Mule designs

There are many different kinds of designers in the digital industry, from product designers to user experience designers. Each plays an important role in developing a brand’s identity and helping a business to grow. Today, let’s take a look at how a creative designer works. A successful design often takes time. There a many steps and considerations that contribute to an award-winning piece, all of which need to be balanced with client budgets and timescales. Key skills: What’s in a creative designer’s toolbox? Any designer worth their salt will have a list of bookmarks as long as their arm, a library of colour palettes, font pairings, and other useful resources – but we will come to that exciting stuff shortly. Not only does a creative designer need to be master of the mouse as well as a pixel perfectionist, but they also must have the ability to problem solve, communicate, push boundaries, challenge, and listen – to name just a few key skills. … [Read more...] about Design – It’s more than just ‘colouring in’!

My partner Joel Harvey is fond of saying, “My favorite part of a design is the money.” He’s been part of many a web design project. His perspective comes in response to the number of times he’s heard things like: “I want the design to pop!” “I want my site’s design to be groundbreaking like nothing else out there!” “Let’s turn it up a notch on the design.” “I want the site’s design to reflect the high value of our product.” In and of themselves, none of the above statements are unworthy pursuits. But if your goal is to increase conversion and fill your coffers to the brim, you will fall woefully short if you believe that web design alone can do the heavy lifting of convincing your visitors to take action. A while back, a client sent us a couple of different mocks of some new designs they were entertaining. They ask which one I liked. The first thing I said is I like the one that makes you the … [Read more...] about Web Design for Dollars

I am seeing reports of Google testing a new look for their image search results. This one looks more white and tiled format then the other. A Google Web Search Help thread that started back on May 29th was the first to spot this and now more and more are seeing this new layout. You can see the results are more white but also tiled in more of a format that overlaps images a bit. In addition, the title and URL of the image is also shown by default, without having to click on the image.Here is the new test - you can click on the image to enlarge:Here is the current design - you can click to enlarge:Search Engine Journal also spotted a person on Twitter noticing this design recently: Which do you like better?Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help. … [Read more...] about Google Image Search Tests White Tiled Design & Layout

This post was sponsored by Pixel Road Designs. Over the years, our creative team at Pixel Road Designs has worked on hundreds of infographic projects for clients in a variety of different industries. One thing we have noticed across the board is, when beginning an infographic project, clients are often hyper-focused on the design elements like fonts, layouts, graphics/icons, etc. This is a mistake. Although these are very important elements of a successful infographic, focusing too much on the visual components can cause other crucial elements to fall by the wayside. The overall design may be visually appealing and enticing, but expert marketers and designers know that a successful infographic is much more than just a pretty exterior. The real power of an infographic lies in the flow of the content, the visual story, and, most importantly, the call-to-action. If you’re looking to create an infographic that actually performs for your business and accomplishes your marketing … [Read more...] about Why a Successful Infographic is Much More Than Just Design

Over at ClickZ we’ve published a very handy mobile design article by digital consultant and ClickZ writer Andy Favell, entitled six strategy questions to address before you design and build a mobile-friendly site (or app). We thought it was so terribly handy, that we’re going to excerpt it here for you now on SEW. For the full guide, click on the link above. A mobile-friendly site (or app) is not an end; it is a means to that end. To avoid failure, disappointment and embarrassment, companies must set clear business objectives, do the due diligence on who, what, when, where, why and how. This is the first part in a ClickZ series looking at the DNA of a successful mobile-friendly website. Smartphones outsell PCs four to one (IDC, March 2015), but it has taken many years for mobile/smartphone web use to rival desktop use. One barrier to growth of mobile web is the fact that bloated PC websites do not work well on a mobile device. The search engines want to change this. Both … [Read more...] about Strategy advice for designing and building a mobile-friendly site