October 2008

October 28, 2008

Web Design - The Jitterbug Approach

Author: Scott Lindsay

The term jitterbug brings to mind a specific dance or dancer, but it also brings to mind someone who has a zest for life and enjoys the simple things life has to offer.

There is a new cell phone company that caters to baby boomers who may have a zest for life, but enjoy an acute sense of simplicity.

It may come as no surprise to learn that this company is called Jitterbug. Their cell phones have a simplified approach that makes it easy for the end user. You won’t find a camera; text messaging or email downloads on Jitterbug. In fact, the most simplified model provides three primary buttons. One button provides a direct link to a towing service of your choice while the second calls the operator. The third primary button calls 911 services. This phone is useful in emergency situations.

This company indicates there was significant research that went into the phone and they spent significant time asking questions of those who might use the phone. The end result was a phone that got back to the basics with comfort features and large, backlit buttons for easy viewing. Jitterbug also offers a more conventional cell phone, but it also relies on simplicity and operates more like the phones most of us use in our homes.

In the world of web design the premise seems to be to work hard to implement significant wow factor in all areas of our site. What Jitterbug has learned in their research may be a benefit to ecommerce web design.

1) What is absolutely essential to web design and function?

2) What features are simply fun, but have no direct application to conducting business?

3) How important are add on features to the performance of an ecommerce store?

4) Are there cluttered areas of the web design that make navigation of the site difficult?

5) Would the web design require significant time for guests to learn?

There are certain sites that do well with hi-tech design elements. These sites generally target a younger demographic. If your site appeals to a broad range of users you may seek to find ways to make it as easy to navigate as possible.

If your site is geared toward mature consumers you might consider developing your site with the same lessons learned by Jitterbug. If you can make things simple, even reluctant users of technology may be willing to see what you have to offer.

About the Author:
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/web-design-the-jitterbug-approach-237538.html

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Web Design - The Jitterbug Approach

Author: Scott Lindsay

The term jitterbug brings to mind a specific dance or dancer, but it also brings to mind someone who has a zest for life and enjoys the simple things life has to offer.

There is a new cell phone company that caters to baby boomers who may have a zest for life, but enjoy an acute sense of simplicity.

It may come as no surprise to learn that this company is called Jitterbug. Their cell phones have a simplified approach that makes it easy for the end user. You won’t find a camera; text messaging or email downloads on Jitterbug. In fact, the most simplified model provides three primary buttons. One button provides a direct link to a towing service of your choice while the second calls the operator. The third primary button calls 911 services. This phone is useful in emergency situations.

This company indicates there was significant research that went into the phone and they spent significant time asking questions of those who might use the phone. The end result was a phone that got back to the basics with comfort features and large, backlit buttons for easy viewing. Jitterbug also offers a more conventional cell phone, but it also relies on simplicity and operates more like the phones most of us use in our homes.

In the world of web design the premise seems to be to work hard to implement significant wow factor in all areas of our site. What Jitterbug has learned in their research may be a benefit to ecommerce web design.

1) What is absolutely essential to web design and function?

2) What features are simply fun, but have no direct application to conducting business?

3) How important are add on features to the performance of an ecommerce store?

4) Are there cluttered areas of the web design that make navigation of the site difficult?

5) Would the web design require significant time for guests to learn?

There are certain sites that do well with hi-tech design elements. These sites generally target a younger demographic. If your site appeals to a broad range of users you may seek to find ways to make it as easy to navigate as possible.

If your site is geared toward mature consumers you might consider developing your site with the same lessons learned by Jitterbug. If you can make things simple, even reluctant users of technology may be willing to see what you have to offer.

About the Author:
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/web-design-the-jitterbug-approach-237538.html

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October 23, 2008

Ecommerce Website Design

Are you interested to indulge yourself in the field of e-commerce? It is true that e-commerce is the latest sensation in the field of business. Basically, e-commerce is a business technique, where the objects are bough or sold through various electronic media. The electronic media include Internet or the computer network and some other. The e-commerce is gaining some rapid popularity due to the increasing use of the Internet. On other hand, there is no maintenance cost required while you have to spend lots of money in maintenance of shop exist in real. Due to the low maintenance cost the e-commerce business groups are selling the products in low rates. This is another cause of its popularity. Now, to be successful in the field of e-commerce this is very much important to have a good website that reflects your business quality. In this article, we will discuss about the essential features of an E-commerce website.

First of all it is important to have a good template to create a good e-commerce website. It is always better to buy a ‘copyright web template’ for your own e-commerce website. Basically, this is to ensure that your website looks completely different if compared to some other competitive e-commerce websites. Now you may edit the web template that you bought as par your own necessity. But if you are enough confident about your skills, then you can design the web template yourself. Now the second important thing is regarding the website address. Try to have domain that ends with .com. Basically, it is important since .com is the most common and traditional extension of the websites. Now it is also very much important, to have a simple name as the web address. Don’t put any complex name, which is tough to pronounce in the web
address filed. Try to avoid the special characters like ‘@’, ‘#’ or even ‘-’ in the field of website address.

Ecommerce website design should feature the entire collection of your e-commerce business store. It is also important to put the details of each and every product in the website. It will be often better if you create a section where the user of the particular product can rate it and create a review. If possible, you can put 3 or 4 photos of every product snapped from different angles. It will be better option to feature the best selling products in the front page. Now, if you are selling the products of
different categories then you have to sort out the products with respect to the categories. It will be better to include such tools so that two different products of same category can be compared with respect to different features. Promote the discount offers hugely and carefully. It is also essential to use a secured server for the website since the matters of payment and money transfer related to it.

Last but not least, it is important to perform the search engine optimization techniques to get the higher rank in different search engines. It is very much important for the website to be in the higher ranked side to be successful in the field of e-commerce.

Author Bio: Ranold Anton focuses on California website design, San Francisco website design, New York website design, Washington website design, Seattle website design, Texas website design, Houston website design, Kansas website design, Missouri website design, Florida website design, Miami website design, Oregon website design, Portland website design, Georgia website design, Atlanta website design

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_478189_62.html

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October 15, 2008

Main Element Logo Design

What is the secret of success behind the brand companies like McDonalds, Kellogg, Apple and Coca Cola? What is the main element that kept the customers glued to their product and service? Apart from their quality oriented service and product, the logo design of their business has a charm to lure the audiences towards them and captivate their attention in a single glance. If you ever saw golden arches, it suddenly reminds of McDonalds and nothing else. It is the uniqueness, simplicity and the creativity of the logo that has generated an interest in minds of customers to know about the service. Being a new company, you would leave no efforts to make your campaign successful by circulating colorful, appealing brochures, catalogs and place big billboards, banners to get maximum exposure. But your whole effort is futile, if your website and printing material doesn’t have a logo, your identity. Just as a name is essential for the identity of the person, in the same way logo design is essential for a company to establish its presence in the market to its consumers. As truly said “a picture is worth a thousand words”, a logo conveys everything about your business in a graphical form to your audience making them aware of your services and its nature in a graphical form. In a simpler way if you want to define Professional logo design, we can state it as a symbolic representation of your product and service which conveys the selling points of your business to your consumers and persuade them to consult your service for their business requirements. In comparison to the expensive mediums, logo design is an effective tool where you can easily reach your audience in a cost effective manner. If you can spend millions on your campaign, you also need to spend few dollars behind the logo design, which is in fact the essential element of your business. Logo design not only makes your services recognized to your customers, but it also reflects your professionalism and makes a outstanding impact of your services in minds of your target audience. Logo design is such an object that immediately catches the attention of every person within a single glance, so therefore marketing wise, logo design is very instrumental in connecting the business of small companies and startups to its consumers. While getting the logo designed, always ensure that the logo design is simple, unique and has been designed in vector form so that you have the flexibility to have it resized and printed according to your convenience. During the process of adapting a logo design also ensure that you are consulting a professional logo design firm for your business objectives. As the logo designs are created in various file forms like jpg, gif, tiff and eps, you have the privilege to maximize your visibility by placing the logo designs on website, letterheads, and business mails including promotional materials. With an aim to prevent logo design infringement, logo designs are been delivered to customers with original artwork so that the business identity of a particular company is not harmed under any circumstances. Give a definition to your business by implementing the resourceful logo design services and discover an innovative change. Go get your dream logo designed now!

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_698393_4.html

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October 12, 2008

Custom Logo Design: Advantages and Disadvantages

Author: andrew alen

Every business worth its name has a logo. It is that little graphic displayed on everything that is uniquely theirs- their website, products and stationery. In some cases, the logo may simply be a stylistic adaptation of a name. Hallmark is a fine example. In other cases, there are special graphics that serve to symbolize the company. The windows logo is one such famous graphic.

<a href=”http://www.pixellogo.com”>Logo design</a> is one of the first activities undertaken by a company to establish their brand image. This is important because a logo fulfills a large range of functions. A good logo represents the company, gives a symbolic representation of what the company stands for and even carries the credibility of the company on its shoulders. Some companies spend thousands of dollars on custom logo design because they know that a successful logo must be appropriate, aesthetic and reliable. It must penetrate people’s mind and carve a place for itself, so that one look at the symbol will invoke the company, its philosophy and products in the mind of those viewing it. A logo is said to be successful or worth the money you pay when the symbol is recognized instantly.

Many companies pay millions of dollars to purchase custom designed logos. They employ expensive graphic design agencies to produce a selection of custom logos, from which they select one. That is because they understand that a good logo will help their company stand out from the competition. Custom designed logos are original and unique, characteristics that are vital to the success of the logo as a brand ambassador. That said, custom designed logos have advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of a custom logo design: Custom logo designs are designed specifically with your needs in mind. Generally, the design agency meets with the company and discusses the company’s philosophy, services and culture. They discuss colors, design styles, fonts and layouts. Only then do designers begin their work. The design agency comes up with a number of templates. The client picks one that he likes or may ask for another round of discussion, if the designs are not up to his expectations. The greatest advantage of custom designed logo is its uniqueness. The company gets exactly what they are looking for, which is a great option if you have the cash to finance it.

Disadvantages of custom designed logo:
? Highly expensive
? Takes too much time
? May run into delays

Custom designed logos are not for everyone. Small companies, individual entrepreneurs and others with limited resources may not be able to invest huge amounts of money into their logo design, though they still want sophisticated logos. Additionally, the time factor required for the development of a custom design is quite unpredictable. In case you are in a hurry to launch your company, waiting for a custom logo may not be the best option.

For companies that want excellent quality designs at a fraction of the cost, there is always a better option. Many online design agencies supply you with high quality logos at affordable prices. Most of these companies have a large catalog of pre-designed logos. So, it is easy for prospective clients to choose something they like straightaway. These can then be customized to a high degree of uniqueness. Thus services such as these make it easy for companies to bypass costly design companies in their quest for highly individualized, yet stylistically perfect logos.

About the Author:

Pixellogo offers professional Custom Logo Design services including logo templates, 3D logos and web design for companies at an affordable price.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/custom-logo-design-advantages-and-disadvantages-594357.html

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Logo Design Mistakes – Your Existence Questioned!

Author: Sam D’Costa

Take for example some of the successful logos in business today. Nike, McDonalds, FedEx…they have something in common. They are simple, clean, small and targeted. Here are some common mistakes that we see all the time.

1. Readability

Often logos are designed for a single purpose, but later realized that it’s needed on several different forms of media. In today’s technology, it is required that your logo is available in several different sizes and formats and each on of those needs to be legible.

2. Amateurish Design

Logo design is no place for rookies and amateurs. You must engage a professional who is trained and experienced in working with businesses to design the perfect logo to fit their position.

Investing in your logo will prove its worth immediately. Be proud of your logo, which will eventually make it a powerful selling tool. You and your company will enjoy supporting the brand if you have taken time to develop and designed it by a professional designer.

3. Consistency

Often you will encounter logos using wrong colors, incorrect sizes, scales and even improper placements. This will reduce your logo integrity and cause confusion for your brand. One of the most important goals is to keep it consistent. Take the help of a style guide, who will provide simple rules on how to use a logo.

4. Complexity

First, if your logo is complex it will cost you more. The use of images, gradients, too many colors and fonts makes it difficult to reproduce quickly causing an increase in costs. In addition, if your logo is too busy it will make less of an impact.

Do not go for clip art or stylized type logos. Stylized type might look good to you but it’s highly unlikely your customers or clients will notice that it is your logo or remember it. A logo can be complex if too many fonts are used, which will eventually make your logo un-readable.

5. Inappropriate Wording

Make sure that your logo speaks to clients the purpose of your business. Often times you’ll find logos using a somewhat unrelated image or use techniques that speak to the wrong audience. It is highly recommended not to include the followings in your logo:

Long string of words

Potentially offensive wording

Mission statements

6. Designed for Only One Media

Most business owners would not realize that a logo designed by an amateur will not work in all of today’s media. Logos designed professionally will work in all applications- the web, email, print advertising and more.

The single most important selling tool for your business is your logo. Your goal is to get people remember you. By having a consistent and simple logo, the likelihood of attaining that goal is greatly increased.

About the Author:

Sam D’Costa is well known professional in Online Marketing and web promotions.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/graphic-design-articles/logo-design-mistakes-your-existence-questioned-388452.html

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October 6, 2008

Speeding Up Web Design Process

You thought it all over a hundred times before and you have finally decided to put your business on the Web (or to replace that embarrassment of a website that was actually turning heads when it was first made during the nineties). Now you probably think it will be enough to find the right web design company and they will take care of everything. It should be easy for you… Well, think twice!

There are thousands of web design companies in the world and choosing the right one isn't easy especially when you don't know where to look and how to determine what is the right choice for your needs. In this article I will help you do your homework before you end up being disappointed either with a lousy website you'll get or with spending way more than you initially expected.

First of all, you have to do some research (Google, Yahoo, MSN…) typing keywords that you would use if you wanted to find services or information related to your own business. This way you will be one step closer to getting to know your competition.

Since many of the results will be useless and not necessarily related to your business, the next step is filtering the results in order to make a selection of websites that are similar to your own website needs. When you've made your final selection sort the remaining websites by: a) great visual appearance and b) good functionality (these two characteristics are the two most important defining factors of any web site).

Go through these two categories and make notes about what you liked at every site regarding design: logo design, nice images, flash animation, useful navigation, attractive color scheme, etc. and also find out and note what your competition put on their website: what kind of information they have included, how do they make their visitors stay and research further, what is the structure of the sites and how the content is organized. Finally, make an exhaustive list of things you want to put on your future web site.

Now that you have collected all the information you needed you will see that you are much more certain about what you want and how do you want it to be done. Now you should collect all the material that you need for your website: articles, images, legal stuff, related texts, reviews, technical information… It is important that you collect as much material as you can because that process will get you a much clearer picture of requirements of your business than you had in the very start and in the end you will know exactly what you need and what you don't need on your website.

Next step is narrowing down your list of web sites with good design (three to four examples) and finding out which web design firms created those websites. If you can find out who did it, take a tour through their site: look at their portfolio, learn about their pricing and collect their contact information. Almost every decent web design firm will have an RFQ form where they will ask you questions about your web site needs, your budget, colors you would like to use, links of a few web sites that are similar to what you need and details for each site (e.g. "has the features I need but design is lousy") and if you remember what I said earlier in this article you see that these are all questions you already know the answers for. :-)

This way, not only that you will speed up your designing process by telling your web designer exactly what you want and having all the material ready, but you will also know exactly what is good and what you want to be changed when you see first design mockup from a designer. Finally, what is most important, you will avoid hiring a firm that's not fit to do it right or within your budget.

Article Source: http://www.articleset.com

About the Author

Darko Krsmanović


Website Acquired: www.pear-logo-design.com


Date Written: 8. December 2005. This article is allowed for reproduction as long as the links and information about the author are kept intact.


© 2006 Pear Logo Design
» Read more articles by Darko Krsmanovic

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