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Quote of the Week:

I am so glad I am not a full-time content manager

TO all the content managers in the world, WE SALUTE YOU!

I have just completed an initial content import for a lovely website I designed, for a national conference taking place in Colorado this fall. I did all the branding, too, and am assisting the organizers in other marketing-oriented ways as well. One of the things I am helping out with is getting all of the conference sessions, papers, tour descriptions, and other content up online. There's a lot of it. Well over a hundred thousand words' worth, by my back of the napkin calculation. And after all of that, all I can say is: I am glad I spend most of my time creating brands, and not managing online content. I am not wired to do it on a daily basis. That, and thank the music gods for the Talking Heads, who got me through the last 24 hours.

Labels: branding, coding, talking heads, web design

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Yes, yes, yes: I know, I know, I know

I've been a bit unavailable on teh blahg lately, for three reasons:

1. I bought an iPhone. Anyone who owns one or who is a spouse of someone who owns one will understand. For the rest of you: it's a total time-sink for about the first week (in a good way, if you're geeky like me).


2. I have been verrrry busy at work. Who has time to blog when you are workin'? Payin' The Costs to Be The Boss, as James Brown said.


3. I have a nine month-old who can't seem to remember when she's supposed to nap anymore. 'Nuff said.

So, with that in mind, dear reader, never fear: I am still around, and will post more in the coming days and weeks. Thanks for sticking around.

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9.26.2008

Statler and Waldorf: Pundits

The NYT has an op-ed from those cranky box-seaters, Statler and Waldorf, regarding the election season. Fits my mood today, so I'm posting it.

Labels: humor, politics

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9.20.2008

Visual Editing

A large part of a graphic designer's job (or anyone who traffics in visual information) is to curate the visual elements that are brought to the project table so that they are useful and understandable to the viewer. One such effort I am currently undertaking is the creation of thumbnail images for a photographer's website (not just any photographer, but the great photographer Andrew Bale, whose site we're retooling already has some beautiful work).

The current navigation scheme for moving throughout Andy's bodies of work uses an empty and full visual metaphor to show you what images you've visited, and which ones you haven't. It looks a bit like this:

The dark gray square shows the image you're looking at. The white squares are ones you've seen already. The blank ones are yet to be seen.

The new navigation uses snippets from each image as a representation of the whole image, so people can anticipate (or have their curiosity piqued). There are some good reasons not to use thumbnail crops (people want to see the whole image), but the advantages (you get the essence of an image, and can use it for navigation in a smaller area) are greater than the disadvantages--at least for this application.

In the case of this site, we're using a thumbnail image that is 64 pixels square. Andy's images are usually not square, so a crop is inevitable under this rule.

The issue here becomes what 64 pixels in a given image will evoke the larger whole, and that's where my job moves from being a production monkey to something that requires an understanding of the aesthetics, intent, and forms inherent in each image.

Take, for example, this image:

This is the same image you see above. I've rendered it here at the new enlargement size, which as you can see is a lot larger than the current view. Another improvement in the site that takes advantage of the growth in computer screen real estate since the initial site was developed.

So, what portion of this image evokes the whole? The blurry gondolas? The lamp on the right edge of the frame? The dark water below? Well, it's open for debate, surely, which is one thing I love about this job, but here's what I selected:

I think the darker mooring pole on the right, combined with the lighter one (in motion, slightly) to its left, along with the misty air and hazy building in the background, these elements evoke the whole of the image to me.

It's also mysterious enough that is makes you want to see more. It's a little call to action, without even having to use the words "click me!"

Visual editing doesn't just apply to photographs. Any time you consider using a visual element like a logo, color bar, or illustration, you have to "curate" its placement on the page, making sure it works in harmony with the other elements (text, page proportion, browser capabilities, paper stock, etc.) you are using. It's, simply put, the essence of any design problem.

Labels: advertising, creativity, graphic design, photography, visual information

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9.19.2008

Avast!

Avast!
Originally uploaded by notchcode

It be talk like a pirate day, matey! Ye better tack to leeward or find yerself awash in the foreign jargon of bouccainers.

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9.17.2008

Taglines: A vital part of your brand

It doesn't matter if you run a $50 million company or a $200K nonprofit: taglines matter. And as this report from NTEN shows, a lot of nonprofits think their tagline sucks.

A lot of times the tagline is a dumping ground for mission statements (condensed into not nearly few enough words, or condensed into nonsense), or serve as an afterthought ("well, we poured all that money into the logo, after all.") I am here to tell you that a tagline should be developed in tandem with your visual identity, and should be considered just as important to your branding as your logo. In some cases, it's more important. Can a radio ad show people your logo? Can a text-based ad link show people your logo? Can your logo roll off people's tongues when talking about your organization?

Our brand strategy integrates taglines/slogans/words into each and every effort, because a) it makes sense, and b) you want to make sure they work well together. So the next time you think about rebranding, remember the words, and make them work as hard for you as the visual identity.

Labels: advice, branding, nonprofits

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The FitBit: another great design, both on the industrial and on the web side

I am not one for "dieting", although by definition all of us are on one sort of diet or another. The most effective thing I've done is eat less, and exercise more. Sure, what you eat can make things easier, or more or less tempting to fall off the wellness wagon, but as a basic principle, Bloom County pretty much summed it up best:

I ran across an article about the FitBit, which looks like a great way to get thousands of people to become more aware of their fitness level, exercise, and quality of sleep. The great thing is how unobtrusive the design of the actual hardware is, and how intuitive the online interface is as well. Check it out:

The hardware design:

And a sample web page interface:

This overview screen is loaded with information, without being overwhelming. HIgh-quality and high-density infographics!

Labels: design, information graphics

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Some details about the upcoming release of Adobe Creative Suite 4

...this is probably the most interesting thing that will be added onto Adobe's leviathian. Most insiders are calling this a "maintenance release" as opposed to something that's a game-changer (not that Adobe needs to get ahead of anyone right now). Heather: you'll love this tidbit, from Apple Insider:

Screen Sharing

Another big push behind CS4 will be collaboration. Leveraging its web conferencing business and Connect software, Adobe has built a new feature into all CS4 applications that will allow users to initiate a screen-sharing sessions from the File Menu.

Labels: adobe, CS3, software

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9.15.2008

How Design Can Save Democracy

RIchard Grefé and Jessica Friedman Hewitt wrote a short, link-filled post on how graphic design can help make everyone's vote count on election day. I've blogged about Hewitt's Design For Democracy program before, and it's worth mentioning again.

Earlier this year, the United States Election Assistance Commission distributed guidelines created by professional designers to 6,000 local election officials. And recently, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law issued a report outlining the importance of well-designed, easy to understand ballots. This interactive feature identifies common design problems found on optical-scan ballots from previous presidential elections and shows ways to improve clarity and vote accuracy based on the commission’s new guidelines.

Check out the interactive feature, and head on over to the Design for Democracy Program for more info.

posted at 9:56 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

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9.10.2008

Itunes 8 has a new visualizer

I downloaded iTunes 8 yesterday, and was happily surprised to see a new visualizer in the mix, based on (it is said) a similar visualizer from the Barbarian Group. I know of the Barbarians from their work over at Hello Health, where they're making Jay Parkinson and crew look great.

Anyhow, check out the new visualizer. It, alone, is worth the bandwidth.

UPDATE: I was reading some readers' lamentations regarding the loss of controls over the iTunes Visualizer (especially on their great new visualizer)...well, don't fret: turn on the Visualizer, press "?" and you'll see a handy menu overlaying the visualizer showing just what you can control. For the record:

• ? Toggle help screen


• M Change mode


• P Change palette


• I Display track info


• C Toggle auto-cycle (on by default)


• F Toggle freeze mode


• N Toggle nebula mode


• L Toggle camera lock

Labels: art, music, software

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tack, IKEA!

Hearing this morning that IKEA will be announcing plans to open a store in Colorado.

I am still hoping it will go up at Harlan and I70, in the old (and now torn-down) Lakeside Shopping Mall location, preferably next to a Trader Joe's (another one of my shopping weaknesses that hasn't made it here yet). Since the presser is scheduled for Centennial City hall however, I have a feeling I'll be driving down near Park Meadows to get my IKEA on.

Either way, I welcome our new IKEA overlords, and say to them: Jag vill spendera mer pengar på din butik!

Labels: colorado, IKEA

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9.08.2008

Stop thinking about your marketing as a binary activity

Innovators work their magic in two ways: either they come up with a product/idea/process that should have been realized years ago, and make it real; or they turn something that already exists on its ear. Here's one literal example:

Three outlets in the space that used to accommodate just two. This is an excellent example of looking at a problem creatively, without letting the bounds of convention define your project. Innovative solutions don't take up any more space (in this case physical, in other cases mental/conceptual/strategic) than other approaches, while giving you and your audience a much more effective way of sharing information .

image via BoingBoing.

Labels: branding, creativity, graphic design, marketing, process

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9.04.2008

It's all about context

Sometimes the most familiar visual symbols create confusion. How? Bad context. This is just a humorous example, but think about it: has your brand, or marketing message, been in this position?

image via Jalopnik.

Labels: branding, marketing

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9.02.2008

13 years

The office is closed today, on the occasion of my marrying the most amazing woman on the planet 13 years ago, today. We'll resume operations tomorrow.

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