designbus.net

A more simple design is better – Minimalism

Nina — Tue, 31 May 2011 09:06:08 +0000

A more simple design is better – Minimalism. So many website owners have invested very heavily into their website design and 90% of the time it looks good only for a few weeks. Those 10% who end up with good designs generally change their design a year later. Why after investing such an amount? Because times change and people/businesses change and so heavy designs also change.

Now having a minimalistic design will always look smart and fresh any time of the year and sometimes a simple colour change here and there will make it look new and smarter year on year.

So it’s a smart move for a business.

Take Mobile Tablets More Seriously

Steve — Tue, 31 May 2011 08:58:36 +0000

Take Mobile Tablets More Seriously. Many website owners are still very weary of investing in designing their website for the mobile tablet market. Unfortunately, they think and are of the opinion it will never work but if you know technology even a little, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that the tablet business and market it is going to burst and increase exponentially. Microsoft are going to announce their iPad competitor next week which is going to based on the design of the Windows Phone 7.

Invest now and make your website tablet ready and you’ll be on your way top a lot more success

Stick to standard CSS for all your websites online

Finley — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:18:22 +0000

Stick to standard CSS for all your websites online. Why do I say this? There are so many different browsers around now across numourous platforms (desktop, mobile, apple, iphone, windows phone, etc.) and trying to use any fancy CSS will cause an error on your site in one or more of the other browser.

Look at all the major sites online and you’ll see they all look and work perfectly in all modern browsers. Trying to be a little clever sometimes does not help and can lead to a loss of sales and customers!

So, next time you make a site, make it user friendly!

Mobile Commerce – The next step in online commerce

Steve — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:10:21 +0000

Everyone has bought something online at one point in their lives. Reports show the online industry is booming and is only increasing with no signs of slowing down. If you have a business online and own an ecommerce site that converts well with lots of customers, then you should seriously begin looking into opening a mobile ecommerce website.

Mobile internet might still be small but trust me, it going to get bigger and bigger, especially with the recent launch of the iPad 2!

It wont cost you much and will pay for itself. It’s time to expand your business and go with full force!

HTML 5 – The way forward

Finley — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:02:01 +0000

I’m sure all of you in the design and development industry have heard the term HTML 5 by now (If you haven’t, maybe you shouldn’t be working in this industry?).

More and more websites and browsers are beginning to embrace HTML 5 and in addition to this, so are the newer mobile browsers. The iPhone and iPad does not support flash however they do support HTML 5 videos.

Although HTML 5 is still some time away, it’s best to jump onto the wagon now and prepare for when HTML 5 does come with full force!

There are plenty of resources online and you’ll be spoilt for choice!

Effective design from websites to Christmas cards

Nina — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:11:40 +0000

Design is important in all kinds of different industries. From Christmas cards to global branding, websites to publication, effective design is of paramount importance. Without designers who are willing to push boundaries and get creative, industries like these would remain stagnant and would not be able to move forward.

It may sound strange to suggest that there is much correlation between the creative fortunes of your website and the creative fortunes of producers of Christmas cards, but ultimately both disciplines must appeal to aesthetic considerations.

For both web users and Christmas card buyers, there is a complex visual and aesthetic relationship in play when they decide what sites and cards appeal to them. Design effectively represents the very first impression made by both websites and Christmas cards. If the first impression is a poor one then the web user will shut their browser as quickly as the Christmas card buyer will return their card to the shelf.

It makes sense to get involved in design yourself, but if you don’t really have the confidence or the expertise then you could hire someone who does. Those who write great material for the inside of Christmas cards often need the help of creative people to give their ideas visual representations too.

Youtube To Drop IE6 Support

Finley — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:08:57 +0000

Following our announcement about IE6′s death yesterday, it seems more large websites are following suit. Video website Youtube has announced it will be dropping support for the out dated browser as of 13th March.

Users of Internet Exporer 6 will receive a ‘warning’ message notifying them of the impending changes to the website.

The decision to drop support may not come as a surprise, seeing as Youtube is owned by Google who are now quite clear on their stance about Internet Explorer 6. Other Google applications are likely to follow suit. These changes could be seen as an indication that there will be more websites dropping support as the number of people using the old Internet Explorer browser keeps decreasing.

Design Company Hold ‘IE6 Funeral’

Nina — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:49:37 +0000

A US web design agency will be staging a mock funeral for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 web browser.

Denver based firm Aten Design Group Inc. announced the outdated browser’s ‘death’ through the website IE6Funeral.com. A tongue-in-cheek message on the website states:

“Internet Explorer Six, resident of the interwebs for over 8 years, died the morning of March 1, 2010, in Mountain View, California, as a result of a workplace injury sustained at the headquarters of Google, Inc.

Internet Explorer Six, known to friends and family as ‘IE6,’ is survived by son Internet Explorer Seven, and grand-daughter Internet Explorer Eight.”

The references to Google and March 1 are due to an announcement by the search giant stating that they will be dropping support for IE6 in their Google Doc applications.

Tiny Changes Can Make All The Difference

Steve — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:01:16 +0000

When it comes to web design, even small changes such as changing the colour of a call to action button can make a real impact on the look and effectiveness of a website design.

Of course, the changes have to be inline with the existing design and make sense to the website’s target audience. Well thought out tweaks to an existing design can positively and dramatically change how users engage with the site.

It can also make sense from a financial point of view – making small changes to an existing design is much cheaper than looking into doing an entire new redesign.

Designing For Your Target Audience

Finley — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:18:25 +0000

When creating a look for a new web design or redesign, it’s important that it is well targeted to the kind of audience you expect to receive on the website. A website that someone is comfortable navigating through or feels personally connected is more likely to stay on the site or remember the site to return to at a later date.

This is where research can play a major role. Look at the type of website that the design will go to – does it have a majority audience? For example, a website selling baby clothes is likely to attract new mothers as its major type of visitor. You can then research whzat kind of look this target audience wil appreciate – checking out similar websites in your market can help.

It’s important that this kind of thinking is foremost in your mind when going through a web design – you might love the design but if it doesn’t suit the type of website it is unlikely to be successful!