01/01/09 by mark | Blog | No Comments »
Obsessing about forms
While for years we have seen galleries and top lists showing off homepages, lately there is a trend of best of comment form or search form design. We’ll see more of it 2009. I predict whole websites only dealing with forms. Usability and marketing experts and even books like Web Design for ROI have stressed the importance of proper form design.
Internet Explorer 6 support
With the market share of IE6 finally below 20% more sites will stop supporting it which will result in even more people switching due to experiencing problems with it. This will make way for overdue developments in website design which were previously unsupported.
Light weight websites
Light weight small website designs will return. With the huge success of netbooks and smartphones websites will become smaller again both in pixel and byte size as not everybody will want to create several versions for each viewer, even with different stylesheets.
Blogging a Must
While 2008 was still a year you had to convince people in business to blog in 2009 blogs will be standard and those not having one will simply fall behind. With social media and blogs being even on the forefront of a successful presidential campaign business owners who are just aware of the Internet solely offering storefronts and static pages full of corporate and sales gibberish will lose like McCain did.
Original post by Tad Chef. Visit his more indepth post.
09/09/08 by mark | Blog | No Comments »
Is it just me or does the dock seem archaic. I really think Apple’s dock has become long in the tooth. I mean this dock just keeps getting longer and longer, and the program icons keep getting smaller and smaller. You know the problem. I thought it might be of interest to other apple users to discuss how I made my dock more bearable (maybe even enjoyable to use).
Now to achieve what I have created you must be running Leopard.
The first thing I did was download a copy of the infamous Quicksilver. I have to admit that it took me a couple of days to get used to the idea of launching applications with Quicksilver. Now I realize that this program goes far deeper than just being an application launcher, but that’s for another post.
Upon the loading of Quicksilver I removed all of my program icons from my dock. Wo Wo Wo, your probably thinking this guy must be crazy, but I have created a back-up solution in the case that Quicksilver crashes or doesn’t launch (hasn’t happened yet). I created a folder in my Applications folder entitled “_applications”. In this folder I have added alias’ of all my programs and added this folder as stack items with the ” Grid Launch” feature.
That’s it… This has been the most incredible solution for me. I no longer have dock clutter and launching applications and surfing my machine has never been faster.
If anyone has other solutions that they think others may be interested in, please feel free to comment. I would love to hear about them
09/08/08 by mark | Blog | No Comments »
HOT, HOT, HOT. This year watch out for Pencil sketches, handwritten notes, card stocks, watercolor effects, collage art, script fonts, grungy and splatter ink backgrounds (glossy gradients are not “in” this year). Another trend to be on the lookout for, are vintage and retro styles. The following are links to sites that are at the forefront of the current cool factor.
09/08/08 by mark | Blog | No Comments »
Small businesses seem to be the slowest to be adopting the Web as a true marketing tool. Whether it’s fear of the unknown or not understanding the technology, I’m not really sure. But when small business owners are finally convinced that being on the Web isn’t a complete waste of money, they seek out the cheapest way to get online. They go for the $500 website. Ironically, it’s often those cheap $500 websites that do end up being a waste of money.
So-called web designers offering websites for $500, or some insanely low price, do a disservice to the industry as a whole. It leaves the impression that the effort in creating a website is minimal. But nothing is further from the truth. When creating a site for a client there is the initial meetings, research, initial designs, more meetings, finals designs, etc.
Website design is anything but simple. The reason it’s not simple isn’t the language or the design, it’s the execution of the project for a particular client. One solution for Client A isn’t going to work for Client B, even if they’re in the same industry. A majority of these designers offering cheap web design don’t take the time to go through a thorough discovery phase that is crucial in developing a successful website truly tailored to the client.
Worse yet, the practices these folks use aren’t always up to snuff. More often than not, the mess of code and usability issues that come up with these sites prove to be detrimental to really helping a business’ online presence. Namely, issues with search engine rankings start to creep up. And let’s not forget that the sites created by these commodity designers, are often lacking in features and interactivity that really produce results. You do want results right?
Anyone can throw up a website these days. But getting it to truly be a real marketing tool is a whole other ballgame. Too many are mistaken by thinking that just by having a website, business will grow and profits will increase. The truth is, a website is just like an advertising campaign, or postcard mailing campaign. It needs to be created for your target audience if you expect even one lead. It needs to have value for visitors to take action or for them to even consider you credible. And where a website is a bit unique and somewhat more challenging, is that it needs to be worked on and experimented with in order to continue to see results. All of that cannot be accomplished with a $500 website.
If all you’re looking for is to have a website so that you can say you have one, then by all means, hire the $500 designer (but don’t be surprised when you don’t get results). If you’re really looking to stand out from your competitors, provide the right information to your customers and potential customers to get them to buy from you, and more importantly, see your business grow as a result of a website, then a $500 website is not the way to go. The bottom line is that there is a lot more to business websites than just having it online. And the return on a website that was developed right can be incredible.
09/08/08 by mark | Blog | No Comments »
The importance of the perfect logo for your business
Obtaining the perfect logo design is one of the most important aspects of establishing your business. Since every business is unique and has its very own culture, it is essential that you obtain a logo for your business which correctly portrays the essence of your business to the outside world. The ultimate goal of your logo is to portray your business in a positive, professional manner and instil in the consumer’s minds images of stability and reliability.
Promote your business with a Professional Logo Design
The primary reason for obtaining the perfect professional logo design for your business is to promote awareness of your business. A good logo design will help your business stand out from the crowd, especially if it is coupled with a strong marketing program.
Present the values of your business through your Logo
When designing a business logo, Logo Designers aim to effectively capture the values and services of the business in a visual context. Once the Logo Designers have a good idea of the sort of message you want your business logo to convey, they will design the logo using a myriad of fonts, colour, pictures, sizes and motifs. Professional Logo Designers can create a business logo which will not only attract the consumer’s attention to your business but also ensure that the business logo is subliminally imprinted in the consumer’s memory. Remember your logo design does not have to be complicated but may be simple text, an illustration, a picture, or even a symbol. However its overall design and scheme is critical in conveying the right message about your business to potential clients.
Professional Logo Designers for a Professional Logo Design
Obtaining the services of professional Logo Designers to create a unique logo design for your business is a wise investment in the future of your organisation. Following the completion of your logo design, it may be sensible to register the logo and copyright it to ensure your business logo is safe from copycats looking to take a free ride on your investment and creativity.
