January, 2008
Planning Your Site's Content
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
A recent article at Tyssen Design really reinforced a lesson I've been learning lately, through various client projects: know what your site is going to say before you take it to a designer.
It's easy to get carried away with the design of a site. One would think that the site's design is the first thing most users see when they visit, so surely, the design should be the first thing to consider when building a website.
While this may be the case for something that must immediately grab attention and leave an impression on the viewer's mind, such as a billboard or a magazine ad, the fact is, the Internet has vastly different requirements than more traditional forms of advertising. On the Internet, your content must come first. (more...)
Posted in Blog | No Comments »
Graphic Design and Hubris: Why it's Sometimes Merited
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
Graphic designers (and "creative types" in general) are sometimes accused of thinking a bit too much of their profession. In design school, in reading about design, and in talking about design, we're convinced that we're learning a craft, that in our schooling, we're allowed knowledge of secrets that not just anybody can possess. We're convinced that graphic design can affect societal change, that it's an integral part of modern society. Without the talents and skills of creative professionals, the world would arguably be a much more bland place.
There are some that call this point of view hogwash, that it's just arrogance and hubris and ultimately, designers fill a niche in the capitalist world just like any other profession: we're there to feed ourselves and maybe make a buck or two in the process, so don't attach any undue nobility or respect to a service and skill that isn't too vastly different from anything less cerebral or artistic.
Normally, my inclination is to agree; I'm not designing for higher ideals, I'm designing to pay the rent and to add to my savings account. I certainly love design, and wouldn't be doing it if that weren't the case, and while some designers actually do affect serious societal change, they are surely in the minority.
That is, until I read this presentation (PDF link) over at Netdiver.
Posted in Blog | No Comments »
Tips on Improving Search Engine Ranking
Monday, January 7th, 2008
This was originally a comment on Eric Terry's blog, but it got too long for LiveJournal to allow it, so I'm posting it here.
A little background: Eric owns and operates the very awesome Linty Fresh online teeshirt shop, where he designs and sells all of his shirts. By hand. His work has gotten more attention recently, having been featured on the inimitable shirt.woot, and otherwise gaining recognition. He asked for some tips on generating more traffic from search engines without spending a ton of money, and here, more or less, is my response: (more...)
Posted in Blog | 2 Comments »
Search