here are many benefits to writing your own graphic design blog. Writing a blog can build a community around your website, promote your business, and help to establish yourself as an expert in the field.
Promote Your Business
Writing a blog is a great way to promote your business and find clients. When a potential client visits your website, they are often going to head straight for the portfolio to see examples of your work. However, you can also impress them with blog that shows them your knowledge of design and interaction with other creative professionals and clients. A constantly updated blog will show people that you are active in the community and always thinking about design, even between the posting of projects in your portfolio. It will also give them an immediate sense of your personality, and hopefully show off your writing skills in the process. Treat every post as part of your resume as you never know who is reading!
Drive Traffic to Your Website
No matter how many projects you have at any given time, you will rarely be posting new projects to your portfolio daily or even weekly. This is no way to end up high in those Google search results. Posting to a blog every day or several days a week will keep the content fresh on your website and help to improve your search engine rankings.
Build a Community
Once you have been writing your blog for a while, you will hopefully begin to build a community around it. Be sure to establish your own “online voice,” write about unique topics, and keep the blog open to comments to encourage discussion. Promote your blog whenever possible and be sure to let at least friends and family know it is out there, who should help spread the word for you if they come across others in your field. When you do have a regular group of readers, you’ll be left with people to network with and work with in your design business.
Establish Yourself as an Expert
Over time, your blog may become a place that other designers go to for advice and tips. Share solutions you have found to design dilemmas, write up tutorials on your favorite software tricks, and discuss how you deal with the business or legal side of design… anything you are comfortable sharing with the outside world! Be cautious as potential clients and employers may be reading, but use this to your advantage by showing them that you are an expert at what you do.
Read More...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Design by Metaphor
Design by metaphor—or, as is often the case, design by simile—happens when a client provides design and development in the form of a reference to another product. This can occur both in high-level concepts, such as, “MySpace, but for B2B relationships,” and in individual details, like “the login should be just like Gmail’s.”
Spoken language provides an interesting analogue to design by metaphor: If you’re not a fluent speaker of a particular language, you’re often forced to stretch your limited vocabulary into bizarre, descriptive phrases instead of the exact words that say what you mean. Maybe you remember the last time you were overseas and asked directions to the “shop of changing banknotes.” In the same way, you’ll mostly see similes in specifications provided by clients who may not know how to say that they want “database of user registrations with reports X, Y, and Z” or “JavaScript menus that degrade into CSS-formatted lists.”
Metaphors and similes are also excellent ways to summarize multiple, loosely-related concepts in shorthand. After all, the basic behaviors of any web-based discussion forum, contact form, or shopping cart are largely the same as those of any other once you factor out the specific content of the site.
Why put up with comparison-driven design?
When used to pin down abstract concepts or unusual design details, design by metaphor or simile bridges a major gap of understanding. The customer may not be able to pin down what he wants from another site, but in some cases, pointing to that site can be enough to make the features he desires apparent to experienced developers.
Conversely, comparative references can be extremely powerful for explaining design decisions back to a client. Few client-provided specifications are all-inclusive, and you can expect questions when your judgment calls don’t match what he imagined. If you explain that you designed your booking process “like Expedia,” you can easily summarize a wide range of choices through the system, as well as gain added authority by showing that your choices mirror those of a successful system.
When comparisons attack
Unfortunately, the power of this method of communication comes at a significant cost. If a client says he wants his new auction site to be “like eBay,” what does that mean? An artist hears “It has a tacky color scheme.” A developer hears “It’s scalable to 20 million users.” A user hears “It has feedback ratings on all sellers.” Which, if any of these, did the client mean? You may spend dozens of hours writing specs for eBay-esque features that didn’t capture the client’s heart.
Conversely, defining your own work in terms of other products may set up unacceptable comparisons or fixations in your customer’s mind. If you boast that a new shopping cart works 95% like Amazon, the client may grow obsessed with “fixing” the 5% that’s different, or incorrectly believe that his site has acquired the capacity and features of Amazon across the board.
Moreover, the ability to identify a loose aggregation of features via a single comparison may cause clients to accidentally include irrelevant or needlessly expensive features in their specifications. For example, many off-the-shelf shopping systems include extensive support for multiple currencies and tax jurisdictions. This adds many layers of complexity, and if you’re running a single outlet in Chandler, Arizona, you probably don’t actually want to spend $5,000 more on development to ensure your “just like Zen Cart” shop is ready to handle British Value Added Tax.
Finally, a client who can only speak in similes may be unable to bring the best possible choices to the table. If the client is selling merchandise, he’ll probably say he wants a self-contained shopping system styled after his favorite e-commerce site—but his comparison is limited by his experience. Odds are, he hasn’t seen an example of a hosted shopping cart service, or a single-action “Buy Now” button that he can allude to, even if those would suit his needs better. Your experience and expertise comes in there, as you’ll be able to offer your clients choices they didn’t realize they had and rescue them from the tyranny of comparison.
Bounce back to the real world
The ambiguity inherent in comparison-based design communication must be managed, or you’ll end up trying to build mutant websites which work as YouTube plus Newegg multiplied by DeviantArt…on a $750 budget. Fortunately, there’s a practical strategy for controlling runaway scope: limit the use of metaphors and similes to the phases in which they work best.
It makes sense to start with comparisons, especially if you’re about to develop a significant new functional unit. However, if you do so, the second round of specification development becomes critical. Once you understand what the client is asking for on a high level, you should restate that understanding in more concrete terms that will form the basis for binding design documents. You can even walk through the comparison product part by part and ask the client what he really means with his comparisons. There is absolutely no harm in asking “what part of this process do you want to copy?” Developers often over-complicate vague requests, and it may turn out to be a pleasant surprise when it turns out that all the client really wants to lift from the $300,000 commercial backend is its color scheme and menu placement.
You may also be able to control ambiguous comparisons by treating them not just as a design reference, but also as a source of benchmarks. Compare compatibility and performance of the model site: when you bring a focus group in, let them attempt to complete tasks on your site and then on the sites the client presented as models. Direct comparison of user experiences and task success rates are solid evidence that your site matches, or even exceeds, the models. Such a strategy is particularly effective when the client has questionable assumptions about user behavior.
When it’s clear that the client is relying on a poor or inadequate analogy because he lacks a better choice, you can combine his understanding of comparisons with your wide design vocabulary. Speak his language, and propose that “instead of doing it like your example, what if we try doing it like this other example?”
Finally, don’t miss the possibility of the sum of a client’s models being significant as well. If all the sites he idolizes average 700k per page of images and Flash, the unspoken message could well be “a seamless, graphics-intensive look is more important to me than 28.8 modem users.” Reading between the lines is no less important here than it is with a more conventional specification.
One more communication tool: no more, no less
Design by comparison can help to engage your clients in the development process while keeping the discussion at a level they’re comfortable with. However, its practitioners must realize that poorly analyzed metaphors can say too much or too little. The need for this delicate balance keeps the technique from being a panacea, but doesn’t prevent it from being useful. Read More...
Spoken language provides an interesting analogue to design by metaphor: If you’re not a fluent speaker of a particular language, you’re often forced to stretch your limited vocabulary into bizarre, descriptive phrases instead of the exact words that say what you mean. Maybe you remember the last time you were overseas and asked directions to the “shop of changing banknotes.” In the same way, you’ll mostly see similes in specifications provided by clients who may not know how to say that they want “database of user registrations with reports X, Y, and Z” or “JavaScript menus that degrade into CSS-formatted lists.”
Metaphors and similes are also excellent ways to summarize multiple, loosely-related concepts in shorthand. After all, the basic behaviors of any web-based discussion forum, contact form, or shopping cart are largely the same as those of any other once you factor out the specific content of the site.
Why put up with comparison-driven design?
When used to pin down abstract concepts or unusual design details, design by metaphor or simile bridges a major gap of understanding. The customer may not be able to pin down what he wants from another site, but in some cases, pointing to that site can be enough to make the features he desires apparent to experienced developers.
Conversely, comparative references can be extremely powerful for explaining design decisions back to a client. Few client-provided specifications are all-inclusive, and you can expect questions when your judgment calls don’t match what he imagined. If you explain that you designed your booking process “like Expedia,” you can easily summarize a wide range of choices through the system, as well as gain added authority by showing that your choices mirror those of a successful system.
When comparisons attack
Unfortunately, the power of this method of communication comes at a significant cost. If a client says he wants his new auction site to be “like eBay,” what does that mean? An artist hears “It has a tacky color scheme.” A developer hears “It’s scalable to 20 million users.” A user hears “It has feedback ratings on all sellers.” Which, if any of these, did the client mean? You may spend dozens of hours writing specs for eBay-esque features that didn’t capture the client’s heart.
Conversely, defining your own work in terms of other products may set up unacceptable comparisons or fixations in your customer’s mind. If you boast that a new shopping cart works 95% like Amazon, the client may grow obsessed with “fixing” the 5% that’s different, or incorrectly believe that his site has acquired the capacity and features of Amazon across the board.
Moreover, the ability to identify a loose aggregation of features via a single comparison may cause clients to accidentally include irrelevant or needlessly expensive features in their specifications. For example, many off-the-shelf shopping systems include extensive support for multiple currencies and tax jurisdictions. This adds many layers of complexity, and if you’re running a single outlet in Chandler, Arizona, you probably don’t actually want to spend $5,000 more on development to ensure your “just like Zen Cart” shop is ready to handle British Value Added Tax.
Finally, a client who can only speak in similes may be unable to bring the best possible choices to the table. If the client is selling merchandise, he’ll probably say he wants a self-contained shopping system styled after his favorite e-commerce site—but his comparison is limited by his experience. Odds are, he hasn’t seen an example of a hosted shopping cart service, or a single-action “Buy Now” button that he can allude to, even if those would suit his needs better. Your experience and expertise comes in there, as you’ll be able to offer your clients choices they didn’t realize they had and rescue them from the tyranny of comparison.
Bounce back to the real world
The ambiguity inherent in comparison-based design communication must be managed, or you’ll end up trying to build mutant websites which work as YouTube plus Newegg multiplied by DeviantArt…on a $750 budget. Fortunately, there’s a practical strategy for controlling runaway scope: limit the use of metaphors and similes to the phases in which they work best.
It makes sense to start with comparisons, especially if you’re about to develop a significant new functional unit. However, if you do so, the second round of specification development becomes critical. Once you understand what the client is asking for on a high level, you should restate that understanding in more concrete terms that will form the basis for binding design documents. You can even walk through the comparison product part by part and ask the client what he really means with his comparisons. There is absolutely no harm in asking “what part of this process do you want to copy?” Developers often over-complicate vague requests, and it may turn out to be a pleasant surprise when it turns out that all the client really wants to lift from the $300,000 commercial backend is its color scheme and menu placement.
You may also be able to control ambiguous comparisons by treating them not just as a design reference, but also as a source of benchmarks. Compare compatibility and performance of the model site: when you bring a focus group in, let them attempt to complete tasks on your site and then on the sites the client presented as models. Direct comparison of user experiences and task success rates are solid evidence that your site matches, or even exceeds, the models. Such a strategy is particularly effective when the client has questionable assumptions about user behavior.
When it’s clear that the client is relying on a poor or inadequate analogy because he lacks a better choice, you can combine his understanding of comparisons with your wide design vocabulary. Speak his language, and propose that “instead of doing it like your example, what if we try doing it like this other example?”
Finally, don’t miss the possibility of the sum of a client’s models being significant as well. If all the sites he idolizes average 700k per page of images and Flash, the unspoken message could well be “a seamless, graphics-intensive look is more important to me than 28.8 modem users.” Reading between the lines is no less important here than it is with a more conventional specification.
One more communication tool: no more, no less
Design by comparison can help to engage your clients in the development process while keeping the discussion at a level they’re comfortable with. However, its practitioners must realize that poorly analyzed metaphors can say too much or too little. The need for this delicate balance keeps the technique from being a panacea, but doesn’t prevent it from being useful. Read More...
What to Include in a Website Proposal
A website proposal contains many aspects different from other graphic design proposals, in that technical elements must be addressed along with creative ones. While print proposals do address items such as printing procedures, website proposals must specify web hosting, systems for maintaining content, programs or programming languages to be used and other technical specifications.
Outline of Content
A website proposal should clearly spell out what will be included on the site. This can be done in a standard outline format, or visually, to show what sections and features you intend to build for the client. An outline serves to both let the client know your ideas for the site (which should be based on meetings with them) and protect you from rounds of changes and additions not initially planned for. By including the outline in the proposal and eventually the contract, you are making it clear what is included for the price and therefore what additional services can be charged for.
Method of Building Site
It is important to decide at the start of a project what system or method will be used to build the website. Some sites are built in static HTML, meaning each page is created manually, and updates are done manually as well. Other sites are built in HTML but utilize a content management system (CMS) that stores the content in a database and allows for easier updating. Sites like WordPress and Blogger offer a simple CMS included for free with your site, while other CMS packages are installed on web servers and completely customized for the project, offering countless feature options. Another option for building the site is within Flash, allowing for a rich multimedia experience and a lot of development time. Regardless of the method chosen, it should be explained in the proposal so you and your client are in agreement as to the best way to build the website.
Hosting
A web proposal should also include the hosting plan for the site. The client should be assured that the hosting plan would properly support the traffic and content expected. For example, a site with a lot of video content will need sufficient storage and speed. Along with a detailed description of the hosting, expected costs over time and for setup should be included.
Maintenance
Once a website is designed, built and launched, it will need to be maintained. Site maintenance includes both technical up-keep such as server upgrades, and updates to content or design on the site itself. The plan, and costs, for maintenance should be detailed in the proposal. This may include specifying what the client will be able to update on their own (through the use of a CMS), what updates you as the designer/ developer will handle, hourly rates for ongoing work, and any other details concerning keeping the site running and up-to-date.
Time Frame
Most clients will want to work on a deadline. While web projects require many rounds of approvals and changes, include the expected amount of time to complete the project. Depending on the needs of the client, a strict deadline might have to be included.
Estimate
After explaining in writing how you plan to develop the site, what will be on it, how long it will take, and the hosting and maintenance, an estimate of your fees should be included. This is something that should be discussed with the client, ideally before creating a full proposal, so you know what type of budget you are working with. Once you have determined the cost for the project, it can be beneficial to again speak to the client (instead of just sending a number in writing) to get an idea of their reaction and potentially negotiate to land the job.
Going to Contract
Once a proposal is accepted, it should be included as part of the contract with the client. This will again clearly spell out what services are expected for the cost. The contract will also have to specify a payment schedule and legal provisions, for which an attorney should be consulted. Read More...
Outline of Content
A website proposal should clearly spell out what will be included on the site. This can be done in a standard outline format, or visually, to show what sections and features you intend to build for the client. An outline serves to both let the client know your ideas for the site (which should be based on meetings with them) and protect you from rounds of changes and additions not initially planned for. By including the outline in the proposal and eventually the contract, you are making it clear what is included for the price and therefore what additional services can be charged for.
Method of Building Site
It is important to decide at the start of a project what system or method will be used to build the website. Some sites are built in static HTML, meaning each page is created manually, and updates are done manually as well. Other sites are built in HTML but utilize a content management system (CMS) that stores the content in a database and allows for easier updating. Sites like WordPress and Blogger offer a simple CMS included for free with your site, while other CMS packages are installed on web servers and completely customized for the project, offering countless feature options. Another option for building the site is within Flash, allowing for a rich multimedia experience and a lot of development time. Regardless of the method chosen, it should be explained in the proposal so you and your client are in agreement as to the best way to build the website.
Hosting
A web proposal should also include the hosting plan for the site. The client should be assured that the hosting plan would properly support the traffic and content expected. For example, a site with a lot of video content will need sufficient storage and speed. Along with a detailed description of the hosting, expected costs over time and for setup should be included.
Maintenance
Once a website is designed, built and launched, it will need to be maintained. Site maintenance includes both technical up-keep such as server upgrades, and updates to content or design on the site itself. The plan, and costs, for maintenance should be detailed in the proposal. This may include specifying what the client will be able to update on their own (through the use of a CMS), what updates you as the designer/ developer will handle, hourly rates for ongoing work, and any other details concerning keeping the site running and up-to-date.
Time Frame
Most clients will want to work on a deadline. While web projects require many rounds of approvals and changes, include the expected amount of time to complete the project. Depending on the needs of the client, a strict deadline might have to be included.
Estimate
After explaining in writing how you plan to develop the site, what will be on it, how long it will take, and the hosting and maintenance, an estimate of your fees should be included. This is something that should be discussed with the client, ideally before creating a full proposal, so you know what type of budget you are working with. Once you have determined the cost for the project, it can be beneficial to again speak to the client (instead of just sending a number in writing) to get an idea of their reaction and potentially negotiate to land the job.
Going to Contract
Once a proposal is accepted, it should be included as part of the contract with the client. This will again clearly spell out what services are expected for the cost. The contract will also have to specify a payment schedule and legal provisions, for which an attorney should be consulted. Read More...
The Details That Matter
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, the graphic arts industry was populated by full-time illustrators, production assistants and compositors. With only composing sticks for laying out type, straight edges for defining grids, a human proofer to catch spelling mistakes and an arsenal of X-acto blades for making edits, these guys lived and breathed detail. Mistakes were costly. It was a trade position that required lengthy apprenticeship; job security depended on getting all of the little things right.
While many of the tactile skills needed for our new generation of PC-based web design and development are radically different, a critical eye for detail is as relevant as ever. In fact, because of the lower cost of entry and increasing commoditization of design, that eye for detail is not only necessary for staying afloat in the profession, but a requirement for success.
The functional details are different than the ones with which our forefathers wrestled. Most of us do not own goggles to prevent spray adhesive from getting in our eyes or loupes to gauge dot gain at a press check. We do, however, have to deal with the endearing idiosyncrasies of browsers; we all run into the same double margin bug and inconsistent JavaScript support. These are quantitative, documented issues. Good website builders like you and I avoid these altogether simply by writing better code. But the details that can kill a project faster than a fly against a windshield are more subversive: the ones that, in hindsight, should have been blindingly obvious.
It’s never just about design
Only the luckiest website builders actually build websites all day. Most of us are also part-time proofers, project managers, usability experts, design critics, navigational architects, therapists for copywriters, and general go-to experts on all thing interweb. We are responsible for not only testing in different browsers, but for knowing which browsers our audience will use, and why. We have to sit in on conference calls and listen to people criticize our work and ask the same question nine times. We are responsible for checking the consistency of link treatment. Button design. Form functionality. Whether little decorative flourish A matches little decorative flourish B. We have to pay attention to a lot of stuff, and a lot of it falls well outside the sphere of design.
After working in numerous design departments and managing of a diverse creative team, I’ve learned that the best employees have distinct habits. These employees:
* re-read the project brief before clarifying outstanding questions with the project manager or client,
* communicate with project stakeholders to catch any mid-project scope changes—and, more importantly, understand why these changes are happening,
* challenge changes they don’t agree with, and defend their positions objectively and pragmatically,
* pass work to colleagues for a peer gut-check before a formal review,
* spell check, then reads everything again to catch the errors spell cheque doughs knot,
* read everything again for language nuances, such as consistent point of view, active voice, and parallel structure,
* study relevant market trends and understand the competition,
* suggest details that improve the piece, from adding clearer alt text to switching out images, to altering the grid in ways that allow content to breathe,
* know which battles to fight and which to avoid, and
* recognize and work on the details that help them get better at their jobs…and then go on to get better at their jobs.
Invest for the long run
When design deliverables go wrong, it often leads to Old Testament, end-of-the-world stuff—fire and brimstone, rivers and seas boiling, cats and dogs living together. Every finger lands squarely in the face the designer. And why not? It is every designer’s responsibility to ensure the 100% satisfaction of the client, and that means delivering work in which every detail is thought through: top to bottom, inside and out.
In practice, though, there are two types of people when it comes to paying attention to detail: those who say they reviewed their work, and those who actually reviewed their work.
Website designers and developers who consistently fall short of expectations, who let little details slip through, ultimately develop a bad reputation. For the corporate employee, choice projects go to others and promotions are few; for the freelancer, client referrals dwindle. Perhaps most deflating, however, is that colleagues no longer take you seriously in peer design reviews. When people expect you to miss the details, the road to redemption is long.
The black comedy of it all is that few people celebrate designers when they get it right. We are, after all, expected to nail it perfectly every time. We juggle all of the tiny pieces of the great project puzzle, and after it goes live on the web, then it’s on to the next project. There is little short-term glory in being perfect, but there are long-term rewards for being consistently great, and good managers look for that consistency across the careers of their employees.
The little things lead to success
When designers and developers think about the details of the project, they must think critically and analytically. The best solutions come from both sides of the brain, built from both the how and the why.
To be truly great, we have to understand the motivation of our clients, maintain constant two-way communication with shockingly uncreative people, get a firm handle on copywriting and how that craft exists symbiotically with the visual element, and foresee how the finished whole will be greater than the sum of the bits and pieces we spent hours obsessing over. All of these factors cascade into the final product.
Creative professionals who can see all angles of a project are the ones who ultimately succeed in the industry. They win awards, get promoted, and make money, but most importantly they develop a reputation for caring about detail, for putting a personal and deliberate effort into making sure all of the tiny things are in place to make the final product perfect. Read More...
While many of the tactile skills needed for our new generation of PC-based web design and development are radically different, a critical eye for detail is as relevant as ever. In fact, because of the lower cost of entry and increasing commoditization of design, that eye for detail is not only necessary for staying afloat in the profession, but a requirement for success.
The functional details are different than the ones with which our forefathers wrestled. Most of us do not own goggles to prevent spray adhesive from getting in our eyes or loupes to gauge dot gain at a press check. We do, however, have to deal with the endearing idiosyncrasies of browsers; we all run into the same double margin bug and inconsistent JavaScript support. These are quantitative, documented issues. Good website builders like you and I avoid these altogether simply by writing better code. But the details that can kill a project faster than a fly against a windshield are more subversive: the ones that, in hindsight, should have been blindingly obvious.
It’s never just about design
Only the luckiest website builders actually build websites all day. Most of us are also part-time proofers, project managers, usability experts, design critics, navigational architects, therapists for copywriters, and general go-to experts on all thing interweb. We are responsible for not only testing in different browsers, but for knowing which browsers our audience will use, and why. We have to sit in on conference calls and listen to people criticize our work and ask the same question nine times. We are responsible for checking the consistency of link treatment. Button design. Form functionality. Whether little decorative flourish A matches little decorative flourish B. We have to pay attention to a lot of stuff, and a lot of it falls well outside the sphere of design.
After working in numerous design departments and managing of a diverse creative team, I’ve learned that the best employees have distinct habits. These employees:
* re-read the project brief before clarifying outstanding questions with the project manager or client,
* communicate with project stakeholders to catch any mid-project scope changes—and, more importantly, understand why these changes are happening,
* challenge changes they don’t agree with, and defend their positions objectively and pragmatically,
* pass work to colleagues for a peer gut-check before a formal review,
* spell check, then reads everything again to catch the errors spell cheque doughs knot,
* read everything again for language nuances, such as consistent point of view, active voice, and parallel structure,
* study relevant market trends and understand the competition,
* suggest details that improve the piece, from adding clearer alt text to switching out images, to altering the grid in ways that allow content to breathe,
* know which battles to fight and which to avoid, and
* recognize and work on the details that help them get better at their jobs…and then go on to get better at their jobs.
Invest for the long run
When design deliverables go wrong, it often leads to Old Testament, end-of-the-world stuff—fire and brimstone, rivers and seas boiling, cats and dogs living together. Every finger lands squarely in the face the designer. And why not? It is every designer’s responsibility to ensure the 100% satisfaction of the client, and that means delivering work in which every detail is thought through: top to bottom, inside and out.
In practice, though, there are two types of people when it comes to paying attention to detail: those who say they reviewed their work, and those who actually reviewed their work.
Website designers and developers who consistently fall short of expectations, who let little details slip through, ultimately develop a bad reputation. For the corporate employee, choice projects go to others and promotions are few; for the freelancer, client referrals dwindle. Perhaps most deflating, however, is that colleagues no longer take you seriously in peer design reviews. When people expect you to miss the details, the road to redemption is long.
The black comedy of it all is that few people celebrate designers when they get it right. We are, after all, expected to nail it perfectly every time. We juggle all of the tiny pieces of the great project puzzle, and after it goes live on the web, then it’s on to the next project. There is little short-term glory in being perfect, but there are long-term rewards for being consistently great, and good managers look for that consistency across the careers of their employees.
The little things lead to success
When designers and developers think about the details of the project, they must think critically and analytically. The best solutions come from both sides of the brain, built from both the how and the why.
To be truly great, we have to understand the motivation of our clients, maintain constant two-way communication with shockingly uncreative people, get a firm handle on copywriting and how that craft exists symbiotically with the visual element, and foresee how the finished whole will be greater than the sum of the bits and pieces we spent hours obsessing over. All of these factors cascade into the final product.
Creative professionals who can see all angles of a project are the ones who ultimately succeed in the industry. They win awards, get promoted, and make money, but most importantly they develop a reputation for caring about detail, for putting a personal and deliberate effort into making sure all of the tiny things are in place to make the final product perfect. Read More...
online creative strategy
The single largest problem that continues to hinder interactive design from really coming into it’s own is the fact that designers allow their work to be led more by technology or production techniques and not creative thinking.
As a creative director We have had tons of interactive portfolios come across our screen over the years and we see the same problem over and over again. Unfortunately most of this work has been produced in Macromedia Flash and that technology has taken a huge amount of criticism over the years. I personally believe that pointing to Flash as the reason for ineffective web design makes about as much sense as blaming paper for creating junk mail or the telephone for creating the solicitors who call during dinner. The fault should fall to the designers who have not taken the time to use a creative strategy as the basis of their work.
A good on-line creative strategy should define the values and brand attributes that need to be communicated to the consumer in a distinctive and compelling way that takes advantage of the medium. I use answers to the following list of questions as a starting point when I meet with a new client or start on a new project.
What are we advertising and why?
When you meet with your client about a new project, get a thorough understanding of the focus of the communications efforts such as: the brand, a specific product or service, a promotion or new news. Make sure you understand their reasons for wanting to be on-line. Often the rationale clients provide are expressed as marketing objectives not as communications objectives. Communications change the way people think and influence their behaviors. That is the difference between a marketing objective and a communications objective. What is it they are trying to achieve? Increase market share? Drive awareness? Increases frequency or penetration? Increase sales? Focus on uncovering the single most important obstacle the communications must overcome.
What is the brands communication past?
Get a clear understanding of where the brand has come from and where it is now is critical to determining where the brand needs to go. Look at the brands past advertising to gain a solid understanding of the it’s positioning, personality and focus. Research if the target of the brand’s activities have shifted and why. What are the reasons for this change?
What do we need to do?
It is a simple as it sounds. What are the deliverables that need to be created to fulfill the clients marketing and communications needs?
Who are we talking to? (Demographics)
What are the physical characteristics of your clients market? Your client should be able to provide you with some statistics that provide a snapshot of the consumer you will target with the creative work. Common demographics include: age, gender, religion, income level, education, and family composition.
Who are we talking to? (Psychographics)
What are the mental characteristics of your clients market? Your client should again be able to provide you with some information that provides a snapshot of the consumer’s mindset regarding: their personal values, their beliefs, their habits and their activities. Psychographics are often more powerful influences upon how a consumer views your clients category, brand or product as attributes often affect behavior, and attitudes typically cross age groups. Take time to know your consumer so your creative will be more impactful.
What is the personality and tone?
A brand’s personality should be a reflection it’s behavior, character, and manner. This personality should drive the style and tone of all our communications in writing, photos/illustrations, typography and style.
What is the selling idea?
The selling idea is a way of saying the most persuasive thing you can say to get consumers to alter their behavior towards a client’s category, brand or product. The selling idea should be the starting point for the development any compelling, original, and successful creative ideas. The selling idea can be about: ways of using the product, disadvantages of not using the product, satisfying needs (physical, social, psychological, new ways), product heritage / where or how it was made or generic benefit you want to own.
What do we want the consumer to do?
With any advertising you want to be able to evoke and emotion or action. What is the emotion you want them have? How should they feel about the brand? What do you want them to do?
Conclusion
This list is just a starting point. To create a great strategy you have to be able to distill and refine the answers to get at the insights and core brand attributes. The more accurate and concise you are able to become the better your ideas will be. I also recommend if possible to share your answers and thinking with a team of your peers or co-workers because the more people thinking about a project, the more new ideas can be generated. Read More...
As a creative director We have had tons of interactive portfolios come across our screen over the years and we see the same problem over and over again. Unfortunately most of this work has been produced in Macromedia Flash and that technology has taken a huge amount of criticism over the years. I personally believe that pointing to Flash as the reason for ineffective web design makes about as much sense as blaming paper for creating junk mail or the telephone for creating the solicitors who call during dinner. The fault should fall to the designers who have not taken the time to use a creative strategy as the basis of their work.
A good on-line creative strategy should define the values and brand attributes that need to be communicated to the consumer in a distinctive and compelling way that takes advantage of the medium. I use answers to the following list of questions as a starting point when I meet with a new client or start on a new project.
What are we advertising and why?
When you meet with your client about a new project, get a thorough understanding of the focus of the communications efforts such as: the brand, a specific product or service, a promotion or new news. Make sure you understand their reasons for wanting to be on-line. Often the rationale clients provide are expressed as marketing objectives not as communications objectives. Communications change the way people think and influence their behaviors. That is the difference between a marketing objective and a communications objective. What is it they are trying to achieve? Increase market share? Drive awareness? Increases frequency or penetration? Increase sales? Focus on uncovering the single most important obstacle the communications must overcome.
What is the brands communication past?
Get a clear understanding of where the brand has come from and where it is now is critical to determining where the brand needs to go. Look at the brands past advertising to gain a solid understanding of the it’s positioning, personality and focus. Research if the target of the brand’s activities have shifted and why. What are the reasons for this change?
What do we need to do?
It is a simple as it sounds. What are the deliverables that need to be created to fulfill the clients marketing and communications needs?
Who are we talking to? (Demographics)
What are the physical characteristics of your clients market? Your client should be able to provide you with some statistics that provide a snapshot of the consumer you will target with the creative work. Common demographics include: age, gender, religion, income level, education, and family composition.
Who are we talking to? (Psychographics)
What are the mental characteristics of your clients market? Your client should again be able to provide you with some information that provides a snapshot of the consumer’s mindset regarding: their personal values, their beliefs, their habits and their activities. Psychographics are often more powerful influences upon how a consumer views your clients category, brand or product as attributes often affect behavior, and attitudes typically cross age groups. Take time to know your consumer so your creative will be more impactful.
What is the personality and tone?
A brand’s personality should be a reflection it’s behavior, character, and manner. This personality should drive the style and tone of all our communications in writing, photos/illustrations, typography and style.
What is the selling idea?
The selling idea is a way of saying the most persuasive thing you can say to get consumers to alter their behavior towards a client’s category, brand or product. The selling idea should be the starting point for the development any compelling, original, and successful creative ideas. The selling idea can be about: ways of using the product, disadvantages of not using the product, satisfying needs (physical, social, psychological, new ways), product heritage / where or how it was made or generic benefit you want to own.
What do we want the consumer to do?
With any advertising you want to be able to evoke and emotion or action. What is the emotion you want them have? How should they feel about the brand? What do you want them to do?
Conclusion
This list is just a starting point. To create a great strategy you have to be able to distill and refine the answers to get at the insights and core brand attributes. The more accurate and concise you are able to become the better your ideas will be. I also recommend if possible to share your answers and thinking with a team of your peers or co-workers because the more people thinking about a project, the more new ideas can be generated. Read More...
Saturday, October 11, 2008
House on the Market? How to Get that Extra Dollar
When buying a new home, you will remember that you first saw a picture or drove by, if you didn’t like the look of the outside, then you just kept driving. This is an important fact to remember when we now go to sell our own home.
The first impression of the house is the one that will mean stop and come in or forget it.
So we need to make that street or curb appeal inviting and welcoming.
Start by trimming, cut everything back so it nice and neat and tidy. Make sure you can get to the front door with out your hair being skewered by a tree.
Get rid of all the dirt on the outside of the house, it is amazing how much street grim builds up on your walls. Hose down the house, remove the dirt, cobwebs and anything else lurking under the eaves.
Sparkle clear windows, inside and out, with no damaged glass are a must have, they make you house feel larger and accentuate your views.
Make your entrance inviting, surround it with good looking well cared for plants, perhaps some flowers in a pot, they always look cheerful and provide color. Remove anything dead and give the entry a good sweep and hose down. Paint or stain the steps, replacing any broken tiles. Spray for mold or slippery greenery that may be living there, you don’t want them to injure themselves on the way in!.
Make the entry neat and tidy, it provides a good first impression.
There are simple things that we forget, that is that perspective buyers look everywhere, even in the dishwasher, so make sure you have at least washed the dishes, no nasty smells left for them to find.
This does take time but it has a double barrel effect, clean out all cupboards and wardrobes, this makes the spaces look larger and gives the appearance that the spaces are large and adequate. This also saves time when it comes to moving out.
Run around the house with a duster and remove cobwebs, look for mold on the walls and children’s drawings! Get rid of any victims. You want to make sure that you house looks well cared for and not neglected.
Let as much natural light into the home as possible, open up blinds and curtains, go easy on the window opening, especially if it is windy!
Some simple things which can often be overlooked, make all the beds, yes even the children’s! Put all the dirty washing in the laundry or better still wash, dry and put away! You want to make sure there is nothing to turn off a potential buyer.
One important area is the kitchen, simple stuff here, keep it clean and tidy. Decorate by adding a bowl of fresh fruit or a vase of fragrant flowers to create a pleasant aroma. There are two minds about the fresh coffee brewing, it can be an unpleasant smell for some so if in doubt, keep the smells simple. Read More...
The first impression of the house is the one that will mean stop and come in or forget it.
So we need to make that street or curb appeal inviting and welcoming.
Start by trimming, cut everything back so it nice and neat and tidy. Make sure you can get to the front door with out your hair being skewered by a tree.
Get rid of all the dirt on the outside of the house, it is amazing how much street grim builds up on your walls. Hose down the house, remove the dirt, cobwebs and anything else lurking under the eaves.
Sparkle clear windows, inside and out, with no damaged glass are a must have, they make you house feel larger and accentuate your views.
Make your entrance inviting, surround it with good looking well cared for plants, perhaps some flowers in a pot, they always look cheerful and provide color. Remove anything dead and give the entry a good sweep and hose down. Paint or stain the steps, replacing any broken tiles. Spray for mold or slippery greenery that may be living there, you don’t want them to injure themselves on the way in!.
Make the entry neat and tidy, it provides a good first impression.
There are simple things that we forget, that is that perspective buyers look everywhere, even in the dishwasher, so make sure you have at least washed the dishes, no nasty smells left for them to find.
This does take time but it has a double barrel effect, clean out all cupboards and wardrobes, this makes the spaces look larger and gives the appearance that the spaces are large and adequate. This also saves time when it comes to moving out.
Run around the house with a duster and remove cobwebs, look for mold on the walls and children’s drawings! Get rid of any victims. You want to make sure that you house looks well cared for and not neglected.
Let as much natural light into the home as possible, open up blinds and curtains, go easy on the window opening, especially if it is windy!
Some simple things which can often be overlooked, make all the beds, yes even the children’s! Put all the dirty washing in the laundry or better still wash, dry and put away! You want to make sure there is nothing to turn off a potential buyer.
One important area is the kitchen, simple stuff here, keep it clean and tidy. Decorate by adding a bowl of fresh fruit or a vase of fragrant flowers to create a pleasant aroma. There are two minds about the fresh coffee brewing, it can be an unpleasant smell for some so if in doubt, keep the smells simple. Read More...
How to Get Your Client or Project Brief
This sounds more professional than it really is, most things in interior decorating can be broken down into processes. Then you can follow simple step by step methods to achieve them. This is how we achieve the client brief.
1. List up all the project’s details, address, number of rooms, number of family members, pets, lifestyle (professional, family orientated, teenagers with lots of friends, babies, loads of pets, retired and relaxed, home office etc) current style of the house, the type of construction, the budget, the overall content of
the project (i.e renovate the kitchen and bathrooms).
2. Take one item at a time and expand on them. For example Family Members - how many? What ages? What are their needs? This is especially important for the bathroom area - privacy, showers, baths, double basins, additional toilets etc. Current Style of the house, if it is a 1960’s bungalow, what kind of style are you wanting to portray in the home? Is the whole house going to be updated eventually or simply the kitchen and bathrooms? Look for long term plans as well as present as these can effect the look of the whole house if it doesn’t flow cohesively. The type of construction, this is vitally important for structural purposes, for example you may want to put granite bench tops in the kitchen, these are extremely heavy and if you had a timber framed floor would need additional engineering support for the floor, the same applies if you wanted to add marble to the bathroom floor on the first story, again very heavy.
3. The Budget - this is a major part of the brief, a good designer brings their project in on budget, this keeps everyone happy! It means that when you do your initial planning you are realistic as to what materials, fittings and fixtures are affordable, and you can set a priority list and use it to get the best quality project for your money.
4. The Overall Changes - in other words, the scope of work. What do you want to do with your renovations. Is it simply a repaint with new carpet, drapes and furniture or more extensive construction and cabinetry work involved. List up what you want to achieve, what changes are required and to what rooms, what contractors will be involved and their input. This all helps when you want to define your budget and start prioritizing.
5. Lifestyle - this is important when it comes to finding the right style of decoration. You need to find out how the occupiers of the home work on a daily basis. It is no use having a stark white kitchen with clean sleek horizontal surfaces when you have toddlers and babies and you spend all day making food for them. Getting everything out and putting it away again and again. You need something with user friendly appliance storage, easy access and a more softened look if you are going to spend most of the day in the kitchen. Same thing for a mass of teenagers you would need to allow a large space for a huge refrigerator as they will also eat all day!
6. Then the most important part - the aesthetics! What style or look you or your client wants to achieve. This can also be the most difficult as it is the creative side of decorating. All the rest has been “accounting” lists and numbers, vitally important to any project but not the fun side of decorating that we all enjoy. Read More...
1. List up all the project’s details, address, number of rooms, number of family members, pets, lifestyle (professional, family orientated, teenagers with lots of friends, babies, loads of pets, retired and relaxed, home office etc) current style of the house, the type of construction, the budget, the overall content of
the project (i.e renovate the kitchen and bathrooms).
2. Take one item at a time and expand on them. For example Family Members - how many? What ages? What are their needs? This is especially important for the bathroom area - privacy, showers, baths, double basins, additional toilets etc. Current Style of the house, if it is a 1960’s bungalow, what kind of style are you wanting to portray in the home? Is the whole house going to be updated eventually or simply the kitchen and bathrooms? Look for long term plans as well as present as these can effect the look of the whole house if it doesn’t flow cohesively. The type of construction, this is vitally important for structural purposes, for example you may want to put granite bench tops in the kitchen, these are extremely heavy and if you had a timber framed floor would need additional engineering support for the floor, the same applies if you wanted to add marble to the bathroom floor on the first story, again very heavy.
3. The Budget - this is a major part of the brief, a good designer brings their project in on budget, this keeps everyone happy! It means that when you do your initial planning you are realistic as to what materials, fittings and fixtures are affordable, and you can set a priority list and use it to get the best quality project for your money.
4. The Overall Changes - in other words, the scope of work. What do you want to do with your renovations. Is it simply a repaint with new carpet, drapes and furniture or more extensive construction and cabinetry work involved. List up what you want to achieve, what changes are required and to what rooms, what contractors will be involved and their input. This all helps when you want to define your budget and start prioritizing.
5. Lifestyle - this is important when it comes to finding the right style of decoration. You need to find out how the occupiers of the home work on a daily basis. It is no use having a stark white kitchen with clean sleek horizontal surfaces when you have toddlers and babies and you spend all day making food for them. Getting everything out and putting it away again and again. You need something with user friendly appliance storage, easy access and a more softened look if you are going to spend most of the day in the kitchen. Same thing for a mass of teenagers you would need to allow a large space for a huge refrigerator as they will also eat all day!
6. Then the most important part - the aesthetics! What style or look you or your client wants to achieve. This can also be the most difficult as it is the creative side of decorating. All the rest has been “accounting” lists and numbers, vitally important to any project but not the fun side of decorating that we all enjoy. Read More...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
