Site Launch - Hannula & Halom attorneys goes live ...
Really pleased to release this one into the wild ... it's a neat looking corporate site for Duluth Attorneys Hannula Halom. I was really pleased to get the opportunity to work on this ... sometimes it's nice to have a clean corporate project rather than anything a little more funky!
Build Conference coming back to Belfast
This was a good event last year with Tim Van Damme, Mark Boulton, Wilson Miner and, of course, Eric Meyer speaking ... this years event looks to be just as strong, and early bird tix have just gone on sale ...
Mobile Web Design ... think about it now
Here's a topic I'll be returning to more and more over the coming weeks and months: Mobile Web Design
A few things are sticking out for me at the moment - having just finished reading Cameron Moll's excellent Mobile Web Design book - in terms of what questions we need to ask ourselves before deciding on a mobile web design strategy:
- What % of my users would access the web on a mobile device?
Well, the simple answer is 'more and more'. Globally there are more web enabled mobile devices than credit cards right now - and it's not going to go down. Even if your audience doesn't currently access your site through their phone (or iPad or whatever) the chances are that they will some day.
- What is the most appropriate approach for my business?
I guess that there are a couple of main approaches that you can take - with differing impacts for the work surrounding your website. Firstly, 'Do Nothing'. There, that sounds appealing doesn't it - and in a lot of cases it's perfectly valid. The argument is that mobile devices are getting more and more capable browsers - ever used the iPhone?, it's practically identical in it's browsing capabilities as a regular computer. Certainly, in a lot of cases, if you're talking about the iPhone, then you may not have to do anything.
However, the iPhone is not the mobile web. It's a great part of it, but it's still a minority part. We need to consider other devices too.
So, what to do for them ... well, from here, there are probably 2 separate approaches that are worth mentioning. One, scale down the amount of images, re-format the layout of the page, generally make your web page lighter so that it loads up quickly. You're basically creating the mobile equivalent of a 'print only' version.
The second approach would be to build a dedicated mobile website - like the BBC. If you view this site on a regular computer you can see that the content is greatly reduced, it fits into a much smaller area and the focus is on taking people quickly through to other pages. Those destination pages (e.g. this one) are then much lighter in their images and the text is formatted very simply.
Perfect.
So, what's right for you depends on your audience and the devices that they'll be using. But we should all be thinking about doing something - and soon.
Resources:
Site Launch: Donegal Cottage Holidays
This site launched at the beginning of the month - Donegal Cottage Holidays. It's a complete revamp from a static hand coded website to a fully database driven effort which allows both user and admin access.
Should you ever need self catering accommodation in Donegal, you know where to look!
What Changed?
Timely article here from Chris Coyer - What Changed?
I get this all the time ... a clients website has suddenly 'stopped working', and we have to figure out why ... Chris presents a useful checklist.
For me, the most common reasons for a client suddenly seeing an error on their site that wasn't there yesterday:
- The browser of choice has changed ... something on the screen has shifted, or security settings may be different, presenting some small runtime errors etc.
- a client side plugin - skype or google toolbar are favourites - is throwing something out of whack
- the hosting account is full ... POP(3) email accounts, typically, fill up as the desktop email client is not set to trash emails on a regular basis
- an external javascript call is taking too long and timing out ... (I'm looking at you AddThis)
- the domain name has expired ... I'm constantly surprised by the number of people who are not on top of when their domain name is going to expire. I think that reminder emails are too easily dismissed as spam.
Web Designers who can't code
This great post from Elliot Jay Stockscovers a number of points that I deal with on a number of levels each week.
To start off: I am a web designer who codes. I'm someone who enjoys the process of writing good, semantic code - loves the cleanliness of it, loves the craft, the constant learning, the new techniques - all of it. It appeals to me. It doesn't appeal to everyone.
The design side of the process is different for me. It requires inspiration, it requires space to breathe and it requires patience. A good friend of mine who is a comedy writer for the BBC said to me once that while it appeared that he was doing nothing but loafing around his plush Docklands apartment, what he was actually doing was creating space in his brain for ideas to develop in the background. When I realised he was serious it completely changed my attitude to creativity. There's no point pushing it - give it space, let it develop, and the ideas will come. In short, for me - and for many others, I suspect - it's a completely different process from coding.
Coding, I get in early, put the coffee on, and crank through line after line. Designing, well, a good part of it is loafing around allowing the ideas to develop sub consciously.
So, anyway, this article from Elliot ... it expresses frustrations that some designers don't know enough about code - and then, how that impacts the development process. I agree - it's frustrating. But it needn't be. I work with a couple of extremely accomplished graphic designers - they design the site, I code it up. They don't know how to code, they don't want to learn, and we're all happy. But they have a craft - they have experience, they have a good attitude, they take advice when I say 'that won't work because of X' - they understand that I'm the expert in some areas. Because they know their craft inside and out, the sites are generally successful.
The flip side is that I occasionally work with other graphic designers who *really* need to either learn their craft better so that they can acknowledge their speciality OR they need to learn to code so that they can understand the limitations of their work.
Of course, working in teams is a crucial aspect of large projects - and everyone has their speciality, but as Elliot points out
a decent working knowledge of your team members' skills is a huge bonus: even if you’re not making nightmarish mistakes that fill your developers with dread, there may still be aspects of your non-code-aware design process that makes the lives of your teammates unnecessarily hard.
– Elliot Jay Stocks
And that's it, I guess - in a team - whether it's a 2 person team or a 10 person team, a decent knowledge of your team members' skills and processes will make your team stronger. So, get learning - there's no excuse.
Speaking at North West Connects
Yowser.
About a month ago, over a Happy Meal™, tasty beverage and a drive back from Belfast, I agreed to speak at the conference North West Connects. And it's on Saturday.
So, if you're in Sligo on Saturday and you fancy a bunch of interesting speakers (well, and me), some good networking opportunities, and some hot coffee - , come along!
Web Project Worksheet
We've put together a new project worksheet for prospective clients to download, complete and return. It asks all the relevant 'kick off' questions.
Take a look if you're interested!
2 new sites, just the one client
Just a quick one at the end of a long week ...
Have just launched two websites for the local photographer Grainne Flynn. The first is her professional site - which focuses currently on fashion photography and the second is her personal site which deals mostly with wedding photography and portrait photography!
Was able to use the wonderful Simple Viewer Pro for both projects and it was wondefully simple and superbly flexible. Good stuff.
New ultra lite CMS on the block ...
Well well, this looks interesting ... a new ultra lightweight CMS from the good people at Unit Interactive (the place where one of the worlds Top 20 Designers - Andy Rutledge works.
Unify is a really simple, in-browser content editor that does not require a database, has no backend admin area and requires absolutely no technical skills to operate whatsoever. I took part - albeit very briefly - in the beta test and can vouch for just how super simple this is. Obviously, it's not wordpress or Joomla, but I've a good few clients for whom this will be an ideal solution.
It's only $16, which is great news - practically giving it away, and designers / developers now have a full range of CMS's available to us - from this, the absurdly simple, followed by the deceptively powerful but still lightweight, Perch, through to the more common 'full featured' systems. The world of CMS's has really come on in the last couple of years, and Unify is a welcome addition to the pantheon.
Great work Andy & Nathan. You can read the full story / gush here
Lots of good, recent articles
Okay, it's been light on posting lately (check out the new design - that's why!), so I've run up quite a little list of new articles that have been a good read ... here's a few of them:
- The Teenagers guide to freelancing - from Paul Boag - and not just for teenagers either
- SEO for the average Joe from the good people at Forty Media is an excellent SEO checklist
- In the same vein: 20 seo tips every web developer should follow from Net Tuts
- And lastly Hidden Secrets of the Amazon Shopping Cart - an insightful look at the evolution of Amazon's 'add to cart' button
All good stuff ...
Site Specific Browsers
I've been using Fluid App as a means of creating Site Specific Browsers (SSB's) for a couple of weeks now, and it's changed the way in which I access the web.
What Fluid does is create a standalone application that serves just one website (a Site Specific Browser) - let's take the example of Twitter. I have a Twitter account and until recently I was using the excellent Tweet Deck as my Twitter application of choice. It's great - it's fast, allows for custom lists of people to follow, and basically does everything I need, well. Well, almost everything. My problem with it is that it bloody well pings everytime a tweet comes up. It pushes tweets on to me. I much prefer to pull information to me when I want it (as I do with RSS), and although I could just open up Tweet Deck when I needed it, it didn't feel right.
So, it made more sense for me to start using twitter.com as my main interface for tweeting. I could visit the site, check the latest tweets, tweet myself (should the mood strike), and then browse away. Now though, I do this through my SSB - it allows me to treat the website as a desktop app, but still have me pulling content from twitter, rather than having an app push it on me. It's perfect.
So, check out Fluid App if you have a mac ... if you don't then Firefox has an extension and an app for doing something similar
Site Launch: PJ Dunnion Motor Services
Keeping it local, we just launched the website for PJ Dunnion Motor Services ... for all your pre-MOT servicing needs, new tyres, spare parts, etc. ... !
Basic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tips
There are a ton of good SEO beginners articles out there ... this one is good because it focuses on the basics of how to best use your keywords ... most of it is pretty good common sense, although I hadn't thought about optimising for synonyms before.
Google Analytics Power Guide
Check out this Google Analytics Power Guide ... one for everyone I think
How to be happy in business
Ah - how to be happy in business ... this Venn diagram has been doing the rounds lately, but worth re-posting here - I love this! (via)
Lightbulb moment
This from Paul Boag: 10 ways to put your content in front of more people, has been a real lightbulb moment for me - particularly this line:
... when we focus so heavily on the performance of our website we miss a fundamental point - the aim is to expose users to our content not our site. The website is tool a that can be used to showcase our content, but it does not have to be the only one
For a while I've been trying to figure out what was in facebook, linkedin, et al, for me - and now, I think I get it.
On a not altogether unrelated note, I've signed up for this workshop.
2 recent redesigns
Right - a couple of re-designs to kick things off with. These two projects were amongst the first I ever took on - almost 5 years ago for the first one. So, first up it's the Fresh Start Method website ... if you need to stop smoking then one of the best ways for you may be with hypnosis. That's right! It's the premier online stop smoking website! Take a look.
Next up - everyone's favourite hotel in Donegal - The Mill Park. This was the first of many projects that I worked on with Travel Logic about 3 years ago ... since then we've put together many, many, hotel websites - but the Mill Park Hotel was the first, and gets a new lick of paint here. Check it out.
Why I always ask for budgets
When I'm approached to put together a proposal for website development, my first question is usually 'What's your budget?'. It feels very un-English to just come straight out and ask about money, but for a lot of people - whether they're talking about it or not - that is exactly what it's all about. And that's okay, I understand. But the paradox is that the more it's 'about the money' the less willing people are to discuss it.
The most common answer I get to that question is a chortled 'As little as possible!'. Next is 'we're looking to you for guidance on that'.
Both of those responses are understandable. It's a mixture of not being completely sure and not wanting to get ripped off. The fear is that if they tell me their budget is £3,000, then my proposal will miraculously come in at £2,995. But it's not a good way to start working. And here's why:
There are many ways to build your website. Many approaches that may be totally appropriate to the needs of the audience. These responses may each cost vastly different amounts, and there's little point in me pitching a solution that costs £7,000 if the client has a £1,000 budget. Or, often worse, the other way around - pitching a £1,000 project to a client who has £7,000 to spend.
In either situation, neither myself or the client is going to be satisfied.
The analogy I like to use the most when helping clients to understand their budgets is that of purchasing an engagement ring.
When you go to make that special purchase, the first question the sales person should ask is 'what's your budget?'. If they didn't, and showed you a tray of rings that are either way cheaper than you wanted, or way more expensive than you can handle, then nobody ends up satisfied - it's a waste of everyone's time. And it's the same for web budgets.
Of course, tell me your budget is £3,000 and my proposal is going to come in close to that - not because I'm trying to take you for a ride, but because I can say 'okay, they've got this much money to spend, I'm going to propose the best level of functionality, the best design, the best interaction that that amount of money can buy'. You're not going to be undersold, or over promised - it's going to be just right.
And when that happens, everyone's a winner.
two quick site launches
Always nice to end the week with a couple of site launches ... firstly, and most excitingly for me, I'm launching crossinthebox.com - an online football game for the English Premiership. Full Disclosure: I'm a partner in this business ... and I'm very excited about it! It's dead simple ... open an account, put some credits in it via PayPal, and predict the results (not the scores) of this weeks premiership games. Fun stuff.
On a more sensible note, the site for Tungsten Properties launched as well - just a small, 3 page micro-site, but good looking and effective (if I say so myself!)
Assaroe Falls
It seems that my work in designing and developing the Assaroe Falls (it's a set of self catering apartments) website is getting some recognition. I'm flattered, but a little sceptical as to how these articles are often titled ... I mean, come on ... is it really one of the '30 Most Inspirational Business Designs'? ... I suppose it could be classified as having a 'gorgeous navigation menu'. Hmmm. Anyway, it's nice to be featured ... and on a couple of other more general galleries here and here. Good stuff.
Best practice search engine optimisation
Google has helpfully just published a search engine optimisation primer called 'Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide' (PDF - 550Kb) ... it'll become required reading for all clients!
How to charge clients
David Airey has written an excellent series on how a number of designers / design firms charge their clients.
It's been enlightening, but for me the most interesting debate was regarding accepting PayPal payments. I accept PayPal payments, but whether or not I offer them depends very much on the client and the project. The reason being that PayPal take 3.4% of each of my transactions. Ouch. So, if I think that PayPal is going to be faster than getting a cheque from a client, or if it's a new client maybe, or if it's a small amount, or the stars are aligned in such a way that it makes sense ... I offer people PayPal. But the debate centered around whether or not that 3.4% should be passed on to clients. My feeling is that no, it should not - it's a convenience to me, not necessarily the client - but there were plenty of people arguing the other way; after all, stores get charged a % of each credit card transaction and, one way or another, tend to pass that on to customers. All very interesting.
Added to the portfolio
After a little while of not adding anything to the portfolio, I've only gone and added in 4 projects today: take a look at NOTS, Parnterspring, Rathmullan Cottages, and The Big 1!
Stop supporting IE6!
Having come across a particulary irksome problem with a client this past week (the problem was not with the client, but the project!), I've gotten to thinking: "When the hell is it okay to stop supporting IE6?".
I'm not alone in thinking this - and some more illustrious names than mine have been mulling it over for a while.
The answer to me has become clear: As soon as IE8 is out of beta. Yup, that's the day for me. And it should be later this year - according to the IE8 wikipedia article. And relax.
I'll be implementing a similar filter to the one Simon Clayson has on the Rissington Podcast, so that IE6 users see an extremely pared down version of the site, and nothing else - maybe a prompt to upgrade.
The time has definitely come - IE7 is out now for 2 years - and I for one am relieved to have made the decision!
Site Launch: Belleek Cottages
I live in a village in Fermanagh, called Belleek. I work next door to a wonderful man called Michael McGrath - he's a retired teacher, he runs a fishing tackle shop from the back of a tea-room, he fixes the kids bikes when they come round with chains dangling on the floor and brakes that have been knocked about, and he owns a couple of self catering cottages in the area. So, when he asked if I could do a little website for his self-catering cottages, who was I to say no: Belleek Cottages
Site Launch: Kitchen Essence
Ah - I've loved this site from the word go! It's been a long time coming, but Kitchen Essence finally launched late last week. I love it because it's a simple, classic design that works really well with their product range of (yup) simple, classic kitchen products. Good stuff - and a well done to Sinead for getting over the line on this one!
Site Launch: Derry Morgan
Another companion site ... this time, Derry Morgan is a sister / brother / close relative to Derry Brothers. Honestly, I couldn't tell you much about what differentiates the two companies, but I do know that they both have websites that are marked improvements on their previous ones! They're a good, solid, family run firm and it's a pleasure to deliver this site to them.
Site Launch: Jacksons Hotel
Jacksons Hotel website went live recently. I didn't do the design on it, but I filled my usual role of CSS / (X)HTML person on behalf of travellogic which I do on an increasingly regular basis these days. I think this is the 8th hotel we've done together now. Good stuff.
Site Launch: Ancestral Remberance
As a companion site to Nature Hug, AncestralRememberance.com is obviously a more sober affair. Still, despite the gravity and the nature of it's intended audience, it cuts smooth lines and looks pretty classy (IMHO, obviously). I like this site more than perhaps I should ... the colours are right, the typography graceful, and it just sits well with me.
Project Update: Atkins Ireland
You know how some projects just never die ... well, way back when (okay, last June some time) we were contracted to design the new site for Atkins Global - we were working through a company called Brightspark Consulting in Dublin. Well, we finished the design and handed it over to their corporate team ... and, here we are, just a short year later - and their site is up and running!
Great new project: Partnerspring.com
We've been working on this one behind the scenes for a little while ... but today the temporary holding site for the project went live. You can see it here http://test.partnerspring.com
The main site is going to be like match.com but for businesses (their description, not mine!). Basically, you're a business and you're looking to partner up - either to sell more widgets, or to resell other people's widgets ... so, you sign up, create a profile, and use a series of cool tools (automatic matching, site mail, 'reach outs' etc.) to find your ideal business partners.
It's good, and it should be up and running in full by the autumn.
Project Update: Greenme.ie
Filed under 'substantial work in progress' ... is Greenme. It's occupied the better part of the last 18 months of my life (and that of the co-owners Jo Nash and Gina Geagan), but appears to be settled enough now to call it 'finished' - as much as possible, anyway. It's a guide to a greener lifestyle - revolving primarily around an eco-sensitive blog and a company directory that you can advertise your wares in.
It's difficult to 'love' a project that has been so long in coming to fruition, but I do think that what they're trying to achieve is really worthwhile and they're going about it in the right way. I hope that they get there, and I believe they will ... I probably won't go with them, but we'll all be okay with that!
Site Launch: Assaore Falls
Assaroe Falls offer luxury self-catering accommodation in Ballyshannon, Donegal ... and we've just finished their website. It's got a nice, slick, clean interface and a great custom built booking engine rather ugly booking process ... Ugh. They've stripped out the nice booking engine we built for them and clunked on a 3rd party solution. Oh well, there's no accounting for taste some times ... the rest of the site remains reasonably untouched / attractive.
Site Launch: NOTS
National Organic Training Skillnet - new website just went live. They offer a ton of training resources for people looking to 'do good stuff' organically - it's training for the Irish Organic Sector, and there's 60 odd courses that they offer from grassland and soil management to homeopathy for animals. Something for everyone then!
Site Launch: A Cameron Associates
Alex Cameron is a good friend of mine from back when I was in New York ... as such it was a pleasure to hear she has branched out to work on her own and set up this event consulting company. If you need help with your event development, give her a call!
Site launch: Derry Brothers
A small site for a shipping company based in Armagh. Derry Brothers have been in the business for more years than they probably care to remember - and they've now got a great little site on which to tell people all about it!
Site launch: ACI Alumni
We launched the website for the ACI Alumni program last week. It's a project I'm particularly proud of - incorporating many elements of social networking sites, but in a corporate enviroment. Forums, online chats, site mail, etc. etc. It's good - and it meant I got to work with an old colleague of mine - Matt Godson ... also famous for his online smoking cessation tools - oddly enough!
You can view the portfolio entry for the ACI alumni site or view the live site here
view notes from CSS, design, graphic design, miscellaneous, web development, work, or the ever popular 'miscellaneous' section.
click here to go back to the main notes section.
RSS
Grab the RSS feed for this blog by clicking the friendly icon below:
Archive
View notes from the last 30 days, last 3 months, last 6 months, dawn of time, or, within CSS, design, graphic design, miscellaneous, web development, work, or the ever popular 'miscellaneous' section