I’m just taking a look at my SEOmoz stats. I have several competitors for the “web design columbia mo” search category on Google. YourFriendonTheWeb has 10,550 links to its site to stay on top. Studio 7 has 3,580 How many do I need to stay on the front page? 27 Why is that? It’s called [...]
Another domain for sale: HigherEdWebDesign.com
SEO for this site is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. http://HigherEdWebDesign.com/ Make me an offer I can’t refuse.
A few random pieces
Things that didn’t make it into my portfolio and/or to a finalized project, but were still a ton of fun.
For Rent: CoMoWebDesign.com
I have a domain I intended to move CharlieCharlieCharlie.com to at some point, but I’ve decided that I like where I’m at. CoMoWebDesign.com is available for rent to anyone wanting a killer domain with some good SEO potential. Make me an offer via the contact page.
Teaching design: Be a scientist
Recently I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring design students at my office. Teaching something really shows you how little you’ve thought about things. It reveals all the design habits you rely on by forcing you to explain them… and sometimes they’re just that: a habit rather than a logical practice. The hardest thing to explain [...]
Why no $400 Websites?
I see some companies here in Columbia offering “quality” $400 websites. That’s dishonest. Here’s why: It is my experience that setting up a wordpress website and quality theme with proper hosting and domain services reasonable customization of a theme and graphics SEO considerations met training for the client content insertion (assuming that it’s ready to go) [...]
NPR: Minimalist Econ posters
NPR’s Planet Money team posted a series of Minimalist Econ posters and asked for user submissions. Here’s mine: It’s a reflection of my goal of becoming free of debt as an insulator from what goes on around me in the world of economics. Naturally I don’t cheer when markets are troubled, but I don’t wish [...]
On design and being an effective designer
You can’t sit and look at the screen waiting for your design theory to tell you what to do. An effective solution is derived from working and working and working over and over again. Experiment, fail, win, experiment, start over. Work work work. Your design education gives you a framework for working, but doesn’t give [...]
Scheduling and Design Discipline
We all have tasks, projects, paperwork and to-do items we’re putting off. The problem occurs when we put them off until they’re really critically due — at which point that 2 minute chore becomes a frantic nightmare. I know people who perpetually live in that state of frantic – never enough time – overworked state. [...]
Design is about service by communication
One of the quickest ways to size up a web designer in Columbia, Missouri is by how much thought it takes to understand their website at a glance. The old addage, “form follows function” should mean that with a single glance the user can ascertain the purpose and scope of a website. When a web [...]
Learning by designing
I need to make an iPhone app, so I signed up for an iOS design crash course. This is pretty hard stuff (for me) but I’m making it easier on myself by making an infographic about iOS programming as I go. I find that it forces me to learn it by designing an explanation that [...]
What is good web design? Understand the cultural code
Every web design client I work with says the same thing: I want to look professional; we do quality work. And they mean it. In various ways, their product or service is the best. Perhaps they are offering the best value for the dollar. Perhaps they’re offering the highest quality service. Perhaps they’re offering a [...]
Web design in Higher Education
Are things getting better for higher education where the web is concerned? I think so — even if it’s not in a perfect way. What I’m seeing is the rise of mid level administrators who recognize that the web actually is important, and that it’s also important that it be done right, but they don’t [...]
Web design and security
Web security is a very big deal, whether you like it or not. As some of you might be aware, I subscribe to a geopolitical forecasting publication called Stratfor. It was recently pwned by Anonymous Antisec hacktivists. The hacktivists obtained and revealed usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and addresses of thousands of members in the [...]
On having web and print design students
One of the coolest things about my job in recent years has been the addition of student staff. I generally have a handful of students: convergence or broadcast journalism, graphic design, computer science and Information Technology. Apart from having someone young around to show me the latest cat video on YouTube, it’s really refreshing to [...]
Turn off / toggle OS X Lion magic mouse scroll for Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop
I love the Apple Magic Mouse. It makes browsing the web and documents a breeze. However, the slightest misplaced touch to the mouse while in Illustrator or InDesign and poof — you’re taken via unstable wormhole to a different quadrant of your artboard. I searched for a simple solution that does this: If I open [...]
I am my own economic recovery act
If you follow me on Twitter, you see this phrase almost every Sunday: I am my own economic recovery act. What does that mean exactly? I subscribe to two philosophies about money. One is the Robert Kiyosaki’s concept that you should master your own home finances before you begin entrepreneurial enterprises. The other is Dave [...]
The best of web design in Columbia, Missouri 2012
At the close of each year, I always want to post one of these kind of retrospective web design industry posts with a local focus on Columbia, MO. And it never works out.
Rethinking Realty Logo Design
When CoMo Realty approached me about a realty logo, I was really excited to take a new look at an old profession. One of the things that I noticed in my early research on the project is that all of these logos are old — predating the web and the use of online maps which [...]
Glenn’s Cafe Logo Trace
Just a small logo project but a fabulous story. Glenn’s Cafe of Boonville, Missouri contacted me about tracing their logo. This is a pretty simple project — just a couple of hours to trace, check, and save in the appropriate formats. As it turns out, my neighbor’s father (a signmaker) actually made this sign years [...]
2011 Web Design Review
What an interesting year. Here are some thoughts and ideas I can share about the web design business. You can’t hide a web site that’s stagnant One of the hardest things to keep in mind about a new web site is that it will have to be maintained. A web design that doesn’t change and [...]
Thoughts on the new Facebook
Some people are being very reactionary to the new Facebook stories filter, claiming that Facebook is now useless, or that you need to segment your audiences in higher education. I think that very few people do social media right to begin with. On top if that, some of the people freaking out over Facebook have [...]
Question: I’m interested in design. What software should I learn?
Ahh, okay, you’re interested in becoming a designer? Well, in the same way that knowing MS Word doesn’t make one a successful writer, good design is 3% software and 87% design and communication discipline, and 10% business. So what I would recommend to someone interested in design, is to get a BA in Graphic Design and [...]
On work
If you are going to do additional things in your life, they should be categorized as follows: 1) Things that make money 2) Things that save money 3) Hobbies that can become a source of income. You shouldn’t engage in any of these categories if doing so destroys your quality of life. If you make [...]
Worst pedestrian crossing ever
This is a really awful example of a pedestrian crossing in Aurora, Ohio at WildWater Kingdom water park. It’s not clear to pedestrians that you’re not yet in the park, the walk/don’t walk sign is pointed away from the pedestrian path, the signs warning pedestrians is tiny and the pedestrian crossing street markings are the [...]
Recent Spam Message
Dear Sir, I am opening a restaurant in China and I need you help to create the restaurant logo. The logo should conveny a young, funny and affordable image. The logo should show our offer: pasta, wine, coffee, cocktails, steaks, milkshakes… I thought to use a snail (one symbol of France) for the logo. The [...]
On the kerfluffle about Summer Fest
Recently in Columbia, MO the Blue Note sparked a large discussion about summer fest by posting a petition signed by surrounding businesses who feel their business is being put at a disadvantage by Summer Fest. They’re probably right — a successful business knows what its numbers should look like — and they’re probably seeing a [...]
How to stop bleeding talent from Universities
The recent Higher Ed Live episode was an intense journey into the issues surrounding why higher education sometimes seems like a place of doom for designers and their careers. I don’t know if anyone has any hard numbers on this, but I can see why people would be jumping ship at this time in history. [...]
How logo design works: Analyzing Competitors
The first step in any logo is research — one piece of which involves looking at competitors. In developing a logo for a new local realty company, here’s what I discovered in my initial research of their competitors. Colors Certain colors are already “taken” in the realtor market. These colors include: HOB – red, peach [...]
