T&S Web Design

Merry Christmas, all!

For those of us who are not officially designers, but still like to create, it can be hard to come up with a color scheme. I had a few websites I liked to use for inspiration back when I wore all the hats here at T&S (scary, I know), and some other neat ones have come to my attention since then. So whether you’re designing a website, a brochure or just a business card, here’s some websites that can help you come up with a color scheme.

Color Palette Generator

ColorSchemer

Color Scheme Generator 2

ColourPost.com

ColorSchemer Gallery

ColourLovers.com

Free. Something everyone wants and something designers thrive on. Smashing Magazine is constantly giving away inspiration to designers, which we’ll always accept with open arms. Here is a link to some desktop calendars that will spark some design creativity, and you can alternate monthly! These were created by designers around the world, and Smashing Magazine is always looking for fresh designs. I am constantly amazed with the quality of their website; their information is insightful, they always have freebies, and they’re innovative. Check out the website with the calendars and download one for your desktop; don’t hesitate to browse the rest of the site!

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/31/desktop-wallpaper-calendar-november-2008/

No, I’m not trying to put my designers out of a job. I just know that many people starting a business have time to set up a website themselves, but not all the skills. Here are a few websites you can use to get free designs. Warning: You will still need to modify some code to fit these to your specific needs.

Open Source Web Design

Open Design Community

Open Web Design

Open Source Design

Usually, a designer strives to think outside of the box. While this is what we (should) do best, when it comes to the web, sticking to standards will make it easier on the user. Magazines have a table of contents near the front, and page numbers in the corners. Newspapers are divided into sections, headlines span across entire articles, and the largest headline is the most important.

Similarly, web sites have certain elements people look for, and designers can use this fact to their advantage. When a user navigates to a site for the first time, they expect certain standards. They expect the navigation to be confined to a section of the page, some sort of header on the top, and a logo or company name on the top right. When a site meets these expectations, the user can easily navigate, and know where they are at any given moment, without having to search around for the button that will take them to the contact page. Ebay is an example of following this set of standards:

Designers can find this standardization limiting on their part, but they still can create unique and beautiful sites within these guidelines (thinking outside the box?). These standards are not rules set in stone, they will change through time, but for now, if you want maximum usability on your site, you should consider following these guidelines.

Finally, thinking outside of the box is never a bad thing, as long as your ideas work. More specifically, depending on the purpose of the site and target audience, you may want to try something new. So long as the learning curve for the user is worth the visual interest or purpose of the site then go for it. Ideally, your design will require no learning curve at all. A site I came across recently, JLern Design, is an excellent example of a new form of navigation that is not difficult to grasp (although its downfall is slow loading time, which is another issue).

The design conference is sponsored by HOW Magazine, which is an excellent source for either businesses or individuals. They provide “essential business information, up-to-date technological tips, the creative whys and hows behind noteworthy projects, and profiles of professionals who are influencing design.”

The HOW Design Conference launched in 1991 and also focuses on the three design elements of creativity, business, and technology. Every year, over 45 speakers are recruited to well-known design cities such as, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, etc. It is an amazing environment, filled with 2,000+ designers that are all looking for the same creative inspirations. The conference is a life-changing experience and one that every designer should encounter.

Visit http://www.howconference.com for more details on the conference

or http://www.howdesign.com for the magazine website.

Sometimes the best way to improve your designs is to learn new techniques. I find that when I design a site, sometimes I inadvertently limit myself because I do not know the best way to do certain things. By following through a few tutorials, you can really expand your knowledge, thus enabling you to be a better designer. I have found that fireworks tutorials are not as easy to come by as others, so here is a good list to get you started:

Flisterz

Layers Magazine

Adobe Developer Connection

Abduzeedo

Sixthings

Fireworkszone

Qrayg

Voidix

Firetuts

Youtube

Senocular

Tutorialized

Many designers come up with amazing concepts while brainstorming for a project, and everything appears to be perfect up until the actual design starts. Many times, the artwork doesn’t always emphasize the potential of the original idea. One of the biggest problems is the wrong use of typefaces. Something every designer should understand is the importance of typography and how using the correct typeface will solve many problems. Many professionals will choose a top 20 typefaces and only use those: the fewer, the better. Here is a common list of typefaces:

• Centaur
• Jenson
• Bembo
• (Adobe) Garamond
• Minion
• Times New Roman
• Baskerville
• Mrs. Eaves
• Bauer Bodoni
• Didot
• Clarendon
• Rockwell
• Serifa
• Franklin Gothic
• News Gothic
• Helvetica Neue
• Univers
• Futura
• Fruitger
• Copperplate Gothic

The right typeface can make all the difference in the world and change the feel of the design. Businesses need to convey their identity through their logo, and the typeface can make or break this communication. Here is an example (to the right), showing how a typeface can change the logo. The correct logo on the bottom displays a more professional feel, where the top logo feels more playful and doesn’t suit the company.

Ultimately, in any project, we want the client to receive a website that not only works, but is easy to navigate and visually pleasing to them. So let’s say we did our research and cranked out the best design ever made, if the client doesn’t like it, then tons of time has been wasted and it’s back to the drawing board. Clients can help the designer more than they know when trying to research, conceptualize and eventually execute a website design.

First off, we need stuff. Pictures, logos, graphics, movies… anything that can help us in the design process, especially stuff that you want in the actual design. I have designed multiple websites where I didn’t even know what the logo of the company looked like until the design was finished, because the client did not provide it beforehand. Without those crucial elements, your design might not look like what you had in mind.

Another great thing clients can do to help is to let us know what you like. Give us the URL of other sites that you like. Don’t just pick some sites really quick, but actually look around and find out what you like and dislike and tell us. Don’t limit yourself to your field either, elements in different websites are not limited by field. Tell us what you like about them, color, navigation, layout, expandability, movement, theme, texture, mood, fonts…anything you like and even dislike. We can’t know what you want unless you tell us.

By doing these simple tasks, you can help out tremendously in the entire website development process. Take a little bit of time and thought, and we will be able to better understand what you want, allowing you to receive a website that we, and more importantly you, are happy with.

While it’s certainly important that your website looks good, the real goal for your business’s website should be for it to benefit you financially. There are three main ways this can be done.

1. Save time
2. Save money
3. Make money

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be writing about each of these categories, and some ways different clients of ours have accomplished these goals. But let’s take a quick look at all three of them right now.

Save time

If you’re like many small business owners and dedicated employees, you’re spending plenty of time on your business. For some, the only real way they can make more money is if they can save time somewhere. A website can be a huge help in this area. At the least, it can be marketing for you day and night. But realistically, every single business has something process or task that can be sped up with the help of a website.

Save money

A website can actually save you money as well. I can’t count the number of people we’ve sold websites to that made their money back within a year just by cutting back or eliminating other forms of advertising.

Make money

Done well, a website has the possibility of being a money making machine. While this can, of course, vary greatly based on your industry, there are few who can’t actually make money with their website.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we go into more details about turning a profit with your website.

On to part 2 >

I started designing my junior year of high school and was only introduced to print material at the time. The pain of matching of colors, printing costs, margins, sizing, and everything that printing entails was never a big deal because I had nothing to compare it to. Five years of naivety finally ended when I was introduced to the wonderful world of web design. Sure, designing web pages has its downfalls, but the headache is cut in half when comparing it to print.

I love designing logos, business cards, brochures, etc, but I always dread the end when I have to remember the laundry list of steps to prepare the files for print. Creating outlines, correct file formats, matching margins, fixing spelling errors, the list goes on. Then, probably the most nerve-racking part of it all is looking at the finished product. If there is one spelling error, the entire job is ruined and now the trouble shooting begins. I love creating a good piece of print work, but sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the struggle. Jeff Jarvis from Buzz Machine Blog gives a piece of his mind:

“Yes, print is a burden. It’s expensive to produce for it. It’s expensive to manufacture. It’s expensive to deliver. It limits your space. It limits your timing. It’s stale when it’s fresh. It is one-size-fits-all and can’t be adapted to the needs of each user. It comes with no ability to click for more. It has no search. It can’t be forwarded. It has no archive. It kills trees. It uses energy. It usually brings unions. And you really should recycle it. Wow, when you think about it, print sucks.”

I wouldn’t say that I hate print, but I have a strong disdain for it and I only hope it will get easier in the future.