I’m one of those designers who will Command + Shift + 4 (it’s a sickness, I’ve heard) to make sure that designs are perfectly aligned and that pixels are rendering exactly where I want them. Close enough isn’t acceptable. Sure, 99% of end-users couldn’t care less if the line-height is 18px or 19px – valid point. But, could you imagine if every designer/developer worked within this same frame of mind?

Thankfully, there are other people out there who think like I do. They, too, realize that it’s our responsibility to uphold design and usability standards. Often, this means pushing a stubborn and unknowing client out of the path of an oncoming train; however, it usually means just paying attention to the job at hand. Other times, it means developing the tools necessary to build pixel-perfect web site or application.

The folks over at Analog figured it out. They didn’t have the tool they needed to do the job right, so they made it. #grid will quickly humble any designer/developer and cause them lose even more sleep over how things render. I don’t care what kind of browser reset you use, different rendering technologies will always throw a wrench into the cogs when you’re building a site. #grid is an awesome tool and will definitely help many, many developers.

Stumbling across this tool will undoubtedly worsen my obsession with building quality work, but I suppose that’s not a bad thing.

Henry Jones from Web Design Ledger said it best, “I think one of the worst situations in life is hating what you do. Loving what you do means you’ll probably be doing it and thinking about it even outside of class or when you’re not being paid to do it. You’ll constantly be honing your skills and staying on top of the latest technologies, which is very important for designers.”

Does this mean that I enjoy working for free or less than I’m worth? Of course not (in most cases). I know my strong points, I know my weak points, and I also know what I’m worth. However, this industry is constantly evolving and keeping up with it requires me to step away from the 9-5 routine that most people find ideal. I’m always reading or thinking about anything and everything design related.

Maybe it’s the fact that many people are inherently lazy, or the fact that 9-5 is the accepted norm, but I find myself stumbling for words when people shake their heads at me for working “overtime”. By nature, I’m a driven person who wants to learn and become better at everything I do. Being a designer/developer – whatever you want to call me – isn’t something that I can turn on or off the instant I step through the agency doors. In fact, I wouldn’t even turn it off if I had the chance. Being a designer, for a lack of better cliches, is a way of life. And that’s something that someone who doesn’t work in the industry will never have the ability to comprehend.

An outsider would look at me and say that I’m just a workaholic. On some days, when I have nothing better to do, I might agree. But something that I quickly learned is to balance work with play. I found that this helps me enjoy my career just as much as excelling at it.

Yesterday, Smashing Magazine published a great article for young artists who are just getting started. I highly recommend that everyone book marks it and reads it. Although it’s written for designers by designers, I think that the points made can apply to nearly any profession.

After many attempts of defending myself and explaining that this isn’t just a “job”, I’ve found it much easier to just nod my head and agree that I should stopping working extra hours – as soon as I’m done with what I’m working on.

However, when I drained the differential fluid from my stock 3.42 case, I realized that it was time to build my drivetrain. Normally, metal frag coming from the drain hole is not a good sign. Pair this damage with a toasted stock clutch and my options were limited. It was time to, obviously, replace my clutch and differential. But while I had the entire driveline dropped, I figured I’d add a new transmission since dropping the driveline is not something I’d prefer to do more times than necessary.

So, I identified what I wanted/needed to replace. The next decision was who I wanted to build my driveline. This was an easy choice, however. Rick Kim, a Corvette tech who is located in Maryland, successfully built numerous differentials and transmissions for friends of mine. Rick is not your average GM technician. He takes pride in his work and carefully crafts each component that he lays his hands on. This meticulousness is taken to the extreme when he builds driveline components, as he photographs nearly each step of the build for his clients’ reference. I can’t imagine there are too many people who can watch their differentials or transmissions being built from the comfort of their home.

Upon receiving my newly built 4.10 differential from Rick, I was amazed to see a perfect wipe pattern on the gears. The clearances were precise. The rebuilt transmission was no different and, after installation, it shifted perfectly. This differential and transmission combination, paired with a Spec 3+ single disc clutch, will yield great results this season. I can’t thank Rick enough for his attention to detail, hard work and service. Plus he’s a damn nice guy.

If you need any work done, please contact me and I will tell you how to reach Rick.

Check back soon for more information on Rick and his new business!

The issue began one day after I set up the iMac. At first, I was wowed by the massive screen and superior graphics. However, once I began putting the ATI graphics card to use, I began seeing flickers that lasted for only a fraction of a second. Thinking it was just my eyes, I paid closer attention until my screen completely went black for nearly 2 seconds. At this point, I knew I had a problem.

Immediate research returned results from dozens of other dissatisfied iMac owners who were experiencing identical problems. In addition to the flickering screen, I found that many iMac owners also experienced yellow tints on the screen. Many owners also reported receiving units with broken screens on delivery, so I considered myself to be lucky. Nonetheless, I wasn’t going to let Apple off the hook and deal with an occasional flicker. When I installed the firmware update (specifically released to solve the issue), I had few hopes that it would actually work. Sure enough, it didn’t.

After several calls to Apple support, system diagnostic checks, and PRAM resets, I was finally given the end-all solution by the “Apple engineers” – throw parts at it and hope it works. Thinking that this was a graphics card issue, I was highly surprised when the engineers recommended replacement of the LCD display. But, since the computer was under warranty, I thought ‘what the hell’ and scheduled an appointment for a tech to replace the screen on Apple’s dime. If nothing less, I would at least get to see the guts of the computer which are hidden by the massive screen.

Within hours of recommending the screen replacement, I received a call from the local Apple Certified tech who said he ordered the parts and would do the swap at my earliest convenience.  On January 14, 2010, the tech arrived with the replacement screen and meticulously performed the swap within a matter of 15-20 minutes. He and I were both curious if this would actually solve the issue.

One week later, I am happy to report that this replacement actually solved the problem (knock on wood)! I have yet to experience ANY issues with the new display. Only time will tell if this permanently fixed the flickering display, but I am nearly certain that it has. Being a web developer/art director, I run my computer to its fullest potential every minute of the day. If a problem were to arise after the swap, it most likely would have happened by now. However, I will pay close attention and report back in a few weeks with an update.

Two things about this situation surprised me (not really).

1. Apple could release total crap as far as their computers are concerned and hardly feel the effects because we would still buy them and their iPhone/iPod market share is so huge.
2. I can’t believe how many parts the iMac engineers stuffed behind the 27″ screen. It was also incredibly easy to take apart with the right tools (strong magnet and screwdriver).