Design is more than a service industry.
2006.09.01 09:08
Roger Johansson has a great site with insightful commentary, but one of his more recent musings touched upon a debate we have been having at work recently; his thesis was about the ten things a company should know before building a website. He references another designer, Andy Budd, who recently asked his site visitors what 3 things we, as designers, wished our clients knew about the web that generated a lot of input from the community. Both of these highlight the issue of how to approach your role with your clients. Are we merely a service industry, taking orders and fulfilling them, or are we providing more valuable counsel, such as an attorney or financial planner?
Having worked as a artist (read: layout, illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, video editor, compositor, web designer, programmer, chief cook & bottle washer) for nearly twenty years I continually assess where the industry is and in which direction it may be moving towards. My thoughts on this matter tend more towards the latter; we should be providing counsel for the client and their business requirements. Actively engaging with them and the goals of the business rather than simply fulfilling an order for one creative development project. Read More...
Having worked as a artist (read: layout, illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, video editor, compositor, web designer, programmer, chief cook & bottle washer) for nearly twenty years I continually assess where the industry is and in which direction it may be moving towards. My thoughts on this matter tend more towards the latter; we should be providing counsel for the client and their business requirements. Actively engaging with them and the goals of the business rather than simply fulfilling an order for one creative development project. Read More...
|
Some Open-Source Resources for Design
2006.08.14 07:45
One of the greatest assets that the internet and its associated online communities is the availability of open source solutions to design problems. Some of these solutions are the ready availability of code examples that can be used in your project(s) to full-scale applications that provide complete solutions for today's designers. Read More...
Web DNA
2006.08.07 07:41
This is another thing I love about the web. I found this on the RapidWeaver Forums and thought it was an intriguing way to showcase data. Enter the URL you wish to have reviewed and this site will generate a visual representation of your site. It reviews the code and generates the image based on several criteria: H1 is brighter than H2 is brighter than H3, etc., table is brighter than TR which is brighter than TD, DIV layout is brighter than a table layout, and on. A semantically coded site will appear brighter than an invalid page.
Methodology explained - Part III Develop
2006.07.30 22:10
In a brief introduction to our approach to a project we have been going over some of the larger concepts in working towards a finished site. The third stage in our process is development. Once the finished concept is signed and approved by the client, we then move to actually build the site. During the development process, we move from designing the experience to creating the site. Read More...
World Wide Web
2006.06.27 22:42
I have had Google Analytics running on this site for less than a week. It is interesting to take a look at the voluminous reports you can create as you analyze your site and the traffic it generates. In the week that I have had it running, I have come to discover more and more what a small planet we have and the need to communicate better through intelligent means like the web.
Just under half of the traffic to this site has been from non-English speaking countries; Japan, Slovakia, Italy, Germany, etc. As I write these opinions, insights, tutorials, they have seemed to make their way around the globe and back again. Read More...
Methodology explained - Part II design
2006.06.25 21:36
In the second phase, of a 5 phase process for developing any project, we start working on the design of the site. The design will incorporate much more than just how the site will ultimately look. The design refers to the structural integrity of the information architecture as well as the aesthetics of the visual design. In order to develop an appropriately immersive experience to solve my client’s problem we begin, as they say, at the beginning. Read More...
Some more reference sites
2006.06.20 07:55
There is always a wealth of knowledge just a few clicks away. Here are some more sites that I frequent to research projects and use as a source of inspiration while developing sites. Read More...
RSS Media Redux
2006.06.15 12:13
Really Simple Syndication is a means with which to broadcast feeds (alternatively call streams, webfeed, channels, etc.) to the general public. These feeds provide content, or brief summaries and associated metadata, to the end-user with links back to the full or expanded content. The end-user uses a reader or aggregator to subscribe to a feed as well as review the content.
There have been forms of syndication, but none ever achieved a fraction of the success that RSS has obtained thus far. With the variety of rich media (blogs, podcast, photocast, vodcast, etc.) that can now utilize an RSS feed, its popularity will only increase. Read More...
Methodology explained - Part I Define
2006.06.09 23:43
I have been working in this business for nearly twenty years, although my training stretches back to my early childhood, and I have worked in every form of visual communications during that time. Each medium has its own requirements and discipline, but within all of these business models, the common elements are quality work produced on time and in budget.
This is a business and we must ensure due diligence to solve our clients problems, increase their business and return a profit to our company (regardless of whether you own it or work for da' man).Any time you can streamline a process, or refine a workflow to enhance the quality of the work while increasing profitability ensures that you are a valuable member of a company. Read More...
This is a business and we must ensure due diligence to solve our clients problems, increase their business and return a profit to our company (regardless of whether you own it or work for da' man).Any time you can streamline a process, or refine a workflow to enhance the quality of the work while increasing profitability ensures that you are a valuable member of a company. Read More...
Website valuation
2006.06.05 13:02
Found this site, Leapfish, and thought it was somewhat amusing. They claim to offer an appraisal of your domain name. If they are accurate, my domain is one of the more valuable assets I own. Either way, it is a fun bit of speculating.
Cool and somewhat useless
2006.05.31 15:48
Hurricane Season
2006.05.30 23:03
Have you got all of your supplies? Florida has a tax holiday that ends on June 1st. You can find a list of items on this page. Be prepared this season; these are the major items to plan on storing in case of emergency: Read More...