I’m surprised by how my list of website design bad practices is growing. As website analytics become more and more sophisticated, I thought marketers and publishers would drop practices that drive bleeding bounce rates, but offending websites are surprisingly common. Jakob Nielsen’s usability testers may quibble, but here’s my list of bounce-away website practices for [...]
As a designer, how do I tell you, as a client, why a certain typeface works well for your ad? How do I explain the allure of a particular color—why it will resonate with your audience, or why all other colors and design elements work with the design and properly communicate the feel of your [...]
We were asked recently to propose on a small website for a non-profit trade organization. The group, with about one hundred members, wanted a new website and had been referred to us from another small nonprofit we had worked with. The conversation went something like this: Them: We need a website Me: Ok, what do [...]
On a search for good visuals on early child development the other day, I suddenly realized that sustainability is not the only change marketing issue suffering from a dearth of quality infographics and compelling message images. Oh there are plenty of gratuitous baby photos tugging at heartstrings, but I found few visuals working hard to [...]
As someone who must use social media for work, I’m always interested in how others around me use social media for pleasure—especially the tweens and teens. Teaching clients to use these tools for effective marketing is one thing our firm does. Teaching our children how to use these tools responsibly is quite another, but equally [...]
The power of words, labels, language and frames is often a popular topic at the water cooler and lunch table here, but it has been top-of-mind lately. One reason is a recent experience I had when filling out a form to participate in an online forum with people from around the world. The gist of [...]
So your business story made the newspaper but it’s wrong. At least that’s how you may see it when something you’ve said has come back to haunt you. Or, perhaps there was a fact, date or name that was incorrect. Clients sometimes ask if we would request that a news editor retract a story in [...]
