Design Basics

At times there comes the urgent need to lay down the basics of the job we people do. Some may sound a bit "out of fashion" but really they are still a "part of the game".
The design basics (some of them which I follow) are:
1] The size of the Images you choose affects the way your page loads. Heavy image slowing down your page means that the visitor has already clicked on the next site.
2] Keep your page layout as simple as possible. Many times I come across sites with those "revolutionary" layouts where the visitors get lost quite often.
3] Fonts, yes, the fonts...keep the variety/style of fonts to minimum possible. Do take care on how would the printout of your page look like and also its appearance on the screen.
4] Different browsers may display your page differently, have you checked this?
5] Content, good, readable, interesting. Do not "over SEO" the text. The visitor might get bored/confused/misled reading something which was alien to them.
6] Though ads are a good thing to have on your site, too many of them make your site appear just like a classified newspaper. Sure you don't want your site to look this way, or do you?...
7] Soothing look on the page makes the visitor "stay" there for some time. Do not use blinking images. According to research, such irritants are very effective in chasing away visitors from your site.

Frankly, I might not be the best of the designers out there but I follow some basics all times and every time. This makes my job easier and simpler and "processed" (I only have to follow the process) and my output is worth my client's money :D

Share the knowledge.

I recently came across my "professional" friend who believes that in order to maintain seniority order, one must keep away from sharing knowledge from the subordinates.
I was a bit surprised hearing him say this.
Was he implying that he really has to hide from his juniors? Did this mean that he "survives" in the knowledge vacuum? Is he so much watchful of young budding probables who might take his place? Had he put a self imposed limit on his growth?.....
Really, is this what keeps a professional going on and ahead? I sincerely don't think so.
It could be that I was lucky enough to have seniors who were open, progressive, practical and professional. People who shared their knowledge and helped me grow.
Though I am indebted to them, I must say that my seniors gave me the chance and challenge to go and "prove it" to myself and the people there.
I believe in sharing knowledge as I know that it leads one to further improving self, knowledge and skills.
Knowledge and the style (procedures,processes) one uses on the job is the property of the firm one was working for at the time. It is not the person's personal property to keep back, hidden.
As a matter of fact, people who had their outlook just like my friend could progress only till a limit, the limit which was self-imposed.

Getting Organized :)

I spent my last weekend on organizing my workplace which really needed attention for quite some time....really :)
I know it always is better to be organized but, the "but" word always had many of those wonderful escapist words one could ever use...
How to get organized? Well some simple steps could help like:
a] Jotting down all tasks one has to to really helps, this is similar to a "to do list". You know when and on which date you needed "that" work done but are in the "postpone-it" mode since so many hours,days,weeks,months or worst...years !
b] Get a calender, need I say more about this :)
c] Get a diary and write in clear terms your goals. These help one stay focused and guided. This is really handy to mark down your progress towards your goals.
d] Priority on the tasks,jobs and act accordingly. If one works other way round then the outcome too would be the other way round.
e] Greed, yes greed of getting details, details about your job,tasks. For example you could make your task,job progress actuals and match them against your job,task plans. Nothing short of a "greedy" approach would make you perfect in being on time always :)
Business, no matter how small or how large it might be is built using those 24 hours of the day.
Numerous tasks,jobs,issues and what not, but only one reason to go ahead - if they can do it then why can't you !! :)

You as your own Boss !

Now, I again come back to the same discussion, the thing which most of us think about...
Yes again I would talk about the "self" job,business and income too :D
The reasons why I would prefer to be on my own are following:
1] I could start my business with a very nominal investment. Just a machine and some space to work (could even be my garage). I get to set my working hours !
2] The "part-time" freedom for full time....Necessarily it develops into me making all efforts for myself..yes "my own self". I get to keep all the fruits of my toil.
3] Ingenuity of "my" work and the fact that it cannot be copied by anyone :)
4] Growth...yes, you get a lot to learn when you go solo, believe me.
5] You are one who would brand or disband yourself & your business :D

It is a fact that very few such start ups succeed amongst the fierce competition and tough business essentials but again it is only those "determined" souls which are examples for many others to follow suit.

Your Company...Are You Company?

Most of us work as professionals with a majority of us working in companies while others work as freelancers (with or without a company name). What ever may be the "employment" style, one thing is certain, we "are" a part of the job we do..
I say that we are a part of our job (for salaried people) AND Company itself towards its employees on the other hand on the basis of the following few things.
a] Company ethics and our adherence to them
b] Experience or knowledge which we would gather as we work and then its sharing..
c] The process/technical development we do becomes the "company" property. Do we contribute to this?
d] The impact of our services(good or bad)on the company's business,clients.
e] Work,process management skills...professionals know what I mean here.
f] Acceptance, by the company and by the employee too to proceed towards a primary objective i.e. further/future growth.
g] Delivery...of service by the employee and its matching in equal terms by the company...
A company, here means similar to the English word "accompany". When both the employee and the company become one then there are miracles,achievements,growth...

My first question again, Are we company? ... :)

Blog Writing Business or Fun !

Well this is a point on which most of us could talk for quite some time, some choosing money,some fun while some (like me) choosing both of them :)
The way you can be out here and make a presence is really interesting. I would bet with anyone out here on the impact and effective way one can make themselves exist out here on the "WWW".
I write for fun and the way people take interest and businesses make business from my writing gets me "some" business too !!
Yes, true that there comes a time when people tend to go more for the money part of it but this is really a short lived preposition. One cannot be a minting machine for too long. There would come a plateau when the "catchy" thing goes before the writer even realizes.
So for me, I am a fun loving business person, what about you guys? :)

Your job - your reputation

Offshore jobs means you get clients sitting thousands kilometers away giving their specifications, details, explanations and hoping they get what they expected.
It becomes even more intense when you have a fresh new client who could get more business for you if you hit it "correct" the first time.
We recently had a client giving us details and explanations and though he was not a fresh lead, we going by our policy worked till the last detail with him to get what he wanted. Can you guess what was his "last" specification?...well he wanted his site made all over again, new fresh and with changed themes and feel !!
Did this meant us redoing all the jobs all over again? well the question is the answer and believe me this was a "real" job we did within a record time but really we "earned" this client for a very long time to come :)
I know many people who give out jobs and after many delays, extended time lines and talks get the final output which is of no use to them. What a waste of time, effort and money for the client [and the client itself is lost at the service provider's end] !!!!
Boring, detailed enough to put your team to sleep and what not, each and every client specification and its implementation goes a long in securing your client base. A little offmark and a client could go to someone else !

Logo Design Essentials

Well, a really long time since I last wrote here but I am happy to be back after a few busy days :)
We all designers come across Logo Design jobs and I thought what better time could it be to look at this "basic" thing that we all do quite often...
The main idea around which one would design should be clear to the designer. I am sure most of us come have across people who have "something" to design but don't know or understand the Theme. For example, the theme of Web Design Company should depict designs, that of a Music Company should depict notes, flow etc. Simple part but even more easily missed out by people.
Second is the way you would depict your theme. Don't get car images for a car hire company, this is so "usual". One could for example get comfort, ease, economy depicted on this. Simply put, make this a design, not a "sentence".
Now the shades, color you would use goes a long way to tell who the designer is...yes I came directly to the designer (instead of the Company) as I know people understand what I mean here :)
Appearance of your logo is the ultimate idea behind good web designing. For example if you took light colors and shades despite knowing that it was going to be printed in vinyl billboards to be put out in the open during the summers, then forget that your designs would be recognizable after a week. It will evaporate into thin air..... Make your logo keeping in mind the places where it could possibly be put !!
Lastly, I strongly believe that it is not a complex or a simple design which makes a brand, it is the clarity of the same in the designer's mind which does the trick. Examples? well let me start, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Adidas, Nike, MacDonald's and the list goes on and on...
Designing logos is indeed a detailed task, and really interesting too ! With the designer in their own shoes when they start designing does the trick and who knows it could develop into a successful brand !!

Hey all you Freelancers !!

The word Freelancer sounds very interesting to most of us. We visualize freedom, space, enterprise, fame and sure the big motivator...money & loads of it !!! ;)
But really, is freelancing and the life of a freelancer so much attractive? Is it really so catchy?
People have many reasons and ways to favor the career of a freelancer. Job of interest, steady income, own timings, no boss over you and you could create what ever you ever wanted...
Well, this is true (rather could be made absolutely true) if one follows some basic guidelines soon [and for always] when they started on their own:
1] Work as if you were still an employee: This makes sure you don't get carried away in the freedom breeze to do what you liked and then getting back to your desk. This could prove to be a major time killing factor.Your output could get affected.
2] Dress just like you did for your office: It feels so cool to come in shorts and slippers and start working for the day.Sit easy on the sofa and chatting with a friend or tweeting and working,enjoying etc. but remember, the more comfort level you get into the more you get prone to miss out on your productive wits ! This is very true, believe me.
3] Set time lines: Give yourself limited time to complete your job. Do I need to elaborate more on this? I don't think so.. :)
4] Work Schedules: Just like point 3 above, set your "office" timings. Sure, easy working hours sound sooo comfy but you could soon find yourself working throughout the night and sleeping throughout the day and then feeling down when you woke up. This could lead to a vicious stress cycle !
5] Prioritize: Set your "to-do" list and follow it. This ensures that you got on your work schedule well on time and are heading towards productivity.
6] Keep watch on yourself !! You need to "treat" yourself as your own employee. Appreciate productivity,accomplishments and point out your shortfalls. Beware, you are more exposed when you go alone...
7] Keep yourself occupied, happy and focused: This makes sure you remain your boss :D
No matter how much we dislike our boss but they are a necessary factor making us walk on line (I am talking only about productivity right now).

Follow up and assess your performance,growth and future going solo...This is an important factor helping you stay,both: motivated and a successful Freelancer !!!

Google Foodle !

Yesterday I was with my friends on an outing and while having a really nice time on a long drive we just started getting hungry. One of my friends is a MacDonalds maniac while I prefer Pizza Hut,no wonder another friend preferred going only to Dominos.
We didn't knew the location so well and spotting MacD on the highway we stopped and got our stuff.
While having our munch someone gave the idea of having those "food outlets" maps of the places when we went out. To my surprise (and interest) another friend started telling us about the latest feature which would come really soon where your mobile phone would act as your shopping assistant !!
According to my friend, the businesses which get listed with Google come up on google searches. Now the new thing that is about to come is that the business (or your favorite retail,grocery store,food outlets) once listed would come on something like a shared platform (between Google and your mobile service company) where you could put your shopping (or anything) requirements as a reminder and your phone would not only remind you when you wanted but would also give you an entire list of the stores having the items you needed and that too those ones only which fall near your physical location (or option driven) at the time .
Now if you are on your way to the office in the morning and your wife tells you to get grocery in the evening (quite difficult to remember these things !!!),your mobile could turn out to be your savior. All you have to do is to first select your route back from office and then run (something like a search) for "grocery" and you would have all the grocery stores listed with Google with their addresses,locations,item details etc. which fall on the route you take back from office !!!.
Cool, isn't it? and I know this is in fact not a far thing. We do have google work for us when we need locations,find stores or businesses which we have to visit.

Just imagine what a simple google listing could do for your business.

Legality of your Blog.

My last writeup was on the basics on which one could frame their articles for effective results.
This time I would focus on the Google laws & the adherence or the lack of it could lead to an entire blog being banned by your favorite Search Engine.
A blog should echo your originality,freshness and your "physical" impact. This means that one should not copy material from other sites. I have come across some people who do this and they say that Google is too busy on the PR thing that they won't ever find out. I am sure that you guys too are aware of Copyscape :)
Also, in the race for revenue people end up getting so many advertisements on their blogs that it appears like an advertisement site ! Sure this makes the visitors form opinions about the content and loose interest (or in other words "when visitors loose their interest in a blog,the blog's relevance looses all its interest")
There are some blogs which place their hidden text (mainly keywords) in the same color as the blog background in small font sizes (to hide from human detection) for getting themselves as much "Keyword" satisfied as possible.
This is not a safe thing to do,Google has means and ways of getting such sites out from the crowd and then they might never include the blog in their listing. i.e. disqualification of the blog.
Keywords are good and effective on a blog but overdoing them works the opposite way.

Following the guardrails on the internet highway is an essential game or else instead of a blog inviting people,it could fast become it's creator's surprise !!!.

Articles, how important?

Articles are a very sure and easy way to help increase traffic to a site yet this part is often ignored due to the misunderstanding among many that it is a complex jargon to play with.
People forget simple SEO things and miss out completely on the "keyword" basics which if they include in their articles would surely work half way for them (if not for the entire thing).
Practice (in fact the daring to do this) makes one capable enough to write concentrated and focused articles. There is no replacement to the human touch which is completely lacking in automated article churning software doing rounds among many article writers these days.
The many jargons of SEO and Google can be easily solved by simple Google tools like Keyword tools etc.
I have come across people worrying about SERP, site hits, keyword density and then going the "machine" way by using article writing software and what not.
Definitely nothing beats a simple article better than a simpler written article !!
One must focus on not:
1) Spinning Articles
2) Generate Garbage Articles
3) Just rephrasing Articles
These practices have long become the subject of archeology and believe me no one has the time to spend reading what they know about already.

The other site is just a click away

Last Friday our creative team were having a project detail chaired by Raj, ourChief Idea Officer. During his details for our latest client he just made a comment and asked us to narrate it in our own words as to what we understood out of it. There were as many narrations of his statement as there were people attending this meeting and I thought it is better not to let it go unrecorded :)
While telling our design teamhe just paused and said "the other site is just a click away" (though this is a very known statement).
People spoke on the following points:
1)Attractiveness: If your site is not attractive enough to keep the visitor for more than 5 seconds then you have a competitor for sure who is doing better than you are !
2)Layout: If the layout is not "user friendly" and is a pain in the neck and to the eyes trying to make out what is where and how and why it is so then no one would even stay back for more than an eye wink on your site !
3)Color: An extension to the layout is the color theme you follow,don't go by your favorite inspiration and just end up copying it...just take the "basics" which make that site your favorite :)
4)Content: Yes, important and relevant,catchy,informative,concise. (do I need to say more on this, I know I don't have to, you got it already !)
5)Theory: Theory? are we having an exam out here?? Well, the question is the answer...Yes, we are having a test of our site every time we have a visitor.Combine all aspects and bind the site matter around the concept of the site.This thing surely goes way beyond the point 4 above.No book,film,advertisement,article,tv show is ever complete without a theory from it's inception to the last thing. The coding has to be on these lines and not the other way round [though I am not touching the programming part for now]
To sum up [this is boringly detailed though :D] you have to have a combination of all things.If your site is very attractive but falls out on the relevance aspect of the nature of your site or, for example, you just started selling your stock online but your product listing is faulty on the site then just imagine the impact on the customer experience out here...in real terms this means just the same old line...

"The other site is just a click away!!!"

What makes your Designs stand out !

Have you ever thought what makes our buildings so strong?
Well my asking this question doesn't imply that I am an architect of buildings but surely I am an architect of websites and find little differences in my job and an architect's job.
A colleague of mine yesterday asked me what I thought makes a good design. I pondered for a while (frankly the basic factors are many and I know a lot of my readers agree to it) and then told her about four basic factors..(a)Layout (b)typography (c) relevant designs & (d) color (yes the simplest always comes at the last)
You might wonder why I marked out only four but sincerely these are the basic factors which I think make a design make or break a site theme/message/purpose.
Now,starting with the first one, Layout is as important as having your maps prepared before you start building your house. You should be clear where you want what features,effects,images etc. (just as you would for your study,living or dining room).Use of "healthy" enough white space makes the site appear lighter and this can be best done utilizing wireframes.
Also, Logo Design goes a long way in establishing your business.Having your company/business logo at the optimum places would assist in making your logo come alive in memories of the visitors coming to your site. If needed have your logo redesigned.
These make your job a bit detailed but this comes a lot handy when you start having the features on your site. Write down as much as you can on the specifics for your details and include these in the wireframes. I mentioned white spaces,why? because they make different sections in your site "different". The visitor should know with considerable ease where he is on the site. The blocks,tables,divisions have to be "clear" for this.
Under Typography would come your selection of fonts and their styles,color etc. If you want people to make it easy going through your site then there is no way your avoiding this essential feature. Here you also have the backgrounds too to work on. Contrasts have to be just correct or else they would make your readers appear like drunk people walking along a busy highway in the night,dazed due to the traffic headlights hitting their eyes...
Now, Relevant Designs come in. I usually come across some really marvelous blogs,sites with equally impressive designs (blogs of teenagers,professionals,artists etc.) I must say I am fanatically inspired by people like them who make their sites so wonderful to keep on gazing at and admire. I love such people. Designs here includes not only placement of images but also of customized fonts with nice colors and some personalized effects like an animation of a pet of the writer (of a blog which I had visited last week) I was so much impressed with this guy's imagination.
Last (and the first too!) is the Color. NO need to have as much or as less of colors out there. Trust me,leave the job to your designer after asking them to produce their "best" color themes. Have sample themes from two and above and I bet you would certainly have an "original" for your site. Yes I stressed on original as this aspect is loosing to the copies going around these days.
I know there are many aspects interlinked and dependent on each other within the above four ones but in my opinion these are merely the startups on which the entire structures of wonderful sites exist.

The most difficult client

All of us work and work on designs day in and out for our clients & contacts for money and at times for friends (for free) :) but really we don't get a chance to come across a difficult client as ourselves when we decide to redesign our own websites.
You know that your site is your brandname and it goes a long way in declaring what you are on the web but this is not the only reason or end to the whole exercise of redesigning for yourself.
To start with,you face one single important question with an equally justified reason which made you start this redesigning task...the question being "from where" should you start doing the changes? You start recalling the time when you had all the buttons,designs,banners put there for "that" impact and reason and now are getting a bit jittery about what would be your redesigned site compared to the present one? You now tell yourself that it is time for change and you want a makeover at any cost as (you had the same site for the last two years,or someone compared your site to a rival's and pointed out some remarkable plus points in your rival's site etc.)
There might be instances of memory recall when you decide NOT to let the font styles and color conflict within the different sections of the site like they had in your current site. You might decide on changing the images section with videos features,inserting networking buttons,features and what not.
You might even think on having a Forum for yourself (though you might know that you would find it very difficult to maintain it). But you still decide on having one because "your rival has it!!"
Asking your friends would amaze you with the imaginative and simple solutions you would get and hints which surely could put your new site ahead of your competitor's if you implemented those suggestions.
You might also like to keep this under wraps and not let anyone know what you are up to.
I know some of my friends getting multiple sites made up with variations as basic as different color themes & Images (in the same layout),three or four layout styles with as many color themes and one (secretly "inspired") sample site from their competitor's !
After all the exercise and deliberations you would come out with two or three "finalists" from which you would select the best one and then would give a second look at your previous site (before changing it for the new one) just as you do while changing your car.
Finally you would feel comfortably seated in your new Virtual Office with all the smell of fresh paint and woodwork which is equally virtual.
You now happy, loving your site just as you do for your latest car :)

Facebook Vs Google !!

Well, I am sure most of you might already be aware of Facebook going the Google way "somewhat".
For those who still don't,let me reintroduce the news to them that Facebook now has it's new Open Graph Search Engine which is talked about a lot in communities and circles that Facebook would gradually and constructively create it as a Google competitor. Let me tell you,people are really observing this and they say that this is one of the potentially "big" things that Facebook could (and for some reasons,only they can) attempt.
The way this would work would be somewhat like the Facebook Ads application where the advertisement is sent to people with the "Like" option. The change this time is that site URLs would be sent for "Like" (or dislike !) and the site which gets the maximum Likes would be the highest ranking in Facebook Open Graph searches.
Despite all the talk discussions and excitement I am a bit apprehensive.I mean how can (and how far can) one take their site to get "Likes" to get their sites up?. It is fine that people work on this but really what would this practice involve and constitute? Would it not contribute to Spamming of sorts?
Would this not be like voting for your favorite TV show icon just to keep them on the show irrespective of the fact that they might not really be "that" good compared to others out there? What about Creativity
Doesn't this sound like a "manipulation promotion action"?
True, I would surely (and I do) participate whenever I get a "Like" invite on Facebook but frankly I am doubtful regarding the veracity of the rankings Facebook would give to its listed sites.
What do you guys think?

Time to go social !!

All said and well read but factually most of us still lag way behind if we compare ourselves to our neighbors school-going kids who have an impressive friend circle ranging in thousands.
I recently came across such a kid who was surprised at my asking "how do you do this!". As a matter of fact this came naturally to him and he got on and along with his school friends and now had a group (rather a crowd) of around 1500 friends with whom he exchanged his social net life every day,seven days a week !!
I was impressed by the natural attitude of this guy innocently asking that "you need friends,don't you?".
I gave him an answer which was sieved and filtered through my knowledge,experience and what not to safeguard my smaller "internet friends circle status" but I knew where I had lacked way behind.
The real issue is that we need existence and people help us creating one for us.
Many professionals fall way behind in this and end up in their smaller worlds,cut out of fresh air of ideas,excitement & adventure.
It would be a waste of time for me to appreciate the advantages internet has given to all of us as I cannot in any way possibly enumerate all of these at one go.But sincerely this immense possibility is the strength internet has and makes the modern world the way it is today.
Let us combine our common interests and create friends,groups,communities with international color,languages and experiences for the simple fact that the world today is smaller than the smallest village you ever knew about and today the true meaning of "international" is "local".
Our international color would be true color and this is happening fast.

Creativity: Is it an illusion

I am a designer and many times I come across works of my co-designers,friends and people at large who give a glimpse of "that" design which I had seen before somewhere clearly influencing this design right in front of me !
We all do take our inspirations and hints from many sources and with internet this has grown considerably and is a very potent and positive thing we could ever have at a mouse click.
The boring part comes when you start thinking upon coming across a design that you had indeed seen this somewhere sometime ago too ! even before when this design was created.
I know the people of my trade might have understood what I mean to say here,anyhow let me say it for those who haven't.
Would it not be boring to design a design 'inspired' by the logo of say Coca Cola with only the outlines and colors changes? What would you as a professional feel if someone says that your design seems to look like a close resembling 'cousin' of a design by someone else? What can you put in (rather) put up on stake if you get branded as an excellent copy professional. Would it take you to the next mile?
Well enough of questions,let us answer this in simple words.Yes we do take inspirations on occasions but that should not 'influence' your creativity !!!
A designer has to use the same colors,same client specifications,same design advantages and shortcomings to their fantastic best.This is what we people do and do really well.
Let us be a category rather than be categorized.