Image courtesy of http://www.zeldman.com

For those who are planning to make a jump into the web design and development career, This book is a MUST HAVE. It’s not about how to design a cool splash page, or coding like a sir, but it does break down the whole internet-website-design-development realm.

With in the realm, there are millions and bajillions of itty bitty tips and facts that you usually accumulate through years of experience and NOT from a book. Well, this book doesn’t have all those bajillions but it does give you, and teach you that those bajillions really exist! An easier analogy would be: It doesn’t teach you how to make an apple pie step by step. But rather, it explains the ingredients, the cooking process and what the outcome should be. Did that confuse you more? Sorry ’bout that. But thats just another reason why you should download the book and read it!

Again, if this is a realm you wish to dive into and make a decent living off of, read it. The guidelines, practices it teaches will always be the standard.

Kudos to the www.zeldman.com crew for providing this gem of a book and bible for the world to have. We will forever be grateful.

LINK TO DOWNLOAD: http://www.zeldman.com/2009/04/16/taking-your-talent-to-the-web-is-now-a-free-downloadable-book-from-zeldmancom/

Scanwood Kitchen Utensils:

Aside from being a really great product, they seemed to think of a great way to package these products. SIMPLE. No frills, and completely reinforces the products. If it’s so simple, then why the accolades you ask? As anyone in the industry can tell you, ‘simple’ is often the most difficult to produce. Weird right? Seriously, it’s hard.

Image from topdesignmag.com

Salt and Pepper Cell

Now this is cool.  The association of lithium in your food could be not-so-tasty to the consumers, the great creativity to take a D size battery and use that shape as salt-n-pepper shakers seems to trump the tastes buds at this point. It makes me want to add more salt even if dinner is salty enough!

Image courtesy of topdesign.com

Image courtesy of slodive.com

Awesome Japanese Banana Milk Carton (at least I think it’s milk)

Ok so I’m not really sure what the name of this product is. but c’mon, look at it. Does it REALLY need to be in English? Do I REALLY need to say more?  Straight up.  Awesome.

Image courtesy of ffffound.com

Thoughts? Comments?

I am proud and honestly in awe at this great brand and label design. Not to mention a pretty smooth tasting rum to boot. Don Papa Rum from the Philippines has really taken it a step further. The Philippines is well known for producing some of the most interesting and great value for your money products. Don Papa Rum is on the top of this list. It is a testament that great design is really on the minds of companies who want to make a great product and understanding that design can help them get there.

The country is littered with products that are great but seriously lack in the design/packaging department. Due to boxed minds and corporate pressures, designers have been limited to ‘designing at gun point’ mentality. Meaning the clients and corporations exude so much pressure to the designers to be able to get what they think is right and looks great. But not understanding that their knowledge and view of what looks great is somewhat limited. That’s why they hire designers and design firms right? But sadly they only see designers as skilled workers to execute what they want and not really seek advice or council from designers who would know what would be best. To a certain degree it is also the designers/design firms fault for letting the clients do what they want. I guess the pressures of money are just too much. But That’s all for another post altogether. Back to Don Papa.

Below are images taken from <a href=”http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/6/11/don-papa.html”>the die line</a> which take a close look at the finer aspects of the label and it’s intricate design. So much detail, effort and flawless execution were done that it really is the unsung hero in this years ‘awesome-est designs’ category. I really cannot express my happiness in how this products label was designed and how it really compliments the product and the over-all packaging. The details go beyond standard and really leave the competition way behind. Honestly, I don’t even know who designed this but who ever you are, THANK YOU. Seriously.

Examine these images closely and see what it is I can’t stop raving about. Then go tell your friends, buy a few crates of this stuff and enjoy excessively as I have while writing this post. CHEEEEEEEEEERS.

1. Personality: Talk to your designer and try to get a feel for what and who they’re all about. Never mind how they look, looks are the most deceiving aspect. But getting a feel of what type of person they are is probably the most key aspect of a great working relationship. No matter how good they are, if you just can’t get along, it’ll be too much stress and hassle for you. I have come across several individuals who, I thought we close to geniuses when it came to their work. But the fact that I couldn’t speak to them for more than 5 minutes with out having to resist the urge to reach out and strangle them was just too much. But that’s just me.

2. Portfolio: This is another important aspect of choosing your designer. In contrary to number 1, no matter how much you like the person, also take time to look at their work. Bottom line, if you see their work and immediately know they suck, then don’t hire them. Your kindness to hire said sucky designer will come back to haunt your business.

3. Diversity: The designer must possess the ability to conform to what you, the client wants and needs. Being versatile is such a key weapon in the freelance designer game. Look at their work and ask them what it was their client needed and how were they able to meet those needs. that should give you a pretty good idea if they can be the one for you.

If you have these 3 area’s covered, you should be on the right path to finding the right person for the job. Remember what you need and where this can help your business. Also know that sometimes, you have to go through a few designers to find the right one so don’t be scared to try some out. that also helps you know what it is your looking for in designers.

Best of luck!

An easy way to decide is to research or simply look at the readily available stats online and see which are top ranked. Or through word of mouth and articles, based on popularity alone can make that decision for you.  To some people that’s enough. Then there are others, who want to maximize social media to benefit their business or increase their chances finding a date this Saturday night. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before signing up and uploading your ‘duck face’ photo’s:

1. What will I be using it for?
2. What audience do I want to attract?
3. What product am I selling?
4. How frequent can I log on and update my profile?
5. What kind of content will I be showcasing?

These should cover the basics and will be a great starting point.

Another important, if not THE most important point to remember is that with the rise and globalization of these social sites, they can and will give you so much power to reach and be seen on a global scale. Then there’s that great saying (Homer??) ‘With great power comes great responsibility’.  YES, it does and you should be fully aware of this. We’ve all heard the horror stories about governments trolling these sites for anything and anyone they can arrest (helps lessen the creeps), bosses knowing your professional history and all the bad things you did with your previous employers copying machine and lets not forget YOUR MOTHER.  You can still get that motherly beat down from mom across the globe if she see’s what you did last Saturday night in the club. With the girls. Then with the guys. And with that empty wine bottle you taped to a goat.  Be very careful about what you post.

Treat social media as a tool that can get you ahead, and not so much as a toy and your personal photo album. Be smart, be productive and be that online profile your mother would be proud of.

It’s what drives us to do what we do and to do it with gusto. Different people are inspired by so many things. Some common, some unique. But the effect is the same when it hits us. You know what I mean. It hits us in all facets of our lives too. Work, play, family, everything. Those are the constants. What isn’t constant are these: When, How, Why. When-Sometimes at the most irregular moment in your day, you get inspired. Walking to your car, buying coffee, squished on the train. How? well it can be as simple as seeing a picture, hearing a song, being with people (or in my case, watching C-class movies). Why-well this is something that’s more etheral and god given I think. I mean, who knows WHY we get inspired? But truth of the matter is we do. 

Going back to the ‘When’ is where this article really begins. As mentioned and the non-constant, when inspiration hits us is unpredictable. Often times, when we need inspiration the most, it’s not there and no matter how hard we try, we can’t pray, sacrifice a cheeseburger, to get inspired. Being in a profession requiring ample amounts of inspiration and often coming across those no-inspiration moments, I have developed a system/ritual and the use of materials to try and help me get started. Most often times it works and yet there are still those times that nothing happens. What I have come to learn, and what always saves me…is in those dire moments when not even far off universes can help me get inspired, is to simply ‘walk away’. Get up off your chair, or drop what ever it is your trying to do, and walk away. Do something so different from your task at hand that your mind drops all thought of said task. What that is, is totally up to you. go for a walk, call a friend, cook lunch. As mentioned in the ‘How’, that inspiration can come from what your doing.

At the same time, it calms the nerves and the pressures of having to be inspired. Resulting in a clearer and open  mind ready to accept inspiration.   And to clarify why i watch C-class movies to get inspired….I watch those horrible movies because my mind thinks it’s so bad that I’ll feel inspired to do anything else, likely the job at hand, rather than watch another minute of it. Ding!…goes the inspiration lightbulb.  

But there are things in web design that should always be forbidden. Whether these design elements aesthetically look bad and/or provide visitors with a bad, visiting experience, they are sure to touch one’s nerve in one way or form.

1. Huge fonts- the only fonts that should be huge or even just ‘large’ should be your header-if at all. Unless the site is designed for the visually challenged then, NO. Remember, you just want to get the visitors attention, not scream at them.
2. Background music- they really don’t do anything for your site except make the experience pretty bad. For one thing, it adds loading time which is not worth it. Not everyone likes your type of music. A potential client who absolutely hates the music you love will immediately run to someone else simply because of the music.  They stopped putting music elevators, so should websites.
3. Pop Up windows- they do have a purpose.  Quick access to memberships, promotional sign ups, RSS instant feeds, etc. But please limit it ONLY to the landing page. If a visitor keeps getting pop-ups on every page of your site, chances are they won’t go more than 3 pages in. Use it for a specific purpose and don’t nag the reader/visitor. They wont like you very much.
4. Too much of everything- If your site has all the patterns, all the colors, 5 different font types, flash animation, then you should hire a professional designer. The only notoriety you will get online is “Worst website of the Decade award.”
5. Small fonts- this is probably worse than having huge fonts. With huge fonts, at least you can read it. If readers have to squint to read a sites text, navigation etc., then chances are you’ll do a great job pissing them off. If that’s your goal, then you need a new life altogether.

These are not solely opinion based, there are actual studies that were done to find out what annoyed website visitors the most. Except maybe #4, that one pretty much applies to everything on this planet.

Along with this comes a fresh new web design and some new logo’s as well. Feel free to roam around and check us out!

Thanks for dropping by!