Archive for Design
When to Say No to Stock Photos
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It’s just too convenient.
You know exactly what I’m talking about. You need an image for a website, a flier, whatever. Organizing the resources and timing to get actual photography seems to daunting. So enters stock photography.
Stock photography no doubt has its place. I’ve used a lot of services, and more times than not settle with Shutterstock unless I need to get really picky (their $249 for a month is hard to beat).
But David Meerman Scott has put things into perspective fairly well in his rant on visual gobbledygook. In his words,
Why not just use real people on your site? How innovative! Use real employees in a real conference room to represent your employees in a conference room! Damn. Why didn’t we think of that? And use your real customers too.
Stock Photography – Yes or No?
I have to admit, I’ve seen the same images used on the same websites repeatedly. But even if I hadn’t, we all know stock photography when we see it. The unrealistic gatherings around the conference table. The over-the-top hand shake. The too-perfect embrace in a sunlit field.
Why won’t real pictures of real people work for your real customer? Is it really that hard to buy a good camera and capture exactly what you’re communicating?
Stock photography might be hitting its peak. It could be experiencing the law of diminishing returns.
So, what say you? When should you use stock photography, and when should you stray?
Garbage In, Garbage Out
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The other day, a colleague of mine complained about a creative group he and I both have used for separate projects multiple times recently. He complained how they actually weren’t that creative, didn’t get what he wanted with the first design, etc. He wasn’t pleased with them, so he started using someone else he knew. He was raving about this new agency, complimenting their proactive approach, how they “got” what he was going for, how they were completely different than the other group he had used.
Which was funny, because I have been using the first group a lot lately, and they’re doing good work. What could be the difference?
The difference is in direction. More accurately, upfront direction.
I know for a fact that my colleague doesn’t do a creative brief justice (if he does one at all). It’s not a knock; it’s just not his thing. So he tosses a wish over the wall to a creative group with the expectations that they will get it immediately, and that all the unspoken needs and wants in his mind will somehow be captured.
I know this because my career has taught me the importance of spending time on a thorough creative brief for designers. To clearly define the purpose and target of a piece. To vividly establish the boundaries, inform the designer for his benefit, and then step back and let him do his thing within those boundaries. That’s why I’ve had a good experience with this design group.
As I’ve mentioned before, designers can really benefit from constraints. Your job is to establish those constraints.
Too often, our own tight deadlines/procrastination/frantic schedules prompt us to throw together a request in an email, write a couple sentences, push “Send” and then mark it off our list. I promise you that spending an extra 30 minutes on a brief, equipping your designers with the information you know they need, will save you days in the long term.
What are some of the more unique points of information you like to put in a creative brief?
5 Signs of a Bad Client
Posted by: | CommentsGot problems with bad clients? The Freelance Switch has a list of 5 tell-tale signs of those time-suckers that offers quite a bit of insight.
Try this: read this post as if YOU might be the bad client. Chances are, esp. as a marketer, that you often request the services of freelancers and third parties to help you accomplish what needs to be accomplished. Are you bad about scope creep? Do you require lots of meetings? Do you talk big but do nothing?
I’ve definitely been guilty of being a bad client, which just shows how easy it is to fall into a pitfall like this. It usually has to do with a lack of organization and direction at the onset. I would daresay the #1 underlying characteristic of bad clients is poor communication.
Think of what your freelancers need from you to help them get you what you want, and then do it. It just might put you on the Good Client list.
p.s., check out the site of the author. It’s simple, clean and you have no doubt what he offers. I just can’t help but point that out.
Great Webpage Design
Posted by: | CommentsChris found the WebDesignerWall’s 50 Best CSS Sites in terms of design. Take a look. My favorite is this one by Freelance Switch.
Strength in Revision
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s not too often that you see a designer really take major changes to a design, or better, direction, and really answer the challenge.
Thanks to Dennis for pointing the way to Brand New. This post discusses how VSA Partners designed a great logo for Chicago’s big for the 2016 . . . then had the rules completely changed on them and had to almost start from scratch. The result? Something even better.
Designers love to complain when direction changes. I don’t blame them. It’s frustrating, time-consuming and can suck the wind right out of you. But it’s the process. I think most designers would admit that it happens more times than it doesn’t. And while there are tons of reasons for it happening, the fact remains it is the rule, not the exception.
But sometimes, running free creatively within very rigid, even unreasonable, boundaries can be amazingly fruitful.
Love Thy Customer
Posted by: | CommentsThe way you feel about your customers says a lot about how you feel about your current niche. Simplicity Rules says it much better than I can here.
It’s easy to think your clients don’t know what’s hip, what’s acceptable, what’s “real” design, what’s “real” marketing.
It’s easy to think down on them for not knowing these things.
But that’s a bad move, cuz they’ve asked you to help them figure it out. That doesn’t mean they’re just going to hand over the keys to the mansion and sit back and watch. Too many design firms and consultants think that’s what will happen.
But it won’t. And because it won’t, maybe part of your job is to hold their hand and guide them in the direction you think they should go. Gradually, and incrementally.
Maybe along the way, you’ll learn a thing or two about them, too.
7 Great Designers I Know
Posted by: | CommentsSince design has been a popular topic on this blog for the past week or two, it hit me that I’ve had the privilege of working with quite a few great designers myself, and then I know many other great designers that I haven’t worked with. And with the onset of online portfolios and blogs, it makes checking out and admiring someone’s work very accessible.
When you understand how important a piece design is to your job as a marketer, and then you realize your role in it personally, and then you realize you can’t personally design, and then you meet someone who can, then you really, really, really appreciate these guys and what they do. And they appreciate you, if you’re doing your job.
Without further rambling, here are 7 designers you should check out:
- DennisCheatham.com: I’ve never actually done a project with Dennis, but my wife does on a regular basis. Be sure to check out his blog, too – he’s a great writer on top of being a great artist. I really like his logo design.
- Frogers.net: Again, I’ve never done a design project with Jeff Rogers, but I think his site speaks for itself. I have, however, played in a band with him – he’s a great drummer on top of being a great designer. And I’ve helped him move, and that’s always endearing, right? I don’t know how to explain his work – you just need to see it for yourself. I just know it’s good. Extremely original, refreshing, sketchy and organic. And good, again. I love this album cover.
- Raesea.com: Raesea aren’t just designers, but cover the whole ‘using the web to help your business’ thing. Design is part of that, but so is navigation, search engine optimization, email marketing, back-end architecture and programming and e-commerce. And they do all of that, and do it well.
- Brian Larney: I worked with Brian at AdvoCare. His designs are great, and the best thing about Brian is he always wanted to dig deeper, ask questions about the project, and pull information out of you that would help him. Which I loved. So many designers think they should just take the direction that’s given to them make due, but Brian knows when to ask for more. And it made everything easier for both of us. Here’s a product of one such conversation that I feel really hit the nail on the head (scroll down to the Alaskan Adventure pages).
- Hypnoweb.com: Darren Chorley and I worked on countless web projects. He’s a wonderfully gifted designer, and he knows how to work in a time crunch (and trust me, he was tested on that front more than once). I can’t sing his praises enough, and I can’t be more impressed with the work at this site.
- DanielPitner.com: Worked with Daniel for a brief time at AdvoCare. I can remember checking out his original work from his resume, and it blew me away. Daniel takes a lot of pride in what he produces, and it is always something you simply can’t simply glance at. It captures you. And his work with animation is unbelievable.
- BusyNoggin.com: Like Dennis above, I’ve never worked on a project with Ron, but my wife works with him all the time. I have played poker and eaten fondue with the man, so that should count for something. I love how he lays out his approach on his site. If you’re interested in content management, particularly TYPO3, Ron seems to be the local guru.
So, for the other great designers I know that aren’t on the list, like Josh and Benny and many others – Sorry, but I don’t have your portfolio address. Send it along if I worked with you before – just leave it in the comments. That goes for anyone, for that matter.
Battle of the Grocery Store Websites
Posted by: | CommentsI was browsing grocery store websites, and I was shocked by the differences between the Kroger website and the Albertson’s website. One of these looks a lot more professional than the other. The other looks like a college kid threw it together, and some marketing guy said “let’s throw as many resources on the home page as possible, so that people will be sure to visit the site every day, just for the education.”
I’m a Kroger fan as far as grocery stores go, and Albertson’s has been through a lot lately from a business standpoint. But if I had nothing but the website to go off of, I’d pick Albertson’s everytime.
The importance of design can be summed up in comparing these two sites.
Weekend Reading, Aug. 3-5
Posted by: | CommentsInteresting links from my browsing this weekend:
- Viruses in web ads? Say it ain’t so, Joe. Magnosticism points out that now you’ve got to think twice before you click on that sponsored banner on the side of your favorite website. What does this do for pay per click advertising (an already diminishing advertising tactic)?
- Life improvements: Here are 10 general but pretty effective ways to improve your life. My favorite quote: “Most people, even your friends and colleagues, aren’t talking about you, thinking about you, or concerned with you at all for 99% of the time.”
- Tips on web design: Jim has some simple ways to help your design suck less. Pretty practical tips – I don’t really incorporate many of them, but then again, I’m the low man on the totem pole when it comes to designing.
- More news on bottled water: The AdvoCare blog has more to share on recent developments with bottled water, specifically the crap that Aquafina (Pepsi) and Dasani (Coke) are trying to sell. Makes you wonder why we’re paying for it . . . .
- Hilarious O.J. Simpson Video: Frank shows us the recent phone calls that bombarded OJ on a recent web video show. Can someone say bad idea?
12 Types of Advertisements
Posted by: | CommentsBrand New has a concise listing of The Dirty Dozen, the 12 basic types of advertising. Pretty good resource.
When you read through something like this, it’s easy to think that it’s all common sense, something you already know. So you move on. I challenge you to read it in terms of your company, or a particular product or service that you market, and figure out a) which ones you currently use, and b) how you could possibly use the ones that you aren’t currently using. It’s much easier to brainstorm when you can think in terms of a specific product or company.
