The role of the marketer

Marketing is all about working within specific constraints, which can be financial, time-related and resource-dependant. Marketers also tend to limit the scope of their briefs so that specific demographics are targeted without too much ‘wastage’. The science of marketing tends to be grounded in research and works towards a measurable goal, which is usually economic. Essentially it’s a rigorously structured framework geared towards delivering results via a positive customer experience.

The role of the designer

The job of creating that customer experience falls to the designer. They are limited by the same constraints as the marketer. However, comparatively they will be less tuned in to the tangible results of a campaign and more interested in aesthetics. The best designers will include themselves in consumer research; in their pursuit of the aesthetic they should always keep their focus on meeting the needs and expectations of their audience.

Within an agency…

In an agency context the marketer will tend to be the direct point of contact for a client. As such, should a client demand changes to design work (after all, the customer is always right), it will be the marketer who passes these change requests along to the designer. The phrase ‘shooting the messenger’ can be painfully relevant in situations like this. Changes are sometimes not well-received by designers, but on the flip side change requests can be poorly communicated by marketers. Welcome to the perfect storm.

Lost in translation

Amends are usually the kindling that can result in blazing rows between marketers and designers, especially if they are not well-communicated. Marketers can often make the assumption that designers are blinkered by creativity and lack of practicality. While designers can resist amends on the grounds that the amends in question compromise the quality of the work they have produced. Flexibility and justification are required by both parties, as well as debate. As a word of warning though, teams should try to structure discussions about amends in a way that ensures they don’t stray into unproductive stalemates. Having a neutral arbitrator can be a sensible idea.

The back and forth

It’s wrong to suggest that the working process between marketers and designers has to flow from the former to the latter in a linear fashion. Less linear, hierarchical structures can often lead to the best results. Indeed, design can often inspire marketing rather than simply take direction from them and a designer’s freer way of thinking can unearth alternative ways of meeting a target. Rather than thinking of design and marketing as yin and yang, it’s more constructive to consider that both are focused – or should be focused – on understanding the user consumer they are targeting.

Celebrate differences

As well as recognising that design and marketing inevitably share a common goal, a positive way to look at their working relationship is to celebrate their differences. Some experts argue that if you want to keep design fresh, unrestrained and creative you should unshackle it and isolate it from the rigors of the marketing bods. It’s good to ensure designers are clued-up when it comes to market research but going too far down this path with undermine the specific skills of both specialties.

Five ideas for improving the way designers and marketers work together:

1. There is an enormous amount of value to be mined from both disciplines bringing their points of view and expertise to the table at the start of a project.
2. Ensure all feedback and amends are well-documented and not passed along in a way that is casual or open to misunderstanding. It may feel over the top, but should arguments arise it’s good to be able to look back at the dialogue that’s led to them.
3. Streamline feedback to ensure the process is as pain-free and efficient as possible.
4. Justify all feedback with tangible learnings, examples and precedents where possible.
5. Enable both parties to play to their strengths and celebrate different points of view as integral to the finished results.

I researched, tested, and created print and branding solutions from that tiny room, despite the various practical and physical limitations. I even had a team of clients in there once, collaborating, co-creating and rapid-prototyping ideas for their brand – all within easy reaching distance of my sock drawer.

I think it’s a pretty normal arrangement when you first start out. In fact, I’m sure that there are many freelancers reading this – whether you’re a designer, coder, writer or something else – who still work from spare bedrooms, disused basements or the kitchen table. Or maybe you’re one of the growing number of freelance creatives who opts to work in a nearby café?

There comes a time though, after you finally win a contract large enough, or form a company with other freelancers, or, like me, start freelancing for an established agency, that you can finally separate ‘work life’ and ‘home life’, and get a dedicated studio space. Here’s a collection of creative workspaces from around the world to inspire you…some are the headquarters of global enterprises, others the studios of small design collectives, but each and every one is a unique insight into work spaces of creative professionals, and the environments most conducive to creativity.

1) Nova Iskra in Belgrade, Serbia, is a polished-concrete playground, home to a design incubator, and the epicenter of the creative industries in the city.

2) Millers Junction in Dalston, London, has deskspace for over 30 illustrators and designers, and is home to a mix of freelancers and small collectives.

3) Kin Design, a research and design studio in Farringdon, London, have an eclectic but homely workspace that looks as though it’s filled with the remnants of projects past.

4) Crispy Point, in the center of St. Petersburg, Russia, have created a multi-purpose space suitable for both comfortable informal meetings and productive work.

5) The Bridge Street Collective is a café, gallery space and co-working studio for creative professionals at 111 Bridge Street, Nelson, New Zealand.

6) Assemble is an architecture, design and property development company based in an inner-city spot in Melbourne. I guess when you’re a team of architects, it’s pretty important that your own studio has the ‘wow’ factor!

7) A Friend of Mine, run by Suzy Tuxen, is a holistic design practice based in Melbourne. They aim to work intelligently and creatively, and have created a studio space to facilitate that.

8) The Operators in London create content across print and digital media for a range of global clients. With practical creative workspaces and lots of domestic comforts too, the studio is primed and ready for 24-hour hackathons.

9) Pixel Primate This is where I work from most of the time. With studios in London and Leicester, we offer creative print & web design for clients both big and small around the world. Here’s a couple of snaps of our Central London studio.

If your company is on the verge of moving off of the kitchen table and into a dedicated workspace, then I recommend checking out the Open Studio Club. This worldwide initative is gradually filling up the empty desks and spaces so often found in the offices and studios of city-centre creative agencies. If you’re inspired by collaborative environments, tempted by these really amazing studios, and are interested in taking your freelancing to the next level, then there are lots of desks currently being offered for free to the right person.

But… Responsive Websites?! Are they Alive?

We wish. Today, websites need to battle it out with a number of different devices and browsers, and deliver optimal viewing in each. A good description on what responsive websites are and what they represent is:

“Day by day, the number of devices, platforms, and browsers that need to work with your site grows. Responsive web design represents a fundamental shift in how we’ll build websites for the decade to come.” – Jeffrey Veen

Geeks and office workers aren’t the only technologically literate ones among us anymore. The user audience for websites has now expanded to… everyone … EVERYWHERE, using all sorts of devices. Your site needs to keep up. A responsive site adapts itself to enable optimal viewing on the device it’s being viewed on (for table tops to handhelds).

Here are some good examples, the make excellent use of color, text and space, and keep in mind that their size and dimensions will vary. To be effective, responsive sites need to be well planned and well implemented.

Yaronschoen.com

A personal fave! Simple interactive text. This site makes me crack up each time without fail, and as strange as this may sound I feel like a guest visiting. Due to its simple interface, the site feels the same no matter what device it is opened on. I first came across it on my nexus 7, and then later returned for a closer look on my laptop. It felt exactly the same! Mainly due to its simplicity. Even though it’s ‘all talk and no image’, the site manages to feel complete.

Danielvane.com

An illustrator, an artist, a doodler…. He, and his site are both free spirits. Keeping in mind that his work should (and will) speak foe him he has next to no text on entire site, and the page has been transformed into a tribute to his recent and best work. The collection displayed is varied, with everything from sketches to tattoos, to give the viewer a good idea regarding the creative bases he has covered.

Foodsense.is

Any good chef will tell you that you first enjoy a good dish with your eyes, then with your palate. Food that looks good, simply begs to be eaten! So as food sense could not hand out appetizers to everyone visiting their site, they did the next best thing, the made breathtaking vivid pictures the center of their site. Beautiful, colorful snapshots regarding fresh produce and well placed dishes are the only loud element on their page, the rest is subtle whites and greys. As the main element stays constant regardless of where it’s viewed, the site looks great on both tabletop and handheld devices.

For better visuals of responsive layouts, do check the following most popular websites:

Microsoft

Microsoft website went through a major redesign change and got a slick responsive layout makeover. Microsoft Metro UI design is to die for that is perfect for different platforms.

Contents Magazine

A site that is purely based on content must have a breezy layout on all devices so as to make readers addict. Contents Magazine is one of the great example of such sleek responsive layout. Beautifully presented content is their biggest strength that makes readers hooked up for hours.

BBC

Worlds top news outlet “BBC” has also redesign website making it to work on all devices, thus delivering latest happenings in more user friendly way. The design provides a blank canvas to display beautiful images even on your mobiles.

Zurb

A silicon valley based web team jumped in the creation of responsive layout for their own website and succeeded in creating a layout that is vibrant, full of colors and perfectly fits on all devices.

Happy Cog

Happy Cog balanced beauty and utility not only in the products that they offer but also in their design that is pleasing to your eyes. Different color schemes and attractive typography goes perfect on all devices.

These bad ass designers bring their “A” game time and time again and we hope that you will find this as a great design resource and be introduced to a few fellow peers along the way.

Andrés Ariza

Behance | Twitter | Flicker

You move onto the next step, and give your imagination a free-rein with distribution ideas. These methods will work best if you have an unlimited supply of plastic and paper business cards, a lot of spare time, and aren’t afraid of losing a couple of cards along the way—but where’s the fun otherwise?

By balloon

As plastic cards are slightly weightier than their paper counterparts, why not try attaching them to a battalion of balloons and setting them free to roam across your city? A balloon is not only guaranteed to cheer someone up, assuming it doesn’t pop too early, and you may also have the added benefit of reaching a wider audience than you would by shaking hands and swapping cards with someone in the office next to yours.

By car

No, don’t go out and perform some sort of drive-by with business cards (you could poke an eye out). Build a giant Skrillex track through your next event and attach a selection of cards to the cars (sound crazy yet?). Even better, get a couple of remote controlled motors, and (sort of) personally deliver them straight to your unfortunate target. You might want to install some kind of horn on the car as well, just in case that person doesn’t have a habit of staring at their feet.

By boat

The wonderful, waterproof beauty of plastic cards means you can have a lot of fun with this delivery method. Make a raft out of your cards, or attach them to tiny remote controlled boats, and float them over to prospective business links. If you’re going fishing, and know the lake is popular with your target audience, why not attach cards to your fishing rod, and cast them over to other people’s boats? Surely you’ll get in someone’s way!

Scatter in strange places

Make the innate nature of human curiosity work in your favor; leave business cards in weird places: anyone who stumbles across a card with a website on it is likely to have a quick search online. Pin your cards up on bulletin boards, slip them into library books, leave them in surrounding coffee shops, or lecture theaters—there is no where your cards can’t go.  If you’re feeling extra adventurous, try scattering them on picnic tables in the park – you never know who might be taking a walk (avoid anywhere that serves alcohol, unless you don’t mind receiving some odd messages) and make sure you aren’t littering in the process.

Play with your food

Don’t just do the standard ‘put chocolates in a bag with your business card’ thing—go all out. Make a cake and decorate it with copies of your cards, serve tiny hors d’oeuvres using the cards as plates, or you can just stick a whole load of chocolate into a bag with your business card. Either way, you can’t go wrong with free food.

Animal bribery

To do this right, you first need to invest in the cutest, hairiest, cuddliest dog, cat, or pony you can afford. Then, get a saddlebag and fill it with your cards. Walk your cute animal to a busy corporate or university area, depending on what kind of market you’re after, and swap one hug with your pet for a business card.

Make a yellow brick road

If you have a lot of time (and a lot of patience) why not build your own version of Dorothy’s yellow brick road? Set up a trail out of your business cards that will lead people straight to your shop, gallery, or office; people will either be intrigued enough to follow it all the way to you or the destructive part of human nature will come out to play, and the cards will slowly start being removed (again, we hope you aren’t littering here). Even if you don’t distribute many business cards, it’ll be a good publicity stunt, and people will want to find out who you are.

House of cards

This is a pretty similar concept to the yellow brick road, but plays more heavily on the don’t-touch-now-have-to-touch concept. Build several small houses around the haunts of your target audience, like cafes, libraries, parks (if it’s not windy!) or at networking events. If you’ve got the skills, why not try to build a giant one, despite you having to order some A1 sized cards to achieve this. Even if people don’t take a card, they’ll be mightily impressed that you can build a house of cards.

Personalized messages

Everyone loves finding little cheer-up notes. Scribble a couple of messages onto your business cards and deposit them in places where people might need a smile. Try the bus, the train station, the bank, maybe a popular smoking areas, or just hand them out to strangers if they look a bit glum (maybe even bring your new pet). Even if the person who finds your message doesn’t need your services, you can guarantee they’ll mention your random act of kindness to someone else.

Free books

Head to a couple of charity shops and source out your favorite books, slip a business card inside, and start handing them out to the public. Not only will you be helping out several charities, you’ll be encouraging more people to read good books, as well as advertising yourself—can’t go wrong!

What are some of your favorite ways to get noticed? How are business cards relevant for you to find new clients?

Analog Showreel 2012 from Analog on Vimeo.

Lenovo – Directors Cut from Analog on Vimeo.

Muffin Jack & Jeremy – Animation tests from Salesman Pete on Vimeo.

60 Minutes in a Skateboarder´s Life from Sebastian Linda on Vimeo.

Real Beauty Sketches from John X. Carey on Vimeo.

lapin from Alex Rimbault on Vimeo.

Everything I Can See From Here from The Line on Vimeo.

MAKING OF – Beyond the Sea from Chloe Nicolay on Vimeo.

A-Trak & Tommy Trash – Tuna Melt from Pomp&Clout on Vimeo.

Maide Arizona from Maide Golf on Vimeo.

Owning The Cone from Carter Wong Design on Vimeo.

Soma from Soma Water on Vimeo.

Bitcoin Explained from Duncan Elms on Vimeo.

MōVI BTS from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Who’s afraid of Mr. Greedy from GOBELINS pro on Vimeo.

STORYBOARD: The Fine Art of Coffee Portraiture from Tumblr on Vimeo.

Game Theory from Ithaca Audio on Vimeo.

Flying Eye Books from James D Wilson on Vimeo.

Objectified from manuel maure on Vimeo.

38-39°C from KANGMIN KIM on Vimeo.

Starbucks™ & YWFT Hannah from YouWorkForThem on Vimeo.

Kagemono: The Shadow Folk from Sabrina Cotugno on Vimeo.

Un petit oiseau ! from Gabrielle Locre on Vimeo.

Teehan+Lax Demo Reel from Teehan+Lax on Vimeo.

Une Fille Comme Les Autres from Jalouse blog on Vimeo.

Live Augmented Reality for National Geographic Channel / UPC from Appshaker Ltd on Vimeo.

Abraj: The two towers of Dubai from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

Audi R8 Spyder – ABT from Loniek on Vimeo.

The Diary of a Disappointed Book from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.

How to feed the world ? from Denis van Waerebeke on Vimeo.

How many did you see?

HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language is actually the backbone of this amazing internet world. This blog of mine; your favorite movie; Facebook profile and everything we see on our internet browser is possible due to this remarkable creation of Tim Berners-Lee. This mark-up language is used to display both text & multimedia content on the internet with the help of predefined tags.

To update the internet definition to the next level; Responsive web design is also integrated for the mobile internet world. Responsive design makes a website mobile friendly and let every user to visit the webpage precisely without any bondage of screen size.

So for anyone who wants to have an online presence it becomes must to convert the image design. Are you too looking to hire a team for your website? Wait! Wait; you might be conned.

Yes it is harsh but absolutely true that millions of clients are cheated by their service providers every year. I don’t think you will like to join the party of those victims! So before choosing the company for your project there are a few points which should; no-no! That must be taken care of before investing the hard-earned money as well as the crucial time.

Scroll down the mouse to find out those important points:

Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA): This is a point which is mostly ignored or skipped by both service providers and clients. NDA or Non Disclosure Agreement is a legal contract between the service provider and client to ensure the security of client’s confidential information. So if you don’t want to let your competitors explore your confidential data; always ask for the NDA.

Turnaround Time: According to the internet experts the launch time of a website is one of the most crucial factors that decide the growth of a business. For example if you are designing a website for soccer accessories then you will surely aim to target the popularity of soccer world cup. So before hiring the dedicated professionals; always ask for the precise turnaround time required to complete your project.

Communication support: will you mind if the service provider doesn’t answer or reply to your query during the development process? Of course you will. So rather than depending upon your luck; make sure that the organization has a good communication and technical support that can troubleshoot during and after the completion of project

Cross Browser Compatible: it can never be considered as a good decision if you are minimizing the target customers to a few internet browsers. An ideal website must be compatible with all major internet browsers like Chrome, IE, FireFox, Opera, Safari and many more.

Quality of the code: Coding is actually the most important part of website development. A well structured hand written code is always preferred by the search engine crawlers and hence assists the website to get a higher rank in SERP.

Transparent Working Algorithm: Don’t you want to know how your project is proceeding during the process? A transparent workflow provides the facility to the client to immediately make tweaks as per the need. You should always prefer the company that provides you the complete control over the working algorithm of your project.

Project Portfolio: portfolio is actually the report card of the performance during the past projects. You can never rely on words when going for an outsource company. So before taking any hard decision; do remember to have a deep look thorough the past projects completed by them.

Guarantee Offered: a renowned service provider ensures that the project will be successfully completed but still you should always be ready for the worst. Make sure that the company provides any feasibility for complete satisfaction or Money Back guarantee.

Total Employee Strength: the employee strength matters a lot. An organization with higher no. of work force means that your project can be distributed among different professional teams and that ensures quality results in prescribed time period. For further refinement; you can also look up for the experience of hired developers in the stated field.

Payment Plans: ‘Last but not the least’; I know it’s a boring phrase but actually fits here. Always look for the payment plans offered. You should always ask for the amount of upfront payment before saying a definite yes.

Conclusion

I hope you would have collected a bag full of information from this post. Like my work? I will appreciate your every valuable feedback and comment about my work. You are even welcome to share your own experience of website development in the comment section below.

Magnify Your Business – Boost your Revenue: Go Online

Wake Up

Zurb

Perspective Mockups

Reorganization

Quartz

Deep Blue Sea

Artisan Process (GIF)

Flat UI Colours

These bad ass designers bring their “A” game time and time again and we hope that you will find this as a great design resource and be introduced to a few fellow peers along the way.

Luis Fernando Ortega Dávila

Behance | Twitter | DeviantArt

Because of that and the added convenience, web design apps are quickly becoming not just popular but necessary. Here are five must-have apps for web designers.

5. Adobe Accessories: For Perfecting Your Design Techniques

Image via front-endmagazine.com

Adobe is the go-to for all kinds of software programs, especially for graphics and design. When you want to create a vibrant web page or theme, odds are that you will use at least one Adobe program. It’s actually hard to pick one cell phone app, so consider this section a two-fer, beginning with Adobe Edge Inspect. Adobe Edge Inspect is ideal for mobile designing, and is in fact specifically targeted toward developers, graphic artists, and web designers who want to create pages, themes, and blogs that look great on mobile devices. With so many good phone plans available these days, more people than ever are browsing the Internet on their phones, so it’s practical to create designs optimized for mobile devices. Problems occur, however, when you discover that there’s something buggy on the mobile site that doesn’t exist when you browse on your PC. Adobe Edge Inspect deals with that by:

• Pairing device
• Syncing browsing capabilities across computers, cell phones, and tablets
• Allowing designers to see the HTML, JavaScript, and CSS changes at once
• And letting designers inspect and fix problems from anywhere

Secondly, there’s Adobe Ideas, which takes everything great about Adobe’s desktop programs and applications and makes them mobile. Designers can easily edit photos and even sketch out ideas, which are fantastic if you get an idea while you’re walking down the street, window shopping, or sitting in the park. Whenever inspiration strikes, you can jot down your ideas, sketch in visual pictures, and then bring your ideas to life in any one of Adobe’s many photo editing apps.

4. LiveView: To Create Seamless Responsive Design

Image via speckyboy.com

Responsive web design is more than just the next big thing. To achieve success as a web designer and to create designs and pages that people enjoy, recommend, and view again and again, responsive design is a must. Your creations have to work over every possible platform. LiveView helps you do that, because it offers you the chance to design your web pages and blogs on a mobile device. Many designers make the mistake of designing mobile-friendly sites on a computer or laptop, meaning that the page usually doesn’t look the same on a phone or tablet. With this app, though, everything is seamless. Every pixel you create is flawless, right down to color palettes and themes. Designers who prefer a visual look can see their canvas throughout the creative process. If you prefer interactive design, all you need is a WiFi connection, which allows total interaction with the prototypes, software, and any demonstrations on your computer. This brings the concept to life more quickly, allowing for fast but smooth design.

3. What the Font: For Identifying Unknown Fonts

Image via ehabaref.com

Font is an important aspect in web design. Choose the wrong font, such as Arial over Helvetica, and hardcore font enthusiasts will immediately nay-say your work. Worse, if you ever decide to use Comic Sans, then someone might try to blow up your website. People hate Comic Sans. If you’ve ever come across a gorgeous but unfamiliar font, you’ll immediately love What the Font. All you have to do is take a screenshot and crop a photo of the font in question, and the app gives you all the answers. What the Font is also ideal for finding new fonts and choosing the perfect look when you’re designing a logo, a header, or picking out the perfect font choice for the body text.

2. View Web Source: To Crack the Code On Your Phone

Image via designermag.org

You know how you can simply right-click when you’re on a computer or laptop, and view the source information on a given website? Instantly, you’ll get to see the coding, from JavaScript to positioning. But designers have long bemoaned the absence of that ability on cell phones and tablets. With View Web Source, though, you’ll have  a great, highly mobile way to find the code for a look you really like. Plus, if you’re perhaps looking for a mistake or bug, you’ll easily discover it in the source info for your own code as well. Using this app, viewing the source coding is just part of the fun. After viewing, you can also copy and paste the source info, allowing you to find any coding you’re looking for or discover those pesky errors. The best part is that there are no limits; you can view information on any website you visit.

1. WordPress: For Getting Your Mobile Blog On

Image via androidmobiles.com

These days, when people talk about web pages, they often mean blogs. Blogging is quickly taking over the Internet, so that even websites based on fashion, coding, video games, or SEO generally have blogs attached to them. If you enjoy creating blog themes for WordPress, unquestionably one of the most popular blogging hosts, you need the WordPress apps. Never again will you have to go to your phone or tablet’s browser and hit up WordPress that way. Instead, using the app, you can make sure your chosen theme translates well to any smartphone. More practically, if you manage a given blog for any of your clients, you can moderate and answer comments, create brand new content, edit older blog posts, and upload, insert, and edit eye-catching images. This is ideal for on-the-go designers and those enjoying cell phones with no annual contract. The freedom is there for inspiring ideas while nowhere near a computer.

The best apps for mobile designing help you in a variety of fundamental ways. How do you feel about the growing trend of responsive web design? Have you embraced it, or are you still resisting?