Over the past few months YouTube have been making a slew of subtle changes to the user interface and navigation design. One of the more obvious recent changes comes with the introduction of the new Video Page design, you know, the page that you watch every YouTube video on.

Click image for larger view…

The overall design of the page seems to be ‘keep it simple stupid’, and it seems to work. They have scaled back much of the junky content and cleaned up some of the navigation tabs, for example making the share/like/ratings buttons sleaker, bolder and more compact. On first glance however it seems that they have removed the Star Ratings function, instead replacing it with a Facebook style ‘Like’ or’ ‘Dislike’ which – once you have clicked an option – shows you how many people gave it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

The Embed function also seems to be moved, and kind of hidden way prior to it’s original position. It is now beneath the video with a simple ‘Embed’ button. Click that, and the options open up beneath.

Personally I am a big fan of clean and simple design, especially in web navigation. However I can’t help but think these new changes to the video page have gone too far in the wrong direction. It seems a bit too simple. A bit too dumbed down. It kind of gives me the impression of a website which is scaling back maintenance and removing functions, probably not true, but just a subconscious feeling you get like there is something missing. The focus seems to be more on the video but less on the community, like it’s just a video search engine. Maybe that is Google’s goal? Also some of the page elements seem to misaligned, not very accurate design aesthetic. (For example take a look at the ‘Next in Spotlight’ box in the above screen-shot.

In the end this is all probably a move in the right design direction for YouTube, but maybe, just maybe, with everything that they have stripped away from the page, they might find themselves having to add back in previous features.

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We recently completed work on a new profile video for Seattle based photographer Agnes Muljadi.

The piece was commissioned by Agnes to showcase some of her most recent work and has since been released exclusively across the web on sites including Facebook and YouTube.
For more background information on the project, check out our portfolio listing.

Connect with Funkbuddha Design…
www.youtube.com/funkbuddhadesign
www.vimeo.com/funkbuddhadesign

Connect with Agnes Muljadi…
www.artsychameleon.net
www.facebook.com/artsychameleon
www.twitter.com/artsychameleon

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Flattr is a new service which allows online content creators to make money from their work.

The company was started (funnily enough) by one of the ex Pirate Bay founders, and allows websites to make money through a fan supported mico-payments system. The video above explains the basic concept.

It would be great if this kind of thing could catch on.
The Internet is a great tool for independent creatives to expand awareness of their work but when it comes to making a living things get very difficult. If audiences can get used to the idea of financially supporting their favorite indie musician or filmmaker this can only be a good thing. It will allow artists to continue creating new work!

Flattr won’t be launching for a few months, but you can sign up for updates at www.flattr.com

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We have just teamed up with Seattle based artsychameleon fotografi to offer an excellent deal on mini photo sessions!

artsychameleon is the name under which Seattle based photographer Agnes Muljadi operates. Her Bedazzled Mini Photo Session package was launched yesterday (Feb 7th 2010) and is perfect for those looking to get a new series of headshots or portraits produced.

For $200 the package comes complete with…
*1hr Photo Shoot (outdoor, 1 outfit)
* Professional Make-Up
* 1 Retouched High Resolution File
* 2 Free Prints
* $30 Off Your Next Shoot

Funkbuddha Design has managed to land 10% off the package price! So if you would like to book a session just mention Funkbuddha Design and you’ll only have to pay $180 for everything mentioned above. This deal is only available to first time clients of artsychameleon.

For bookings and inquires contact Agnes Muljadi…
info@artsychameleon.net
www.artsychameleon.net

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Funkbuddha Design is proud to announce our first custom web site design package… ‘WebStart’, for the one-time fee of just $400.00!

A web presence doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive! At FB Design we understand the aspirations of those looking to start a new business, promote their art or get into freelancing. By making this an affordable prospect we hope to bring many new companies and individuals online.

The package comes complete with a professional custom design, content management system (to update your own site!) FREE .com domain name registration and much more!

For all the details just head over to www.funkbuddha.com/webstart

If you have any questions feel free to call us at (206) 973-2544 or email design@funkbuddha.com

Our special introductory offer of $400.00 is valid only until February 28th 2010 when ‘WebStart’ will return to it’s regular price of $600.00.

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As web developers I must say that we are pleased to hear this news – The German government is advising it’s citizens to stop using Internet Explorer after a major security breach has been uncovered in the software.

LINK…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8463516.stm

Internet Explorer is notorious for not playing well with web developer’s latest creations, as they haven’t kept up with industry standards which browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Safari all have.

Switch now!

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If you are publishing a lot of video to YouTube, you’ll want to be sure you are catering to as large an audience as possible.
Here is a great how to article from tech blog Mashable on your various options for adding closed captioning to your videos.

LINK…
http://mashable.com/2010/01/16/youtube-captions-how-to/

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The Tech blogs and news sites are buzzing this morning about the news that Google Docs will soon support the ability to store your files (of any type) online.

If you don’t know what Google Docs is, it is a web-based wordpressor, spreadsheet, presentation and form application allowing you to create and edit documents online.

This new feature will give you the ability to upload and store your files with Google. Here are the main points…

• * Can Upload Files of Any File Type (Documents, videos, audio files, whatever!)
  * 1Gb Free Storage Space (With additional storage costing $0.25 per GB per year)
  * 250MB Max File Size (For each thing you upload)

If you are already a Google Docs user, you should see this option pop up over the next few weeks.

While this new found ability won’t be replacing your traditional hard-drives any time soon, it does provide another great way to backup files you may have on your computer, or need to access from other Internet connected computers. However there are plenty of other great options out there for backing up and sharing files – such as Dropbox – but for the price Google seems to be the best option! Just wish they could lift that 250Mb per file restriction!

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(via Mashable)

So the business social network LinkedIn is finally getting a site re-design. Long overdue in my opinion. I am a big fan of simple, clean navigation and site design, unfortunately too many sites still like to clutter up their pages. The new LinkedIn seems like a step in the right direction in that regard. It is still being tested at the time of writing, but should start to roll out for users very soon.

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Hello folks!

Well just a quick note here to let you know that Funkbuddha is now on Facebook! Come join us at – www.facebook.com/pages/Funkbuddha/175496954663 – and hopefully we will soon have a much shorter, easier to remember url.

We will be posting regular content there about our films including photos and video!

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