Octwelve - Blog of designer, MaryLuc Melgar

About a month ago, I picked up the Logitech VX Revolution cordless laser mouse. It is the laptop version, the little brother of MX Revolution mouse for desktop. Logitech labels the MX Revolution to be “the world’s most advanced mouse” and so for the VX, it’s the ultimate laptop mouse.

I bought this to use with my Vostro 1700 laptop but I found my hand so comfortable with it, I’m now using it as my primary mouse for desktop. The precision is excellent. I use it a lot with graphic designing. VX Revolution is not as small as all other laptop mice but it’s not a full sized regular mouse either. Its size and ergonomic design fits nicely with my small hand.It has a lot of cool features and my favorite are:

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I recently completed the new website design for AirGini, a mobile social networking application. Check it out at www.airgini.com

Here are some of the other comps.

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Hey there! I’m really quite busy in the past few days. So for lack of anything else to post, I’d like to share my desktop with you. Here’s mine. It’s quite simple. I really like to keep my desktop tidy.

I choose this wallpaper because I like the character. It kinda have the same hairstyle as me. And she wears glasses too :P That’s all hehe

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The latest design showcase of Smashing Magazine is about the use of Mascot in modern web design. And I’m happy because Luc (that Luc above) is one of the chosen ones. I’m so delighted! I’ve always hoped that my site will be featured on Smashing Magazine. They collect and showcase beautiful websites and graphic designs. They are a great source of inspiration for designers like myself.

Check it out at
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/15/isnt-it-sweet-mascots-in-modern-web-design/

Thanks for appreciating my design :)

Technorati Tags: Character Illustration, Mascot Illustration, Web Design, Design Trend, Inspiration, Modern Web Design

This question have been asked by my cousin who studied chemistry and now he seems to be interested in web designing. Quite a transition I thought. The first thing I could retort was “Are you creative?”. But let’s skip that. Here are the techy skills and required stuff to get started.

1. Choose a platform, PC or Mac

The never ending debate! I’m a PC user and it works fine with me. But if you are on this creative field you’ll be surrounded with Mac users who’ll sway you that Mac is a better computer for creative professionals and those who sings “Mac rocks PC sucks or Mac blings PC stinks” or whatever. Well, Mac is a pretty sweet looking machine. Leopard, the latest operating system of Mac has a lot of cool features too. So it’s really tempting to choose it over PC. However, Mac is a lot more expensive than PC. Although if Mac are not like 5x more expensive in Manila than in US, I’d definitely splurge on it. My 2 cents is, PC or Mac, it’s up to you. It’s just a matter of preference. At the end of the day, it’s your design that will be judge, not your equipment. :)

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Octwelve is featured on these best web design galleries ^_^

Thanks for appreciating my site. It’s really nice to be listed with other great designers that I look up to!

Technorati Tags: Web Design Gallery, CSS Gallery, Web Design Showcase, CSS Showcase, Best Web Designs

As a web designer, it is crucial that I test my web pages in different browsers. And I’m having a hard time doing that on Windows Vista. Well, I didn’t really want a Vista, but when I ordered my laptop, the OS is built in and I have no choice. Ah, why do Microsoft do this?! I’m planning to jump back to XP but there are some threads about some problems when installing XP on Vostro 1700. I haven’t yet tried though.

Some guys from 9rules adviced me to get Virtual PC 2007 but according to Microsoft, Virtual PC 2007 runs on: Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Tablet PC, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, and Windows Vista Ultimate. I have Windows Vista Home Basic.

Can anyone advice me on this? Had I known I cannot downgrade to XP or get any application to be able to run atleast IE6, I should’ve bought Macbook Pro instead like I initially planned and just bring my current rig with me to Singapore.

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Vista, Internet Explorer, Multiple Internet Explorer, Browser Test, Virtual PC

I just wanted to share with you the last project I’ve completed last year.

Reason for buying

As you know, I’m going to work in Singapore in the next few weeks and I need a desktop replacement-A laptop with a big screen and a sytem that will run descently with Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustration, as well as InDesign. Another factor I consider is the price-It has to be cheap because it’s only a temporary machine for my design projects. Vostro 1700 seems to be perfect for me.

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Vostro 1700 has finally arrived in my office today. A friend in the US ordered this laptop for me from Dell last October 10 and received it on October 30. Then on November 9 he sent the laptop in a balikbayan box package through Forexworld. Forexworld, btw, is a shipping company with headquarters in the US that ships packages to the Philippines. It took 48 days to deliver the package from Forexworld warehouse to my address. It came earlier than I expected. The shipping costs $135 only and I didn’t have to pay any taxes since it is in a balikbayan box. At first I was hesitant to send this through a balikbayan box but Forexworld did a good job on delivering my new laptop in one piece. :)

Technorati Tags: Dell, Vostro, Vostro 1700, Laptop, Balikbayan Box