When I tell clients that a logo is important, one of two things happen: they’re completely on board and excited to get started on creating a graphical representation of their company or organization, or there’s head-scratching and ho humming.
This post is for both types of clients. Continue reading
Why? Because it’s what’s on the inside that counts. We all know that’s true, but the reason we’re told never to judge on appearances is because we do. All the time. Can’t help it.
Tell Angelina Jolie or Hugh Jackman that looks don’t matter.
It’s not a bad thing, we just use our eyes and trust our first impressions. We like things to be pretty, or edgy, cool, whatever mood we’re in, we like something that looks good. Continue reading
Why do some firms still use old methods for web site design?
Most people do not know about XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, etc. They’re not aware of what is better for searching, what a title tag is, or how to submit a site to Yahoo! and Google. That’s why they hire a web designer, so they don’t have to know about those things. They want to hand over the project to an expert.
CSS is awesome. It has been around for a few years now and has opened up the web design doors and allows creativity and flexibility to pour in. CSS is powerful, takes up much less space, and is the latest and greatest method to style a web site. Like all technology, it evolves and changes to serve everyone better.
But some firms still build sites using tables, which is an archaic method. To use a medical analogy, constructing a web site with tables is like curing an infection by bleeding the patient. CSS is like prescribing antibiotics. It’s that different.
A design firm in my area still insists on designing with tables. My guess is they take advantage of the fact that most lay people don’t know the difference between a CSS site and a Table site. They just roll over links, click, and go to a new page. The problem is, web design is all about what’s new, what works best, and what works fast.
Table design is slow, cumbersome, and all sites look remarkably similar. It’s especially difficult for search engine robots to crawl through and pull out keywords. Because images are nested in several columns and rows, with text buried inside with them.
If a design firm advertises web design as a service it offers, it should be current on development methods. If you are considering having your site redesigned, make sure it’s with a designer who is on top of the best ways to construct a web site. Ask how they build the site. If they use a “tried and true way that’s been around for years because it works” run away. If they answer “We build with HTML 5, or XHTML and CSS” you have a winner.
If a designer is unwilling to move ahead with new development skills, where else are they lagging behind?
There’s no point having a nice web site if people can’t find it.
I’m pleased to announce that I will now be partnering and working with Search Optimizers, an SEO company based out of Southern California. Search Optimizers (site is being redesigned) has a long history of providing clients with SEO services that actually work. One reason I’ve never really offered SEO before is because it’s a whole other part of the web, one that is ever changing, and one I have minimal knowledge of. There are plenty of people who claim to be experts, but Search Optimizers is the real deal.
After speaking with Search Optimizer’s CEO, Steve Kinney I was quite impressed and feel comfortable referring my clients to them for their SEO needs. Steve Kinney, in addition to heading up Search Optimizers, lectures on SEO at the university level.
Search Optimizers provide a free customized report of a site’s performance regarding SEO. They are dramatically cheaper than the competition, and have a friendly, professional staff.
Design inspiration is everywhere. And so are examples of accurate branding through design. Rather than examining a logo or web site, I thought I’d take a look at something much different: cars. Sometimes it’s best to look outside the normal places to find inspiration. While it’s important to examine great web sites, and admire classy print work, there’s a danger in being so knocked over by others talents, to try to recreate your own version of it. What results isn’t really the work of the designer, but a copy. Sure, imitation is the finest form of flattery, but design is more than just making something look good. Design is communication. No two companies or organizations are the same, so the design shouldn’t be the same either. A good designer will take a closer look at the target audience and marketing niche to determine how to best brand and reach the desired market.
This is the Bugatti Veyron, the world’s fastest legal street car.
I compare a web site to a car on my FAQ page. Cars serve a specific function: transportation. But over time cars have evolved into more than just getting their driver from point A to point B. They’ve taken on style, different purposes, and they even have their own target audience. So while all cars are built to transport, they each have a different way of going about it.
Design is communicating through visuals. If the Veyron were a logo, business card or a web site, what is it communicating? What words come to mind when looking at this car? Power, speed, beauty, envy. It’s phenomenal. It’s unattainable, elite, in a class of its own, a cut above the rest.
Compare the feelings you have to the car above with the car below. Both are used for transportation. Both are sports cars. But the Honda appeals to a much different target audience and would work within a different marketing environment than the Veyron. Think how successful the Bugatti Veryon would sell if taken to the upper middle class? And on the flip side, how smart would it be for Honda to market its s2000 to the likes of Jay Leno or David Beckham?
When thinking about a web site design, think about your target audience. Who are you trying to appeal to? What should the client or customer feel when looking at your company and brand? What words do you use to describe your business? While a good designer can certainly deliver on looks and style, your audience wants certain things in their product and services. They have preconceived ideas based on years of cultural exposure.
And that’s graphic design: leaving the right impression.
When I first created True Northe way back when, it was Flash based. The idea of True Northe came to me while I was trying to go to sleep (as many ideas do) and in my mind’s eye I saw a compass with a turning needle, and the gold navigation to the left. Since I fell in love with the idea of the compass, I wanted to make it an integral design element. Unfortunately, Flash is not very search engine friendly, and users who did not have DSL or higher did not want to wait for the page to load. Furthermore, updating a Flash site with new information proved rather tricky. There was a time when I created a splash screen for users who could chose to see the Flash site, or enter an HTML only site (True Northe 2.0).
So, per my usual fashion, I decided to change the site to something that was brighter, younger, and much more vibrant. What I came up with was a design that I really liked, using colors not often seen on the internet. I kept the compass displayed prominently in the design on the home page. I limited the web site to just four pages, keeping the site as small as possible. Less is more, after all.
But it wasn’t long after I launched the new site that I was unhappy with it. The colors were too bright, too pink, and too blue.
So I took it back to the drawing board and did what I always do with my clients: I thought about branding. Why is True Northe what it is, and how is it different from my competitors? True Northe is my first business venture, and thus I poured a lot of myself into the business. Therefore I needed a site that reflected my style. Since I’m young, I also wanted a design that was vibrant, energetic, and conveyed movement. I certainly wanted a lot of color, but in splashes, and located to certain areas. Finally, and probably most importantly, I wanted the site to reflect modern design standards, and be easily updated with new information and projects.
My first attempt was certainly colorful, but also WAY too busy. I subscribe to a few methods of thought that have always kept me in the right state of mind: less is more, and keep it simple stupid. So this first design just wasn’t that. The more layers that I hid in Photoshop, the better the design and the less anxiety I felt when looking at the site.
But I liked how the site was laid out. I liked the three columns under the main header, highlighting certain information without bombarding the user with a lot of text: less is more.
I also liked having an attractive footer, an area that is frequently overlooked on a web site, but should also be part of the design. However the treatment seen here is far too colorful and still too busy.
My second attempt at this design concept was better, but still too much. I removed most of the background color and limited it to the header. But I still felt like it was missing something. For one, it wasn’t practical. Because I develop many of my own sites, I could easily see the drawback of having a header that was so wide. I try to limit the width of my sites to 1024 pixels.
With this iteration, I knew I was getting closer. The site was very bright and clean, yet still used texture and color appropriately. The footer was also coming into its own.
Finally I got a site that did everything I needed it too do, and looked nice. While I wanted a lot of color, I knew that multiple colors had to be in a concentrated area, otherwise it would be much too busy and distracting. I also wanted the colors to be more custom and not look as though they came directly “out of the tube” of paint. Rather than reworking the ship, I imported the original that I created in Corel Paint, so it was larger, and tweaked it further in Photoshop, giving it the right amount of pop.
I kept the splash of colors to the header, and then used various tones of blues and greens for the colors used throughout the rest of the site design, including the footer and headings. Both blue and green give off the feeling of energy and youth. Rather than using white (which can be a little stark and not very warm) I went for a cream color. All in all, I think that this site is my best design yet. Because a designer’s web page should reflect on the best possible work, I put a lot of time, effort, and thought into how to make True Northe the mother ship of my design work.
