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Friday, January 24, 2014

Web Design

It seems like too many designers these days have this idea that web design is all about what's trendy now.  They get caught up in buzz words like parallax scrolling, and the latest javascript library.  And with the invasion of mobile web devices, designers have given way to minimalism, using almost nothing on their sites to ensure mobile compatibility. When did design become anything more or less than design?

When I took design in college, we all started in the basic design 101 class.  Engineers, fashion designers, retail consultants, web designers, everyone.  And that was when I learned my first big lesson in design:  Its the same for everyone.  Design is honestly the magic art of knowing your audience, and playing to them.  Our professor in that class, Erik Sandgren, said that even after all these rules and principals he was teaching us, it ultimately came down to what the client wanted.

Which is where I'm going with this post.  Web design today seems to be suffering from too many arrogant designers who think they know what is best, and that anyone disagreeing with them is just an idiot, including the client.  Why, just today I was searching a web design blog to find any suggestions on how to achieve a certain layout, and in the comment sections of an article found a gentleman on the warpath about the some of the suggestions.  His argument was that two of the ten bullets on the list could be achieved without using javascript, a staple of web design, and not something outlandish or difficult.  Other commentators pointed out that it was to ensure backwards compatibility.  And this gentleman just responded that he doesn't care what the client wants or says, that is the way its supposed to be done, if people weren't going to update, it wasn't his fault.

So, if you are planning to get into web design, I would beg you to consider this; web design isn't about trends on the web, its about bring the best of the web to your clients and their visitors.

Till next time, catch you on the flip side.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

DFSBC 2014

Due to some serious personal issues I was trapped in in 2013, the Digital Fruit Small Business Conference 2013 never got off the ground.  But as Digital Fruit is always committed to the health and support of small businesses, we will be working again this year to bring you the best information and skills to help your small business thrive.

Set for mid-June, with an entry cost of $25, Digital Fruit and our small business sponsors will be hosting this event and networking opportunity for two sessions.  As a firmer date is established, I'll post location and times, but if you are interest, there is no reason you can't RSVP now.  Any questions or reservations can be submitted to me at andrew@digitalfruit.biz.

As always, thanks for your interest, and we here at Digital Fruit hope to hear from you soon.

Your Favorite Industry Day

So, I felt compelled today to drop a quick note and let people know a little bit about ads running on small sites for there favorite companies.  Most people just see internet ads as an annoyance, something some terrible porn company or hacker has cleverly laid to trap you.  But the majority of ads, especially on small sites, are legitimate ads, and they serve a purpose.

Most small business sites host ads because it creates a new revenue stream, an extra source of money that can help to lower costs and keep them in business so you can enjoy their products and services.  They are picked by the company that puts them there because they feel that it is something their customers are interested in.  Or in the case of Google's ad network, with a little tweaking, the ads are custom tailored according to where and what you, the viewer, actually visit on the internet, in an attempt to get you to the very site you need to see.

But there is a problem in the modern world of advertising.  More and more people are falling prey to the stigma that all online ads are bad, and so they shouldn't click on them.  So as a tech guru and a small business owner myself, I would ask you to please, please support small business, and if you see an ad on their site about something you are genuinely interested, click on it and maybe earn them a couple of bucks.  I mean, pennies add up, ya know.  So that's my plea for today, so until next time, catch you on the flip side.