Seattle Graphic Design
Some Notes About Graphic Design Contracts
Monday, December 1st, 2008 | graphic design | No Comments
Contracts are standard in the graphic design industry, and should you begin as a client to work with a graphic designer and they don’t ask you to sign one beware! A contract protects both you and the designer and ensures both parties understand how the project will progress.
There are some standard articles in a contract that you as a client might not understand. Here are some things you should know.
- Partial payment up-front and non-refundable. Why, you ask, would you give money before you’ve seen any work? Just because you haven’t seen any work doesn’t necessarily mean work hasn’t yet begun. A designer will put in hours of work prior to delivering anything to you. Should you cancel the project for any (likely valid reason) the designer is ensured they will get paid for whatever work they have done. This clause also protects a designer from delivering a rough draft and the client then taking that rough draft to a friend who will finish the work for little to no cost. This may happen any way, but at least the designer receives some compensation.
- Payment schedules. The full payment for the project may be split in to multiple payments, due at particular points in the project. Suppose a designer finishes designing a web site and has your approval. Before they begin to build the web site they may require a payment. Or they may require a payment prior to launching your web site. This not only protects the designer’s work but also helps split up for you what might be a large expense. The designer may be willing to work with you on the terms of the payments. It’s worth discussing with them.
- Rights of use. Work created by a designer is their intellectual property, and because it is art it is rather personal. A good designer will know how not to take work for a client too personally, however they will get proprietary when it comes to future work getting done to what is their creation. You will often find a clause stipulating that the designer gets first option to make changes (say to a brochure or to a web site). Another “rights of use” issue concerns how the work created can be used. It may be explicitly stated how an ad could be used (say perhaps in a single issue of a magazine, rather than re-purposed for another type of medium).
- Credits. A designer often leans heavily on referrals and the showcase of their work. Their contract may stipulate they get a credit on the web site they created for you, for instance.
Contracts can be rather lengthy with lots of jargon you may be unfamiliar with. Do not hesitate to ask the designer to clarify a point or two.
Creating Brochures that WORK
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 | graphic design | No Comments
A piece of collateral like your brochure is critical to bringing in new customers, retaining new ones, and continuing the growth of your business. What does your current brochure say to people? Is it saying “we’re a professional organization”? Is it sending a message that people understand and connect with? Does it give people a reason to contact you RIGHT NOW?
Here are some tips to creating an effective brochure.
- Grab ‘em and don’t let ‘em go. You need to get their attention and persuade them to keep reading. Colors and graphics work well for this, as will an attention grabbing headline that speaks to a reader. Keep the front of the brochure simple, not too wordy. Keep it to just that headline so it won’t be missed. “Tired of never having enough money” might be a good headline for something having trouble handling their finances.
- That’s right, just a little but furhter. You’ve gotten them past the cover, let’s not lose them now. While you might be tempted go on and on about your company, remember that prospects will read the brochure with a “what can you do for me” mind set. Think more “you” and less “me” (or “us”, as the case may be). Make sure the prospect believes you are talking directly to them. Keep the text on the lighter side, in both tone and length. Long and confusing text is a sure-fire way to lose a prospect.
- Leave them wanting more. Don’t give away the farm with the brochure. You’ll want to leave your prospects with enough questions that they feel compelled to seek out the answers by calling or visiting yoru web site. Your brochure could never do as a good of a job at selling as your sales representatives so don’t let it try.
- Reel ‘em in. Now that you’ve got them salivating, make it as easy as possible to satisfy their hunger. Provide multiple avenues of communication, such as phone number (toll-free is even better!), web site address, or a printed form they can fill out and send in for more information (with prepaid postage of course). No need to put your contact information in more place than one. Repeating your phone number over and over just ends up feeling intrusive. If your prospect is interested enough to call they’ll find your number. Just make sure it’s not too small of a print!
Trust your brochure design needs to Seattle Design Firm Noodle Design >
Elements of an Effective Business Card
Monday, November 24th, 2008 | business cabinet design, business card design | No Comments
A business card is fairly simple, and largely because of its (usual) size there’s only so much you can do. So what do you with such precious real estate?
- Keep it simple. At its most basic a card just needs to tell some one what company you are with, what your name is, what your title is, and how to reach you. Consider how likely it is some one will need to fax you. Could that information be saved for your web site? Leave it off if you can. Space is at a premium.
- Horizontal vs. Vertical. The decision is yours (or yours and your designers). The standard is horizontal because it provides the most space, allowing for things like long web site addresses and long names. Vertical however, because it is used less will let your card stand out.
- Front and back? With services by online printing companies making printing cards front and back affordable using a card with 2 sides does allow you to provide additional information, such as a slogan or brief list of services. Possibly even call attention to something that makes you unique, such as donating proceeds to a charity. Just make sure you cluster your contact information on one side rather than splitting it between both sides.
- Font Size. Never below 9 point. You’ll be tempted, but anything below 9 point becomes illegible.
- Font Faces. I know that Papyrus font looks attractive, but if prospective clients can’t read your phone number it won’t do you any good, so save that for the logo. The fancier the font the harder it is to read at the sizes you’ll be using on that business card.
- Text Alignment. Left-aligned text because of it’s prolific use in written mediums is the easiest for the eye to read. Try to avoid center-aligned and right-aligned for this reason.
- Emphasize it. Finally, remember to make key items prominent, such as your name, your phone number, and probably your email address. Most other information, such as your address, are less often used. Make it easy for that prospect to find the info they need. So bold it, make it bigger, change its color.
Want help designing that business card? Contact Seattle Design Firm Noodle Design >
Tools to Build a Web Site
Thursday, November 20th, 2008 | web site development | No Comments
On more than one occasion I’ve had a client want to either edit their own web site or learn how to do web sites. I’m not the greatest teacher, but actually editing a web site is fairly simple, if the most you’re looking to do is edit some text here or there or maybe swap out a photo. Here are some tools you can use.
- FTP client. “FTP” stands for File Transfer Protocol. An FTP client allows you to download and upload files to a web server. The Internet Explorer browser can be used as an FTP client (check out this blog for details: http://www.sean.co.uk/a/webdesign/ftp_in_ie_free_client.shtm) and Windows Explorer can also be used (the procedure is exactly the same as with IE, go figure). You’ll need your FTP host, username, and password to access your web server.
- Notepad. Ok, so not just Notepad, but any plain text editor will do. Don’t use Word, as Word will insert unnecessary and messy code. Open up a web file (extensions are typically .html, .htm, .php, .shtml) in a text editor like Notepad, find and edit the text you need changed and save the file. You’ll upload it next, more on that to follow.
- WYSIWYG editor. Not necessary, but certainly makes some things easier. “WYSIWYG” stands for “What You See Is What You Get” so instead of looking at code in Notepad you could actually look at the layout and graphics of a site as you edit, for the most part seeing what you see when looking at the live page online. WYSIWYG editors often also provide FTP access. Dreamweaver by Adobe (formerly by Macromedia), which is the web design industry’s preferred tool (and mine) can be cost prohibitive to some one who just wants to edit their own web site every few months. Some hosting companies offer online WYSIWYG editors (GoDaddy is one such company). It would be wise to investigate web hosts and what they offer before buying a hosting account.
- Image editing software. On occasion you’ll want to replace a photo. Most photos require some type of editing prior to being uploaded to a web site. Resizing needs to be done in an image editing software, not by simply changing the dimensions in the html code. Ever see a photo online that looked distorted and pixely? It’s probably a huge photo that’s simply been manually resized in a WYSIWYG editor. Most computers come with some simple image editing software. You can also use something like Google’s Picasa.
The moral to this story is you can edit a web site without buying a single stitch of software. It can take time to learn though, so if you’re short on time contact Seattle design firm Noodle Design for web site editing or development >
Tips to a Successful Web Site
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 | web design, web site development | No Comments
If you’re going to do a web site you’ll want to do it right. After all, what’s the point of having a web site if you turn people away once they get there? There are so many things you can do with a web site (and some less than cool), so let’s talk about what you should and should not do.
- Don’t theme-out your web site. Sure your favorite thing in life is golf, but does that mean you should have a golf-themed web site? Not unless your business is a golf-supply store or you’re a golf course. What would a golf-themed web site say to some one who visits your law practice’s web site? It says “I’d much rather be spending your money playing golf than helping your cause”.
- Less is more. Your visitors will need to be able to find their destination quickly. Too many elements on a home page can overwhelm and they may hit that back button far quicker than you’d like. Make sure your navigation (menu) is easy to spot and detailed enough. While users aren’t likely to read the text on your home page don’t make the mistake of skipping text on your home page all together, but don’t over do it. A basic description of your business that is keyword rich will serve you best.
- Skip the mystery meat. Some web sites try to be clever and will use simple icons for menu items that when you hover over them reveals the content hidden behind. Don’t make your users work! It will only frustrate them. Be clear. Don’t use clever terms instead of straight forward page or section names. “Holla” is not as effective as “Contact Us”.
- Flash intros are so 1996. They had their time and place. Don’t do it. This falls in to the category of not making your users work. If they have to click simply to get to the actual content of your web site you may lose them. Don’t discount the number of people using DSL and dial-up. Your cool flash intro might load slowly and users will not wait around.
- Skip the music. Ethical or not, people surf the web at work. Sure, maybe they do it on their own time, but does that mean they don’t mind when they happen upon a web site with techno beats blaring at them? Unless you’re a band your web site doesn’t need music and nothing turns a visitor off more than music (ok, maybe it’s second to the Flash intro).
- Offer them something right up front. Do you sell products on your web site? Put your most popular product right on the home page with a shopping cart buttons right there so they don’t have to click anywhere to buy. Photographer? Put a gallery or a handful of photos right on your home page so people can start looking without clicking. Instant gratification should be the name of the game.
Get a web site with all the right moves from Seattle Design Firm Noodle Design >
Problem: “I’ve got my logo, my business card and letterhead, even a website, now I need help getting some business!”
Friday, November 14th, 2008 | graphic design | No Comments
Solution: Postcards, brochures, flyers. They’re all a part of marketing your company and getting business. It’s important that these pieces of literature not only speak to what you’re about, but that they show people what you’re about. How you present your information is as important as the products themselves. I not only know how to create an attractive piece of literature, but I also know how to create effective and profitable pieces of literature.
Problem: “Our site is up, our ads are placed, we’re ready to go. But no one’s coming to our site. What’s going on?”
Friday, November 7th, 2008 | search engine optimization (SEO) | No Comments
Solution: It’s called Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and it’s what gets your site not just placed in the big search engines like Google and Yahoo, but it gets your site placed well. There are lots of things that can and should be done properly to your pages that your average web designer probably doesn’t know about, and isn’t aware of when building your web site. SEO is something that should be considered prior to your site being built, but if you’re finding yourself in the opposite boat, don’t worry, there are still things that can be done to improve your site’s ranking in the search engines.
Find out more about search engine optimization from Seattle web site design firm Noodle Design >
The Ills of Frames
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 | web site development | No Comments
At first glance, frames seem harmless. They can look downright impressive — high-tech, even. What your average Web designer might not know, however, is how much trouble frames can cause, preventing visitors from using your site fully and even from finding your site in the first place.
Frames Prevent Bookmarking
Without getting too technical, let me explain how frames work. All Web sites have what we call an index page. This is usually the first page your visitors see. On a site with frames, this index page is set up to display multiple pages of your site. For example, your index page would have a window that pulls in the navigation and a window that pulls in the pages of your content. Now your visitors can’t easily bookmark different pages – every time they try, all they’ll end up bookmarking is your index page. This is a problem when you have many products, or a site with many levels. If visitors can’t get where they want to go in one or two clicks, they should be able to bookmark specific destinations.
You Can’t Easily Print Pages
You never know when someone will want to print part of your site. But with frames, what they’ll get is a blank page. There is a way around it – you can right-click in the window of content and select the print option – but it’s my opinion that you should never ask a visitor to go through that much effort, or expect them to be Web savvy.
Frames Can Be Turned Off
Visitors have the option of telling their browsers not to interpret framed sites at all, so some people see a whole lot of nothing! There are things you can do to make sure people see something, but it won’t be the site you intended.
Search Engines Don’t Do Frames
Search engines need links in order to crawl and index pages. A framed site is like hitting a brick wall: There are no links for the engines to follow. The number and quality of links to your page are part of what garner your site a page rank. If search engines can’t crawl your site, you get no page rank and people can’t find you.
How To Make Your Site More Attractive to Search Engines
Does your site already use frames? Within the tags , make sure you can use are using the
tags to tell help search engines and visitors who may have frames turned off and the search engines what your site is about. Write a couple of brief, but descriptive , paragraphs about your website/ site or business. These brief paragraphs would also serve well in META tags, which you should also make sure you use on the index page of a framed site. These META tags are really what tell Search Engines what you’re about and go a long way in determing how your site will be ranked. For more information on META tags , please head on over to the
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) page for a very an enlightening article.
If you are in the midst of deciding how to structure your site, I hope this article has convinced you to stay away from frames.
If you have a framed site and need help restructuring your site or making it more attractive to search engines, please visit the Contact page and select the Search Engine Optimization box.
Visit Seattle Design Firm Noodle Design’s web site to learn more about web site development >
Problem: “I’m pretty sure I know I want, I just need to get it put together!”
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | web design | No Comments
Solution: You’ve got your domain name figured out, you know what the content needs to be in your site, and you may even have a rough drawing of what you think your site might look like. Now you just need some one to put it all together for you. I can work from scratch or work off of your ideas. I can also do a redesign of an existing site. You should expect to receive 3 unique drafts of your site. Once you selected one of these drafts there will be unlimited revisions until we arrive at your dream site. From there your site gets put together and put on the web for the world to see!