There is a problem many web entrepreneurs are running into. No traffic to their sites. If people can’t find your business, you will be out of business.
Search engine optimization or SEO is the proces…
Improve Your SEO With Unique Article Wizard And Article Marketing
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CSS3 Click Slideshow
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Using CSS3 adjacent sibling selector to produce a Click Slideshow.
Announcing a New Design for 2010, With a Bonus Trip Down Memory Lane!
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I’m happy to officially announce the re-design of iDesign Studios!
The new site has actually been in the works for a few months now, and is finally ready to make it’s debut. In truth, I unofficially launched the site on March 29th, but it’s taken a few extra days to get the time to put together the announcement post.
So, What’s New?
I had three main goals in mind with the updated site.
- updated content
- better readability
- a clean and minimalist design
As “They” Say, Content Is King
First and foremost, my primary goal for the new site was to update the content. Most of the text on the old site was very outdated – more than a couple years old – and no longer reflected my current service offerings and method of working on projects.
For example, when I first wrote the Typical Milestones and Turnaround Times page in the FAQ section, the majority of the web sites that I built were static HTML sites. Now that my primary focus is on designing and developing custom WordPress themes, the process is considerably different. The new FAQ / Process / Milestones section of the site now provide much more accurate infomation, as does the Services section.
I’ve also updated the Portfolio, to include a better overview of each project, as well as giving options to narrow down the work displayed by category – for example WordPress vs Static or Full Design/Development vs Design Only vs Development Only.
Two for One
I have always been a fan of using a dark background for portfolio sites – I find it helps showcase the individual portfolio pieces quite nicely. However, with this comes the issue that light text on a dark background is difficult for some people to read.
The previous site featured an almost black, patterned background with light grey text, along with brightly colored headlines and links. While most people seemed to like the design, I would occasionally get comments that it was just NOT easy to read.
As a designer, it’s an issue I’m well aware of, but decided to take a calculated risk, since this is my own site. I don’t always have the freedom to design a light on dark site for clients, so I’ll usually take liberties with my own site that I typically can’t for a client.
As you can see, the primary design for this site is also a light on dark design, however this time, with a dark grey vs black, as well as a subtle noise vs larger pattern in the background, I do believe this new version is more readable and easier on the eyes than the previous one.
With that being said, I know there are still a lot of people who just want to see traditional dark text on a light background. I certainly want to accommodate as many readers and potential clients as possible, so I’ve used a theme switcher plugin to give users the option to toggle between two versions of the site.
Feel free to give it a try, and let me know which version you like best! The main theme switcher link is on the upper left corner of the page, or you can just click the links below:
Personally, I much prefer the dark version of the site, but that’s just my own preference. With two options, visitors to the site can use whichever version they like best.
Clean and Simple
I have also always been a big believer in the “less is more” theory of design – so I wanted to go for a very minimal look on this version of the site.
Some might say it’s too minimalistic – and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I sometimes feel that way about it myself. But the funny thing is that the more I attempt to add into the site, the more I end up taking it right back out. There’s something not allowing me to add too much – even in the form of color.
I had a GREAT set of eyes take a sneak peek of the site last week. You know who you are if you’re reading, and I have to say again, Thank You!
They gave me very honest feedback about the site – both positive and negative critiques. I’ve since made a few additional tweaks based on the recommendations. But one thing I haven’t been able to do is add more color (the most frequently received suggestion). A suggestion that I actually agree with, but… I can’t explain it – there is some force at work not letting me follow through, LOL.
Of course that deserves a bit of an explanation! My thinking on the site is that I want a very clean, simple and minimal design. Something that will showcase my work the best way possible. Pages like the portfolio and blog section are full of images (either screenshots in the portfolio, or photos here in the blog) – those in and of themselves serve as the pop of color, in particular in the portfolio. I find that if I add more color, on the portfolio in particular, it pulls away from the work which is what should shine through the most. It’s the content pages on the main portion of the web site that are most evident in the lack of color – something that I may or may not eventually change.
Maybe it’s because of the overly bright colors on the last site making me want to completely steer clear on this site. Who knows, maybe I’m just one of those quirky artists, LOL.
Still a Work in Progress
Now, that’s not to say that this is the end! I’m constantly making slight tweaks and updates to the site. Most are minor and things you mightn’t even notice. Other things are more obvious – for example, I’ll be gradually updating the photos on all of the blog posts to match the new wider content area.
I’ve already updated the two most popular posts on the blog with new photos to fit the new design, and will be updating the rest as time permits.
- How To Use WordPress as a Truly Customizable CMS
- 6 Phases of the Web Site Design and Development Process
And who knows, I might still add that pop of color to the headings or links… only time will tell!
What I’ve Learned In The Process
So, have I learned anything in this process? YES! I’ve learned – well, not learned, but reinforced the fact – that a web designer is their own worst client. At least, I can positively attest to the fact that I am indeed my own worst nightmare client! You know… the guy who “doesn’t know what I want, but I’ll know when I see it” client? Yeah, that’s me! LOL
I’ve also learned that you need to come to a point when enough is enough, and it’s time to let go. I tinkered with the design for quite some time, finding it difficult to decide when it was actually finished. I have a magnet up on my whiteboard that reads:
Perfection is the enemy of “good enough”
At some point, you have to come to the realization that it is, indeed, “good enough” 
A Trip Down Memory Lane
So, at the risk of completely embarrassing myself, I thought it’d be fun to share all the old version of my web site. I had been under the impression that this was version 10 of my site, but I just realized today that I’m actually on version 15! Another surprise is that I was also sure that I got my start designing web sites in 1994, but the earliest site I could find was from 1996. I think that is the first one, but I’m not 100% positive (way too long ago, LOL).
At any rate, I dug through a ton of old CD archives, and with the help of the Wayback Machine, I was able to track down most of my previous web sites. This is a combination of both business and personal sites – some of which I had at the same time (I only recently merged my personal and business web sites within the last few years).
Oh, and please don’t judge me for the early designs… especially the ones in the 90′s. Clearly I have improved my skills considerably! And if I’ve come this far, I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
So, without further ado, I give you most of my old web sites… just promise not to laugh!
v1 circa 1996 (or 1994?)
There is no explanation for this. Please don’t judge me, LOL. All I can say is that this was probably my first ever web site done in 1996 and hosted in the GeoCities Paris neighborhood.
As for the design style… again, it was the mid 90′s. #thatisall
v2-4 circa 1996-1998
These 3 versions are MIA. They are most likely on old floppy discs somewhere (in a landfill?) that I wouldn’t be able to open even if I did find them. RIP
v5 circa 1998
There are no words for this, except that it was still the 90′s. How it won an award that I proudly displayed, I don’t know, but this was, after all 1998.
v6 circa 1999
This one left me speechless, too. I actually think it’s worse than the last one! Really, I wish I remember my thinking for the big blank space on the left side. If I remember correctly, there were sounds on rollover too. Fancy!
v7 circa 2000
Welcome to a new century! This one I actually liked (neat rollover on the illustration). As you can tell, I like the color grey!
v8a circa 2001
This was the first version of the business site – one that I liked quite a bit! I was indecisive so had both a “cool” and “hot” version.
v8b circa 2001
Secondary option to
the site above.
v9 circa 2002
Flash version of my personal portfolio site, another one that I loved at the time.
v10 circa 2002
This one started as my personal portfolio site, and was later redesigned for the business site. Back to shades of grey on this one – I’m noticing a trend!
v11 circa 2002
This was a much more in-depth business site. I felt the need to give it a more clean/white corporate look than what I typically did with my personal sites.
v12 circa 2007
An attempt at improving upon the previous corporate-y looking site. I liked it at the time… not so much now, LOL.
v13 circa 2007
This was my short-lived anonymous alter-ego, WAH(web)Mommy. My first WordPress theme where I was able to plan taking the freelance plunge.
v14 circa 2008
The last version of the site, which I first used on my personal site before using on the business site, as well.
v15 circa 2010
And here we are at the latest version of the site! Two versions again, but this time not because I was indecisive, but because I wanted to give a second option for people who have difficulty reading light text on a dark background.
The dark version, for the record, is my favorite of the two.
v15 circa 2010
Alternate version of the current site, for the purpose of better readability for some users.
So, What Do You Think?
Now that I’ve given you a good laugh with my early site designs, I’d love to hear what you think of the new design? And more importantly… do you prefer the Dark theme or the Light one?
I hope you’ll share your thoughts in the comments below!
Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you enjoy the new site!
3 Strategies to Make Your App Easier to Use
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Web-based software is all about democratizing functionality. It used to be that you had to have expensive packages like Adobe Photoshop to edit your photos and Cubase to write a song. With the ever-expanding data pipe and more robust browser-based development platforms, anyone with a modern web browser can run apps like picnik to tweak their snapshots or Hobnox’s Audiotool to make a beat. Not only are these apps inexpensive-to-free, they also make the activities they support more accessible to the lay audience. Creating simplicity out of complexity is no easy task, but there are a few things you can do to help more people get great results out of your web applications.
1. Streamline Your Feature List
(screenshot from http://www.picnik.com)
The biggest thing you can do to increase ease of use is to prune
your feature list. I don’t mean add ‘cut’ and ‘copy’ functionality and
leave out ‘paste’; without ‘paste,’ ‘cut’ and ‘copy’ are worthless. I
mean figure out why people will use your app and only include features
that support that ‘why.’
Why doesn’t Picnik let you do everything Photoshop does? Because
Picnik is for lay people who want to touch up their photos, not for
professionals who want fine-grained control over their images. These
users want to get rid of the redeye that makes little Bobby look
possessed, not make subtle changes to color curves. If someone knows
what color curves are and wants control over them, they’re going to use
Photoshop.
2. Explain How To Use It
Now that you’ve focused your efforts on a few important features, you want to show your users around and help them get started.
No matter how intuitive your interface is, there’s always going to
be a learning curve. Sure, a good interface designer can make the UI
easier to understand, but even Donald Norman isn’t going to be able to
make it obvious to everyone. Interfaces and designers aside, there
will always be users that need or want instruction.
Explaining how to use your application is especially important when
you’re tackling a complicated or unfamiliar domain. For complicated or
new activities, we go beyond providing instructions and venture into
education. Sound design, for example, is a deep subject, and while I
know what an ADSR envelope is and think it’s a pretty straightforward
concept, chances are you have no idea what I’m talking about. It
probably wouldn’t even help that I used a traditional ADSR interface in
which each parameter is controlled by a vertical slider. Remember, if
you haven’t heard it, it’s new to you.
(screenshot from http://hobnox.com‘s Audio Tool)
3. Simplify Decision Making
The goal of any application is to help someone with an activity.
Designers have to identify the features that are essential for
completing tasks, explain how to use those features, and provide ways
for the user to access those features. When done well, these steps go
a long way to creating an intuitive, efficient interface, but there’s
more to achieving goals than executing commands and completing tasks.
There are also a lot of decisions to be made. Every decision a user
has to make is another chance to bail on the activity (and your app).
You can help users make decisions by simplifying those decisions for
them. For example, in addition to providing controls for contrast,
color balance, and saturation, Apple’s iPhoto applies different
combinations of these parameters to thumbnails of the image and lets
the user choose one. That’s one decision that relies on the user’s
ability to pick the one they like best instead of three decisions that
rely on fairly specialized knowledge.
(Screenshot from Apple’s iPhoto software)
A Bonus Gift
As if making your application easy to use isn’t reason enough to
employ these strategies, there’s a bonus here that you might not have
noticed. They’re all cheap and some might even save you money.
Streamlining your feature list narrows the scope (and cost) of
development; explaining how to use your software doesn’t cost much and
provides a reality check to your interface design; and simplifying
decision-making processes can reduce the amount of back-end
functionality you have to expose.
To make these strategies as effective as possible you have have to
understand your users. Why are they going to use your app? How long
are they willing to spend getting to know it? How well do they
understand what they’re trying to do? What words do they use to talk
about the activity? How are they doing it now? What would make it
easier for them? There are dozens of relatively inexpensive ways to
collect these answers and get started.
40+ Really Creative & Fantasy iPhone Wallpapers
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Web Development Company in Canada and USA
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Beating the Competitors—an Internet Marketing Company Can Help
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Online presence is a basic necessity for every business entity today. Just like telephone or fax, a website is another essential communication tool. It is your website that can help your business grow…
Importance of Web server Log File Analysis
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Web Devlopment Touching New Heights and Ambitions in India
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The word Internet is not a new for anyone now. Everyone is using and has need of it. Especially if we talk about India, people don’t just see the websites but also create them with a goo…
Design Currency: Icograda Design Week in Vancouver
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Mark Busse BA MGDC: Design Currency is not your father’s design conference.
Icograda Design Week in Vancouver 2010 is a pan-disciplinary conference featuring some of world’s foremost experts from various design disciplines. The theme of “design currency” is a challenge to all who attend, as the speakers intend to challenge paradigms and shatter assumptions about what design is.
This event will not merely be design stars on stage showing off their portfolios, but rather an exploration of craftsmanship, clarity, functionality, social contribution, sustainability, beauty and results, all with the intent to reshape our understanding of the value of design and its impact on communication, culture, and commerce.
Read more about what Mark has to say in his article: Icograda’s Design Week Vancouver 2010
Enjoy…
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