Archive for the “Design Process” category
7 Keys to Effective Blog Re-Designs
by Vandelay Website Design on January 19, 2012
Many blogs get re-designed every couple of years, if not more frequently. Re-designing a blog brings a number of challenges because more content is being added to the site all the time, new types of content may have been introduced since the last design, and the priorities and goals of blogs often change or evolve over time. This means that when re-designing a blog you’ll need to take some time before jumping into the design work in order to think about how to prioritize the right content, how to make it easy for visitors to find what they want, and how to use the design to make the blog more effective at achieving it’s purpose for the owner.
The success of a blog re-design is more heavily influenced by a proper planning process than it is by the design skills of the person creating it. A blog can get a fancy new design that looks great, but if it doesn’t help to make the site more user-friendly and it doesn’t do an effective job of achieving the blog’s purpose, the impressive look ultimately has very little impact.
In this article we’ll take a look at 7 keys to the blog re-design process. These are all things that should be considered at the time of the re-design in order to make the site more useful for visitors and more effective for its owners.
1. Same Design Style or New Approach?
Most of the time when a blog is re-designed it will maintain a similar style or look and feel, just with an updated approach. Brand development takes time, and if a blog has established a certain identity with its audience you will usually want to maintain that identity through the re-design process. However, there are some cases where the re-design presents the opportunity for the blog to go in a new direction. This includes color schemes, logos, and general design styles.
One of the first decisions that should be made is whether the blog should keep a similar style to the existing design, or if it should feature a new design style. Think about the blog’s current audience, how they view the blog and the brand, and if that still fits with the direction the blog is headed.
Distraction Management: How To NOT Procrastinate or Get Distracted
by Robert Bowen on May 20, 2011
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Whenever we are working on a design, facing a deadline, it is of the utmost importance that we stay on track and power through til the end. Doing whatever is necessary to keep us walking with progress over stalling with digression. All too often, we find ourselves facing a project that is somewhat hampered [...]
The Price is Right: Breaking Down the Design Process
by Robert Bowen on February 3, 2011
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Like with most creative fields, there are those who operate outside them who do not necessarily understand all of the time and energy that goes into the design process, and as a result, they tend to undervalue our contributions and imaginative creations. The design community is not at all immune to this treatment as [...]
15 Invoicing Tips for Designers and Freelancers
by Vandelay Website Design on January 27, 2010
Most designers don’t particularly enjoy the financial side of running a business, but handling it properly is a necessary part of being a freelancer or running a design agency. The financial side of the business includes invoicing clients, and in this article we’ll look at some tips and best practices for invoicing.
1. Decide on an Invoicing App or Software
There are plenty of online invoicing apps available that have been created with designers and freelancers in mind. Additionally, there are some software options as well. Using either an online app or software to handle your invoicing will allow you to save time and to have better organization over your invoices and receivables, as opposed to using a manual system or spreadsheets.
With so many options to choose from (see 20 Invoicing Tools for Web Designers), you should be able to find an app or software that includes all of the features that you need, and ideally, not a lot of those that you don’t need. Online apps are available in a wide range of prices, some are even free. Prices will usually rise as more features are included, and most invoicing apps will have a few different plans according to the number of invoices and clients that you need to manage.
If you’d like to avoid monthly or yearly fees of online apps, you can purchase invoicing software for a one-time fee and manage an unlimited number of invoices and clients.
For invoicing software we recommend Fanurio. For online apps we recommend FreshBooks. Find a solution that meets your needs and it will help you to have more accurate invoicing and financial records with less time commitment.
21 Resources for Getting Design Feedback
by Vandelay Website Design on November 23, 2009
Getting feedback and making use of it is essential to a successful design project. However, the communication process with clients and with team members can become quite cumbersome to manage with the amount of emails that are sent back and forth and the various revisions and versions of the project. Fortunately, there are some very helpful resources out there that can improve efficiency and organization with feedback.
In this post we’ll look at 21 useful resources. They are categorized by purpose.
Feedback from Clients:
Of course, every successful project needs to involve communication and feedback between the designer and the client. These four resources can help in this area.
ProofHQ
ProofHQ simplifies the design review, feedback and approval process for you and your clients. Clients can provide feedback conveniently through ProofHQ and you can benefit from better organization through the process. Prices range from $17 – $499 per month, with a free trial available.
75 PSD to HTML Resources for Web Designers
by Vandelay Website Design on October 26, 2009
PSD to HTML conversion is a critical step in the web design and development process. Whether you are coding your own design or outsourcing it, the quality of the final project will be significantly influenced by the work that is done at this stage. In this post you’ll find 75 resources, including PSD to HTML providers, PSD to WordPress providers, sites for reading reviews of the service providers, automated resources, and PSD to HTML tutorials.
PSD to HTML Tutorials:
If you’re interested in learning more about doing the PSD to HTML coding yourself, these tutorials will be very helpful.
From PSD to HTML, Building a Set of Website Designs Step-by-Step
