Archive for the ‘Typography’ Category

Company Website Boring Visitors to Death?

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Tired of your company website?

Is your company website boring even to you? People are more and more obsessed with flashy, bright, shiny objects and websites are no different. Yes, you will need to have killer content on your website that is easy to understand and explains your product or services in a way that will make anyone want to buy it, but first – you have to get their attention – and in a positive way.

A Website is an Experience

As you browse through a site, you experience layout, colors, fonts, photographs, and content until you begin to feel a certain way. Of course, when it comes to your customers, you want that ‘certain way’ to be a positive one, one that converts to sales. Creating those positive experiences through design is what our team does best.

Remodelling: Ideas and Considerations

If you were to think about your website as the large billboard that everyone will see as they sit in a movie theatre and wait for their film to start – what would you want them to see?  I use the theatre example because, in this instance, you have a somewhat captive audience and the time frame is relatively lengthy.  Your website IS a marketing piece and it should fit with your branding as well as your vision and mission for the company.

However, you want more than a brochure or a static, unchanging picture as your website – you want to engage the audience and make them feel that you are right there with them.  This can be done with a custom layout that makes finding information for your users simple and almost automatic, it can be done with content that makes them feel instantly at home and trusting, it can be done with colors that evoke the emotional response you ultimately want your customers to have, and it can be done with images, videos, and sharing options where they can find out what their friends think of your product or service, and inform the rest of their friends of their opinions about you as well.

Your Website is the First Touch

Your website is the first touch you have on your customer; it is extremely important for it to be a positive experience and that it entices your target audience to take that next step and contact you.  Ultimately we have websites to initiate a customer relationship and to sell something, whether it is advice or kitchen spoons, we are all in a business to make some kind of money – whether sales or donations for a non-profit to support a meaningful cause, the desired result is the same. As you have probably heard in business, it takes money to make money. Designing your website is not free – but if it is done correctly, it IS worth it.

Think about it – if you wouldn’t stay on your company website for more than 2 minutes, then why would anyone else?  You have a lot of competition in the online world, so make yourself stand out. If you need ideas or a quote, check out our web portfolio or call us at 775.322.3663 or 800.233.0239

Ban Comic Sans – A Typographic Meandering

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Remember the phrase “Desktop Publishing”? Well I do and it heralded a new day for graphic design and empowered many people and companies to take things into their own hands. The problem is that many people have no formal training in typography, design, color theory, art history or related fields. The result? People do whatever they want and many times sacrifice things like readability, credibility or relevance for convenience and the thrill of the moment… Enter Comic Sans.

OK, so I admit it… I am a little prejudiced.. but when one has been schooled in all things art, taken advanced classes in typography,  art history, all manner of design and communications, both historical and contemporary, plus being indoctrinated into formal graphic design and communications standards, comic sans becomes mostly taboo except for the true intended use, bubble text in cartoons.

So ban Comic Sans? I say a resounding (& qualified) YES!… (We don’t let children play with matches so why should we let adults play with Comic Sans? OK.. so I digress a little).. My wife says no.. (but that’s a different blog post and likely a different blog) and most people say “But I like it! It’s cute and fun”… well I might be outnumbered in this, so all I can say is you better not put it on my gravestone!

That all said, I leave it to you dear reader, to determine whether Ban Comic Sans is really the best approach.

Here’s a great little video that captures some of the reasons why Comic Sans should be only used after careful consideration.

Enjoy!

Comic Sans from Sam and Anita on Vimeo.

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