Presentation for startups accelerated by Wayra CEE. Presentation includes information about opportunities for designers in startup communities, aspect of design that I think is underestimated - emotional design (Aaron Walter can tell you more) and examples of successful businesses when design thinking helped overcome real world problems.
To start things off, here’s what you will not find in this blog post – no predictions, no talking about what ‘could’ work, no suggestions for the upcoming trends, etc. Basically, I am not going to talk about anything that seems kind of probable.
KPI’s, Data, Reporting and Communication. Stop Pandering to Clients, Start Ma...Annabel Hodges
Whether it's your startup 3-man band, a supplier, the day-to-day account manager or the HiPPOs of this industry - communication is always key. In the world of search marketing, we can often get so caught up with the nitty gritty, we forget just how to communicate on a wider level. Great work is undermined because nobody realises how great it really is, business is lost because we didn't realise until it was too late. Here we'll look at how to manage expectations, build on existing relationships, making sure you set the KPIs that make sense, how to report back without losing hours of your life and reporting back on the things that matter. Underutilised yet powerful tools.
Content Chaos: Building Brand Through Content ExperimentsRoss Simmonds
Ross Simmonds delivered this presentation at MozCon 2016 to share the value and ideal approach to leveraging content experimentation to drive results. From Reddit to Slideshare, these slides are meant to help understand how you can leverage the Build, Ship, Learn & Decide model to drive meaningful results in your content experiments.
User experience is more than making sure your website looks “pretty.” It’s about creating a positive and efficient experience for your visitors and providing them a pleasant path toward taking action on your website.
Digital Media Arts College | http://www.dmac.edu/ | Unlike the website of yesteryear, a great site is using less text and more imagery in their designs. While some may consider this type of style is only a trend. In addition to websites that are trendy in some way, the purpose of a site is to serve a business in some way. Whether the site is used to brand a business or create a space that gives proper information to something relevant, it has to be eye catching. In this week’s blog we uncover 5 tips that you will help you in creating a great website design whether you’ve been creating them for a day or a lifetime. Ready? Go!
For more information or how to get started at DMAC, visit our website at http://www.dmac.edu/
connect with us on social media at:
https://www.facebook.com/dmacedu
https://twitter.com/dmacedu
https://plus.google.com/+DMACDigitalMediaArtsCollegeBocaRaton/posts
What makes your website design a success? Often times, wowing the viewers that we unveil or submit a site design to is a metric of success. Although praise and acceptance from our clients and bosses is nothing to be taken lightly, we should all really be focusing on the usability of the design. Website design is the key element in directing users, and what they do, buy, or comment on any given site. Arguably, this can be best achieved with a flat design philosophy. What is flat design? To answer that effectively, we first have to explore what is not flat design.
Presentation for startups accelerated by Wayra CEE. Presentation includes information about opportunities for designers in startup communities, aspect of design that I think is underestimated - emotional design (Aaron Walter can tell you more) and examples of successful businesses when design thinking helped overcome real world problems.
To start things off, here’s what you will not find in this blog post – no predictions, no talking about what ‘could’ work, no suggestions for the upcoming trends, etc. Basically, I am not going to talk about anything that seems kind of probable.
KPI’s, Data, Reporting and Communication. Stop Pandering to Clients, Start Ma...Annabel Hodges
Whether it's your startup 3-man band, a supplier, the day-to-day account manager or the HiPPOs of this industry - communication is always key. In the world of search marketing, we can often get so caught up with the nitty gritty, we forget just how to communicate on a wider level. Great work is undermined because nobody realises how great it really is, business is lost because we didn't realise until it was too late. Here we'll look at how to manage expectations, build on existing relationships, making sure you set the KPIs that make sense, how to report back without losing hours of your life and reporting back on the things that matter. Underutilised yet powerful tools.
Content Chaos: Building Brand Through Content ExperimentsRoss Simmonds
Ross Simmonds delivered this presentation at MozCon 2016 to share the value and ideal approach to leveraging content experimentation to drive results. From Reddit to Slideshare, these slides are meant to help understand how you can leverage the Build, Ship, Learn & Decide model to drive meaningful results in your content experiments.
User experience is more than making sure your website looks “pretty.” It’s about creating a positive and efficient experience for your visitors and providing them a pleasant path toward taking action on your website.
Digital Media Arts College | http://www.dmac.edu/ | Unlike the website of yesteryear, a great site is using less text and more imagery in their designs. While some may consider this type of style is only a trend. In addition to websites that are trendy in some way, the purpose of a site is to serve a business in some way. Whether the site is used to brand a business or create a space that gives proper information to something relevant, it has to be eye catching. In this week’s blog we uncover 5 tips that you will help you in creating a great website design whether you’ve been creating them for a day or a lifetime. Ready? Go!
For more information or how to get started at DMAC, visit our website at http://www.dmac.edu/
connect with us on social media at:
https://www.facebook.com/dmacedu
https://twitter.com/dmacedu
https://plus.google.com/+DMACDigitalMediaArtsCollegeBocaRaton/posts
What makes your website design a success? Often times, wowing the viewers that we unveil or submit a site design to is a metric of success. Although praise and acceptance from our clients and bosses is nothing to be taken lightly, we should all really be focusing on the usability of the design. Website design is the key element in directing users, and what they do, buy, or comment on any given site. Arguably, this can be best achieved with a flat design philosophy. What is flat design? To answer that effectively, we first have to explore what is not flat design.
Presenting data-driven charts? Here are 5 secrets to delivering Presentation Charts and Graphs powerfully. Visit presentation-process.com for more such insights.
How to build and test your web business idea without programming with deeper dives into how to conduct customer interviews and thinking creatively to build early prototypes.
Slides presented during the workshop at Web 2.0 Expo 2011 in San Francisco.
How GeoJuice Helps Home Services Professionals Find More LeadsSurefire Local
GeoJuice is an easy to use mobile app that creates instant, engaging content and check-ins that get published with your location. It allows contractors to showcase their past projects and happy customers on their website, social media and major directories to generate more buzz around the business, ultimately attracting more customers.
Join our digital marketing expert, Jeff White, as he examines why GeoJuice is such a powerful tool for businesses in the home improvement and how it works.
To learn more about GeoJuice, visit www.surefiresocial.com/geojuice
The slides I presented recently to a select group of people at Endeca's Breakfast Briefing on e-commerce.
The presentation explains four areas I am focussing on for 2011 to provide the conditions for growth.
This often indicates a beginner who feels unsafe with type that is uncontained. Use your white space. You can let it be there.Never use the underline feature, it is a law. Only for hyper links on the web is this allowed. Underlining was a way for typewriters back in the day to Italicize text because they couldn’t set italics.
The technologies and people we are designing experiences for are constantly changing, in most cases they are changing at a rate that is difficult keep up with. When we think about how our teams are structured and the design processes we use in light of this challenge, a new design problem (or problem space) emerges, one that requires us to focus inward. How do we structure our teams and processes to be resilient? What would happen if we looked at our teams and design process as IA’s, Designers, Researchers? What strategies would we put in place to help them be successful? This talk will look at challenges we face leading, supporting, or simply being a part of design teams creating experiences for user groups with changing technological needs.
SOURCECON: BEST HACKS, LAUGHS, & INSIGHTS (Fall 2016)Susanna Frazier
This SlideShare overviews the best hacks, laughs, & insights from the Fall 2016 SourceCon in Anaheim.
Included:
- Highlights from all 3 tracks (Candidate Identification, Candidate Engagement, Marketing/Branding & Leadership/Strategy) - with links to session PPT presentations and some streamed videos.
- How to's
...Use the latest and greatest tools to find passive candidates and their contact details, and then engage them in a way to influence their making a change.
...Curate unstructured data points created by someone’s social footprint and analyze that data to creatively engage them in a way that separates you from the other recruiters reaching out.
...Choose when and which new Chrome Extension to use to find contact details, manipulate API’s, build customized bookmarklets, scrape the web, and hack Excel to organize and increase efficiency.
- Tools
...Dean Da Costa's top recommendations
...Susanna Conway's top 5 free recommendations
+ more!
Design begins before you design - WordPress track - PHXDW 2014John Gough
If you're doing it right, web design doesn't start with UI. You need to start with some hard questions about "Why", "Who", and "How."
It might be uncomfortable the first few times you do it, but if you stick to the process, you can prevent sad surprises that come when your clients/stakeholders don't get what they thought they were building.
5 Secrets to Killer Lead Generation Using SlideShareEugene Cheng
So you've tried all way and means to drive leads for your business. But B2B leads are just so damn hard especially with mediums like Facebook and Twitter. Enter SlideShare and it's unlimited potential. With these simple hacks you'll start generating leads in no time!
Presenting data-driven charts? Here are 5 secrets to delivering Presentation Charts and Graphs powerfully. Visit presentation-process.com for more such insights.
How to build and test your web business idea without programming with deeper dives into how to conduct customer interviews and thinking creatively to build early prototypes.
Slides presented during the workshop at Web 2.0 Expo 2011 in San Francisco.
How GeoJuice Helps Home Services Professionals Find More LeadsSurefire Local
GeoJuice is an easy to use mobile app that creates instant, engaging content and check-ins that get published with your location. It allows contractors to showcase their past projects and happy customers on their website, social media and major directories to generate more buzz around the business, ultimately attracting more customers.
Join our digital marketing expert, Jeff White, as he examines why GeoJuice is such a powerful tool for businesses in the home improvement and how it works.
To learn more about GeoJuice, visit www.surefiresocial.com/geojuice
The slides I presented recently to a select group of people at Endeca's Breakfast Briefing on e-commerce.
The presentation explains four areas I am focussing on for 2011 to provide the conditions for growth.
This often indicates a beginner who feels unsafe with type that is uncontained. Use your white space. You can let it be there.Never use the underline feature, it is a law. Only for hyper links on the web is this allowed. Underlining was a way for typewriters back in the day to Italicize text because they couldn’t set italics.
The technologies and people we are designing experiences for are constantly changing, in most cases they are changing at a rate that is difficult keep up with. When we think about how our teams are structured and the design processes we use in light of this challenge, a new design problem (or problem space) emerges, one that requires us to focus inward. How do we structure our teams and processes to be resilient? What would happen if we looked at our teams and design process as IA’s, Designers, Researchers? What strategies would we put in place to help them be successful? This talk will look at challenges we face leading, supporting, or simply being a part of design teams creating experiences for user groups with changing technological needs.
SOURCECON: BEST HACKS, LAUGHS, & INSIGHTS (Fall 2016)Susanna Frazier
This SlideShare overviews the best hacks, laughs, & insights from the Fall 2016 SourceCon in Anaheim.
Included:
- Highlights from all 3 tracks (Candidate Identification, Candidate Engagement, Marketing/Branding & Leadership/Strategy) - with links to session PPT presentations and some streamed videos.
- How to's
...Use the latest and greatest tools to find passive candidates and their contact details, and then engage them in a way to influence their making a change.
...Curate unstructured data points created by someone’s social footprint and analyze that data to creatively engage them in a way that separates you from the other recruiters reaching out.
...Choose when and which new Chrome Extension to use to find contact details, manipulate API’s, build customized bookmarklets, scrape the web, and hack Excel to organize and increase efficiency.
- Tools
...Dean Da Costa's top recommendations
...Susanna Conway's top 5 free recommendations
+ more!
Design begins before you design - WordPress track - PHXDW 2014John Gough
If you're doing it right, web design doesn't start with UI. You need to start with some hard questions about "Why", "Who", and "How."
It might be uncomfortable the first few times you do it, but if you stick to the process, you can prevent sad surprises that come when your clients/stakeholders don't get what they thought they were building.
5 Secrets to Killer Lead Generation Using SlideShareEugene Cheng
So you've tried all way and means to drive leads for your business. But B2B leads are just so damn hard especially with mediums like Facebook and Twitter. Enter SlideShare and it's unlimited potential. With these simple hacks you'll start generating leads in no time!
We looked at the data. Here’s a breakdown of some key statistics about the nation’s incoming presidents’ addresses, how long they spoke, how well, and more.
My books- Hacking Digital Learning Strategies http://hackingdls.com & Learning to Go https://gum.co/learn2go
Resources at http://shellyterrell.com/emoji
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere, promising self-driving cars, medical breakthroughs, and new ways of working. But how do you separate hype from reality? How can your company apply AI to solve real business problems?
Here’s what AI learnings your business should keep in mind for 2017.
Study: The Future of VR, AR and Self-Driving CarsLinkedIn
We asked LinkedIn members worldwide about their levels of interest in the latest wave of technology: whether they’re using wearables, and whether they intend to buy self-driving cars and VR headsets as they become available. We asked them too about their attitudes to technology and to the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the devices that they use. The answers were fascinating – and in many cases, surprising.
This SlideShare explores the full results of this study, including detailed market-by-market breakdowns of intention levels for each technology – and how attitudes change with age, location and seniority level. If you’re marketing a tech brand – or planning to use VR and wearables to reach a professional audience – then these are insights you won’t want to miss.
What 'Doodlers' and 'Coders' can teach Business about Experience DesignCandy Bernhardt
If you are a key leader in your business, you might wonder why creatives and developers can be so argumentative about seemingly straightforward feature requests for your site. Likewise, if you are one of the talented people doing the actual design and code work, it can often be frustrating when “suits” don’t understand the fundamentals of good user experience. It’s time for an intervention!
Web Design & Internet Marketing Basics - Brody Dorland, Something Creative, Inc.Brody Dorland
Originally created for an audience of hospital administrators and communications staff, this presentation covers the basics of website design, search engine optimization and internet marketing.
most important that having a website if you are running a small business, Investing in the quality web design can be one of the most important decisions
7 PROVEN DESIGN PATTERNS YOU CAN USE TO INCREASE CONVERSIONS CCD is
How is it different to User Centered Design?
User Centered Design is.
CCD Principle #1 ATTENTION RATIO
Homepage ` Landing page 57:1 1:1 Homepage vs. Landing Page
ATTENTION RATIO
AS ATTENTION RATIO GOES DOWN, CONVERSION RATES GO UP
Why use landing pages?
Email marketing To all of the above
QR code destinations
Contests
Surveys
“Every marketing campaign needs a dedicated landing page”!
CCD Principle #2 CONVERSION COUPLING
Conversion Coupling is comprised of one or more of: 1. Message Match 2. Design Match
Matching the copy of your ad to the headline of your landing page. Easy right?
Your homepage is brand central station
Quality Score goes up!
Matching the design of your display ad to ‘aspects’ of the design on your landing page. This is even easier. Design Match
A Facebook Ad
The destination landing page
That’s great design match
CCD Principle #3 CONTEXTUAL DESIGN
Contextual Design In Action What’s the experience on this page?
Contextual Design Research Question: What do you think of our templates?
The solution: Context of use Show me how I would use this
The result?
“High-converting landing pages create a conversation based on context”!
*I get it wrong too. Super generic headline
Disrespecting the click Losing interest as soon as you get the click. Abandoning your visitors. LAME.
Let’s try that again
The click source The Smart Marketers Landing Page Conversion Course
Co-branding
Great conversation momentum
Contextual Design Takeaways
Let’s talk CCD analytics for a second… Are we getting the right conversions?
Lots of A/B tests flat line. What then?
Sometimes TOP-OF- FUNNEL CONVERSION DATA ISN’T ENOUGH
Homepage long vs. short A/B test
Measure the whole funnel not just the top
Measure their retention not just first conversion
CCD Principle #4 CONGRUENT DESIGN
Content Alignment Does your page tell a story?
Incongruence Conversion killing copy Avoid mentioning negative suggestive words Spam
CCD Principle #5 CLARITY
White Space Designing for delight
Too much me Not enough you
Back to the analytics… Are my tests actually winning?
Can you always trust your test results?
“Improving” the clarity of a CTA Homepage call-to-action test >> CTA describes the desire-driven end goal
New CTA increased click-throughs to the pricing page by +80%.
CCD Principle #6 CREDIBILITY
Testimonials: Text vs. Video vs. Video: +25% increase in new trial starts A/B test case study
“Will visitors respond better to a short description of benefits vs. social proof where third party’s are describing those same benefits?”
Clarity vs. Credibility
IT ALL COMES BACK TO CONTEXT !
Pro Credibility Tip Ask people to trust you.
CCD Principle #7 CONVERSION CONTINUANCE
Please sir, I want some more
Webinar registration page
The confirmation page
The result 2,500 Webinar registrants 1,100 New blog subscribers (40%)
14. They may come, but will they stay? WEB SITES 75% ¾ of web users make judgments about the credibility of an organization based on THE DESIGN of its web site 79% most Web users scan rather than read 83% the vast majority of businesses use the internet to research and find potential vendors
15. They may come, but will they stay? 0.005 second people can make rough decisions about a Web page's visual appeal after being exposed to it for as little as 1/20 of a second [Jakob Nielsen]
31. Visual tools that take your business to the next level ™ Margery Stegman [email_address] 781.721.0172 schenkelstegman.com linkedin.com/in/margerystegman twitter.com/margery_s
Editor's Notes
Hi everyone. I’m Margery Stegman. We’re going to be talking about how good design will help you get out there in a credible way without breaking the bank. A little about me partner at SSCD in biz since 1988 We help companies create visual tools that take their business to the next level we create online and offline media including : web sites and landing pages, identity, marketing and sales materials, presentations, and trade show booth graphics We work in the B2B space and our clients include: biotech and technology companies, nonprofit organizations, education, and service businesses such as PR and IR firms: Accion International, Satcon Technology Corporation, Neurologix, Harvard Clinical Research Institute I’d really like this to be a conversation, so I’d really like to know who’s here. Could you tell me what you do. also, how have you used design in your business? what have you paid for, what have you done yourself. what do you want to learn more about? I’m planning to stop after each section to take questions.
I like this quote because it captures the essence of what we do and what we, as designers, have to keep in mind when we do work for our clients.
We’ve all seen web sites and marketing materials cluttered up with all kinds of things people think enhance their message, when it’s really just the opposite taking place. Design should engage the audience you’re trying to reach and inform them in a memorable way.
What is the value of good design to you? Is it important to your business? How? Here’s what I’m hoping to cover…
It’s a little hard to say what one person should pay for and another do themselves I hope this overview will help you decide what’s right for you.
Here are just some of the ways design can help meet business goals? enhance and elevate perception (internally and externally) generate more web site traffic and consequently more leads communicate complex information understandably inform prospects and customers clearly and consistently attract unanticipated audiences who might not have otherwise given your offering a moment’s notice Can anyone suggest other examples?
Perhaps I’m stating the obvious, but to have the greatest impact every touch point with your public needs to be consistent. So what are the basic tools you need to get started with?
All of these things help establish your brand. I highly recommend you pay for a logo, a business card and your web site. If you have to skimp at first, you may be able to do the others yourself. And a bit later I’ll be giving you some design pointers that will help you do that.
Of course, once you’re on your way you’ll need more ways to communicate. Here’s a list of things you can add as you grow.
I want to run through some examples of basic tools, and give you some facts about what we think about when we design them. Also, if anyone has questions about their existing site we can go online and look it.
Logos 3 tenants of a good logo are: meaning . Your logo will convey what your company does. It will be quickly identifiable. simplicity . It will be rendered as the essence of an idea with as few elements as possible. reproduction . The artwork must be well crafted and produced to work in high and low resolution and in a variety of media. It should work well in b+w as well as color. There are two types of logos. Typographic, what we call a logotype. The visual is the company or product name, or initials. It might stand alone or be embellished with graphic elements to add meaning or emphasis. Symbolic/Pictorial is a graphic representation of an idea. could be illustrative [such as a veterinarian using an illustration of a dog and cat.] an icon. Here are a couple examples…
Logotype Duralflow The company does wastewater recycling for industrial applications. They manufacture a membrane, depicted in the O, that removes metals and other toxins so that the water can be reclaimed and reused. You can see how the waves change as they exit the W to suggest the cleaned water.
Symbolic Itero A specialty pharmaceuticals company that develops biosimilar molecules for therapeutics. The shaded circles suggest variation in the molecules. The globe represents their global manufacturing partner. I’m going to pause here to see if anyone has questions.
We all know that web sites are an absolute necessity. Let’s look at a few facts. ¾ of web users make judgments about the credibility of an organization based on THE DESIGN of its web site the vast majority of businesses use the internet to research and find potential vendors . and most Web users scan rather than read [Jakob Nielsen] Users are impatient. They forage for information. They’re fidgety. Let me read you a quote: "If I have to sit here and read the whole article, then I'm not productive.” Here’s another statement, “ If it doesn't come right out at me, I'm going to give up on it.” The more you say, the more people tune out your message. Excessive word count and worthless details are making it harder for people to extract useful information. Studies find that removing half of a website's words will double the amount of information that users actually get . [Jakob Nielsen study] Are you all familiar with the process for developing a web site? user research, architecture and navigation, design, prototyping, image acquisition, development, SEO We have an example in the resources section of our web site.
This one is hard for me to wrap my head around. A research team found that people can make rough decisions about a Web page's visual appeal after being exposed to it for as little as 1/20 of a second Our brain today is the same as the human brain 10,000 years ago . Hence, human beings are remarkably good at hunting the woolly mammoth . When it comes to abstract thinking, humans have extremely limited brainpower. Our short-term memory holds only about 7 chunks of information, and these fade from your brain in about 20 seconds . So when we’re bombarded with multiple abstract or unusual pieces of data in rapid succession we forget and lose interest. The key, then is to design for cavemen and their literal-minded and limited-capacity brains. Keeping these facts in mind, let’s look at a few sites.
Can you tell what this company does and what their primary benefit is within a few seconds? PAUSE (they’re an IT company) What about the navigation? How easy is it to figure out where to go? In this second example you know they are an IT company, and you know their primary audience and the benefit they offer. The navigation is easy to use. The inside pages have a distinct information hierarchy and secondary navigation that’s easily accessible. It makes use of a simple diagram to illustrate the page topic, “Infrastructure management”. PAUSE for questions
We see them everywhere. And technology like YouTube and Flickr have enabled anyone with a digital camera to put them everywhere. Sometimes its hard to remember what a good image is. all imagery should be high-quality: high-resolution, well-lit photography, professional illustration (not clip art), appropriate to the subject: not eye candy or a distraction To illustrate what I’m talking about, let’s use the concept of partnership and an image of a handshake to communicate that idea.
Please, do not use this. There is nothing worse, than a poorly shot or composed photo or other cheesy image. And not this either. The color and lighting are an improvement over the previous one, but it’s predictable and static. The halo around their hands makes me wonder if they’ve been blessed by a divine being. What should we look for instead?
1) a better choice for showing a handshake close-up. It’s well-lit and dynamic. Notice that the hands aren’t quite in contact yet. 2) here’s a different perspective. 3) and another. I really like the composition, though it could have more color from my point of view. 4) this one is a little edgier. So if you use images, spend time choosing the best you can find. Does everyone know where to get stock photos and illustrations? getty images istock photo media bakery PAUSE FOR QUESTIONS
We’ve all been to our share of boring presentations . Though I’m sure not today. Sooner or later you’ll need to do them whether to raise money or demonstrate your products or capabilities. Here’s a few things to keep in mind: Have a big idea and story to tell. Stick to the rule of 3 because the human mind can only absorb three big chunks of information in the limited amount of time you’ll have. Ideas are best remembered if they are picture-superior. We remember 65% of the images we see, and only 10% written or verbal. The master of presentations: Steve Jobs I have a before and after to show you.
simplify your visuals Bullet points are the least effective way to deliver information: The default template in PowerPoint is a document. This is not a visual aid. Did you know that your audience can read the slide more quickly than you can explain it? This before slide is cluttered, makes poor use of color and is hard to follow The new version uses simple graphics to depict how the product works. The presenter built each element as he explained the process. We could spend a lot of time on this topic, which we don’t have today, but I can take a couple of questions.
Once you’ve established a look and feel to go with your messaging, build on it . Consistency is key. and it will save money because each subsequent tool you add will be an extension of what exists. That means less design time and the potential to reuse assets like photographs.
This example shows a logo, print pieces, a trade show booth and the web site. They were done over time and each was built on the ones before it. Does anyone have questions about the examples I’ve shown?
Investing in design is an investment in your business. Hopefully, you’re at the point where you need a designer’s help. I’m going to touch on a few key points that will help you have a great working relationship with your designer.
As a designer and a business person, I want your goals to be met. To do that, I need to understand your business, who you are, what your values are, who you’re trying to reach, why what you offer is better than your competition. We take that information and write a creative brief. It’s the foundation for where we’re headed over the next weeks and months. A strategic framework that guides both of us. Another key element is a detailed project schedule. It keeps everyone on track. Getting off schedule means missed deadlines and potentially additional cost.
Be as detailed as possible when defining what you want. It’s the difference between: I need a web site vs we are launching a new company in the social media space that will enable entrepreneurs to network online If you haven’t done a project like it before , tell the designer upfront that you need help. I’m always willing to help educate people about what’s involved and give them a general idea of numbers. I know most designers will do the same thing. Keep in mind that what you want and what you need may have very different costs associated with them.
As a project moves along, it’s sometimes easy to forget original goals and strategies. Sure, there may be a shift in thinking, but unnecessary diversions add time and money. (Avant story) If you have a creative brief, use it to reflect back. It will help you…and me…stay focused. Let’s talk a little about feedback We also need your input on the concepts we present, the images we suggest, and the emphasis we put on various elements. We have a common goal. Here are some suggested ways to tell us what we need to change: this helps : people need to read this first rather than : move this here, change this font I’ll know what you need : the photo should show a research technician loading an array this will worry me : i don’t like that photo, i’ll send you one my brother took with his new digital camera Take advantage of your designer’s experience and let them do their job.
Investing in design is an investment in your business With any project there are a variety of components that will contribute to the cost. For example, launching a web site includes all kinds of individual tasks that will each need budget allocations. There are costs associated with the user research, content, architecture, design, prototyping, image acquisition, development, SEO, etc. design takes time. here are some examples: simple logotype: 20 to 30 hrs 15 – 25 pg web site: 65 to 100 hrs for design, 50 to 70 hrs for development presentation with 30 slides: 60 to 90 hrs If you have numbers in mind then share that information. Often, your budget is less than what would be ideal. A reputable design firm is not in business to take advantage of you. We want to do the best possible job and will work with you to figure out cost effective ways to make your project successful. You get what you pay for: more experience, better process, higher quality work, larger network of suppliers, better results hourly rates can range from $50/hr to more than $200. If you just don’t have any funds…
If you do it yourself use professional design software not Word or PPT Type Word and PPT: The software can not read all the information embedded in the font, so it won’t look as good as in design software Control It’s very difficult to control the layout in these programs Not for offset printing They aren’t postscript compatible so a print piece is likely to have jaggy type QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS?
Thank you so much for coming today. I hope the information I’ve presented has been useful. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions we didn’t get to today or if I can be of help you create visual tools to take your business to the next level. How many of you make presentations and use PowerPoint or other software? I have some examples of dos and don’ts for anyone who’s interested in how to be more engaging when they present.