For the past few weeks I have been polishing my web programming skills and experimenting with the HTML5 and CSS3 standards. So if you have a web browser which can handle CSS3 you might notice that some elements of my site now has rounded corners. :-P

I also upgraded the server to handle PHP5, which resulted in a nice little performance boost overall. I am experimenting with some new frameworks/libraries which requires PHP5 and hopefully I can add some cool functionality to the site in the near future. I have been looking into upgrading to the latest Wordpress release as well, but seeing how I have hacked my Wordpress install to oblivion the upgrade might not go down as smoothly as the upgrade to PHP5.

Besides layout changes this update also brings a few usability enhancements. The top menu is now fixed to the page as you scroll down which means users do not have to scroll back up to the top to reach the navigation. I also removed the header and placed the logo in the footer (!) so that more vertical screen real estate can be utilized.

Users are no longer asked to supply an e-mail address when posting a comment, even the “Name” field is optional which means that users can choose to post anonymously. I also removed the CAPTCHA so posting is now as streamlined for the users as it possibly could be. I could remove the “Website” field as well, but I figure that users who want to promote their own websites should be allowed to do so.

I am today uploading the final pieces to the puzzle that is the new design of my website. I call this version 7.1 since it’s all part of the design work I started over a month ago.

I’ve been using Google Analytics to analyze the traffic on my site for the past couple of weeks and I noticed that a majority of users would arrive at my home page and immediately click the “home” link at the top or one of a few popular category links. I wanted to present a more varied selection of my content as it seemed most users were not able to get past the “noise” in the blog feed. So now the home page and other static pages has a more attractive, 3-column look and feel which contribute to push more relevant content above “the fold”.

This is what the site looks like @ 1024 x 768 pixels resolution.

Another thing that I have been able to determine by using Google Analytics is that most of my visitors (roughly 98% of them when not counting iPhone users) uses a monitor size which is equal to or greater than 1024 pixels wide. This is a blessing since it’s getting quite hard to create modern web layouts with less than 800 horizontal pixels to play with. I have optimized it so that when browsing my site with a 1024 pixels wide monitor, the layout will not break but you will not see much of the fancy background. The wider the monitor the more of the background you will be able to see.

This is what the site looks like @ 1600 x 1200 pixels resolution.

I’ve also added more “grungy” graphics to make the design more “artsy” as my artwork is still the main purpose of my site and this should be reflected in the design. Still, I find it hard to balance the hard edge style that goes so well with my other content with the more artsy style, so I still haven’t figured out what to put on the right side.

The gallery is gone since no one ever visited it. People tend to go straight for the “Fine Art” category listing instead so there really is no need for a separate “Gallery page”.

I’ve been working on some design changes to the site and fixing some display bugs. I got rid of the side menu in favor of a one column layout which has the benefit that it can accommodate wider and thus larger images and videos, something which you can already see a taste of in this previous post. As always, usability is my main design goal and I think the blog has gotten a step closer to where I want it. For all you hobbyist stalkers out there I have updated my about page with a more personal description of myself.

Much has happened in my life the last couple of years but little of that tends to end up on my blog. I’m not going to commit to more frequent updates knowing how I usually end up, but hopefully with all the bugs weeded out of the site things should run a bit more smoothly from now on. It is especially my running log which I am talking about. While I haven’t been running much for the past year, I have found new forms of exercise which I would like to write about.

Oh and I graduated from college and went backpacking in Asia. Guess I should mention that at least. :P I’ll upload some pictures when I have time.

/Sam

I have re-evaluated the design of the site and decided it needed a slight “facelift” for 2008. This is the 6th redesign of the website since 2001. Yeah, the unicorn is kinda feminine. I admit that much. Just be happy I opted out of the pink and purple colored clouds for the background.

The superficial changes does come with a few minor usability enhancements so it’s not just for looks though.

I’ll post some new art when I have the time to sit down and finish something.

/Sam

As of today Asymmetric Art is changing it’s name to “samimatilainen.com”.

The new site includes a new domain name, a new host, a slightly improved interface and some new site features, which should make the site more usable. The most notable change should be the “Most Popular” section of the site, which should make it easier for visitors to find the most relevant articles.

The new header image still depicts an octopus to honor my old tradition, however it’s a bit more subtle (the round things are the suction cups on a tantacle). The image also illustrates my websites new direction. The organic/abstract image of the octopus represent my artistic side and the array-like placement and the way they seem linked as if they were part of some grid/graph represent the technological side.

If your site is pointing to asymmetric-art.com I highly suggest you update your links to point to samimatilainen.com instead.

Asymmetric Art is back with a new layout!

Most sections are empty right now but I expect to have most of my old content up by the end of the week. The WoW-mods are relocated to a new url: http://www.asymmetric-art.com/wow-mods/, so you should update your bookmarks.

/Sam

Edit: I’ve now updated the Art Tutorials section with 3 tutorials. More stuff is coming up tomorrow.

Edit 2: The gallery section is now filled with a bunch of my old stuff.