great design starts at the proposal

I’m a firm believer of the saying “it’s the little things that make all the difference,” and also truly value what great design can bring to any business, especially my own. Let me explain: Recently I’ve been receiving great feedback from more than half of my last 8–10 clients discussing the first initial reaction to my proposals. Of the clients that praised the design of my proposal all of them accepted it. While this could be a coincidence, I like to think not. Here’s why:

Your proposal is the first thing that you present to your clients that was specifically customized/personalized for them — and lets face it, first impressions are extremely important no matter what industry you’re in. As a graphic designer it become more then just numbers and wordage on a white piece of PDF-paper. It sets the tone of excitement to work with you. It builds your clients confidence from the start and allows them to trust your expertise. Why? Because you value the little details that makes all the difference and you display the true value of great design in something that is often overlooked or under appreciated. You wouldn’t walk into an important job interview with a pair of loose jeans and stained t-shirt would you? Not to say that you couldn’t provide them with the same amount of knowledge and experience in those loose jeans and t-shirt, but your presentation shows that you care and that you are serious in what you do. It sets the tone for the other greatness that follows.

Open up InDesign, buy yourself some quality, appropriate typefaces and actually put thought and time into the design of your proposals and contracts. Represent what you stand for in good design and make everything quality.

With every proposal I send to my clients I also attach my Standard Terms of Agreement, which you can view here if you like. Remember, you don’t need to necessarily over design your proposal and contracts — good layout and typography can go a long way.

nyc fowd 09′ recap

I recently had the opportunity to attend The Future of Web Design (FOWD) event in New York City that featured talks and panel discussions of the latest and greatest web design technologies and the obvious—the future of web design.

The event put together by Carsonified hosted some of the industry leaders of web design including Jason Santa Maria, Dan Cederholm, Mike Kus, Elliot Jay Stocks, in addition to other talented and respect designers.

Below is a recap of the talks and discussion by various speakers at FOWD 2009:

progressive enrichment with css3 | dan cederholm

Even though older browsers do not support CSS3, Dan discussed how we can spruce up our websites for modern web browsers using enhanced CSS3 techniques. For those using older, non-supportive CSS3 browsers, they will not even know what they are missing — Do websites need to look exactly the same in every browser [click for answer]?

Topics covered:

• Enriching form elements
• RGBa
• Box shadows
• Image scale on hover
• Opacity for making highlights on rollover
• Rotation and fade effects

Links using CSS3 techniques:

• Sam Brown
• 24 ways

feedback informing design | daniel burka

Daniel Burka discussed how really listening to your users can add to better web design. Important areas discussed include:

• Feedback is much more complicated then “good” and “bad”
• Seek out feedback: Tell your clients you need access to feedback
• Feedback identifies problems
• Set goals of what you want more of

Six types of feedback:

1. Haters
2. Fans
3. Niche
4. Bug reporters
5. Experts
6. Implicit

3 dimensional thinking for web designers | mike kus

One of my personal favorite designers, Mike Kus of Carsonified and a very different approach to presentations — it was in 3-D, and yes,  glasses were provided. The inspiring presentation discussed creativity and looking beyond the web for inspiration.

• Be aware of what surrounds you; draw inspiration for everything and anything
• Carsonified’s website design was inspired by a signage on a morning run by Mike
  
• Restrict your toolkit: restrict your palette and rules
• Set rules
• Band web trends from your work
• Push limits – ask yourself can I push this further
  
• Be more creative and expressive

“Progress and Innovation in Design Require Exploration”

You can see all of Mike’s slides on his website [mikekus.com/3d/fowd/slides], but you will need 3-D glasses to get the full effect.

tips & tricks for designing for the modern web | elliot jay stocks

“Stop worrying” worrying about inconsistencies between web browsers. “Stop worrying if enhancements work in Internet Explorer and get on with it!”

• Enhancements only become features when the majority of users are experiencing them
• Add progressive enrichment to really boring sites… adds richness!
• Websites will never look consistent across all browsers, but it’s ok — embrace the differences.
• Usability / Accessibility / Functionality are all very important, but do not underestimate the importance of beauty.
• Beauty is the experience’s visual layer
  
• Visually pleasing layers equal more useful user experience

Who’s pushing things forward:

• Mike Kus
• Tim Van Damme
• 24Ways.org
• BornLiving.com
• Jason Santa Maria
• Squared Eye

Things to remember:

The nicer your site looks: the longer visitors look = the longer people stay on it = the more likely they will be intrigued with your product/services.

Validation is irrelevant in web design; new technologies won’t validate.

A few quotes:

“Validation does not equal conformity to web standards. We cannot ensure that all users will get the same experience. We can add further enhancements above the norm.”

” The flexibility the web offers is a blessing, not a curse! Ensure a good experience for most and a great one for others.”

“Ten percent of users today will be 100% of users tomorrow. It’s our duty to push forward-thinking development.”

“To make the most of the tools made available to us and our users. New technologies and practices will not become mainstream if we do no use them.”

Links and resources:

• http://j.mp/smashingCSS3
• http://j.mp/jontan
• jontangerine.com/log/tag/web-typography

For more pictures of the event visit Carsonified’s website.

Choosing a typeface timelapse

In the midst of designing a logo for one of my clients AQL Consulting, I decided to screen record my process and involvement of choosing the best typeface for the particular mark I created for AQL.

The original 45 minute video was sped up by 800% and condensed down to a two and a half minute time lapse. All editing was done in iMovie 09 (I’m no where near a professional video editor, but I did have fun while putting this together) with the song Shared Light by Abakus added as background/tempo music.

[source: http://vimeo.com/7646962]

Feel free to view the finalized AQL Consulting logo on my portfolio.