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SEO Tips for Designers

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a important component of any website. As a web designer or graphic designer, it’s important you understand how SEO works. There is in fact a serious lack of resources for designers who don’t know about SEO out there. Here are some easy SEO NJ tips for designers that will immediately improve the SEO on all of your websites.

Tip 1: Do Not Cheat

Do you think you could outsmart a room full of genius scientists with PHDs? No. Google has many genius scientists with PHDs, and their job is to work tiring hours a week to make sure you can’t fool Google. No matter, what you do, you can’t outsmart them. Just ignore trying to cheat Google and focus on making a web site with great content, and your site will show up fine in the search engine.

Tip 2: Use Your Keywords

Pick some keywords or phrases that describe your website. Use words related to them, whenever it’s natural to do so. Repeating keywords is no good, use them in headlines, sentences and links.

Tip 3: Yes, Content is King

Users search for content. If your website doesn’t have the content people want, then no one will look at it. It’s that simple.

Each page should lead with a relevant H1 tag with one of your keywords, and the first paragraph of text should be a summary of the rest of the page.

Tip 4: Clean Code is Searchable Code

Build your website and write clean and readable HTML. It should follow the conceptual structure of your page, this means navigation is first, followed by the H1 tag, then the first paragraph. Try to use descriptive tags when possible. For example using UL for lists, P for paragraphs, H tags for heads and STRONG for bolded text.

Your site can still look great, this is why you CSS.

Tip 5: Home Page is the Most Important Page

The home page is the secret to your website being found by Google. It has to summarise the rest of the site, and give a clear, compelling reason for a user to look at the other pages in the site. It needs to sell your product or company, see it like a advert. You have one shot only to attract the buyer.

Tip 6: Links Need to Have Meaning

Links

Search engines do pay a lot of attention to the links on your website. Never use words like “click here” or “see more” for a link. The link text needs to describe where the link will take the user, for example “examples of CSS web design” or “learn how you can improve your SEO.”

The more relevant the links on a page, the easier to find the page becomes. Don’t go overboard, and don’t link to anything irrelevant.

Tip 7: Title Tags

Every page in your website should have a title with the site name and a short description of the page. About 70 letters in total. Include one keyword. Remember the page title is what appears in Google’s search results, it should give your user a reason to click on it.

Your navigation links should have title attributes that match the titles of your pages. This looks like <a title=”name of page” href=”link”>. It’s a small thing, but it will give you a significant SEO improvement.

Tip 8: Alt Tags Do Matter

Every image on your website needs to have an alt tag, especially images that are relevant to the page. If your page is focused on clothes for example, then label a screenshot “car for sale”, this will improve your page’s searchability. Labelling it “Pic-001” or “image” will not help.

Tip 9: Ignore Meta Tags

A long time ago meta tags were the secret to good searchable SEO. Those days are behind us now. The only meta tag that really matters now is the description tag. Some search engines may use it to provide the text under the link to your page in their results, but make sure it describes the page in a way that explains why a user searching for your content would want to look at your page.

Tip 10: Must have a Site Map

Just make sure you have a site map. This is an xml file that describes the breakdown of pages in your website. Make one, and upload it to Google.

Just remember that search engines are designed to find what a user want. This means the best way to make your site findable is to design it for a dummy (make it dummy proof). Your job as a web designer is to solve a problem, not make art, or feed your ego.

Your problem is to provide your users with a website that is easy to use and have helpful information for what they’re looking for. If you can do that, then the search engines will find you.

I recommend this page also SEO Guide for Designers.

June 1, 2016 admin SEO, Web, Web design Comments Off

Develop an effective brand

Branding is being embraced by small businesses as a means to distinguish themselves from their competition. It takes time to develop an effective brand, both in the creation and the implementation stage. A brand is not created overnight; it is planned, maintained, groomed. Done effectively, the process is well worth your energy.

To explain what a brand is simple, it’s the public image of a business or product. It is a promise. It is reputation. When delivered consistently, a brand shapes consumers’ perceptions and their expectations. A successful brand celebrates personality, values and embodies the spirit of the subject it represents.

The objective of a branding strategy is to develop a clear, compelling and consistent message that is easily conveyed. A good brand contains messages that can speak to a large audience, including it’s current customers, and potential people. This has to be delivered in a short, simple way.

Creating a Logo

A crucial part of developing a branding is the creation of a good logo, but remember your logo is not your brand. This visual element symbolises the brand, plays a large role in establishing the emotional connection with the product. Integrating the logo into all corporate elements, including PR, information packets, brochures, advertising, videos, newsletters, websites and social media, is a important part of building the brand identity. Consistency in design, look is vital in building credibility.

A important rule for logo design is that it must be able to speak on it’s own. Effective logos should not have to be explained. Take a look at some of the world’s most successful brands: the Nike swoosh, the golden arches of McDonalds, the interlocking rings of the Olympics, the colorful peacock of NBC and the bite out of Apple. Brands & a strong visual identity helps this happen.

Investigating a Brand Identity

It is easy to hire a graphic design agency and writer to assist in the creation of your brand. Significant time, money and energy will be lost if a well thought out plan isn’t planned first. The first place to start is with a SWOT analysis. When evaluating your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to your company, it is important to be honest.

A thorough review of your business should include what it will accomplish, how the products and services will be delivered, why it even exists and what it makes it different from your competitors. Also consider the target audience, what their concerns are, and how the business can help them. Be careful not to quickly reject an idea as ridiculous during this brainstorming phase.

When the list is at a point where it can be narrowed down to the three best ideas, a focus group should be put together to gauge their perceptions, reactions, misconceptions, feelings and opinions. A another focus group of staff and members, as well as current customers, should also be gathered.

Building a Branding Strategy

Negative feedback about products and services should be considered when developing the branding strategy. Make a list of the current public perceptions, then take a critical look at how those beliefs can be repositioned.

At the very least, the focus groups opinions should drive the final branding position statement. Around one to two paragraphs, this statement must embody who the company is and what it delivers differently. From these sentences, sound bites that can be incorporated any time someone speaks or writes about the business.

Once this is done, visual and textual elements can begin the development stage. These should reflect the personality and values of your brand, but also match the interest of your target audience. For example, if a skateboard company wants to attract a young and hip audience, the messages, fonts and artwork should be playful and outdoorsy. In complete contrast, a retirement house needs to build a more subdued brand in order to portray an image of trust and peace.

Utilising a Slogan

A slogan should be developed to define the business to its audience. When a customer hear a slogan, they should immediately think of its associated company. For example, when someone says, “Just do it,” the first thought is Nike. Other large corporations have been extremely successful with these tactics, including M&M’s “It melts in your mouth, not in your hands”.

The objective is to keep the slogan simple and easy to remember. Being clever is only considered if it doesn’t confuse the message. It also has to be short since the slogan is typically incorporated into the logo design, as well as all collateral marketing pieces.

As the brand is implemented, it is important that everyone affiliated with the business is able to convey the brand messages. Each person who represents the company is a brand ambassador, from the CEO, to the sales manager, to the receptionist, to the staff.

May 23, 2016 admin Brand Identity, Branding, Branding Adelaide Comments Off

Let's stop using bad stock photos

I really don’t like stock photography. It looks bland, it looks unprofessional, and above all else it’s cheesy. If anybody ever created a global set of rules to govern the internet, it would be to vote a ban on stock imagery. Designers, let’s all get together and stop using bad stock photos.

There is a saying that goes ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, and in today’s very visual-heavy, online world, images are more important than they have ever been before. But, a picture isn’t worth a thousand words if you use tacky stock photography to try and get your visual message across.

You know the ones I’m referring too; they are either bland photos of mildly content people doing boring things, or extremely excited people with stupid massive smiles. My favourite are the business images, good looking people all dressed in their suits smiling around a computer.

Below is a list of the worst offenders.

1. Surreal stock photos

Surreal stock photos are the ones that don’t make any sense, they try to be arty or funny. For example it could be a businessman standing in a field holding balloons, or perhaps a busy person with post-it notes stuck all over their face. A person with six arms is a freak, irrespective of how happy they look.

bad-stock-photos- (2) Then there are those surreal ones where somebody is forming a heart with their hands whilst the sun shines through them which can be found in use on the website of practically every single natural therapy business in existence. It has been done to death, let’s find something new. How is a business ever going to stand apart if they use all the same photos.

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Or what about when when you see a beautiful woman eat a salad, and it’s literally the funniest thing she has ever done?

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2. Group stock photos

Group shots are always so diverse, that they only act to draw your attention to how gender. ethnically and age diverse the photo is. They feature a man, a woman, a young person, an old person, a black person, a white person and an Asian person. These are all over the internet, you can tell a mile away they are stock photos.

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The groups used in stock photos are always way happy. What about a smiling tradesperson giving the thumbs up, this tells you that they will do a brilliant job, and are completely trustworthy. Nothing signifies trust more than a tradesperson giving a thumbs up.

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Then there’s construction workers laughing over their site plans, I find building plans pretty hilarious also.

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Then theres the group shots of people jumping in the air with their arms outstretched for some unknown reason. I have never put on a suit before and lept into the air with an idiotic grin on my face. Have you?

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3. Business stock photos

Business stock photography is the worst of the worst. It always features generic business people who are ready to do business things.

Any business using these photos should have their HR department investigated because they only seem to hire ridiculously good looking models who’ve spent far too much money whitening their teeth.

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I love the photos of business people shaking hands, these are probably the most over used stock photos on the internet because that’s what business people do, they shake hands. I spend my entire day where I do nothing other than shake peoples hands.

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Then there’s the happy business people in a meeting who look like somebody just said the funniest joke. It’s physically impossible for people to be having that much fun in a meeting because meetings are not fun. I know the meetings I have attended are not as fun as the one in this picture.

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What about the pump fist! Don’t forget about the business people crowded around a computer screen all pumping their fists in the air like they just don’t care.

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And finally, my favourite! customer support. The gorgeous secretary staring at us, it’s critical to show an attractive and friendly customer support woman wearing a phone headset.

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Stop using stock photography

The reason why a lot of websites use typical cliche stock photography is because their business doesn’t have strong imagery associated with it. Instead of investing their money into the image of their business, they take the interpretation of what they do. Thats why so many corporate businesses must use dull and cliche stock photos of people wearing suits shaking hands.

Instead of resorting to stock images, hire a professional photographer. A great photo is an opportunity for you to showcase the character of your business. You may not be as pretty, but you’re real.

Interesting images are worth more than just a thousand words… It adds value to your business and more importantly, it will stop you from looking tacky and unprofessional.

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May 4, 2016 admin Blogs, Photography Comments Off

When Clients Ask for Discounts

I bought a couple of new jackets recently. One was from G-Star, another from Country Road. They were not cheap, but not unreasonably expensive. I paid the price the shop asked. What I didn’t do was haggle over the price with the shop owner.

As a professional design agency, we have fees. We are not cheap, but we are also not unreasonably expensive. And we always try to be transparent in our pricing. That means that we prefer not to waste my time on price negotiations.

Sometimes, clients contact us and say, “We’d love to hire you. But can we get a discount?”, or better yet “If you look after us now, we will give you more work as our business grows”. We have found a great way to deal with these discount requests: I simply ask our customers, “Why?”

My usual reply also includes something like this, “Is there a specific reason you believe you are entitled to a discount?” Without my directly saying yes or no, I’ve bounced the question right back to the customer, forcing them to re-consider what they’re asking and to give them a chance to point out something that could be of value to us.

Some clients say they cannot afford our fees, so they’re hoping to get us at half our normal price. Sometimes, they even ask me to do my work for free (LOL). “It will be a great opportunity to present your work!” I hear. But this always just baffles me. I have never considered asking Country Road to sell me a jacket at half the price, or to just give it away for free: “Because it will be a great opportunity to show off your clothes!” Imagine if the world worked like that.

If I find a business too expensive, I wouldn’t have shopped with them. Instead, I would have checked out a cheaper imitation business. So, when faced with the discount question, my next move is to tell clients that I will happily refer them to other design agencies.

Sometimes, clients are so big they consider themselves too important, that the magnitude of their arrogance itself seems to qualify them for a discount. They say “You will be able to add our name to your list of clients!” (again, LOL).

Some clients just love haggling us. My problem with this attitude is that those clients assume that we are overpaid and with some negotiation, it should be possible to talk the fee down to a “proper” price.

Another possibility is that a client assumes that we are so desperately in need of a sale that we are willing to be underpaid, which seems like a lack of integrity on the side of the client. They sometimes say, “You probably have a special price for friends,” to which I might reply, “I have many friends and our fee is what they pay. I assume you want me to treat all my friends equally and fairly?”

We don’t say “no” to clients who ask us for a discount. We just ask “Why?” because it’s possible that they have a very good reason? It comes down to customising the value of the exchange.

The only time we would agree to give a discount is if we get something in return. In exchange for a discount you ask your client to give you something which is important or of value to you. Then you will find that your client stops and thinks about it for a minute, usually with a reply of ‘OK, we see you’re point’.

At the end of the day don’t sell yourself short. No one will value you. Set a fair price for your services.

Most of us set way too low a price. Put it a little higher than you would normally be inclined to do. The worst that can happen is someone will say no.

April 27, 2016 admin Blogs, Branding Adelaide Comments Off

How To Write A Design Brief

How does a client get the design they want? The perfect design you dream about in your head? … Writing a design brief is the answer.

Whether you are a designer or a client, an effective design brief is the most important factor in ensuring that a project is successful straight away.

This article will tell you how to write a design brief that will be both beneficial to the client and design agency.

This article will be based from the client’s perspective though.

1. What Is A Design Brief?

What is a design brief? A design brief is something that is critical to any design project as provides the designer with all the information needed to meet and exceed your expectations.

A design brief should focus on the results and outcomes of the design and the business objectives of the design project. It should not try to deal with the aesthetics of the design. That is the responsibility of the designer.

The design brief also allows the client to focus on exactly they want a designer to achieve before any work starts.

A good design brief will ensure that you get a high quality design that meets your requirements, providing you have chosen the right design agency.

2. How To Write A Design Brief

Answer these questions below and your design brief will be nearly finished… the rest will come from questions from the design agency after you submit the brief.

Answer the questions and remember, to provide as much detail as possible! Please this does not mean one line answers, the more you explain, the easier it is for the design agency.

What does your business do?

Be concise and clear

What does your company / organisation do?
What is your company’s history?

What are the goals?

What are you trying to communicate and why?
What is the overall goal of the new design project?
Are you trying to sell products or raise awareness of your products / service?
How do you differ from your competitors?
Do you want to completely rebrand yourself, or are you updating your products / service?

Who is the target market?

What is your target market’s psychographics & demographics ie. age, gender, income, tastes, views, attitudes, employment, geography, lifestyle, trends, habits.

What content is needed?

The copy and pictures used in a design are crucial as the design itself and you should clearly state who is going to be providing the copy and pictures. You may need to look into getting a professional copywriter / photographer – ask your design agency for some recommendations.

What copy is to be included in the design? And who is providing the copy?
What pictures / photographs / diagrams / infographics etc need to be used? And who is providing these?

What are the specs?

What size is the design going to be? i.e A4, A3, DL, etc.
Where is it going to be printed? Is it online, business cards, stationery, or signage on your car?
What other information should the designer know in regards to specifications?

Have you got something already in mind?

You should provide the design agency with some examples of what you feel to be effective or relevant to your design, even if it is from your main competitors (you can learn a lot from your competitors). This can help set a benchmark for your design agency.
Provide the design agency with things not to do. This will give the designer an idea of what to avoid and will avoid you being disappointed.

What Is Your Budget?

Providing the budget upfront allows the designers to know if the project is going to be worthwhile to complete.

What is the deadline?

Give the design agency a detailed schedule and set realistic deadlines for the completion of the work. You need to take into account the stages of the design project such as consultation, concept development, production and final delivery.

Rushing jobs helps no one and mistakes can be made if a job is pushed through without time to review.

And now a tip For The Design Agency

As a design agency it is important to have a template such as this to give to clients on your first meeting. By having a template ready, it shows them your’e professional and saves them (and you) a lot of time and money.

April 13, 2016 admin Branding Adelaide, Graphic Design Adelaide Comments Off

Why a professional logo design doesn't cost $99

Professional Logo design today is totally under rated. People do not understand how important a good logo is and how valuable it is to their business. We are going to outline some very important points explaining to you exactly why logo design should not cost $99, and why your logo is not something you should ever take lightly.

We will do this by comparing “cheap logo design” to “professional logo design” and we will outline the reasons why professional logo designers don’t charge low fees and why you should invest in a professional logo design.

What Is A Logo?

To really understand what a logo must achieve, we first must know what a logo is. A logo’s design is for immediate brand recognition, it inspires trust, admiration and loyalty. A logo is one aspect of a businesses brand, or economic entity, its colours, shapes and fonts usually are different from others in a similar market. Logos are also used to identify business.

It makes us so frustrated as to why some people have no logo, or why they would even bother with a getting a cheap logo designed if a logo is meant to do all of these things.

Spec Work

Before we get into comparing cheap vs professional logo design I want to talk to you a bit about SPEC work. “Spec” has become the short form for any work done on a speculative basis.

For example. If you design this for me, I will pay you if I like it. – This is clealry not right.

To explain, let’s create a scene in another industry where SPEC work does NOT exist.

“I went for a dental check-up the other day. After the dentist finished, he suggested I need some work to prevent further tooth decay. I told him to go ahead, and if the dental work to my satisfaction, I’d be more than happy to pay. He responded that he wouldn’t be able to do that, because he normally provides a service when a fee is agreed upon up-front. I said I’d let him know after I checked in with other local dentists.”

This sort of thing happens in the design industry every day and is ruining the design industry. A designer should not have to invest time and resources with no guarantee of payment much like a dentist or any other professional.

Check out these comics below about Spec Work, they are very amusing.

Cheap Logo Design

What quality can you expect for a logo in between the $5 – $200 price bracket. Have a look at the following link $35 logo design contest that was held on Digital Point Forums.

The “brief” for the logo design was

“MAKE A LOGO FOR THE SITE ‘SPELA PIANO’. THE MEANING OF THAT IS PLAY PIANO. THIS IS A SITE WHERE OUR MEMBERS CAN LEARN TO PLAY PIANO ONLINE.”

Below you can see the concepts from the contestants, which one do you think won?

You will notice that nearly all of the logos above use free standard issue fonts and don’t assign to the rules of what makes a good logo. Ie. memorable, effective, describable and scalable.

Ask yourself the following questions to the contest logos above:

How many of the logos can you describe or remember?
Do you think these logos are effective without colour?
Are they scalable enough?
Do they gain immediate recognition of what they are?
Do they convey the company’s character or personality?
Do they relate to your clients by conveying a feeling of credibility?
Do they have association with quality?

Professional Logo Design

Now compare these professional logo designs and answer the same questions as above….

Can you any difference?

Why are they so different? Because professional logo designers have a process that involves research and conceptualising and this is why they do not charge $99.

The design process of a professional logo designer usually consists of:

A Design Brief: This is a questionnaire and interview with the client to create a design brief.
Research: Conduct research focused on the market itself, on its history, and its competitors.
Conceptualising: Develop logo concept(s) around the brief and the research.
Reflection: Taking breaks throughout their design process. This lets ideas mature and get them renewed enthusiasm and get feedback.
Presentation: Choose whether to present only a select few logos to the client.

Do you believe doing all of that costs $99?

On that note, did you know that the software used to make the logo is around $2,000 in itself, let alone the computer or the costs associated with essentials… i.e. paper, ink and an internet.

More Reasons

Here are some more responses from other designers on reasons why logo design does not cost $99.

A logo is the first impression your customers get of your business.
A logo needs longevity, it should stand the test of time.
A logo needs to be original (not a copy from somewhere else).
A logo should look professional.
A logo should reflect the business.
A logo is the starting point of your corporate image.

Now look back at those $99 logo designs to see they follow the above points.

How much does a logo cost?

This is the most frequently asked question, and as we say to all our clients it is the hardest one to answer without more details of the project.

The cost of a professional logo design is a question that cannot be easily answered as every company has different needs, the best way to approach this question is to draw up a customised quote for each individual. This is how we approach it at DesignLab.

A number of facts have to be taken into consideration when designing a logo, i.e. how many logo concepts, how many changes are required, how much research is needed, the size of the business, does the business need corporate stationery (such as business card or letterhead design).

The best way to find out how much a logo design will cost is to get a quote from the design agency.

Is Time To Invest?

Isn’t it about time you invested in a professional logo design?

You can can get a free quote by calling Spiros on 0431 926 575 or email us at info@designlab.net.au

April 4, 2016 admin Graphic Design Adelaide, Logo design Comments Off

Generating Traffic to a WordPress Site

Generating Traffic to a WordPress Site is not so difficult to do these days. WordPress is a fantastic CMS to generate SEO with. You have access to many SEO plugins, our favourite pick is Yoast. But there are many other things you can do to your WordPress site to help generate SEO.

Here are some tips to help you generate traffic to a WordPress site.

How to generate traffic to a new WordPress Web Site

1. Focus your content on your audience who are likely to share it

“Content is king“. The quality of the content you write can take you to the top in Google; and poorly written content can make you lose your audience. The key point here is to write unique and informative content. There must be no grammatical errors, and copying is a strict no-no.

When planning your content, think from the perspective of your customers.

For example what do they want to read from you? Audiences are of different types, there regular visitors, some active users, and less active users. Some people love to share what they ‘like’. Those people are highly active on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Your aim should be to identify those users who will share your content. What makes a person share certain posts? Use capturing images, infographics and videos in your blogs. Stats show that people feel more connected with visuals, and such posts are more likely to get shared. The more your blogs get shared, the higher the chances of getting more traffic on your site.

2. Make your content SEO friendly

Wordpress Settings

SEO, done right, will gain you traffic. Search engines such as Google are a great source of traffic and WordPress is a very SEO friendly platform. You just need to change its settings to make you website search engine friendly.

During developing your site, you need to check the privacy settings. Uncheck the box that says “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”.

There is a Permalink setting where you need to configure the URL that is search engine friendly. Never leave your blog uncategorized; always choose a suitable category for it. Similarly there are many small changes that can help you make your blogs SEO friendly which help you gain better traffic. The old age saying that “20% efforts done in right direction can bring 80% of desired results” is so true.

3. Make good use of Google Analytics

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a great tool that every one must install to check the sources of their traffic. It gives all the information such as what are the sites which are sending maximum traffic, average time spent by the visitors, total visits, percentage of new visits, bounce rate and much more. And the best thing is it’s FREE!

All this data is very important in working out the marketing strategy for your site. You can find out the sources of high traffic as well as sources of high quality traffic. High quality traffic means visitors spending more time on your site which is exactly what you want. This can then help you create a strategy and concentrate on sites giving you high quality traffic.

4. Use Social Media as much as possible

Social media is becoming an extremely powerful means of gaining traffic. LinkedIn and Google+ have more than 300 million users. Facebook alone has more than 1 billion users and this count is increasing every day. People who are active on social media can be referred to as “content distributors” or influencers.

Here are some useful tips:

Create a business page for your site in all social media sites such as Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+ etc.
Make sure the profiles and the pages that you create for your business are 100% correctly completed. Fill in as much information as possible. Profiles that are complete are more likely to gain more trust and credibility from your audience.
Share all your posts on all these social media sites. Make them appealing so that more people want to share your posts.
Connect directly with the audience at your page.
Attaining success at social media sites requires patience and persistence. Make sure you follow all the above mentioned tips carefully.

5. Use effective images, graphics and illustrations

Pexels

It is always smart to use relatable images, graphics and illustration in your site. A image speaks more than content. You can either create your own images, or you can purchase them from sites such as Shutterstock or free from Pexels. These images are a great source of traffic through the means of image searching.

One tip is, always allow other people to share your images but on condition that they link that back to your site. That way you are making great use of your images. If anyone shares your images without giving you a back link, then find this out using the Image Search function. You then contact those owners and ask to give you back links and chances are they will.

6. Keyword research

Keyword Planner

The choice of right keywords can play a major role in the success of your website. There are many tools out there that can help in this regard such as Keywordtool.io, Adwords Keyword Planner. You can use these tools to find out the phrases that are commonly searched by people related to your business. These keywords should be used to make titles for your posts. Optimising blogs with target keywords can help you get better traffic. The target keyword should be used creatively in title and the content should be focused on the subject.

7. Guest bloggers

Guest blogging is also a great way of gaining traffic. For new blogs, it is difficult to get consent of established blog owners to post on their blog. It is recommended to use any personal connections in these instances. Contact people who already have an established audience. Guest blogging is an excellent way of building a brand and contacting new people.

8. Optimised site design

A well optimised website design is a ‘no-brainer’ for the success of any site, and a good template is the backbone. A professional design can help gain confidence. The usability also plays a major part. Make sure your site is easy to navigate. They should be able to easily find and do what they want to do. The design should be responsive on all platforms such as smart phones and tablets.

9. Interact with your visitors

When visitors read your blogs and if they like it or not, they are likely to hopefully leave comments. Reply to all the comments. If there is a doubt, delete it right away. If it is an appreciation, then thank the visitor. Feel free to remove negative comments and make sure you don’t allow blog spamming. Visitors like when they find that the blogger is giving them attention and their chances of them revisiting your blog increases.

The success of a website depends upon on traffic, so follow these tips for success!

DesignLab can also help you with SEO optimisation for your WordPress site. Call Spiros on 0431 926 575.

March 10, 2016 admin SEO, Web design, WordPress Comments Off

Rebranding Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House’s new rebranding will attempt to solve a problem unique to the architecture.

Since it’s construction was completed back in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has become one of the world’s most iconic buildings. Over 7 million people a year take a photo in front of the building, but only a small fraction of those people actually walk through the doors for a tour. although the Sydney Opera House is a popular arts destination, with over 1 million tourists a year, it doesn’t have much of an identity that it can call its own, independent of the building’s facade.

The Sydney Opera House was meant to be seen as one with its exterior; you supposed to want to go in as much as you wanted to walk around it. Now, Interbrand Australia has created a new identity for the Sydney Opera House that the CEO Cooney hopes will finally succeed in integrating the organisation’s iconic exterior with the vibrant arts.

Inspired by geometry and shadow of the building’s exterior, Interbrand’s new logo encompasses a custom typeface to accompany its old logo (an abstract, geometric representation of the Opera House), as well as a visual language that references the building’s iconic architecture. “At the heart of it, we wanted to help the Sydney Opera House reassert its purpose,”.”To be a source of inspiration within a building, not just a building.” says Cooney.

It’s a problem unique to the architecture, of which the Sydney Opera House designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon in 1957. Everyone wants an famous building. But what happens when your building is just too famous? How do you refocus attention when the building is viewed as more important than the cultural institution it was designed to promote?

Interbrand’s approach was simple, Cooney said it’s important to understand the history of the Sydney Opera House. It was commissioned at a time when Australia, regarded as a colony, had just stepped onto the world stage as one of the Allied victors of World War II. “Up until then, people had very simple ideas about what Australia was.”. “But Joseph Cahill, the premier of New South Wales, understood that not only is public infrastructure important to the building of a nation, but so was building an infrastructure of the arts. So he put out the task to make an arts center.” This arts center, became the Sydney Opera House. “The project was a crucial part of Australia working out who we wanted to be, and how the world saw us.”

In other words, the Sydney Opera House original purpose was to shift perspectives. Shifting perspectives is also the goal (and even the name!) of the Sydney Opera House’s new identity. “We looked to the structure’s details for inspiration.” “Most of the shapes we use are inspired by the building itself, which is both beautiful in its magnitude, and beautiful in miniature.” Cooney says.

The new identity includes a new custom designed typeface named Utzon. Designed by Swiss typographer Laurenz Brunner, Utzon’s letters are beveled so that any given glyph is made up of multiple slopes and angles. When animated with a light source, these bevels create dramatic shadow patterns, which evoke the Sydney Opera House when it’s at sundown. And these letters don’t just exist as vectors: they have been designed to be real-world objects, so that they can be used as physical signage, and illuminated by real light sources.

Another element of the identity are the colourful new sails used to tie together the posters, commercials, and other materials. The sails are the subtle chevron pattern of the Sydney Opera House’s exterior, but unlike Utzon’s shells, they aren’t just monochromatic: They also are vibrantly coloured with shades plucked from the famous tapestries which hang on the inside of the building. It’s another example of how Interbrand Australia is trying to unite what goes on inside the Sydney Opera House. The sails look great in static form (for example, as the background pattern on a poster for an upcoming program), but like everything about the new identity, also lend themselves to motion. “When you walk around the building, it feels like it moves,” explains Cooney. “We wanted our work to have the same effect.”

It’s a little too early to tell if the Opera house’s new identity will help improve the attendance: It only started rolling out last December in 2015. But Interbrand Australia has succeeded in what it set out to do: The new identity looks native to the place. When Utzon sat down at his desk to draft the original design of the Sydney Opera House, he didn’t simultaneously create an integrated brand identity for the organisation his arts centre would house. But now, thanks to Interbrand Australia, it looks like he did.

All Images: courtesy Interbrand Australia

March 4, 2016 admin Blogs, Brand Identity, Branding, Graphic design Comments Off

How To Sell Your Design To Skeptical Clients

You know that nervous feeling just before your’e about to sell your design ideas to your clients?

It’s because you know they’re going to ask why, and you’re going to have to think up some sort of explanation. And you’re going to stutter through it with meaningless phrases: “It works because of balance” “I think this is the way to go.”

Why not instead enter the meeting with a solid argument in your back hand. To truly convince a client, nothing beats a lucid, coherent argument based on actual evidence. You may be a designer, but when it comes to pitching an idea, you have to act like a salesman.

Here are four techniques for making a good convincing sale.

1. LISTEN AND REPEAT THEIR WORDS BACK TO THEM

Sometimes, your client is trying to tell you things they don’t know how to express themselves. Your role as a designer is to pick through the subtle ties and pull out the truths they’re not being explicit about. Before you can make a valid case for any kind of solution, you need to know what the problem is. And that means listening.

Listening helps you determine what the constraints of a project really is, what the client’s concerns are. It helps you see whether or not you’ve already got the right argument in hand or if it needs looking at again.

It also helps put your client into a mindset. Repeating what you’ve heard back to the client you’re listening to is the No. 1 way to make a client feel they are being heard to the ideas you’re about to show. It shows that your forthcoming recommendations will be tightly relevant to the client’s needs.

2. ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS CONTINIOUSLY

A good designer should ask questions—about the business, they’re concerns, they’re needs, they’re prior decisions, they’re team and goals. A great designer wants to see the whole picture.

They ask questions because they’re really curious. They ask questions because the answers can help them see what they’re getting into. They ask questions because they want to work toward a vision they can use to make good design decision. Asking questions lets them do that.

Asking questions lets a designer form a coherent debate. Asking is as important as listening. It’s actually part of listening. Asking means dragging more information out into the spotlight.

Next time you walk into an interview, ask questions. Next time you need to make an informed decision ask questions. Next time you need to fend off a bad idea, someone’s bias, your own bias, ask questions.

3. PATIENTLY EXPLAIN YOUR REASONING

A client asked me to add “click here” to a link. They were worried users wouldn’t know what I meant for them to click—the link was a question like “Forgot password?” I explained the reasons for not including “Click here.”

We all know it takes time to explain things like this. That email took 15 minutes to write.

But it’s worth it. It buys you respect, and it shows your client respect. What they hear is that you care enough to explain your rationale. It also demonstrates that you have a rationale for everything you do. It can build trust.

Educating your clients and co-workers and stakeholders with every recommendation you make has effective effects:

It guarantees you have a reason for your recommendation.
It gives everyone a good reason for the recommendation.
It has a long-term effect: It teaches clients to think about design. To think like a designer. To think like a consumer. It teaches them that every decision has an impact on a user’s experience and therefore should be considered. Do this well, and over time you won’t need to form an argument for your reasoning.

4. PRESENT YOUR RATIONALE LIKE AN ESSAY

If you can present your case and do it at the start, you won’t need to argue. Your narrative will address every concern before it comes up.

It helps to apply an essay-style structure to your presentation. When you’re presenting design work to someone, that essay can be helpful. It’s a template. Its tells a story.

Here’s one tip for how to keep an audience captive while you’re making your rationale.

A lot of times, your audience, especially smaller ones will want to ask questions during the presentation. This is fine if it’s a minor question with a quick answer. There is no quicker way to derail your argument than to let something like this distract you and leave everyone forgetting what you were hoping to achieve.

The tip is simple: Ask your customers to hold their questions until the end of the presentation.

In many examples, especially if you’ve anticipated their concerns, you’ll have already answered most of the big questions. This doesn’t mean you’re done. It’s practically a guarantee that someone will ask you something you haven’t yet thought of. This is why the questions are at the end.

If you let these things throw you off track in the middle of a presentation, you may never answer the other important questions. If your meeting is an hour, leave 5-10 minutes at the end for questions.

Whatever the case, leave some time. Questions are the only way you’ll know what you’ve missed.

In Summary: It can always be a tough sell to convince your’e client your reasons for why you design a project the way you do. Steve Jobs put it so well “The customer is always right was told by the customer”. People don’t know what they want, you need to show them. Believe in what you do and why you do it. Remember customers come to you because they can’t do it themselves.

February 24, 2016 admin Graphic design, Tips & Tricks Comments Off

Future design concept

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February 3, 2016 admin Business, Future, Uncategorized No comments yet