University of Florida Communication Network
Campus Service Providers
A list of campus units and departments that provide graphic and web design services.
Reports
Browse a collection of reports and publication examples gathered from UFCN members across campus.
Have a Resource You'd Like to Share?
Resources
Whether you're a seasoned communications professional or a staff member who is just starting out, resources are always valuable to give you new insights or to reinforce old standards. Here is a sample of materials that UFCN members have submitted to help the UF community in their mission.
Resources for Print Designers
UF Photo Library
The University has a dedicated photography library for use by the UF community. You can select from more than 200 categories, from alligators to zoology. The library is a searchable database viewed by categories or keywords, and low res images can be downloaded for design purposes.
Flickr, Wikimedia Commons
Often we find ourselves needing a photo that we can't take ourselves. Rather than purchasing stock photography, look for photos available through a creative commons licence. Wikimedia Commons has many photos and images of works that have no copyright claim or are in the public domain and are free to use. Many other photos on that site, as well as flickr, are available for reproduction through the Creative Commons licence. Make sure that the image has been listed as okay for commercial use and for modification if you choose to edit or alter the photo in anyway. In most cases, the photographer will want an attribution, so be sure to credit them either on the photo or the page in which the photo appears.
VectorMagic
Developed at Stanford, this application works as a vector tracing program for bitmaps, with a much better quality than the Live Trace feature in Adobe Illustrator of Corel Draw. Although it is no longer free, the program is a life-saver for communications professionals who receive less-than-print quality graphics and have not ime to request originals or would otherwise have to rebuild from scratch.
99 Sites all Designers MUST Know About
Jacob Cass shares a list of sites, including tutorials and a lot of material for inspiration.
Resources for Web Designers
UF Photo Library
The University has a dedicated photography library for use by the UF community. You can select from more than 200 categories, from alligators to zoology. The library is a searchable database viewed by categories or keywords, and low res images can be downloaded for design purposes.
Table of HTML Character Entities
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/html/guide/entities.html
A comprehensive list of special HTML characters.
Lorem Ipsum Generator
http://www.lipsum.com/
Nice character generator for placeholder text. Specify number
of paragraphs, lines, or word, cut and paste.
Font Comparison by Browser
http://www.thenoodleincident.com/tutorials/box_lesson/font/browser.html
Comparison of web fonts and
how they render render in different
browsers and operating systems.
Type Tester
http://typetester.maratz.com/
A fantastic little program for comparing text specifications side by
side. You can enter your own text, or use a placeholder Lorem
Ipsum,
set your font specifications, and compare up to three options
column by
column to determine the best design for your organization.
Website Grader
http://www.websitegrader.com/
Website Grader collects website statistics
(Google pageranks, Alexa rankings, meta tags, del.ico.us and
digg links, Yahoo) and
indicates areas that rankings can be improved. his free tools
also allows you to compare your sites ranking with up to 5 competitor's
site.
Browser Statistics
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
The site gives you a snapshot
of current browser trends, and information of current screen
resolutions. Gives a designer some hard data to push for
remembering the lowest common denominator.
Markup Validation Service, CSS Validation
W3C provides this free tool to check the accuracy of your coding and whether it meets W3C standards. Enter your web address, and the validation service will indicate line by line in your code where problems have been found, and suggested remedies to correct the problems.
Web Pages That Suck
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com
Internet guru Vince Flanders teaches the basics of web design
by showcasing what not to do. He also provides the tools
on what to do next (excellent
grouping of materials you should take into consideration).
A List Apart
http://www.alistapart.com
Excellent web resource on usability, css scripts, menu building, SEO - if
it has to do a website, it's generally discussed here.
Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design
http://www.useit.com/
Jakob Nielsen, a staunch proponent of usability and content over style, provides
important insights on how to make sights more relevant and
easy to use by the audience.
Resources for Powerpoint
UF PowerPoint Templates
Downloadable UF PowerPoint Presentations
The attached PowerPoint presentations contain general information about UF. Campus communicators, as well as faculty and staff, are encouraged to use the PowerPoints for various professional and community presentations. Use of these presentations will hopefully save employees time and effort, as well as assist in promoting consistent key university messages to a broad range of audiences.
You may add (or possibly delete) pages to include information specific to your own college or unit. However, to maintain consistency of the font and the appearance of the pages, the template should be used. For anyone needing assistance in properly adding PowerPoint pages, please contact Sharon Eyman, Susan Stewart or Dan Williams, University Relations, ph. 846-3903.