Writing

My writing covers both technical and creative topics, and I like to think it is always written with enthusiasm and care.

The regular MacUser magazine features cover almost every Macintosh-related topic imaginable, from the secrets of web site optimising for search engines, to font design, audio encoding, Macintosh labs, and much more.

As well as the Haynes Mac Manual and Web Colour: Start Here! books, I provide extensive editorial and production contributions and advice on other publications, including The InDesign CS Cookbook

Magazines, books and manuals

My Haynes Mac Manual shows how easy it is to upgrade, maintain and repair a Mac. From adding more memory or upgrading the processor to installing a new DVD drive, it goes through each stage using plain, jargon-free English and clear photographs. This manual will save time and money and give an understanding of all areas of Mac hardware and installation.

'should be on every Mac user's bookshelf'
- The Times

The Web Colour: Start Here! book is meant to provide a practical guide to how colour works and how to use it on the Web, from the pages themselves through to the graphics that flesh the designs out and, finally, to the rich, interactive and dynamic media that can make Web page design so rewarding. In it I demonstrate the theories in practical terms and with numerous tutorials.

I was a section contributor and one of the technical editors for The Digital Designer's Bible, the complete guide to being a design professional in the 21st century, from how to handle pitches and schedules to the low-down on key software tools.
This book gives digital print and screen designers a comprehensive armoury of working methods which combine the latest technical expertise with sound professional practice

As MacUser's technical editor since 1997 (and contributing editor for publishing before then), I've written countless reviews, labs group tests, and in-depth articles.
Online examples include Be Found (search engine optimising), Understanding Fonts in OS X, Web Typography (originally a lecture for the International Society of Typographical Designers and recently updated), and a 'masterclass' pair of tutorials, Getting Started with PHP and Getting Started with MySQL.