http://184.154.109.90/~pumpkin/index.php en jeremy_girard@yahoo.com Copyright 2011 2011-12-01T16:03:53+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/a-web-designers-christmas-list http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/a-web-designers-christmas-list#When:16:03:53Z A Web Designer's Christmas List My kids’ Christmas lists, charmingly written in their shaky yet careful handwriting, read as you would expect. My son’s list is made up of Transformers robots, Star Wars ships, and Spiderman action figures. My daughter asks for American Girl dolls, pretty necklaces, and a new stroller for her baby dolls. Looking at those lists, before we folded them up and mailed them out to Santa, I was suddenly inspired to make a “wish list” of my own. Finding the Right Projects I’ve written previously about the importance of finding client relationships that are a match for both you and for the client. One important aspect of choosing clients that I did not mention in that article is seeking projects that you have some kind of interest in that goes beyond simply doing a great job for a client and being paid fairly for that work. Is it too much to ask to find projects that are a good fit for our company and our client, but are ones that we are also personally passionate about? I don’t think that it is. Identify Your Wish List It’s true not every project we work on will fall into the “passionate” category, some projects will simply be jobs that will help us keep the lights on. Still, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to add some projects to our schedule that we have a passion for. You want to get work that you care deeply about? The first step to landing these projects is identifying them. It’s time to make your own wish list of the types of projects you want to work on. Here’s how my list looks: An Exciting Experience As a parent of two young children, I spend quite a bit of time looking into amusement parks when I plan family vacations. This means, of course, that I spend quite a bit of time on the websites for amusement parks thinking, “wow, this would be a fun site to redesign!” After going to the park and having a wonderful day, my enthusiasm for working on a website for an amusement park is even greater. There is so much wonderful imagery and history to work with for these projects, and the chance to design something where “fun” is a critical element is always a joy. While I would gladly consider any theme park project, my dream gig for this category would be Santa’s Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire. Not only does it fall into this amusement park category, but due to the Christmas theme of the park, it also falls into the next group of wish list projects… A Touch of the Holidays My favorite blog articles to design for this site are my annual Christmas themed writings (along with the Halloween articles). Yeah, I am a sucker for the spookiest and jolliest of holidays. I love the imagery and traditions of Christmas, from to the twinkling lights, to the presents, to the personage of Santa Claus. The overall sense of joy and good cheer that goes along with the holiday makes it one of my favorite themes to design with and I would love to use that look-and-feel in a full blown web project (as opposed to just a lone article). Some sample projects that could fall into this category would be the design of a Christmas themed retail site or a festive, holiday attraction. Something Magical Another topic I am a sucker for is magic. True, I am fond of the fantasy-style magic of Harry Potter and such, but in this instance I am talking more about stage magic. Perhaps the term “illusionists” may be more appropriate. The design of vintage magic posters, as well as the visual look of Victorian-era stage magicians, makes for a perfect palette upon which to design - and the theatrical sense of spectacle that goes along with this topic is something I would love to build on and explore visually. Projects I would love to work on in this category would include a site for a magic shop or a practicing magician (as long as it is not the “kid party” variety – I’m thinking more of the Las Vegas style, modern age Houdini feel). The Circus Comes to Town I’ve never been one to get overly excited to actually attend a circus, but the visuals associated with circus life are so rich that I have always wanted to design a circus-themed project. Something about the smells of caramel apples and popcorn, mixed with the sounds of laughter and a barker calling us to “step right up” that gets me excited for this category. The look-and-feel that would be appropriate for a circus project is similar, in some ways, to that which would be used for the “magic” category I covered previously. The same sense of presentation and spectacle would work for both and I could imagine designing a project for a traveling circus or, perhaps, a site for a large organization like the Cirque du Soleil, which would be my dream job for this category. Welcome to Rhode Island As a life-long Rhode Islander, I get geeked out for any project that has a strong Rhode Island tie to it. From the unique cuisine of the Ocean State (like Del's Lemonade), to some of the landmarks of Rhode Island (such as the Newport Mansions), to any of the many businesses or organizations that have become synonymous with the state (Hasbro toy company) these are all projects that I get jazzed for with fanboy-like enthusiasm. My absolute dream job above all dream jobs would be a website for the Rhode Island amusement park, Rocky Point. Sure, the park has been closed since 1995, the old rides sold off long ago and the buildings torn down, but there is a part of me that hopes that one day the park will re-open and all the memories of my childhood summers spent at the park will come flooding back though a design gig. Yeah, that really would be my dream, Rhode Island-themed website project. That Other Yearly List As the year winds down and a new one approaches, we turn from Christmas wish lists to a list of a different sort – the annual list of New Year’s resolutions. My resolution this year is a simple one – I will do at least one project this year that appears on my wish list. If you are reading this article, I challenge you to make a pair of lists yourself. Start with your own “web designer wish list” and define the projects or type of projects you really want to work on. Once you have that list, commit to finding a way to do at least one of them in 2012. As I said earlier in this article, the first step to working on projects that you are passionate about is defining those projects. The second step is going out and getting that work! Make your lists and get that work for yourself in 2012! - oh, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 2011-12-01T16:03:53+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/in-disguise http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/in-disguise#When:01:13:52Z In Disguise I love Halloween. The chance to put on a mask and a costume and be someone else for a night has always greatly appealed to me. Even as a kid, while the candy and treats were certainly welcome and enjoyed, it was the costume that always was my favorite part of the holiday. Pretending to be someone, or something, else is not only for Halloween, however. I routinely get asked by clients if I can make them “look bigger” than they really are (or disguise them in some other way). While I understand why they are asking for this, I wonder if it is really in their best interest to put on that mask? The Argument Clients who want to “look bigger” often explain that they are requesting this because they want to focus on where they are going rather than where they currently are. They want their site to reflect their expected growth. They also want to appeal to larger clients who may be looking for “bigger” companies to partner with. By presenting themselves as a larger organization, perhaps they can get their foot in the door and convince someone to use their services without being dismissed as being “too small” right away. I hear the argument and understand the reasoning behind, I just don’t agree with it. The Truth Comes Out Let’s say that you get that meeting you were hoping to get. What’s next? At some point, the truth about your size, services, experience, etc. will come to light and if you really stretched the truth, will that company still even consider hiring you? Even if the company does decide to go ahead and engage yours, will they question their decision at the first sniff of trouble? The minute there is a bump in the road, will they automatically fall back to the belief that you were “too small” to begin with? That sounds like a lot of unnecessary pressure to work under, all because you put on that mask to get a job, or begin a client relationship, that probably wasn’t a fit to begin with. Being Real All companies, big or small, have their strengths and weaknesses. Presenting yourself for what you are, rather than what you hope to be, does not mean putting those weaknesses right on your homepage in a 50pt font. If your company has struggled with project management in the past, and you are working on those issues now, you don’t need to declare that as your “welcome to our website” opening message. That isn’t being real, that’s being honest to the point of stupidity. Being real is saying that you have a “small and focused group with access to additional resources as needed” instead of boasting that you possess a “global workforce of over 300 employees”, justifying this claim because you use a freelance agency that can call upon that many resources. If the company you are pitching really does need to work with an organization that has a true global workforce, they will be sorely disappointed when they realize what is really behind the mask you decided to put on. Help Your Clients Be Real Next time a client asks you to make them “look bigger” than they are, or suggests a similar type of mask be used, ask them why this is important to them. Listen to their reasoning and try to convince them to take a “real” approach. If the argument that they are thinking to the future and designing for their growth is made, explain that one of the advantages of the Web is its incredible flexibility. As your company grows and its needs change, your website’s messaging or design can also be changed, oftentimes very easily, to support those needs. There is no need to put a mask on today, simply because you think it may one day be your true face. Another aspect that should be considered is that, by representing yourself as something other than what you are to appeal to one kind of clientele, you may unwittingly alienate others potential clients that are looking for a company exactly like yours. Again returning to the “company size” example - if you present yourself as a huge company when you are really a small one, you may or may not attract the attention of clients looking to work with a huge company, but you will most certainly push away those hoping to find a small, nimble organization to hire. There are companies out there looking to work with you. Be mindful not to lose out on that business simply because you are trying to appeal to companies not looking to work with you. No Time for Tricks It may be called “tricks or treats”, but we all know that no one wants a “trick.” Whether we are talking about little ghouls knocking on our front door or business clients looking to engage our company and their services, everyone wants a “treat” and one way to help make sure that happens is to try working with your clients on being real and save the disguises for October 31st. 2011-09-30T01:13:52+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/a-match-made-in-tattooine http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/a-match-made-in-tattooine#When:13:43:59Z A Match Made in Tattooine I was recently looking at the articles I have written for this blog so far and the variety of topics I have covered and it amazed me that I had yet to write an article that involved Star Wars in some way. I'm a huge Star Wars geek and have been since I was a little kid, so the fact that I had not viewed the world of web design through the lens of George Lucas' galaxy far far away alarmed me. This was an injustice that needed to be remedied. Episode II I remember going to see Episode II: Attack of the Clones at midnight on opening night. A few friends and I purchased our tickets well in advance and arrived at the theatre a few hours before showtime to wait with the other excited Star Wars fans. Despite the travesty that was Episode I, the fans in line were pumped for this next installment in the trilogy “prequels”. The energy level was high. The force was strong with this group. There is one more small detail that I should mention to fully paint the picture of this evening. I went to the theatre that night fully dressed as a Tusken Raider. Oh, and my wife was with me too. She was dressed as a Jawa. The Perfect Match Despite the fact that you may never look at me the same way again now that you know this story and have seen these pictures (yes, the pictures on this page are actually my wife and I from that evening), there is an applicable lesson to be found in this Tattooineian tale. Finding a wonderful woman who would even admit that she knew me, never mind stay in a relationship with me, after learning that I intended to go to a movie dressed as a sandperson is impressive. Finding one that would put on a dusty robe, some bandoliers and a pair of glowing eyes and actually accompany me to the theatre is nothing short of amazing. And that is where the lesson lies. There is no substitute for finding the perfect match. Finding a Fit As web designers, whether we are working as part of an agency or in a freelance setting, we all have to work with clients, but we do not have to work with ALL clients. We can, and often must, say “no” to certain jobs. Some projects are just not a fit. Sometimes budgets are the deciding factor in whether a project is right or not. Other times it's due to technical reasons such as the platform the client wishes to use, the existing code they must incorporate, or certain features they need to have. There are plenty of reasons why a job may not be right, but one element we, as web professionals, often fail to consider when deciding whether or not to take a job is if we actually want to be in a relationship with that client in the first place. Forcing a Fit Make no mistake about it, when you take on a client, you are committing to a relationship together. Some of the worst projects I have worked on in my career were totally because the relationship was not right for me or for the client. There have been clients that I can easily recall (but which shall remain nameless) where I should never have taken the job and part of me knew that going into the project. In most of these cases, the job itself was high profile and would look good in a portfolio or the budget was substantial and, from a financial standpoint, the work was something I simply could not turn down. Regardless of the reason, prestige or profit, there have been times where I knew the client was not a fit for me or that I was not a fit for that client, but I decided to start the relationship anyway. And in almost every case, I ended up regretting it. Interviewing Clients When a client calls you in to discuss a project, they are assessing you and your company. They are looking at more than just the price on the estimate you give for the work. They are making sure they trust you and your team with that project. They are interviewing you. At the same time, you should be interviewing that potential client. You should be looking to see if the work they need done is something you can do for them and if they have the budget set aside to pay for that work, but you should also be assessing whether or not you and that client are a fit for each other. Sometimes you need to say “no” to a job and a client not because they can't afford to work with you, but because, on a personal level, you can't afford to work with them. Reality Check It would be great to proclaim that we will never begin a client relationship that we know is not a perfect fit, but that is not realistic. We live in the real world where bills need to be paid and where we must sometimes take projects we are not thrilled about. That is reality, but by ensuring that we are at least considering the relationship in our decision making process, we are doing what we can to minimize the bad relationships and aim for the great ones. Speaking of great relationships... Great Clients Thankfully, in addition to those aforementioned bad client relationships/projects, I can also remember many wonderful engagements as well. Many of those wonderful projects had modest budgets and less pizzazz than some of those big jobs and, on paper at least, didn't seem like the perfect fit. Yet, when i think back to my favorite projects, I come back to those jobs again and again. I remember those projects fondly not because they made me a ton of money or brought me recognition, but because the client relationship was a great one. Great clients make for great relationships and great relationships make for great projects, it is as simple as that. Shout Outs Thanks to all the great clients I have had the privileged to work with. Thank you for trusting me with your projects and for deciding to enter into a relationship with me. You rock. Thanks also to my wife. There is no else I'd want to dress up like a denizen of the deserts of Tattooine with. You rock too, in a super-geeky way that is the perfect match for me. Utinni! 2011-06-04T13:43:59+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/the-wisdom-of-mom http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/the-wisdom-of-mom#When:01:32:20Z The Wisdom of Mom I can remember being a kid and having my Mom impart life lessons upon my sister and me. I like to refer to these little motto-like tidbits of wisdom as “momisms"” and I now find myself and my wife sharing similar, or in some cases the same, pieces of advice with our own kids. What is a momism? Watch any family-based sitcom and you will find momisms at the center of the plot of many episodes. The Cleavers, the Brady Bunch, the Cosby kids, and more were all raised in 30-minute chunks filled with momisms. With Mother's Day approaching, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the momisms I remember the most from my childhood to see how they may apply to the world of website design. Treat others like you want to be treated I am routinely asked to add items to websites that are annoying, if not downright destructive, to the user experience. Sound loops, over-the-top animation, ridiculously long submission forms or those “helpful” talking people are all examples of bad ideas I am commonly asked about. When a client asks me to include one of these items, I simply ask them if they enjoy using websites that have similar features. The answer is always a resounding “no”, which pretty makes my argument for me. If something annoys you on a site, it likely annoys others too. Treat others like you wanted to be treated as you decide what to add, and what not to add, to a website. If you make that face, it will freeze that way I was recently reviewing a client's website as we prepared to begin a redesign project. During this review, I noticed that one of their pages (the “our services” page) was listed as “under development” and that I should “check back soon.” Out of curiosity, I asked how long the page had been that way. The answer was 6 years. Really. As clients rush to get a new site launched, they often find themselves overwhelmed with the task of content creation. This is why you find newly redesigned sites that launch with old and outdated content taken from the previous version of the site. Or you see the aforementioned “under development” message instead. As we strive to complete projects and get sites launched, it is tempting to allow clients to use old or placeholder content, but that is a bad idea. Promises to “update it soon” are forgotten as other priorities rise up, meaning that the temporary content quickly becomes permanent content - the site “freezes” that way. A dangerous practice, as you'll see below. You are what you eat I remember this momism being said every time I complained about eating vegetables with my dinner. To grow big and strong, I needed to eat right because what I put in my body is what would determine my health and wellbeing. When it comes to websites, the content we populate the site with determine its health and success. Think about the websites you visit often. Why do you go there? It's for the content. If a site has quality content, it has the best chance for success. Conversely, if you allow your clients to launch a site with poor content or no content, their website will be unhealthy and their chances for success will not be very good. Practice makes perfect I've written in the past about the value of experimentation when it comes to web design and this momism speaks to this concept. This entire website is a testament to experimentation - from using ExpressionEngine as the CMS for the site, to the concept of art directed articles, to many of the CSS tricks and techniques I use to execute those articles. This site is where I “practice” and the lessons I learn here allow me to be become better at the work I do. Having a playground to test out new ideas and methods is critical in this industry and I have a momism to thank for teaching me that lesson. Thanks Mom Whether you are talking about lessons in life or lessons in website design, the wisdom of Mom is timeless. You want to learn how to build better websites? Just listen to your mother, she has all the advice you will need. Happy Mothers Day to moms everywhere. 2011-05-04T01:32:20+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/the-value-of-constraints http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/the-value-of-constraints#When:19:40:40Z The value of constraints I recently spent a family weekend near the Adirondack Mountains in New York. It was the middle of winter, the weather barely got above 20-degrees during the few days I was there and snow still covered much of the ground. So, what was I doing during this weekend getaway? I was zipping down waterslides! You read that right, it was a frigid weekend in winter, but thanks to the genius that dreamt up the concept of an “indoor waterpark,” I had a great summer-like weekend and was reminded of the amazing things one can design when they are properly constrained. Constraints Create Focus When you think about it, the concept of an indoor waterpark makes a lot of sense, especially in an area like New York where waterslides cannot be enjoyed year round due to the change of seasons. This is an example of constraints (the arrival of cold weather) fueling creativity and innovation to create a solution that works within those constraints. As web designers, our clients present us with constraints all the time – from their poorly designed logo which we have to integrate into a new website design, to the unfortunate corporate colors they use to the typefaces, taglines, photos or content that they insist be used on their new site. Constraints and website design go hand in hand. It's easy to complain about these challenges and dream about what a joyous world it would be if we were not hindered in such a way, but constraints are a good thing. Constraints give you focus and a starting point in your design. Without constraints, you are looking at a blank canvas. As inviting as that may sound, there are few things scarier than a blank canvas. When the possibilities are endless, the possibilities can be daunting. An Epiphany on the Waterslides My visit to the waterpark couldn’t have come at a better time. I had just started working on a new project and I was in full-on complaining mode as I struggled with the design, trying to figure out how to incorporate a bad color palette and an even worse logo design. As ridiculous as it sounds, I had an epiphany while riding waterslides. At the risk of sounding crass, the realization I came to was that I needed to stop my bitching, because my complaining wasn’t helping me get anything done. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Reminded of the Obvious I’m sorry if you were hoping for some magical trick that I discovered to turn bad client logos into shining works of graphical design. No such solution exists. But even though my epiphany may seem like an obvious one, we often need to be reminded of these obvious truths. As web designers, we tend to get so wrapped up in learning new ways to better use the tools at our disposal – from software packages, to HTML5, CSS3 and more, that we sometimes forget simple truths such as “bitching about the problem doesn’t help you solve the problem.” Again, it may be obvious, but it was exactly what I needed to be reminded of to make progress on this design project – and I have an indoor waterpark to thank for this reminder. “How” Instead of “Why” Returning from my trip, I opened my design file and took a look at what I had so far. Not too much. Changing my mindset, I began to ask “how” instead of “why.” Instead of wondering “why do they have such a bad logo” or “why do I have to use these damn colors”, I focused on thoughts like “how can I use this logo effectively” or “how can I get this color integrated best.” Getting rid of the negative mindset and using the constraints before me as guides rather than viewing them as roadblocks allowed me to make progress. Before I knew it, the design was taking shape and looking good – and you know what, the logo didn’t look so bad after all. Taking Control You can’t control constraints, whether they are the ones imposed upon you by clients or those presented by browsers, devices, screen resolutions or any of the multitude of others constraints web designers have to contend with daily. The sooner you accept this lack of control, and begin to work within those constraints instead of against them, the closer you will be to getting some actual work done. So what’s the moral of my story? Constraints give you focus and can be a good thing if you treat them as guides instead of roadblocks. When presented with constraints, don’t waste time bitching about them. Instead, put that energy into figuring out how best to work within those constraints. Waterparks kick ass – whether they are indoors or outdoors. 2011-04-02T19:40:40+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/knowing-your-audience http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/knowing-your-audience#When:02:09:19Z Knowing Your Audience The number 1 item on my daughter’s Christmas list this year is a ‘Whoopise Baby.’ For those of you who do not have a 4-year old daughter at home, and may not know what this doll is (the actual product name is a ‘Baby Alive’ doll), allow me to explain. A Whoopise Baby is a doll that pees and poops. You feed them some special ‘food’ (which is, of course, sold seperately) and a few minutes later it makes a mess in its diaper (also sold seperately). Really? Kids actually want a doll that craps itself? I have two children at home and the honest truth is that life would be a whole lot easier if they didn’t need to use the bathroom...ever. So why would someone actually want to buy a pooping doll when so many non-pooping ones, which are much less work, exist? I just don’t get it. This question reminds me of one of the key lessons in website design. Success is all about knowing who your audience is, learning what they want and then delivering it to them. Marketing 101 A basic marketing truth is that if you want your product to be successful, you need to have an understanding of who the product is intended for. You need to understand why they would use your product or what they hope to get out of it. If you design and market your product (websites included) with this understanding in mind, you have a much better chance at success. The makers of Baby Alive understand their audience...little girls who want to ‘be like Mommy’ and ‘take care’ of a baby of their own. The concept of a pooping and peeing baby makes no sense to me because I am not the intended audience for this product, which brings me to another lesson. You Are Likely Not Your Audience These dolls are intended for little girls. I am not, nor have I ever been, a little girl. This is the biggest reason why I just don’t get the appeal of this toy. When designing websites, we are often excited to get started and want to begin the actual ‘design’ process right away. We may think we know what the users who will eventually use the site we are designing want and need, but have we actually spoken with them? We may try to put ourselves in their shoes and design from their perspective, but unless we are part of the intended audience for a site, our understanding will only take us so far. So how do we find out what users need and want? Simple, we ask them. Let's Talk We need to question a site’s intended audience before we design, as well as afterwards. This doesn’t mean we have to do extensive user testing for each and every project (although if full-on user testing is in the budget, then that’s going to be very helpful), but we need something more than our assumptions (again, we are not the audience) or our client’s suggestions (they are likely not the audience either - although they may think they are) when we are designing a site. Prepare to Be Surprised When my daughter showed me the pooping baby doll she so desperately wanted to ask Santa for, I was surprised. I mean, how do you prepare yourself for your little girl saying “Daddy, I want a baby that goes poop for Christmas.” The feedback you get from site users will likewise surprise you. You will learn things you never would’ve anticipated or designed for otherwise. This is the value in knowing your audience. The more you learn about them, their needs and how they will use a site, the better the experience you design will be. Gifts Under the Tree If Santa brings my daughter a pooping baby this Christmas, I know it will make her very happy. Similarly, when users go to a site and it meets their needs and works for them, they are happy. Opening up a Christmas present, or opening a website, and seeing what you really wanted is always a special feeling. Merry Christmas. 2010-12-06T02:09:19+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/of-tricks-and-treats http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/of-tricks-and-treats#When:04:09:40Z Of Tricks & Treats All Halloween costumes are not created equal. As such, I do not feel that the sugary surprises that I hand out to the trick-or-treaters who knock upon my door must be equal either. The amount of candy I give you is directly proportional to how awesome your costume is. In a similar fashion, all web browsers are not created equal and the treats that I deliver to the browser will vary depending on its level of awesome. The DONTs of Scoring Candy If you want to score big on the candy front, your costume needs to look like you actually care. Wearing the same pair of jeans and hoodie sweatshirt that you wore to school that day, pulling on a store-bought rubber mask and calling it a costume just doesn’t cut it for me. You want candy? Show me that you have actually tried to put together a cool costume. Score = 1 piece of low quality candy, probably a roll of Smarties or a Dum-Dum pop. Another low scoring trick-or-treater is the “first-timer.” These are the babies who come to the door, dressed most often like a Disney character, carried by their proud parents. Sure they are adorable, but come on, the kid is less than a year old, so unless Gerber starts making Halloween treats, they are very likely not going to be able to enjoy the candy that I give them. Nope, that piece of candy will be eaten by the parents. Score = 1 piece of candy, although they do get a higher quality piece, normally a fun-size candy bar. After all, the kid is cute as hell. Notable exception – If the parents who are carrying the first-timer are also dressed, especially if the costumes they have on are part of a theme (maybe they are all dressed like Winnie the Pooh or Alice in Wonderland characters, for instance), then the candy score goes up in response to the embarrassment factor. Score = 2 pieces of high quality candy per family member that is dressed. The DOs of Scoring Candy The easiest way to get a quality haul of candy from me is to pick a costume for a property that I think is awesome. Come to my door dressed like a character from Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe, Lord of the Rings, the Nightmare Before Christmas or similar properties and you are guaranteed to hit it big. Score = 4 or 5 pieces of high quality candy – we're talking Kit-Kats, Twix bars, Sour Patch Kids and the like. Another sure fire way to come away from my house with a good quantity of candy is to assemble your own costume from random items you have laying about the house. Even if the overall costume looks erratic and mismatched, it's the effort that I can appreciate. I have a soft spot for anyone who comes to my door dressed as a Stormtrooper wearing old hockey equipment. An A for effort! Score = 4 (or more) pieces of high quality candy – and if you are wearing a cobbled together costume that is also from a property that I think is cool (ala the hockey pad wearing Star Wars trooper), then this number goes up accordingly! Better Browsers Get Better Treats I approach the visual treats that I deliver on websites that same way that I approach the sugary treats that I give out to trick-or-treaters. Not everyone gets the same. Those users who are accessing the sites I design with browsers that support visual treats like CSS3 animations and transitions will get them. Those who do not, will not. Just because some people knock on my door in a lame costume and are subsequently presented with treats appropriate to their weak Halloween attire does not mean that every trick-or-treater should suffer the same fate. The teenager in the cheesy zombie mask gets a cheap lollypop, but the kid who rolls up to my door dressed as Boba Fett is going to get hooked up. Similarly, those users who come to the sites I design and develop will get an experience appropriate to the browser they are using. Awesome browser equals a more awesome experience. Do all sites need to look or be experienced the same in every browser? Of course not, and trying to do so would be like penalizing the kid in the Boba Fett costume just because other kids do not know how to choose awesome Halloween attire like he does. Awesome in equals awesome out, whether we are talking about Halloween costumes or website treats delivered to your browser. Candy Score Super Bonus Points Want to really make out big on the Halloween haul at the Girard household? Here’s the secret - if you come to my house towards the end of the evening AND you are dressed in a costume that qualifies as awesome, then we are talking super-bonus candy! Last year, I had a kid ring my bell a few minutes before I had planned to shut my lights for the evening. I still had a bowl full of candy and as much as I love Kit-Kats and Twix bars, my diet surely didn’t want to get stuck with all those goodies. Opening my door, I saw this boy dressed as Snake Eyes from GI Joe. Not only was he dressed as Snake Eyes, but his costume was partly store-bought (the mask and sword) and partly home-assembled (he had little throwing stars made of cardboard and covered in aluminum foil tucked into his ninja belt). Yeah, we're talking big-time awesome right here. I proceeded to dump the entire bowl of candy, everything that I had left, into his trick-or-treat bag. This was easily over a 100 pieces of candy. Even from behind the visor of his Snake Eyes ninja mask, I could see his eye grow wide and he said, “Wow, thanks mister!” before running back to his Mom to show her how much candy he had just gotten hooked up with. My pleasure kid. Awesome in equals awesome out, it's as simple as that. Happy Halloween. 2010-10-15T04:09:40+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/1000-words http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/1000-words#When:05:30:23Z 1000 Words My wife recently began adding letters to the caps of the water bottles in our fridge (which we refill and reuse). I noticed this one evening as I reached to get a drink and saw that a number of bottles had a little ‘C’ scrawled onto the cap in black marker. Around this time, my wife and kids had been getting over a summer cold and I assumed that the ‘C’ stood for 'cold', meaning that these were bottles they had used when they were sick and which needed to be thrown away once they were feeling better. Not wanting to catch what they had, I grabbed one of the unmarked bottles of water and went on my way. When is a C not a C? A few days later, my wife saw me reach into the fridge and pull out an unmarked water bottle. “Why aren’t you taking one of the used ones?” she asked. I explained that I didn’t want to get sick. She looked at me with a puzzled expression. "They have a ‘C’ on them," I showed her. “That stands for ‘cold’, right? Because you used them when you were sick?” Laughing, she grabbed one of the bottles and turned it 90-degrees counter-clockwise. Suddenly the ‘C’ became a ‘U’, which she explained meant ‘used.’ My wife had been marking the bottles that we had already opened, so we could continue to use those ourselves and save the fresh, unopened ones for guests. Rather than use the already opened bottles, however, I avoided them because I had misinterpreted the marking on the cap. What's wrong with my car? I recently read an article about a symbol that has begun to appear on vehicle instrument panels (see the symbol to the left). The article stated that, although this symbol was designed to be ‘idiot-proof’, 46% of those polled did not know what it represented. Even after I had read the article, I still couldn’t decipher this symbol and neither could anyone in the Envision office that I showed it to. The designers of this symbol were trying to create something that would be universally understood, but if this icon starting blinking on my dashboard while I was driving, I would have no clue as to what was wrong with my car or how I was supposed to respond to the issue. (The symbol stands for ‘low tire pressure’ – did you figure that out?) What is a picture worth? We've all heard the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words, but we need to make sure that we are using the right words when we choose ‘pictures’ for our designs. As we create user interfaces and turn to icons and symbols to replace lengthy descriptions or we look for imagery to help convey a message, we need to remember that what may be an obvious to us may not be so clear to others. I'm pretty sure that the designer who came up with the ‘low tire pressure’ symbol knew exactly what it meant, but half the people polled about this symbol either didn’t understand it at all or took it to mean something else. In a similar fashion, I mistook my wife’s ‘U’ for a ‘C’ and responded in a way totally opposite to what she intended. Both of these cases are examples of something that was clear and obvious to the designer being not-so-obvious to their audience. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but if they are the wrong words, the user experience you are designing could be in big trouble. Ecstasy or agony? I was working on a print ad for Envision's Virtualization practice last year. The full page ad was slated to run in the Providence Business News' Book of Lists. This publication's ads are typically very conservative, so we wanted to do something a bit edgy to shake things up a bit. We also wanted to have some fun and do something different than the other ads we had designed for virtualization. Focusing on how awesome the experience of virtualizing with Envision is, I designed an ad (which can be seen to the left) that featured a woman’s outstretched arm clenching the sheets of a bed and a message that read, “Virtualization with Envision…Yeah, it's awesome.” What I saw in this image was ‘ecstasy’, but after the publication questioned the tastefulness of the ad (which we expected them to do, since we were trying to shake things up a bit, after all), we showed it to more people and found that while some saw the same thing that I did, others saw ‘agony’ in this image instead of ecstasy. That was obviously not the message we were hoping to send! In the end, we went with a different ad entirely, in large part because of our audience's varying interpretations of the image we had chosen to use. The right words You know what you are looking to accomplish or what message you are trying to convey, so select imagery that makes sense to you, but don't stop there. Once you have your icon or imagery in place, show it to others and see if what is obvious to you is obvious to them as well. Show the imagery in context so the feedback you receive is as relevant as possible and prepare to listen to that feedback and respond accordingly. We will always have the need to use imagery of one kind of another in our work, from icons and symbols to photos and illustrations. Whether we are designing a website, an application or a print ad, understanding that the ‘pictures’ we use are indeed worth thousands of words, and being willing to ask others if the words they hear the pictures speaking are the same ones we wanted them to speak (and being ready to make changes if they are not) will help us ensure that the words we use are, indeed, the right ones. 2010-09-21T05:30:23+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/adding-action-features http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/adding-action-features#When:05:03:00Z Adding Action Features I love toys. I’ve been collecting action figures for many years now and my current collection is a room-filling display of transforming robots, Jedi knights, superheroes and villians, monsters and more. My 6-year old son loves toys too. Not surprisingly, we share pretty similar tastes when it comes to the toys that we like. My son likes Transformers, I like Transformers. My son likes Star Wars, I like Star Wars. My son likes Batman…well, I’m sure you get the point. While my son and I may agree on the brands of toys we like, we tend to have very different opinions on the specifics of what exactly makes a toy ‘cool.’ Accuracy vs. Action Features Like many adult toy collectors, I prefer toys that are as accurate to the source material as possible. Whether the property in question is from a movie, comic book, cartoon or video game, a toy that is well sculpted and true to its source material is what I look for when I add a piece to my collection. My son, on the other hand, cares very little about the visual accuracy of the figure. Kids his age want the toy to “do something.” It doesn’t matter that Batman is dressed in a day-glo, bright orange outfit (something I am pretty sure the Dark Knight of Gotham City would never wear). As long the toy has some oversized, missile launching accessory, or something that moves, lights up or makes noise, then my son loves it. I like my toys to look cool, my son likes his to do cool things - to have some ‘wow’ to them. Come to think about it, his opinion of what makes for a cool toy isn’t all that different than some clients' opinion of what makes for a cool website. Designing for Your Clients' Clients One truth in web design that is often overlooked is that, with the possible exception of a web application meant to be used as part of internal workflow, we are really not designing for our clients - we are designing for their clients. When we create a public facing website, we need to keep in mind who our primary audience is and we sometimes need to remind our clients that they are not that primary audience. This isn't to say that a client shouldn’t love their website, they absolutely should, but part of our job as designers is to find ways to make our clients say, “Hey, that’s pretty cool!” about their site, while bolstering the user experience and forwarding the business goals of the site itself. Yeah, no small task. Handling Requests for More “Cool” The first thing I do when a client comes to me and says, “I saw this cool thing on another website,” is to hear them out to see if their idea has merit. That may seem obvious, but we are often quick to negatively judge client suggestions, likely because so many ideas that start with the lead-in of “Wouldn't it be cool if…” are just horribly inappropriate. Still, I can personally point to a number of ‘cool’ ideas that clients brought to a project that helped improve it, so for as many bad ideas as you may have to consider, the first step in handling client requests is to really listen to them. If the idea presented is, indeed, inappropriate or contrary to the overall goals of the site, I simply respond to the suggestion with a question: “Let me ask you this - how does that addition help your site visitors do X?” - with ‘X’ being whatever user goals or conversion metric has been identified for the site. In the end, this is really all that matters. If an addition will help further the goals of a site in some way, then it is something that should certainly be considered. Look! My Web Site Talks! One suggestion I seem to get quite often is to add those little talking people to a site. You know the ones I mean – they casually walk onto a page and start talking to you about the site and the company. They also seem to feature people who really like to use their hands when they talk. Over the years, I have had a dozen or so clients either suggest we add this to their site or at least ask my opinion about it, yet I have never once found a user who found this feature useful. In fact, most people that I ask about this, including some of the clients who have brought it up in the first place, find those video people annoying at best. So why do clients suggest adding these little talking heads to a site if no one seems to like them? I’ve asked clients this question and the general answer has been that they saw it on a site, said “Hey look, this site does something!” and figured they should do it on their site too. I then ask if, in addition to “doing something”, they found the video person helpful or if it more easily allowed them to complete the task they had gone to the site for in the first place. Without fail, the answer has always been a resounding “no.” In fact, I’ve had people admit that the little talking person distracted them from their real purpose on the site and they ended up just leaving after listening to a small part of the video presentation. That’s not very ‘cool’, is it? What Clients Really Want When a client asks for a little talking video person on their site, or some other ‘cool’ feature, what are they really asking for? In most cases, they simply want their site to “do something.” Granted, a site that looks great, effectively communicates a company’s message and drives visitors towards a goal destination and desired conversion is definitely doing something pretty spectacular, but the sad truth is that there is more ‘wow’ factor to a talking head than there is to an effective design and communication strategy. Clients want to be able to proudly show off their site and a flashy feature makes it easy to do so. Unfortunately, while an over-the-top site addition may serve a client well as they are trying to show off some website bling-bling, it often gets in the way of site users who are trying to accomplish some task on the site. Remember those animated site intros that, thankfully, have gone out of vogue? They offered clients something exciting and flashy to show off, but they got in the way of users who didn’t need an awesomely animated presentation every single time they visited the site. Clients want their site to “do something”, but we have to guard against adding extraneous features to the site that will prevent your client’s clients from ‘doing something’ – like actually using the site! Making a Cool Action Figure So what makes for a cool action figure? It depends on who it is intended for. I have some pieces in my collection that are incredibly source accurate with a fine-art level of sculpting and paint applications, but they are statue-like in their playability and, in some cases, fairly expensive collector items. As much as I like these pieces, they aren’t very cool to my son because they aren’t meant for him. On the flip side, my son has a number of garishly costumed superheroes who I would never display in my collection, but they are perfect for him. They have giant, spring-loaded accessories, ridiculous clip-on costumes and other over-the-top action features and they offer my son hours of imagination-fueled playtime. So which of these is a cool action figure? They both are, because each of them are appropriate for their intended audience. Universally Cool = Transforming Robots While ‘cool’ is relative to the audience meant to enjoy an item, be it an action figure or a website, there are those rare instances where something is universally cool – able to be enjoyed by multiple audiences equally. Like Transformers. While my son and I may have different aspects of the “robots in disguise” which we appreciate, the end result is that both of us love them. I appreciate the engineering and design that goes into making a toy that looks equally cool as a robot as it does a Mack truck, while my son just loves the fact that he can have a robot-battle-royal that transforms into a high-speed car chase while playing with the same toys. 1 design – 2 audiences enjoying it differently and yet equally. Now that’s cool. Universally Cool Websites So what makes for a cool website? One that can be used, and enjoyed, by multiple audiences, each with different agendas and goals. A site that has ‘wow’ factor, but finds a way to utilize that wow factor as a way to further the business goals of the site and the needs of users visiting that site. This is one of my main design and development goals right now. To find ways to add features to sites that do more than just wow a client or even effectively communicate a message. I want to take it to the next level and use that wow factor to actually help users complete the primary purpose that the site was built for – be it to make a purchase, become a member, or some other conversion factor. I want to use ‘cool’ to help users use a site and drive business for my clients, because when it comes right down to it, I can’t think of anything cooler than that. 2010-07-27T05:03:00+00:00 http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/pay-attention http://www.pumpkin-king.com/index.php/site/pay-attention#When:03:37:49Z Pay Attention I recently spent a week vacationing in Jamaica, returning home with a bit of a tan, a taste for coconut rum and pineapple juice, and an idea for a new blog article. Surprisingly, this idea was not based on my time on the island, but was thanks to an incident that happened before my vacation had even really begun. I Love Airports The start of a vacation is always so exciting and full of possibility. As my wife and I walked through the airport towards our departure gate, we happily discussed how we intended to spend the next 6 days of our time away. As we talked about eating good food and relaxing with a book on a sun-soaked beach, I mentioned that I needed to use the restroom before we boarded our plane. Completely engrossed in our conversation, and paying too little attention to what I was doing, I proceeded to head straight for the Ladies' room. Thankfully, my wife stopped me from making an embarrassing mistake and I made my way into the Mens' room instead. Crisis averted – this time. Déjà vu As pathetic as this is to admit, this is not the first time this has happened to me in an airport. In fact, on the last trip I took with my wife, this exact same situation occurred. The only difference was that last time, my wife was not around when I made my embarrassing gaffe. On this previous trip, my wife was sitting by our departure gate reading when I got up to stretch my legs and use the restroom. Apparently I have some airport restroom malfunction in my brain, because once again I marched straight into the Ladies room. Once inside the Ladies room, I quickly realized my mistake and exited before anyone saw me – or so I had hoped. My head down, eyes to the floor, I sprinted towards the Mens room, only to see an older couple pointing at me and laughing as I raced past. Awesome - they had witnessed the whole embarrassing display. Distractions Are All Around Us Ok, I’ll admit that this mistake never would have happened (either time) had I simply been paying attention to what I was doing, but that's the point here – distractions are all around us! Whether we are walking towards an airport bathroom or working on building out a website design – we are often distracted when we should be focused. If we’re not careful, these distractions can cause us to embarrass ourselves in front of our fellow airport travelers or in front of our clients. So how do we combat the potential pitfalls of being distracted? We use the buddy system. A Lone Wolf or Part of a Pack? A few weeks ago, at An Event Apart in Boston, I had a discussion with some fellow attendees about the difference between working independently on a freelance-style basis to working as part of a team in an agency setting. One of the main points that we discussed was the benefit of team critique and contributions to a project when in a team setting. In my role as Creative Director for Envision Technology Advisors, I am able to direct the visual design and the overall user experience for all the work that the company produces. I love this aspect of my job, but the communication and feedback at Envision is a two-way street. I certainly give my input on the work of my fellow designers, but I also welcome their feedback on my own creative output – whether it's to offer a view or idea I may not have considered, or whether it's to catch something that I have missed due to a distraction. In the end, being part of a team makes my work better. Envision a Team Approach This team approach is something that permeates everything we do at Envision. In addition to using team feedback as part of our design process, every project, prior to launch, requires the lead designer to complete a quality assurance checklist for the site. Once completed, another team member must also complete the checklist – a second set of eyes to ensure that nothing was overlooked. This buddy system approach is not unique to our Web Department either. In fact, we adopted this method after seeing our Networking team's success doing something similar with their Virtualization deployments. Each of the company's Virtualization projects has a lead engineer who is responsible for the overall effort, but when that project is completed, another Envision engineer – one who has had no meaningful contact with the project before this time – must complete a peer review and sign off on the project before it can be considered complete and ready to release to our clients. Everybody Needs a Buddy While working in an agency setting certainly lends itself to this buddy system approach, the benefits of peer review and feedback is something that freelance designers should be able to enjoy as well - even if you don't have a trusted colleague sitting in the cubicle next to your own! The first step? - identifying ways that you can expand your circle of valued associates: Conferences Web design conferences are a great place to meet other designers and developers. The first step? – being willing to introduce yourself to someone new. Many conferences serve breakfast or lunch (or both!) - grab a seat at a table with a group of people you've never met, introduce yourself and exchange business cards. I have met some excellent people at the various conferences I have attended and even though I work in an agency setting alongside other designers and developers, I routinely bounce ideas off some of these contacts to get a fresh perspective on my work. Online Social networking sites, especially a site like dribbble.com, are often great vehicles for getting some feedback from the community as a whole. While this type of community feedback can be a bit too congratulatory instead of constructive (something dribbble is often criticized for) or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, unnecessarily harsh, there are still plenty of users who will offer really excellent feedback on your work. The first step? – becoming part of the community by being willing to offer your own feedback and suggestions on others' work. In time, if you're a contributing member of the community, you'll see that others will start viewing, and giving quality feedback on, your work as well. Offline There are always going to be projects that aren't a fit for you – projects that you may ultimately refer to someone else in your local marketspace. These business relationships you forge can be about more than simply referring work to, or getting business from, each other, they can also be about helping each other produce the best work possible! The first step? – realizing that your “competition” can also be your colleague. Hang out after work sometime and exchange stories about more than just nightmare clients – talk about what creative challenges you may be experiencing – odds are that your situation in not unique and your “competition” may have the exact solution you've been searching for. In Closing There are many ways, in addition to these few examples, to make meaningful and valuable contacts. Whether you are running your work by the person in the cubicle next door or someone you met at a conference who lives and works across the country (or across the globe), the point is that we all get distracted and we all make mistakes because of those distractions. While we should certainly strive for better focus in our work, we must also accept that distractions are inevitable. Getting a second set of eyes on our work will help us ensure that we are proud of the end products we create. After all, no one wants to get caught walking into the wrong restroom – trust me. 2010-07-01T03:37:49+00:00