BLOG DESIGN JOURNAL

As blog designers we need to keep up with not only the latest designs, technology, software and SEO, but also with the latest business trends as they affect the sites we design. It is not all about the pretty colors—or even the content.

As users become accustomed to more and more interactivity—with smart phones, tablets, advanced web designs, and more—we need to provide more and more interactivity on websites and blogs. Especially for business, and even if our clients have not thought of it yet.

Business communication used to be a one-way street. Companies made announcements, ran ads, released news. Customers waited to be persuaded. Or sold. Not anymore.

Interactivity is now essential for business websites. It has been especially important for consumer confidence in new technology such as home banking.

Consequently live chat features have become a standard for ecommerce sites to make connections with site visitors. And LivePerson, which has been around since 1995, provides the most comprehensive live chat software for business.

As the first company to make chat an active sales tool, LivePerson is a chat technology innovator. In fact, they lead customer relationship technology with chat software that includes a behavioral targeting engine to give the customer a convincing, effective, and pleasant experience.

LivePerson has live chat solutions for all kinds of sites. They offer good-looking graphics and specialized products for all kinds of businesses and customers. This is top of the line chat that increases sales, because customers like it.

That means that as blog designers, we need to recommend it to our clients and incorporate it in the sites we build.

WordPress themes today are so colorful and full-featured that small businesses may forget that, though they have an exciting-looking website, they still need a business logo. Once they do, they may not know where to start.

Here are 7 tips from a former advertising account exec and PR pro:

1. Hire a Graphic Designer Who Specializes in What You Need

Do not cheap out by letting your child, your draftsman, or your brother the “artist” try to design a logo for you. Logo design is important, and it requires professional skills and knowledge.

Find a real graphic designer who specializes in logos and has a good, varied portfolio. Make sure you like the artist’s work. That may seem obvious, but clients forget it sometimes.

The only other alternative to that is to use a logo design competition. If you do that, remember, all the rest of these tips still apply, especially tip number 2.

A logo will be with you for a long time. So make sure it is a good one that fits your business and represents it well.

2. Prepare Yourself. Then Brief the Artist Well

Think, think, think. Look at the logos of your competitors and of big corporations in your field. What do they have in common? What makes them appeal to customers in your market?

Sit down and write down attributes the logo must convey about your business. For example, a maid service should look clean and friendly. A food logo should be appetizing. And so on.

3. Focus on What Your Logo Needs to Convey

Do not try to convey too many things in one logo. You may be the biggest patriot, a veteran, born on the Fourth of July, but that does not need to go into your logo, and the red-white-and-blue color scheme could be counterproductive. Let the artist  come up with colors.

4. Keep in Mind All the Ways a Logo Is Used.

Remember that your log should be used everywhere—on stationery, invoices, business cards—not just on your blog or website. So it needs to be designed by a pro to scale well (large or small) and to print well—not just show up well on line.

This is where your teenage cousin is likely to let you down. They won’t know how to do that.

5. Be Original.

Do not copy or even sort of imitate any other logo. Aside from legal issues, patterning your logo after another company’s logo can cause problems. If they are well known, you lose recognition for your business, because people will automatically think of theirs instead. Plus, it looks amateurish. That reflects badly on your business.

6. Stay Away from Fads.

Orange or purple or blue-and-yellow may be hot stuff this year, but in a couple of years, a faddish color scheme will make your business look dated, out of touch, even tacky.

7. Decide Carefully, but Do Not Dither.

If you have hired a good artist, thought through exactly what you are trying to convey about your business, and then sat down and explained that to your artist, the first few designs will likely be the best. Do not think that if you keep asking for more and more variations, the designs will get better and better.

If the first group of designs does not include at least a couple of winners, you have either hired the wrong artist or not briefed him/her properly—or both. If you cannot make a decision, it may be because you have not prepared yourself and the artist properly.

In that case, discuss your needs and hopes for the logo again, to make sure you and the artist are on the same page. If you are, then make a decision and stick to it.

Serious, subtle, creatively styled eyeglasses.

Festive? Fun? Or tired and bleary-eyed?

If you have been procrastinating about replacing lost glasses or about filling new prescriptions, go ahead and get them.

Working on line can be very tiring for the eyes. Taking good care of your eyes makes your blog design work easier and ultimately less time-consuming.

multicolored eyeglass frames say "I'm a creative person. I love to have fun!"

While you are at it, why not get some cheap, fun holiday-themed eyeglasses?

You can have spare glasses handy, amuse friends and clients, and enjoy a change just for fun.

Why not try red frames for Christmas, green for Yule, blue for Hanukkah, yellow, green or orange for Kwanzaa, and multicolor for New Years, Mardi Gras, and Chinese New Year? Imagine the possibilities.

To buy high-quality, stylish glasses inexpensively, you can buy them on line, direct from the manufacturer. ZENNI glasses, for example, are sold only on line, relying on word of mouth from happy customers instead of mall stores and advertising. So you can easily afford to buy different styles for different occasions.

Glasses can be a fashion statement, from casual to formal. They can also be used to create a signature look. Wear your favorite holiday colors, and your clients, friends and family will look forward to seeing what you come up with for each holiday.

Imagine the possibilities for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Halloween….See what I mean?

Stylish glasses can still be classic with just touch of extra color.

Eyeglasses are a necessity, but there is no reason not to also have fun with them. Be memorable. Be original. Show your creativity wherever you go. Be your own brand. But most of all, have fun with color and style. And now you can.

Take a look at ZenniOptical.com and then come back and comment to share your suggestions for holiday glasses styles. Tell us which ones you chose, and why.

Of course, they have a huge selection of classic styles, too. You can always just buy a pair or two for yourself and use the savings to buy your holiday gifts for others. We’ll never tell.

New in paperback, The Typography Workbook provides an at-a-glance reference book for designers on all aspects of type.The book is part of Rockport’s popular Workbook series of practical and inspirational workbooks that cover all the fundamental areas of the graphic design business. This book presents an abundance of information on type – the cornerstone of graphic design – succinctly and to the point, so that designers can get the information they need quickly and easily.Whereas many other books

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ANALOGOUS COLOR SCHEME Image via Wikipedia

Many of us have an almost childlike desire to have ideas judged on their own merits rather than on their presentation. We imagine it would be nice if every idea could be heard out for the validity of its claims instead of judged by the merits or flaws of the messenger.

But in practice, none of us actually believes this. When is the last time you actually appreciated the look of a spinning .gif? Has Comic Sans font actually ever made you stop and look more closely at an article? Can you honestly say that a mingled mash of very bright colors doesn’t put you off of a website?

All right, so these are perhaps extreme examples, but they do illustrate the point that appearance is still considered important.

And not all examples are so cut and dried; sometimes the text is just too small and poorly spaced to read properly, the lack of pictures makes a site too text-dense, the color tone is just subtly off in a way that looks unpleasant and drives off potential readers or all the images and videos are on the front page, making it take excessively long to load.

Paying attention to appearance and to some basic web and blog design elements can make the visit to your blog more enjoyable for your audience and help you retain those vital traffic numbers. Read the rest of this entry →

Are you a big time blogger and cannot stand to be away from the computer? Do you understand what it takes to make a hot design that is trendy and modern for blogs? If you are interested in making some extra cash you should think about starting a blog design company.

Blogs are the hottest form of marketing both for personal and business areas. If you are interested in starting a blog design service and working with companies you should consider the following failures when it comes to business blogs.

First and foremost a good blog has to have awesome headlines. This is the first thing people see and read. Without a great headline why would people stop and read what you have to say. In addition bad headlines effect how well search engines are able to find your blog.

After all if no one can find the blog there is not much point in starting a blog design service. The important part of a blog is to make sure that you just give the reader a sneak peak of what is to come. This way you peak curiosity and you can continue to get visits to your blog. Read the rest of this entry →

Having a blog with great content and a regular stream of visitors is every blogger’s dream. While quality and engaging content does translate regular subscribers, this can go a step further with a good blog design. There are a fair number of blogs out there which in spite of being a gold mine lose out to blogs which are well designed for better readability and sharing.

The reason is most blogs are designed without considering the finer design aspects which lead to a better reading and social experience. Free themes for changing a blogs “skin” can be easily applied with just a click of the mouse.  But how does one decide if the theme is right for your blog?

Themes, fonts and colors: The theme design and color scheme is imperative to make that vital first impression on your readers. Any blog post that comes with an image as part of the theme design enables readers to easily relate to what the author is writing about. For example, an attorney’s blog with a black and white theme design looks professional up front. Read the rest of this entry →