BikeBlink Part III

Once I started to wire the bike light into my 3D Box I quickly learned that while I learned a lot my box was clunky and would have too many wires. That’s around the same time I learned about custom circuit boards.

The first thing I did was watch a few videos and download the free version of EAGLE. I had the advantage of working with this circuit for a while and pretty much having it memorized. Once In EAGLE I created the schematic and board layout. From there it came down to printing and making though my pull though components would work as expected.  I also used the Trinket EAGLE file found on GitHub.

I then ordered the boards from OSH Park which I highly recommend. Their website is easy to use and provides a board preview which really helped me make sure my screen printing was in order. The boards arrived and everything works as expected.

Now that I have a much more compact cleaner version of my board layout next up will be revisiting the enclosure. For the curious, I’ve released the boards as Open Source Hardware.

BikeBlink Part II

Now that I had working code I started thinking about waterproofing. I decided to order a waterproof cable and print a 3D Box. As this was my first time 3D Printing I had no idea what I was doing. I designed a box in AutoDesk 3D and headed to my local maker space to have it printed. Over all I’m pretty happy with how the box turned out. My original idea was to solder everything into the box. However, I learned this was not as easily done as I was hoping so I’ll be going another route in terms of enclosures.

BikeBlink Part I

Note: This post refers to code and a project from many years ago . The content was edited in March of 2025 to remove dead links, improve clarity, or fix formatting, but no other edits were made. Enjoy this time capsule into the past.

About 10 months ago I had a friend who got hit by a car while on a bike. This lead to stepping up the visibility game. One of the improvements were bike spoke lights. They serve to increase side visibility while riding.

When I first saw this I was just getting into the maker space and said to myself, perhaps stupidly, “I can make that.” Then went to work.

I started researching and landed on the Adafruit Trinket as my microcontroller of choice. It’s small, powerful enough and has everything I needed to run my LEDs.

The Trinket has ~5.25K bytes of space available for use, and 512 bytes of ram. These limitations would be a good to work with as a challenge to write more efficient code.

After some time I got a working test which flashed though 4 different LED modes switching modes at a press of the button. As an added bonus I added the mode into E²PROM(non-volatile memory). This allows the device to turn on in the mode it was using when power was disconnected.

The code is up on GitHub.

Laser Cut Doorbell enclosure for Flic

I recently bought a set of Flic buttons for my home. At my house these are mostly used to control my music or easy turn on/off my lights. Another great feature was being able to place one outside to be used as a doorbell.

When clicked once a bell is sounded though the Flic app using a tablet. I had a friend recently buy one for this purpose at his home and we were talking about a way to enclose it. Enter this laser cut enclosure.

Things didn’t work out perfectly with the sides but the enclosure still works without sites. The bell can be rung by pressing the button though the case. I have uploaded the EPS file if anyone want to use it as a base for their design. They are released under Creative Commons Share-Alike. Included are two files both of which may not be perfect. The one printed is the one marked printed.

P.S. I do realize this is the first time I’ve posted in over two years. As I find my place in the maker/creator space expect more post in the future.

Note: This post refers to code and a project from many years ago . The content was edited in March of 2025 to remove dead links, improve clarity, or fix formatting, but no other edits were made. Enjoy this time capsule into the past.

It’s one of the (not so) well kept secrets in WordPress that a team is busy redesigning the admin interface.  In fact, if you use WordPress.com you have likely noticed a change in the admin layout some time ago. For those of you using a self-hosted WordPress site the change most likely won’t happen till at least 3.7.

However, for the early adopters and developers you can preview the new layout by using the MP6 Plugin.  I personally (and from the forums, many others) felt that the new sidebar was too dark. It also currently looks like MP6 plugin won’t give users the option to switch between layouts. For this reason I’ve created MP6-light which basically works by adding a stylesheet that makes the admin a bit lighter. Check out the project page or get the plugin from the WordPress repository.

NOTE: This plugin requires the MP6 plugin to be installed.

P.S: I’m also looking for people to get involved with the project on github.

Note: This post is from many years ago . The content was edited in March of 2025 to remove dead links, improve clarity, or fix formatting, but no other edits were made. Enjoy this time capsule into the past.

As someone with an associates in Graphic Design and who enjoys good design I am always cautious when something claims to take the work out of design.  So when I saw Logo Design Studio* the it made me laugh and scream. The product’s tag-line is “Easy Logo Design and Illustration.”  Let’s be honest there is nothing “easy” about branding. Good design is hard, takes work, and requires a lot of thought.

It is products like these that worry me, not because I’m scare of losing my job, but because I’m tired of seeing crappy design. There seems to be this misconception out there that if you own Photoshop you’re a designer or if you have a nice camera you’re a photographer. This simply is not the case. I’m not trying to claim to be an expert and to be honest on occasion I’ve seen  great design come from people with no formal design background. What I am saying is that it’s not a matter of software that makes a good designer.

This brings me to a last and somewhat unrelated note, good design cost money. Yet another of my frustration in the design world is that people think that just because they can buy software for say $40 that they should then be able to get a logo for that amount. I’m sorry (okay no I’m not) but this is not the case. Good design will, and should, cost a fair amount of money. Again, it’s not about the money per say, it is however about getting what you pay for. If you think about it a good logo is something you will be using for the life of your business. What that looks like is totally up to you. And trust me it’s easier to do it right from the beginning than to have to go back and start over.

I’ll leave you with this:  yes branding cost money. Yes that can suck. Yes there is software that says it can do it for you. No, it probably can’t. Yes, you get what you pay for. Yes these are my opinions.

*I have to admit, I’ve never used this product, maybe it’s great (but probably not).

Research

Stop for a moment take a deep breath and ask yourself or your client what it is you are trying to accomplish with your logo. Look at other brands in the industry ask what works and what doesn’t. Find additional brands outside the industry, again, ask what works and what doesn’t. Find logos to look at for inspiration. Really spend the time to think about your brand. Where do you want to be in ten years? What is your audience? What is it you are trying to say? These are just some example questions really take the time here and think it out.

Draw

Now that the research is out of the way you are probably tempted to open up your favorite image editor and get to work. Don’t. Before taking things to the computer it is often helpful to sketch some ideas on paper. It may be helpful to turn off your cell phone and computer and go somewhere relaxing to just draw. This is the stage you really want to push yourself. Remember there are no bad ideas. This is the place to explore every option. Once you have a few great ideas try making variations on those. Out of ideas yet? Good, now pour yourself and glass of wine and call it an evening.

The next day come back and look at your sketches. If you’ve content then now is the time to start to digitalized your design. If not take a look at all your sketches and keep drawing. Perseverance is the key.

Create

Now that the hard part is out of the way scan your sketch or open up your favorite image editor and let the fun begin. Now that you know what you are trying to accomplish this should be the funniest part.  You may find that the design still does change once you get to the computer. That’s okay.

A few closing thoughts

Simple is best.  Sticking to a basic colors scheme and design will save a lot of headaches in the long run.

Keep usage in mind. Most logos need to be able to look good on a billboard or an envelope meaning that it is important to create a design that looks good in all sizes. Whenever possible try to use a vector program. This will allow for easier resizing in the future.

Have fun. Designing a logo should be fun and try not to stress.  Remember not everyone can be a designer you may have to hire a professional.