Retro style website launched

Just launched a fun little website for a Brisbane restaurant guide – Brisbane’s Budget Bites.

The book itself has a retro 1950s feel, so I used some lovely 1950s fonts from Font Diner (you can buy a package of a few fonts for a very reasonable price) and found some funky little vector graphics from related website Mister Retro.

The website was lots of fun to design, and it’s a great little guide book too. Now that I have a copy I’ll soon be checking out the best budget eateries Brisbane has to offer!

Presentation power

Last week I did a presentation at the Brisbane Web Design Meetup Group, an informal gathering of about 50 or so people at The Edge technology centre in South Brisbane. The theme of the night was “what I learned in 2010″ and my presentation was about website navigation design.

Now that may not sound particularly interesting, but it obviously struck a chord with many people – since I posted the presentation slides up on Slideshare they have been viewed by over 5000 people in less than a week. That’s a hundred times more than the original audience.

I chose that topic because when I was archiving some old work a month or so ago, I came across some web designs I’d done way back in 1997. The designs had an unusual approach to web navigation, which made me think about how much had changed since then. So I made the presentation into a story, starting with a journey back in time to look at what was around in the early days of web design, then a leap forward to the present to see what has changed, and what possibilities are out there.

The presentation slides supported my talk with retro visuals and practical examples of navigation style, but the slides were never intended to stand alone. When they were selected as one of the Slideshare top presentations of the day, I suddenly found the slides were being viewed by a range of people all round the world who had no idea of the original context, but enjoyed the presentation anyway. That’s the power of social media and file sharing networks for you!

Here’s a copy of the presentation:

Logo design – getting it right

With new businesses sprouting up every day, there’s always a need for new logos, so lots of design companies offer a logo design service. However, although the physical process of creating a logo is pretty easy these days, there’s a lot more to logo design than just creating some trendy text with a graphic beside it.

A logo is an essential part of corporate branding, helping to differentiate a brand in the marketplace. Of course, branding includes a lot more than logo design – it covers everything from typography, imagery and communication style through to how the actual product or services are delivered.

As part of the overall branding approach, a logo’s job is to be a unique visual representation of the brand, reflecting the brand values, appealing to the target audiences and differentiating the business from the competition.
A successful logo…

• reflects the brand promise
• appeals to the target audience
• is clear and legible
• is suitable for practical applications
• is versatile and adaptable
• is distinctive and unique.

Getting the brief right
Whether you’re commissioning a logo or are designing one, you need to start with enough information to get inside the brand so you can determine what will make a suitable logo. If a logo designer doesn’t ask the questions listed below, walk away – you will not get the best result.

• exact name of the brand/business
• brand personality/values/messages
• marketing/business objectives
• target audiences
• competitors
• channels/applications (where the logo will be seen)
• tagline/slogan to be used, if relevant
• practical considerations (eg specific formats/uses/media)
• scope of project (eg design logo as part of website/stationery design)
• budget and timing.

Tips for designing a logo
These common sense pointers are based on experience and best practice, and can also be used as criteria to select the right logo from a set of creative options.

• use a legible typeface (clear, easy to read)
• standardise the logo across media (common formats, colours, positions)
• avoid stock images (they’re not unique)
• don’t use bitmap images (vectors scale better)
• research says red & blue are the most successful colours
• don’t make a tagline integral to the design
• if using a symbol as part of the logo, see if it could also be used as a standalone graphic element
• ensure the logo is different from competitors
• avoid logo design trends (or your logo will look like others, and will date quickly).

Tips for commissioning a logo
If you’re a business owner commissioning a graphic designer to design your logo, the following hints may make the project go more smoothly.

• write a clear brief: brand messages, audiences, competitors, uses of logo
• set a realistic budget (how much is your brand worth to you?)
• when choosing between options, be objective and allow “brewing” time to consider options carefully
• give clear feedback to the designer
• make sure to check options against competitors’ logos
• commission a logo as part of a broader visual identity or web design project, for a more rounded approach (it can work out cheaper too)
• when the logo is finalised, get high resolution artwork files from the designer
• if you want to trademark your logo, check eligibility before getting your logo designed
• don’t keep changing your logo.

Remember – if a logo isn’t unique, it’s worthless. Time and effort spent getting logo design right will pay dividends.

Here are some slides for a presentation I did about logo design:

Hints for writing web text

Writing text for a website is a much under-valued skill. The quality of a website’s content is just as important as its visual design and technical features, if not more so. It can make the difference between people trusting your business or not.

Here are a few hints and tips for writing better web copy:

• keep sentences and paragraphs quite short for on-screen reading
• start with a strong intro paragraph (often people don’t read past the first few lines)
• use sub-heads to break up the text, so users can scan the page visually and see what’s covered
• use bullet points rather than sentences to cover key points
• pull out important messages in highlight panels or side quotes
• look for instances where a picture or diagram can convey the information better (a picture tells a thousand words)
• write for your target audience, NOT yourself (What do they want to know? What are their concerns? What’s in it for them?)
• use first/second person “we” and “you” (eg “we help you do better business”  rather than “the company helps its customers do better business”)
• write using an active tone of voice (eg “we provide a great service” rather than “a great service is provided”)
• avoid slang and jargon unless you know all of your audience will understand it. If you have to use technical jargon, provide a glossary
• include words or phrases within the text that can link to other pages (eg “Copywriting is one of our web design services” rather than “For info on other services, click here“)
• think “SEO” (Search Engine Optimisation) to help your site be found on Google etc. Make sure the text and headings include a range of relevant words/phrases people might search for
• don’t forget to put time into writing the “invisible” bits of text – web page titles and descriptions. The page title appears at the top of the browser bar and is used by Google to assess the relevance of your website content. The page description is a “meta tag” that is not visible on the page itself, but is displayed in Google search results, so it is important to users deciding whether to click to visit your website
• be consistent in your use of capitalisation, acronyms, spelling and punctuation. If a number of people are writing copy for your website, produce a style guide so they all follow the same guidelines.

Need help with your next project?

As part of web design projects, we work with professional editors and copywriters who can write web copy for you, edit copy that you provide, or advise on SEO or marketing ideas. Please contact us if you’d like to know more about getting a new website or revamping your old website.

How organised are you?

On Friday we launched a website for a Brisbane based professional home organising service, called “Organise My Life“. 

Organise My Life specialise in helping people declutter and sort out their home – kitchen, garage, wardrobe, kids room, etc - wherever the clutter has taken over or you need more order in your life. They can also advise you on how to present your home for sale, or help you sort things out when you move house.

We designed the logo, business cards and website, which is managed via a fully customised content management system (CMS). The client is very happy with the crisp, clean, professional look of the logo and website; just the right brand personality for a business that’s all about being organised!

Click here to visit the website

Public Option US Healthcare

Last week I was asked to do a quickie design for a website to support a campaign called “Public Option Please”. This is a camapign gathering support for an affordable healthcare system for Americans, as proposed by US President Obama.

The website explains the issues and encourages people to sign up or buy stickers etc to support the cause. I designed the site style, created the graphics, and the site was implemented by the client’s team within a couple of days.

http://publicoptionplease.com/home/