Recently in design Category

Recent Project: PetsInPractise.co.uk

By jenn on April 26, 2012 10:40 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

My latest website project was to create a redesign for the Pets in Practise website. Pets in Practise is a company based in the North Hampshire and Berkshire area that specialises in giving advice on pet behaviour, training, and helping pets overcome behaviour problems. The company's website was built a little over a year ago using the Joomla content management system for the employees to make updates, and the company wanted to refresh its design.

The redesign took two weeks, with the majority of the design and implementation completed at the weekend and in the evenings. This included a new design that was mocked up in Adobe Fireworks, colour correcting images to use for the slideshow, and development integration in Joomla Content Management System (CSS changes with some HTML changes). A screenshot of the new design is below.

Despite never having had any experience with Joomla before this project, I found it to be quite easy to understand and work through. Some of the editing within the Content Management System can be fiddly, but it was otherwise fine, bearing in mind that all Content Management Systems have their own strengths and weaknesses. It seemed robust enough to make the changes, though sometimes it inputs some bad code, which needed to be cleaned up in order to fix a few of the pages.

Obviously, for those of you who are doing a similar project or any web redesign project, I cannot state how important it is to back up the data files and database before beginning any work (as well as backing up the files once the website has gone live). Nothing went wrong for me, but it's always important to back everything up, and it's such a simple step that could save a project for potentially going completely wrong and losing everything. Also, I've got friends in the same industry who have told stories about an old employer not backing up the data, but they fortunately had taken a backup, so they were able to retrieve some of the work.

Coming back to the website redesign, I've attached a screenshot of their old design below, and I analysed what could be changed and put these items in a list.

The website is text-oriented, and there's not much that really grabs the user to pull them into the website. There's no definition of a hierarchy to pull the user in, such as headings. Most visitors will skim over material, but if the website is visually engaging and the content is presented with visual cues (defined headings and a hierarchy), then visitors will take a little time to skim and read content more thoroughly.
A phone number or contact information is not displayed prominently. There is a phone number in the footer, but it's not noticeable. A smaller, local business should include more prominent contact information so a prospective client can easily get in touch and not have to search the website for this information.
The navigation could be broken down into sub-navigation as one mentions information about the company and the other mentions specific information about training and behaviour. The navigation menu itself also feels a bit 'lost'.
I felt that the services offered was slightly vague on the home page, and this could be improved with headings and graphical elements breaking up the flow of the page.
I didn't like the slideshow photographs blended together, and I felt the photographs were stronger on their own.
The company has a Facebook page and a Twitter page, and I felt that this could be advertised more prominently to keep regular clients collaborating and up-to-date as the owner of the business keeps the social media websites up-to-date.
I felt that testimonials on the home page is absolutely necessary for this type of business and it could get clients to use the service. The company has many testimonials from previous clients, and I felt that it was a shame for these to be hidden under a sub-menu.
I felt that it was important to mention the owner and her qualifications on the website more prominently than in the footer, where it gets 'lost'.

Send me a message and let me know what you think of the new design.

Also, the owner is lovely, so if you have a problematic pet or need someone to speak about pets and are located in the area, then I am sure she could help. The website is http://www.petsinpractise.co.uk.

Lovely Lambs at 'The Herdy Company'

By jenn on April 24, 2012 10:35 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I recently discovered the giftware shop, "The Herdy Company", online. I love the cute sheep designs, and the minimal sheep design with a variety of bright colours goes a long way to create a simple and cute product. While visiting Salisbury and walking into the National Trust shop, I was greeted by many adorable merchandise from "The Herdy Company", which I had recognised instantly from another blog, and I bookmarked these. (Unfortunately, there weren't any egg cups, which I find the most adorable, but I really would not have any use for these anyway as I don't care for eggs.) "The Herdy Company" sells mugs, tea towels, postcards, keyrings, egg cups, and many more giftable items with its simple sheep-head design and bright colours. I bought the bright pink towel, which I snapped a photograph of below.

"The Herdy Company" brand was created in England's Lake District, and it is inspired by the Herdwick sheep breed, which is found in the Lake District. A percentage of the cost of products bought from "The Herdy Company" is donated to the community. According to their website (http://www.herdy.co.uk), products are ethically-sourced with natural dyes. The company also has won awards, such as best "small company of the year". They have also done well during problematic economic times.

(The photographs below are from the official website of "The Herdy Company".)

A Collection of Vintage Fonts

By jenn on April 19, 2012 7:10 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

As a web developer and designer, I am always on the lookout for different styles of font to use for my projects. In the past few months, I have been busy looking at vintage fonts for my my new website redesign, and I have decided to display a few of these in this post for your projects. I have decided to use the "Goudy Bookletter 1911" font for heading text on my website. This font is also available to use through Google Web Font, which is convenient for websites. You may also recognise the "Aphasia BT" font, which I used for my wedding invitations. I hope you enjoy the small selection below.

Here are a couple of good font resources for more vintage fonts, as well as other styles of font:

http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/

http://www.losttype.com

Inspiring Traditional and Timeline Facebook Designs for Big Brands

By jenn on April 16, 2012 12:49 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

A little while ago, I started to compile a list of the best corporate Facebook websites. Now that the Facebook Timeline has been rolled out to users, these sites have been replaced by new ones in the Timeline format. So, I'll include the original Facebook page and the new Facebook Timeline page from these brands, across many different types of products (fashion, beauty products, cars, food products, restaurants, gaming consoles, and theme parks) which I felt stood out.

Brands are embracing Facebook to keep their customers informed and to engage with them by providing competitions and a chance to speak to them and to speak other customers. Many of these products have loyal fans that identify with the brand, and engaging in the customer is an important aspect of their marketing strategy.

American Eagle Outfitters - Original Facebook and Timeline sites

American Eagle Outfitters provide contests, music, and freebies as ways to engage their customers on their Facebook page. The image and logo in their Timeline page is a strong image, signifying their identity and customers as belonging to a crowd.

Volkswagen Original Facebook and Timeline sites

Volkswagen makes a point of getting users to "like" the brand and provides their television advertisements on their Facebook page.

MINI Facebook and Timeline

MINI engage with their customers by creating competitions to involve and give them an identity. The new Timeline site depicts an evolution of their brand while keeping their customers informed about what is going on in the world of MINI.

Lacoste Facebook and Timeline sites

Lacoste get their customers involved whilst promoting their fashion and sense of identity to their followers.

Subway Facebook and Timeline sites

Subway showcase their sandwiches and new products with the use of bright photographs of their sandwiches.

Applebees Facebook and Timeline sites

Applebees posts their offers on their Facebook site and encourages their customers to participate and bring friends and take and upload photographs at their restaurants. They focus on food and providing their menu online with colourful photographs.

Taco Bell Facebook and Timeline sites

Fast food restaurant Taco Bell uses videos and comic-style promotions to get their customers more involved. However, I found their Timeline website to be too dull and not colourful enough.

Reeses Facebook and Timeline sites

Reeses peanut butter cups involve their customers by showcasing the candy and gets their users involved in competitions.

Pepsi Facebook and Timeline sites

The old Facebook page for Pepsi was a little dull, and it focused heavily on sponsoring the XFactor. The new Timeline design is better, with a nice cover image.

McDonalds Facebook and Timeline sites

McDonalds' old Facebook website highlighted its new products. I preferred their old Facebook page to their new one.

DisneyLand Facebook and Timeline sites

The Disney Facebook page is filled with many ways to engage customers, from posting favourite memories (photographs), to games and activities.

Nutella Facebook and Timeline sites

Nutella features its products with good imagery.

Playstation Facebook and Timeline sites

Playstation provides weekly polls and other interactive features to get their customers engaged in the console and games.

PINK Facebook and Timeline sites

Victoria Secret's PINK Facebook page features photographs of their lingerie and gives users the ability to download wallpapers and get the 'inside scoop' on the brand.

Red Bull Facebook and Timeline sites

Energy drink brand Red Bull features many different competitions and areas for games, television, athletes, and I love their old Facebook design image with the arrows pointing to the "Like" button. Red Bull are always good at providing events and competitions to its customers.

Revlon Facebook and Timeline sites

Beauty and cosmetic company Revlon promises freebies to new customers who "Like" their Facebook page. Their Facebook page also provides beauty hints and tips.

Carte Noir Facebook and Timeline sites

Carte Noir provide links to competitions and its YouTube channel as well as product information. Their old Facebook image was quite strong and organic, but I feel that they have not given any thought to their new Timeline design. The images are low resolution and placed together poorly.

Starburst Facebook and Timeline sites

I love the colours that Starburst use to break it out of the "Facebook blue" colour, and they provide information about their products to help schools.

Oreo Facebook and Timeline sites

Cookie brand Oreo provide recipes involving their chocolate cookie, links to commercials, photographs, and they post a picture of a new fan each week. Their Timeline website currently showcases images of a fan each day, for that fan's birthday.

Starbucks Facebook and Timeline sites

Starbucks showcases information about its products and new products, and their new Timeline website shows the community of Starbucks fans.

Coca-Cola Facebook and Timeline sites

Coca-Cola has always been pretty good at getting its customers involved, and it runs several competitions through its Facebook site. I like the Timeline design with the fluid 'bubble' photographs.

Xbox Facebook and Timeline sites

Xbox's Facebook site showcases the console and released games as well providing seasonal events.

Gail's Bakery - Kensington, London

By jenn on March 8, 2012 1:52 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Gail's is a bakery located in several spots throughout London (including Notting Hill, Kensington, Battersea, Chiswick, Soho). Gail's offers everything from sandwiches to snacks to desserts (cupcakes, cookies, cake, brownies, and many other goodies for those who have a sweet tooth). I recently visited the South Kensington branch (just outside the tube station) and tried a couple of different types of sandwiches, and I also tried the cupcakes, brownie, and a Valentine's Day heart-shaped cookie. Unfortunately, I was not too keen on the sandwiches. They were a little too 'heavy' for my liking, and I was not too keen on the fillings or the bread. However, I really recommend the brownies and the cupcakes. I had a vanilla cupcake (like the ones pictured below), and it was delicious.

I loved the thought that went into the brownies. As it was near to Valentine's Day, the brownies were lightly dusted with a letter on them, spelling out the word "LOVE X" when placed side-by-side. The South Kensington shop is very small, and it is quite popular because of the prime location and the large windows featuring the snacks. There are a few tables outside for those who want to brave the weather; I am sure it's lovely in the summer.

Not only does the company pride itself in making attractive and speciality products and breads, but they also have some well-designed packaging. I love the packaging and the use of geometric shapes, with a feature on the lower-case 'g', which is outlined and part of the branding. (On the company's website, some of the products - bread - feature a lightly-powdered lower-case 'g'.) The following image is the top of the cake box that my items were packaged up in following a trip to their South Kensington shop.

For more information about this company and their locations throughout London, visit their website at http://www.gailsbread.co.uk/.

Judging the Book By Its Cover Design

By jenn on February 26, 2012 10:33 PM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks

I am sure that each of us, rightly or wrongly, have judged a book by its cover. The design on the cover is the first impression that we have about the contents of the book, the genre, and an overall impression of the quality of the book. I know that I have been influenced by the cover of a book, and that has led me to purchase or not purchase the book. This article examines some of Waterstones' book covers and looks at Penguin Books. (Penguin Book's orange and white covers have become iconic in their own right, and the company have recently run a campaign to get readers to illustrate their own books.)

The cover designs to some classic books have been re-designed and are available at Waterstones' book shop. Some of my favourite new book covers are displayed below.

The cover design range "Vintage 21" uses typography in the book's cover design. The books are printed in a solid colour, and the spine of the book is the same colour as the cover. (The covers - grabbed from the Waterstone's website - are shown below, but these images do not really do the physical book justice.) Placed together, these books are colourful and brighten up any shelf.

While you can buy some beautifully-designed books, Penguin Books offers readers the chance to buy a book with a cover that you can create yourself: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/mypenguin/index.html

A few of the covers, designed by readers, have been uploaded to the Penguin Books website, and I have included a few of my favourites below. A gallery of covers designed by readers are available at: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/mypenguin/gallery.html

Zesty Lemon - Websites and Artwork

By jenn on February 17, 2012 1:06 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The long days of winter are upon us, and I thought it would be good to add some yellow in my life to remind me of warm, summer days and sunshine. Lately, I have been feeling a little bit down after a few months of being very busy at work and not being able to take a break to relax or to stop and appreciate what is around me. I am looking forward to sunny days and new horizons, and the brightness of the colour 'yellow' really does make me feel content. The following websites and artworks/crafts feature this happy colour. I hope that it brightens your day as well as it has mine.

These whimsical drawings of lemons were created by Colleen (a.k.a. Freshline).
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Freshline

Fresh Squeezed Baby sells lemon bunting. This would brighten up the darkest of rooms.
http://www.etsy.com/people/freshsqueezedbaby

Marianne from ColorBee creates designs (using text, mainly). I particularly love the bright lemon, orange, and lime segments; the colours work so well together.

http://www.etsy.com/people/colorbee

The lemon poster "when life hands you lemons, make a gin and tonic" was designed by Colleen (dearcolleen). I love this quote; I could do with a gin and tonic after a long, winter day.

http://www.etsy.com/people/dearcolleen

The painted-style lemon clock is available from bearlyart.

http://www.etsy.com/people/bearlyart

The lemon towels are from Cindy Bazor (bazordesigns). She also sells many more items (towels, pillows, etc) in the same style.

http://www.etsy.com/people/bazordesigns

I love this necklace; the yellow with gray-blue work fantastic together. There are also more cute wooden items in the shop (from snugstudio).

http://www.etsy.com/people/snugstudio

The highly-detailed and floral vase in yellow adds a lot of colour to a dreary day (from thepinkpagoda).

http://www.etsy.com/shop/thepinkpagoda

Bason Square Farm sell many wooden crafts, and this lemon-yellow birdhouse is just one of their colourful items.

http://www.etsy.com/people/baconsquarefarm

Cassie and Allen Mitchell (tenderbeasts) designed the yellow "where troubles melt like lemondrops" poster and have many more designed text posters (including several song lyrics) in their shop.

http://www.etsy.com/people/tenderbeasts

A cute case for your gadget (Touch) with lemon fabric is a must for the gadget-lover who is also appreciates good design. (There are many more styles and fabrics to choose from in downstairsDesign's shop.)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/downstairsDesigns

I love this lemon-y cupcake bag from Stephanie Monroe.

http://www.etsy.com/people/stephaniemonroe

These butterfly gift tags from 3creativesisters would brighten up any gift.

http://www.etsy.com/people/3creativesisters

Websites

Yellow is not a very popular colour for websites, but I managed to find a few websites where lemon-yellow is the primary colour. In most of these websites, yellow is used with black. This combination usually signifies 'power', particularly when black is used a lot in the design as well. There's a variety of websites using the colour below, and a lot of these tend to be portfolio and marketing agencies; possibly experimenting with this colour.

Since black is so commonly used, there are a couple of websites who replace the black with gray or brown and also introduce other colours to give a fresh edge on the use of yellow. (This does not make it so 'powerful' and 'bold'.) Other websites take the approach to make the website even bolder by combining black and yellow with large, bold text.

Yellow and black are colours mainly featured in the automobile industry, such as rental cars, cleaning products, and car recovery. Also, the YellowPages use these colours. These colours are powerful and more 'grown-up'. Take a look at the samples below.

This website stands out, and the use of an organic illustration and a third colour (bright pink) and fourth colour (orange) are unique.

http://www.sebdesign.eu/

http://www.trout.com.au/

This bright yellow Flash website is highly interactive and uses mainly organic shapes and grinning characters.
http://www.paralotna.pl

Large bold text makes the website stand out even more.

http://www.glasgoweb.co.uk/

The use of colour here is excellent.
http://www.chunkdigital.com/

Mainly a yellow website with a simple design; however, I think the white text on the yellow background is difficult to read.

http://www.helveticons.ch/

I like the illustration, and the colours are used well here.
http://www.creativespark.co.uk/

A grunge-style website adds a new dimension to the colours, but it still has the 'bold' feel with the large font and black and yellow used, particularly at the top of the page.

http://www.espiratecnologias.com/

http://www.agathagroup.com.co/

Yellow and gray is used to illustrate this website. In fact, the website background is gray until the bottom of the page.

http://www.re-print.me/

http://www.bzzyapp.com/

Another example of gray and yellow for a new take on a style website. (I'm not sure this really works for me, however. The colours remind me too much of automobile-related websites.)

http://www.styleandconscience.com/

Bold text and bold colours are used for a simple and visually-interesting website design.

http://www.theycreative.com/

Not quite so lemon-yellow, but the grunge style and powerful black and gold are used for this sport-related website.

http://www.fcsiauliai.lt/

Another powerful website with text featuring a major design element.

http://www.creativeunited.dk/

I like the use of brown instead of black. It gives a fresh look to a yellow website.

http://www.roome.co.uk/

http://www.yellowbirdproject.com/

Cute Hearts for Your Valentine

By jenn on February 13, 2012 4:11 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

To celebrate today (Valentine's Day), I have discovered the appropriate heart-inspired items (this ranges from jewellery to crafts to home decorations) on Etsy and have included some of my favourite items in this collection in this entry. I hope that these inspire you.

The following is a collection of jewellry featuring heart shapes.

1) http://www.etsy.com/shop/katinytis

2) http://www.etsy.com/shop/DrCraze

3) http://www.etsy.com/shop/ClassicKeepsakes

4) http://www.etsy.com/shop/jewelstreet

Chalkboard-inspired heart shapes would make nice wedding decorations. This includes table name placeholders and banners. The vintage heart ear rings also fit this style.

1) http://www.etsy.com/shop/creativebyheart

2) http://www.etsy.com/shop/helenaCRAFTS

3) http://www.etsy.com/shop/creativebyheart

4) http://www.etsy.com/shop/2212jewelry

Wooden hearts, a heart painting, and wall decorations look nice.

1) http://www.etsy.com/shop/oldnewagain

2) http://www.etsy.com/shop/aquaGirlArt

3) http://www.etsy.com/shop/hypsela

4) http://www.etsy.com/shop/oldnewagain

Heart lanters, name tags, a cloth bag, and paper banners fill another need.

1) http://www.etsy.com/shop/DobleEle

2) http://www.etsy.com/shop/joBlake

3) http://www.etsy.com/shop/wendyjung

4) http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperPolaroid

The final collection consists of more ear rings and heart-inspired decorations for the home.

1) http://www.etsy.com/shop/Omiya

2) http://www.etsy.com/shop/orlyDesign

3) http://www.etsy.com/shop/officina

4) http://www.etsy.com/shop/GreenJazzFace

The Best SuperBowl Commercials of 2012

By jenn on February 10, 2012 5:37 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

SuperBowl XLVI was aired last Sunday, and it cost approximately $3.5 million for a 30-second slot. There were a couple of good commercials, but the majority were not as impressive as last year's, and many were average at best. This year, many of the advertisements features cars and technology. There were far less food items, beer, and some brands produced less commercials this year. (I think GoDaddy and Doritos featured more last year.)

My favourite advertisements this year were those by Chevy, Samsung, and the Coca Cola Polar Bears. The Volkswagen, Doritos, and Acura slots were a disappointment. I've listed my least favourite commercials at the end of this article. Directly below are a few of the commercials that were average or good.

Chevy:

Chevy aired a few commercials during the SuperBowl. Two were Chevy stunt commercials, and they also aired two additional ones. In one, the Chevy pick-up is the only vehicle to survive the end of the world with references to other end-of-the-world and zombie films. In the other, a graduate's parents reveal a gift car, but the prank is on him as the car belongs to the neighbour.

Chrysler:

Clint Eastwood narrates "It's Haftime in America", which parallels the difficult economic times with the Chrysler company to give a message of hope and strength. (This is similar in format to the Eminem commercial from last year.) However, I was not the only one to think that the message sounds very much presidential-campaign. Many feel that president Obama and Chrysler were working together in order to produce this advertisement. It was a little bit too patronising and political for me, but it was emotional and consisted of a good use of imagery.

Doritos:

The brand follows up with the popular pet commercials from last year and produced a few different commercials for the SuperBowl. One depicts blackmail (in the form of Doritos) by covering up the missing pet cat. Another features a young child and a baby who takes the Doritos with his grandmother's help.

Volkswagen:

The company were responsible for the Star Wars theme in last year's SuperBowl, and this year's features a Golden Retriever losing weight to chase after a Volkswagen, then a cut to the Star Wars Cantina where we see shots of the Darth Vader and the Cantina characters discussing the commercial. Not as good as last year's, and the cut between the different scenes is awkward. (They mention last year's successful commercial at the end.)

Bud Light:

The slot features a Rescue Dog (Weego) that knows how to fetch beer on demand.

Budweiser:

The company use the prohibition era to advertise their beer.

Coca Cola:

Coca Cola produced a series of animated commercials featuring the Polar Bears. The Polar Bears acts like football players with the Cola bottle as the football.

Samsung:

Samsung's commercial for their new mobile phone ridicules queues standing outside of stores (Apple, anyone?) to grab the latest technology. The commercial kicks off further with The Darkness singing to the crowd on the street with shots of the product's features.

Acura:

This advertisement features Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, and other characters from Seinfeld. There's not too much advertising for the product, though, so it's not really memorable product placement. The advertisement features Jerry attempting to cut the queue by bribing another customer (George from Seinfeld) in the showroom.

Pepsi:

This commercial features Elton John as a king, and he watches auditions and provides the soft drink for those he likes.

H&M:

David Beckham sells clothes for the brand, but he's nearly naked. I do not feel that this was good product placement.

There were a few commercials that I found particularly annoying: Cars.com, Honda, M&Ms, and the Kia sandman commercial.

Cars.com:

A man walks into a showroom with his conscious, who sings about how much he wants the car. I found this commercial to be highly annoying with the signing.

M&Ms:

The commercial features a female-voiced brown M&M, and others think that she is naked. It features the red male M&M stripping off the red coat and dancing. If this was meant to be funny, it did not get any laughs from me.

Kia:

This commercial's message is 'the dream car', following the dreams of a couple to dream of the Kia when the sandman visits. I just found this commercial to be a little bit dull and the pacing to be off.

Honda:

This commercial stars the actor of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In the commercial, he pulls a sickie and ends up driving around town and enjoying himself, in a parody of the movie. Perhaps if I was a fan of the movie, I would have found it funny, but I've never liked the film, and I found the character to be a little too annoying.

Umbrellas on Vacation: Art Shark Designs City Love Prints

By jenn on February 7, 2012 7:27 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I found the perfect prints for Valentine's Day, for those of you who are looking for something more than a cliche (dozen roses or a box of chocolates, anyone?!) for your loved one.

I love this range of prints with red umbrellas, called "City Love Prints". Each features a different city (or university) scene with a couple standing with red umbrellas in the foreground. London, Venice, Paris, Washington D.C., New York, and Seattle are some of the cities that feature in this range. (See the images below for a selection.) In addition to prints, the drawings can also be purchased on moleskin notebooks.

These prints are artworks made by Megan Nolton, who owns art company Art Shark Designs and sells her artwork online (http://www.etsy.com/people/artsharkdesigns). Megan, who lives near Washington D.C., studied art and graphic design at university and has always been interested in art. A full interview is located here: http://matouenpeluche.typepad.com/matouenpeluche/2009/04/meet-megan-nolton-of-art-shark.html

« art | Main Index | Archives | general »

Recently in design Category

Recent Project: PetsInPractise.co.uk

Lovely Lambs at 'The Herdy Company'

A Collection of Vintage Fonts

Inspiring Traditional and Timeline Facebook Designs for Big Brands

Gail's Bakery - Kensington, London

Judging the Book By Its Cover Design

Zesty Lemon - Websites and Artwork

Cute Hearts for Your Valentine

The Best SuperBowl Commercials of 2012

Umbrellas on Vacation: Art Shark Designs City Love Prints

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