really don’t know. Kids, get one. It made me a better designer. Best investment I’ve ever made.
  • iMac is awesome.
  • Siniša: do you know a website that lists the do’s and don’ts in web design? Me: no. A site like that would be useful. Siniša: let’s make one. Me: alright. Created Web Do’s & Don’ts in early 2009. Crazy traffic.
  • Got an iPad. You’re guessing this: iPad is awesome. Designing a few iPad apps.
  • Love for work still as strong as ever.
Posted in Personal, Web-design • 3 Comments

On Talent

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Bojan • Tweet this

I’ve stumbled upon a great article called I Have no Talent (via). In that article, John says you can do anything if you put your mind to it. I couldn’t agree more.

Joen also wrote about the subject a few years ago in There Is No Such Thing As Talent. Here’s a quote of his I loved since the day I first read it:

There is no such thing as talent. Talent is greek for “divine gift”, and since I do not believe in anything divine, I do not believe in predisposed skills. Hard work, persistence and interest can get you anywhere, though.

It all reminded me of my early web design days. I used to print out hundreds of web design and development blog posts I found online. These were mostly articles and tutorials, a lot of which I did not understand at first. So, I reread them and reread them again. Then I thought about what I read and tried things out myself on my PC. Then I reread. Again. Sometimes, even that was not enough and it was months after that I figured things out while working on a project.

Where’s the divine gift in that?

Of course, it’s so much easier to say “I have no talent” and waste zero energy and zero time and do something else. But remember, nothing ever comes easy. There is no magic and there are no divine gifts. It’s all practice and determination.

Posted in Links of interest, Thoughts, Web-design • 5 Comments