I have been working on a new web site, and like many designers, I like to use grids.  I looked at Khoi Vinh’s presentation on grids, which is very good, if you haven’t read it.  He makes a lot of good points; for example how a 12 column layout is ideal in many circumstances because it’s divisible by both 3 and 4.  Ultimately he comes up with a 14 column grid… however, he bases his grid on the assumption that users have only 960 X 650 pixels of usable space in a browser on a 1024 X 768 screen.  He also comes up with a column width of 62 pixels and a 7 pixel gutter…

In my opinion, 7 pixels is too tight for a gutter; and I hate odd numbered pixels in gutters.  You can’t center the edges of two rectangles (the right edge and left edge respectively).

In my experience, the true usable, horizontal space in a browser (based on the lowest common denominator of a 1024 screen) is 1002 pixels.  I came up with that number using just about every browser and OS combination.  Practically, though, I just round it down to 1000 pixels.

After a few hours of noodling, I came up with a 1000 pixel, 12 column grid with 66 pixel units and 16 pixel gutters.  I layed out a design with it and I have to admit, it’s pretty freakin sweet, which is why I’m sharing my new grid recipe with the world.

GIF version

Photoshop CS3 version

Yesterday I was “let go” from my job at Bonneville Phoenix. Not because I was bad, not because I don’t know what I’m doing, but because of the economy. Which I find particularly offensive since I only have said Good Things about The Economy. I never called it’s baby ugly. I never even flirted with its’ whiny wife, The Government.

Seriously, though, I am really sad about this, but I’m not angry. Bonneville is the best company I’ve ever worked for, and it will not be easy to find another company like them. No other media company contributes as much to their community as they do. No one treats their employees as well. They give you a 401k and a pension for crying out loud. Plus, they are arguably the most innovative company in radio, practically giving birth to HD Radio themselves despite representing only a blip in the industry. Of course their New Media initiatives are innovative as well, easily more than any other radio group. (it seems the only other innovative New Media initiatives in radio, take place in Canada. I have no idea why. Must be the clean air.)

KTAR has the finest journalists in Arizona, possibly the entire United States. And of course The Peak, the best radio station in Arizona, hands down..and some of the coolest people you’ll ever meet. I am so proud to have worked with them all.

I think an even better question is, were they ever?

Just read an article in Fast Company about how Microsoft just took another “$300 million risk” on a new campaign from Crispin Port + Bogusky.  The really have their work cut out for them… how do you make a nerdy narcissist lovable again?  These are the guys behind several genius campaigns like the Burger King turnaround, and Bogusky is famous for his anti-smoking Truth campaign.  I think Bogusky is more likely to pull it off than anybody else in the business, but I think he’s likely to fail.

There’s only one thing that can make Microsoft cool again: more death.

Think about it - the vastness and arrogance of Microsoft is the very thing that the hip world loathes.  Most people like to root for the underdogs, not the bureaucrats.  Yet the xbox division is doing quite well despite the loss to the blu-ray standard in HD optical discs.

Microsoft should focus on Enterprise solutions and Office, and splinter everything else into separate brands.  Take the name Microsoft out of it completely.  Did you know Boston Market is owned by McDonalds?  I didn’t.  Totally different industry, I know, but the point is… there’s a reason I didn’t know that, and you probably didn’t either.  

Why not make a separate, consumer OS (xbox OS?) that’s fast, slick, and breaks new ground in UI?  ”Start” over.  Create a compatibility layer, like Apple did in OS X to transition operating systems and then processors - if Apple can do it, why can’t Microsoft?  Arrogance, that’s why.  They truly think they have the best product because they are stuck in a world of numbers - most desktops, most dollars.  That doesn’t necessarily translate to best products.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want Microsoft to completely fade - the worst I’d wish on them is to become an Enterprise only provider of software. As much as I love and admire Apple, their “genius bar” attitude pisses me off too.  I have to pay $100 a year for the right to “schedule” dropping off a faulty product to be fixed?  You have to be kidding…but I digress.  I hope the new Microsoft is one that embraces innovation while not wielding it’s power in an almost Communist way to crush competitors.  Monopolies are not good for technological innovation.