Here's what we're talking about.

We’re gonna need a bigger boat

So I’m spelunking around the web as I like to do on a quiet Saturday evening after burping up code all day…

I revisited the HUGE website. These guys rock as far as creative is concerned and I feel connected to them in that we chose the same color to represent our brand. It takes a special person to embrace magenta. M=100!

Anyway, I noticed that their website did not scale down for the 1028×768 viewport. I try to stay on top of the design and development best practices and from what I can determine, they made a conscious choice to make those with small (non-widescreen) monitors scroll horizontally. And I am not hating.

I spent a lot of time and vocal chord cells arguing against 800×600 while I was at Bank of America. And I made a fairly public declaration that IE6 users are on their own; I wasn’t considering them when I developed sites anymore. (If I can find that Facebook post, I’ll add a screenshot.)

I have a feeling that the brilliant guys and gals at HUGE, Inc. looked at their traffic and determined that those with old school monitors were either so small a percentage of their audience or there was some other factor that caused them to make the strategic design decision to move past that resolution constraint.

Good for them. I may follow suit….at least for B2B.

Understanding culture

Part of my goings-on about the user experience include knowing your audience and understanding what makes them tick. A huge part of the behavioral information that you can glean about a particular audience segment is culture. I came across an article on Business Insider that represents visually how cultures around the world negotiate. Why should… More

Comcast Direct Response Television is here

Check out this article: It’s about Comcast Direct Response TV. Direct Response TV allows the viewer to use their remote control to interact with or take an action suggested by the content and I just saw a DRTV ad for the Ford Focus this evening. DRTV is in the Philly/Wilmington media market! I am familiar… More

App Review: IFTTT

So I am spending Saturday watching SNL and browsing the App Store when I came across the IFTTT app. It is AMAZING for people who generate content across many social media platforms. IFTTT stands for If This, Then That and it allows you to create conditional statements called “recipes” that help you manage aspects of… More

It’s a knockout

An often overlooked logo design element is the knockout version. The knockout is the version of the logo that would appear on a dark background. There are many times when a logo cannot be reproduced in full color due to the environment where the logo will be placed or the costs associated with printing in… More

rose

You know, we humans have a peculiar habit: we like to name things. They give us a sense of order in a chaotic world. Look at the title of this post…it brings an image to mind. A smell. A memory. A Golden Girl. A connection. It’s the same with naming products. Companies have spent millions… More

Help me help you

I had a fascinating kick-off conversation with a new client today, Jim Israel formerly of Culinary Concepts in Philadelphia, PA. He is starting a new consulting company aimed at the hospitality industry. Usually, my clients struggle with their identities, their mission and their unique selling points. Jim had all of that in spades. I was… More

This is a must read for everyone in the design field and those that work with designers. It’s not a power struggle unless you make it one. http://lnkd.in/dhABgnu

a little something interesting I found: http://lnkd.in/dhABgnu from LinkedIn via IFTTT

Facebook microtargeting

One of the goals of marketers is to create a message that the viewer believes is meant solely for him/her. Considerable time, money and effort is spent developing the right message for the right audience. The smaller the audience, the more specific and compelling the marketing message can be. The practice of delivering messages to… More

Spring Cleaning

I took a personal day to literally clean out the cobwebs. Spring cleaning! Actually, it was more of a seasonal purge. I got rid of clothing, shoes, papers, boxes; all those things that just weren’t working. I dug around in closets, cabinets, and under even low furniture to rid myself of things that were weighing… More

Deal-breaker

So how many times has this happened to you: You want some information from a company’s website. They tell you that it is free, but then WHAM. You get hit with a form that asks for way more information than you are prepared to give for a 5-page PDF on whatever. And. you. bail. This… More

strike up a conversation

I saw this article that may be of interest to you: it’s premise is that user like it when companies answer their questions on Twitter. This is also a great opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in your field and make the person who asked the question feel heard. Here’s the crux of their research: “Eight… More

(free) information is power 2

Responded to an email that came through the site last week (I know, that was a little too long to wait) and a request for marketing assistance  for $1000 per year. That’s a very low number, and I told them so. But instead of telling them to get lost, here’s what I did. I gave… More

First Contact

This one’s for my creative brothers and sisters, but the small business community can use this one too. I got a call out of the blue from a prospective client that found us on The Google. I love it when that happens. One of the most important conversations you will have with a client is… More

Book Review: About Face: The Secrets of Emotionally Effective Advertising by Dan Hill

I am an avid reader of design and advertising books. As geeky as it sounds, I read those types of books as my pleasure reading. I always want to know more about how to excel at my craft. Every so often there comes along a book that completely changes the way that I think about… More

Brand Culture: Creating a community around your small business brand…a primer

Years ago, when the web was relatively young, I remember business owners asking me to build them a website with the rationale that “they just needed one.” There was no more discussion than that. Me, being young and hungry, built them a site that, for the time and my skill level, looked great. But then… More

The most important conversation you’ll ever have

Sitting here late at night working on a name for a new product for a small business client, which got me to thinking about the meeting that led to this late night activity… I call it the kickoff and it is the most important meeting I have with a client. Just like in football, the… More

The mee goreng principle

A lot has been said about User Experience and how critical it is to the success of any web site. I couldn’t agree more. Here is an example of what I mean: I’m in an Asian restaurant for the first time today. I’ve been past it, looked at the menu in the window but never… More