Since March of 2010, I have worked as a Web developer and designer in the Architectural Coatings Department of PPG. I have had a lot of fun designing and developing the recently-launched Olympic.com, as well as working on other PPG Paints-related websites, email marketing and a little bit of print and social media work to promote our online efforts. I have formed a lot of great relationships with my coworkers Rob, Sandeep, Mandy and Erica, as well as my bosses Matt and Angie. Below is a recap of some of the work I have done over the past six months including posters, postcards and a microsite for an event that my department hosted that featured Penske Racing, a real NASCAR and Sam Hornish Jr., as well as a page from the new Olympic website.

These are posted because they have great food, not necessarily great websites. Not everything is about Web design with me. I also love to eat really good food. Sadly however, Eleven and Casbah are the only restaurants I have eat at.

As voted upon by over 19,000 people who eat food and voted on Round Table, here are the top 10 overall best restaurants in Pittsburgh:

1. Monterey Bay Fish Grotto – Pittsburgh (I do think they have a really nice website. Kudos Zoltun!)
2. Jimmy Wan’s Taipei
3. Capital Grille
4. Monterey Bay Fish Grotto – Monroeville (Yes, they are on here again)
5. ELEVEN
6. Casbah
7. Morton’s The Steakhouse – Pittsburgh
8. Ruth’s Chris Steak House – Pittsburgh
9. Nine on Nine
10. SOBA Lounge

I used to be a beer snob. I don’t really drink anymore though, for various reason. I have however turned my elite outlook and arrogance from the beers I used to consume to the something a little more different – Web design. I like to think I have pretty good tastes in websites.

While researching for a brewery website design I will potentially be working on, I archived some of the best designs I stumbled across. Let me know if I missed anything that you think belongs here. Hopefully I will be adding one of my own sites to this list in the next couple of months.

Widmer Brothers Brewing in Portland, Oregon

Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company - Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

The Pike Brewing Company

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

San Diego Brewing Company

Samuel Adams – America's World Class Beer

Red Hook

Pyramid Breweries

PERONI CHIOSCO

Pearl Street Brewery | La Crosse, Wisconsin

Pabst Blue Ribbon

O'Hanlon's Brewery - Master Crafted Beers

New Belgium

Mother Earth Brewing

Mayflower Brewing Company - Craft Beer Microbrewery

Magic Hat Brewing Company

MacTarnahan's Brewing Company

Long Trail Brewing Co. - A Taste of Vermont

Left Hand Brewing

Brooklyn Brewery

Land Shark Lager

James Squire

Half Moon Bay Brewing Company

Guinness

French Broad Brewery - World Beer Asheville

Fish Brewing Company, Olympia, WA

Duvel

Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales

Budweiser

BridgePort Brewing Co.

Bluetongue Brewery

Blue Moon Brewing Company

Beck's Beer

Asahi Beer

Alnwick Rum

Pilsner-Urquell

Here is another great article regarding Web accessibility and how important it is. It’s probably not as informative as the article I posted a few weeks ago, but it still has some good tidbits.

You can read the article at admixweb.com.

As talked about in my post in December, here is the commercial for the new Star Wars-inspired Adidas sneakers.

Not only do I love music, I love designing for music, whether it be a band website, a poster or a logo. Although the compensation is typically minimal, I jump at the opportunity to do so.

Here is a great article on some elements that should be considered when designing a website for a band.

Since being initially introduced to the concept of Web accessibility about a year ago, I have really taken an interest in it and tried to make my websites as accessible as possible. For you designers and developers out there who do not make a conscious effort to create websites with accessibility in mind, I strongly encourage it. Not only is it something you should do, companies like Target have been sued for not doing it.

Here is an interesting article I found via FreelancerReview.net on the topic from an expert at W3C.

Can you believe this amazing find at some t-shirt store on Smithfield Street near the Art Insitute? It’s a vintage Genesis t-shirt with a picture of Phil Collins on the back!

Check out this amazingly good quality video of a Band of Horses performance at Amoeba Music. If you haven’t listened to this band yet, you should. They are awesome.

To view it larger or full screen, go here.

According to the Business Insider, Netflix has agreed to a 28-day window after WB movies go on sale  that a Netflix subscriber can’t rent them. Warren Bros. apparently thinks they may sell more movies this way. Who knows? Personally, I don’t think it’ll affect me at all. I’ve already waited 6 months after its theatrical release for it to come onto DVD, what’s another 28 days?

Apparently Netflix doesn’t seem too worried about the deal because they do not rely on new releases as a huge way of money-making the way major video rental chains do. I usually get my new releases from redbox anyway.

One plus side of this is that Netflix will get more streaming WB movies out of the deal which I personally think is fantastic.

Read a little bit more at the Business Insider.

Here’s even more info from cnet.