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Blank Page Syndrome

After backing up her existing website,  creating a new instance of WordPress, and a quick WordPress tutorial, we proceeded to dive in head first… Then it happens… the dreaded “Blank Page Syndyrome“.  Over 20 years creating designing interfaces and I see it happen every time…

“So, What would you like to do next?” … “Humm… I don’t know.”

The first thing that I always ask my clients is “What is the purpose of the your project? What do you want to accomplish?”… more time than not, there is no clear vision.

Since Sharon has a previous site and there is content available, I assigned homework:

• Choose a WordPress template that fits your style (we’ll edit later)
• Create some blank pages that match your needs (i.e like your existing site)
• Copy your article text and insert into your new pages
• Add some pictures *

Your client can easily achieve their project vision… You just have to listen, have some patience and do a little hand-holding; your client (and Sharon) will greatly appreciate it.

Another interesting take on wrapping your arms around a client’s vision, read this article by John Vincent of Yulan Studio

* Note:  Sharon is trying to learn WordPress while her two grandchildren rummaging thru the trash and eat paper towers and her husband calls every five minutes on the land line.

Protecting Your Data

With the recent security breech of Epsilon, a division of Alliance Data Systems Corp, I am amazed that the average computer user doesn’t take more precautions to protect themselves.

Epsilon holds the names, email addresses, marital status, credit data, and other personal information of 235 million people. It mines the names for personal shopping habits, interests, life changes such as marriage or moving, and credit capacity, and sends out targeted marketing pitches. If you get a 30 percent discount offer from Target, to take just one example, it probably came from Epsilon. The company broadcasts 40 billion email messages annually, to consumers it considers most likely to buy.

Any computer can be “hacked”, but there are several things you can do to make it more difficult to access your personal data. Here are some ideas you can easily implement

• Install A Personal Firewall
• Change Your Password
• Lock Your Mobile Devices and Laptops
• Limit Your Personal Information on Social Networks

For more suggestions, take a look at this article from CNN Money Watch “Email Breach: 8 Ways To Protect Yourself”

Your first response would be something like “But, I have no money for my project!”. What do you do next?

Contact iiRe Productions and let’s talk about your project.  Obviously we can’t do it for free, but if you need quality work done at a reasonable price,  iiRe Productions is an excellence choice for your next multimedia presentation, website or video. Just ask our clients!

Do Not Let The Project Be Designed By Committee!

A horse is a camel designed by Committee

Why is this important? It’s expensive, it’s time-consuming, counter-productive and does not necessarily produce quality results.  Our latest ongoing project with a large international real estate company confirms my theory.

The Coming of the Apocalypse:

Here’s one of the usual combination of factors that can plague the project from the start. The names have been changed so I might actually get paid.

• Robert loves it, but thinks it needs more “pop”
• Darlene hates it…  she can do better because she had one semester of graphic design
• Tim gives his thoughts 2 weeks later that contradicts his original changes
• Stephanie wants it how it originally was because it’s less work
• Samantha adds her two cents because she had one semester of marketing
• John says the programming code will add another 3 months to the timeline
• Amanda says it cost way too much
• Rest of the committee fail to give any feedback at all

Sound familiar? Most committees end up in this kind of circular, unproductive feedback loop because the group operates on many or all of these principles:

• Lack of a clearly stated objective
• Suggestions based on individual opinions
• Personal or piolitical agendas
• Disorganized feedback process
• No definitive leader – Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians

Despite the obvious pitfalls of design by committee, there are effective strategies for navigating the process that can produce positive results. When done right, the product of a well-run design committee will satisfy all parties involved and produce a better design than if just one person were in control.

Here is some interesting reading to help you pass the time:

Matthew Inman’s How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell, it is the one of the most entertaining portrayals of design-by-committee-gone-wrong to date.

Gary Hartley at The Floating Frog describes a typical design by committee outcome.

While the line that separates the web designer from the web developer has become nothing but a blurry line in murky water, you still need to know how to create an environment that will not only charm the visitor but captivate them to the point that they don’t want to get off the site. Keep in mind that your custom web design must also contend with tablets, netbooks and smart phones. So what are some of the top trends this year for custom web design?

1. Small business web design used to rely heavily on Flash. This wasn’t very beneficial for rankings and frankly wasn’t always enjoyed by visitors. Flash is very slowly being left by the wayside. Today Flash is being replaced by HTML5. While the appearance is very similar you won’t want to mistake one for the other, they are not equal opponents.
2. Color is important as well. Today color needs to be true and easy on the eyes. Think about honest color, jewel tones, green and yellow.
3. Your small business web design needs to be responsive to multiple viewports. This can be done with the use of CSS3. You don’t want to just take out all the bells and whistles from your website, doing that will leave the website impersonal and vacant. Keep in mind when looking at a custom web design you don’t just want to create a website that is purely dedicated to mobile sources, even that isn’t enough for today’s savvy internet surfer.
4. The touch screen has also forced designers and developers to re-evaluate the way they create a custom web design. It needs to be fingertip navigable, as more devices start to use the touch screen. Making the point and click navigation done with the mouse obsolete.
5. Dimension is another trend of 2011 as well as the next decade. You want to create depth so that each part of the site appears closer than the others. Think of it as long as 3D images when the custom web design is done masterfully.

Creating the perfect website today requires more than the bells and whistles of yesterday. It isn’t enough for the website to just look pretty, it needs to be functional and engaging. It should reach out and grab the attention of not only the search engines, but the reader as well. Take a trend or two from above and implement it on your website to see how they impact your visitor’s experience.

Shoobox

This is a sample of the scrapbooking program designed by Steve Russell of iiRe Productions. For more samples, click here.

TruAge

This is a sample of the CD-ROM layout designed by Steve Russell of iiRe Productions. For more samples, click here.

Beazer

This is a sample of the CD-ROM layout designed by Steve Russell of iiRe Productions. For more samples, click here.