KlaasNotFound – Ramblings about software, design and music.

16 Feb 2017

Setting up a Proper Multilingual Site with GitHub Pages and Jekyll

Jekyll and GitHub Pages are a match made in heaven. The idea of a “flat-file CMS” whose content is compiled into static files that are pushed to a repository and then served as a public website is simply beautiful. Not...

17 min read »

26 Jan 2017

How to Create a Smooth Ken Burns Effect Sequence in iMovie

The Ken Burns effect is by far the most prominent method to bring life into a still image that is shown as part of video. Maybe you didn’t know it was called ‘Ken Burns’ (after the famous documentary filmmaker), but...

3 min read »

6 Nov 2016

Making Google Maps work with React

Embedding a Google Map on a website should be a piece of cake. On a standalone HTML page it is: You add a <div id="map"></div> in the body and one line of Javascript - et voilá, you’re done. Recently, though,...

5 min read »

10 Oct 2016

Continuous Integration with Git Submodules

Two things are really awesome: 1) Automatically having your code tested upon committing it to a repository and 2) reusing shared code across different repositories. In this post I will outline how to do both. Specifically, I will show you...

15 min read »

12 Sep 2016

Creating Material Icons with Long Shadows

Recently, I gave a short answer to a question about material design icons on the Graphic Design StackExchange forum. I thought it would be worthwhile to show how to make these icons in a tutorial-style blog post, too, so here...

4 min read »

9 Aug 2016

Calculating the K-Factor from App Invites

Word-of-mouth marketing is crucial. Actually, it’s not just that. In a sense it is the only sustainable form of marketing. When you build a product, it should eventually become so good that your users recommend it to others. They will...

15 min read »

15 Jul 2016

iPhone 6S SVG Mockup

Oops, I did it again. Couldn’t help it. I needed app store artwork for a cross-plattform app, so after I finished creating a stencil for the latest official Android flagship, I dove right into creating another one for the newest...

2 min read »

2 Jul 2016

Nexus 5X SVG Mockup

This will be a short blog post. It’s basically here to let you know that I couldn’t resist creating an up-to-date SVG mockup of the current official Android 5” flagship phone, the Nexus 5X. It is the sequel to the...

1 min read »

5 Jun 2016

Creating CMYK Prepress PDFs with Inkscape and Scribus

Inkscape is a fantastic tool for creating beautiful vector graphics (I have sung its praises in this blog before). Unfortunately, there is one thing that Inkscape cannot do: Export a print-production-ready PDF. The moment you finish designing your awesome new...

5 min read »

27 May 2016

Location on Android: Stop Mocking Me!

People, it’s 2016. Writing a location-aware app in Android should be simple. Unfortunately, it’s not. If you want to support a decent range of versions (let’s say API level 14 and newer, 97% of Android users) you’re faced with a...

9 min read »

24 Aug 2015

Tracking the Application Lifecycle on Android

So you have been developing that fancy Android app for a while now. It has grown and contains a sizable number of Activities. Depending on what your app actually does, you have also had the need to manage some application...

8 min read »

24 May 2015

Nexus 5 Vector Mockup

I love Inkscape. I really do. It’s one of those programs with which you develop a love-hate relationship while trying to master it. Once you have mastered it, it’s incredibly useful. It’s not that I don’t like commercial tools such...