Hello, my name is Rett, and I have used Comic Sans. In fact, every Clockworker uses Comic Sans, our names are written in it on this site. If you're reading this post, you probably know that people feel pretty strongly about Comic Sans (see BanComicSans.com for starters). The point of this post is not to argue that Comic Sans is a good font, rather to give a little background on the decision to use it and talk a bit about the importance of designing within context.

The Clockwork notebook. It's a thing of beauty. Such beauty that it has spawned a movement of fans and followers the likes of which we never expected.

Some recent favorites from the Clockwork notebook file:

Google Wave has been heavily anticipated and widely hyped. It has already spawned detractors and been ridiculed as the Segway of email. I think these people are nuts. Google Wave represents a whole new way of thinking about communications. Google Wave itself may or may not live up to these grandiose expectations, but the ideas that Wave is popularizing will.

I hear it all the time when discussing content management systems—"Why don’t we use WordPress or Joomla or Drupal? They're free!"  It is correct to say that software like the ones listed above can be used free of charge—they are open source ("free" as in freedom to customize using a wide variety of plug-ins and modules or creating your own code) and free for commercial use ("free" as in, no charge). Choosing a web publishing platform isn't as easy as accepting something free of charge, however. Publishing a website with open source software is far from free.

The Obama Administration recently chose to migrate WhiteHouse.gov to an open source content management system (CMS), Drupal. Chris Wilson, assistant editor at Slate in Washington D.C., posted a response: “Running the White House Web site on Drupal is a political disaster.” Contrary to Chris's opinion, I believe moving to Drupal is good for the White House.

Clear, intuitive site navigation is a critical, foundational aspect of any online experience. Without this core necessity, your project will fail. I like to think of navigation as pants. The skill level of a pro football running back means nothing if he is out on the field with no pants. Right?