low5studios blog

Apple’s Keynote

low5 — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 05:00:04 +0000

Apple’s Keynote once again contained goodies. Although no major hardware annannouncements (at least not as major as a next generation iPad), Apple certainly didn’t disappoint. Here is a run down of the new features that you will want to check out.

The iMac gets the App store– now, why it needs an App store I am not sure, but it supports Apple’s move toward cloud computing and will make lots of developers a lot of money. I am certainly not complaining as innovation and new things to play with are always welcome in my book.

iLife gets a refresh with a new iLife and iMovie

Macs get Facetime. This is what I am most excited about. As the sole Blackberry user in a family full of iPhone 4s, I was missing out on Facetime with the family… now I can join in.

The new Macbook Airs just left me confused. They are even more iPad-like yet cost as much as the full featured Macbook Pro. I supposed they are shooting to impress a small dedicated subset of Apple aficionados.

When it comes to your business…is designing for yourself a good idea?

low5 — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:20:05 +0000

When we say designing for yourself, we don’t mean doing the design grunt work, we mean designing based on what appeals to you and not what appeals to your clients. Often, you are your client’s target market but sometimes you are not and when making design decisions you impose your own ideas on a site that shouldn’t necessarily have your aesthetic.

So how do you recognize whether or not you should be designing for yourself? If you wouldn’t buy it, you probably shouldn’t be designing it based on your design ideas. For example, if you are a woman that designs men’s clothes, you probably won’t want to design a site that speaks to a woman, I mean you wouldn’t design a sundress for a man.

So what can be done to make sure your designs are based on your target market and not your personal aesthetics? Well, the best way is to ask opinions. Gather a focus group of your target market. Learn how they perceive the site and see if it would convert them into sales.

Any great web designer can assist you when designing for your target market..If you have any questions for us, or want to learn more about designing for your target market, contact us!

Designing a Blog

low5 — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:23:59 +0000

Anyone can throw up a blog. There are hundreds of ready-made templates online that can be applied to the blog quickly and without much trouble. However, creating a custom blog that does not betray that you quickly threw something together and really showcases your unique style and the message of your blog is a bit more complicated. So, how is the best way to make your blog unique and enjoyable? Keep reading.

Designing a Good Blog
One of the most important parts of designing a good blog is attention to detail. It is the small details that users will appreciate. This includes making sure the color scheme is continuous and that even the smallest detail reinforces the theme of your blog. For instance, if you are writing a blog about jewelry, the buttons on the website could be small jewels. It is these small things that will make the users see how much time you have put into designing a blog and take it more seriously.

It is also important to not over-do it. Colors that clash or the use of too much animation can really be a turn off for users and can mean the difference between a follower and someone who will never return. Using too many colors that don’t follow a simple theme or using fonts that aren’t in the same family will really distract from the overall aesthetic of the design.

Easy navigation is also important for users. It should always be easy for users to find old blog posts that they will want to re-read or for them to be able to comment on something you have written.

Lastly, the most important rule of designing a good blog is that content should be the focus of the webpage. The content of your blog is obviously the most important part so the design should reinforce this fact. Attempting to distract users with colors and flashing lights may work for a short period of time but if the content of your website is not up to par, no amount of design will capture followers. A professional designer will also be able to design the site to take advantage of SEO

While designing your own blog is easy, if you want an effective, blog the generates traffic, hiring a professional is a worthwhile investment. If you have any questions for us, or want to tal to us about designing a blog, contact us here or send us a message on Facebook!

The Benefits of a Professional E-mail Address

low5 — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:57:44 +0000

Well, first, what is considered a “Professional” Email Address?

A professional e-mail address is one that represents the owner’s business and professional interests. For instance, johnsmith@tmailer.com is not a professional email address. John has no professional link with T-Mailer and probably got the email address for free with no requirement to prove that he is actually John Smith. He is not advertising his company, but is providing exposure for T-mailer. In a non-professional setting, this benefits both parties because John gets a free address and the company gets more exposure.

In a professional setting John’s interests need to benefit from the email address. Why advertise for Yahoo or Google when you could be advertising for your own company or a company you are affiliated with. For example, JohnSmith@sales.q-marketing.net would be considered a professional email address, presumably, because John is a part of the sales team at a company called “Q Marketing” and has a professional relationship with the owner of the domain name.

The Benefits of Having a Professional Email Address

At the very least, a professional email address shows potential clients that you are serious about your business interests. There is probably not a quicker way to be eliminated from a job candidature than by having a reply-to email address like “babigurl33@gmail.com” Okay, perhaps that is an extreme example but even if the first part of the email address isn’t as ridiculous as “babigurl,” most customers will take a step back if the company has not taken the time/money to get a specified address.

Part of securing a professional email address is choosing an appropriate domain name. In a competitive market, the email address could affect the way consumers view the legitimacy of a company and therefore the rate of response.

If you need help setting up and choosing an appropriate domain name, drop us a line!

What is User Experience and is it important?

low5 — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:04:58 +0000

Have you ever been to an amusement park expecting to have the time of your life only to spend hours trying to navigate the park and waiting in long lines? If this has happened to you, you could argue that it wasn’t a good experience. The same goes for websites.

A website that is hard to navigate and makes you wait forever to do even the simplest tasks (ie. makes you sit through an animation before you can proceed) is not a great user experience. Often, sites are designed to suit the company’s need without thought to the customer’s need, but this doesn’t make sense. When designing a site, it is typically about what the client likes and not what will appeal to the customer.

So what can be done? Well, there are a few things that can be done to test the experience of users.
A/B testing– A/B testing studies the effectiveness of the experience by using two different versions of a site and exposing different users to each to test which gets a greater response.
User Surveys– When designing a site, you should not depend on your intuition. Tests should be done with potential users to ensure that you are making the best design choices.
Design how users will move through the site before it is build it.

Above are good steps for making a site as functional and effective as possible. If you have any questions about building an effective site please send us a message on Facebook or Twitter.

What is a Content Management System?

low5 — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 05:56:55 +0000

Low5Studios has been hard at work creating a custom content management system so our clients can have the benefit of a state of the art work flow system.

What is a content management system? A content management system or CMS can be attached to your website to allow users to collaborate more efficiently. It is a way to manage you content such as calendars, documents, and other data. Low5Studios is an advocate of making things easy to manage for our clients so we created an intuitive system so updating your content is easy.

The ultimate goal is to manage the workflow. An increase in productivity means an increase in your cash flow making a content management system worthwhile. We will soon have full details about our CMS but to find out more information immediately, contact us today.

How to write for the web

low5 — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:45:47 +0000

Writing for the web is an art in itself. When hiring a content writer, you want to narrow the criteria down. First, they should obviously be a writer. This is not a task for an amateur. Persuasive writing is just as critical as good design.

More than just being a writer, they should have a marketing background. A fiction writer is different from a copy writer. Flowery words don’t sell products. Think of it like J. Peterman’s catalogue from Seinfield. Would you purchase the Himalayan walking shoe?

Copy should be succinct. People don’t want to read a lot, especially on the Internet. In fact, you probably have stopped reading this. Skimming is king. Vary text sizes, use bold fonts for headlines, and keep things simple.

At low5studios, we have a professional copywriter on staff. If you would like to learn more or have copy written for your next site, feel free to contact us.

What is a header?

low5 — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 01:37:28 +0000

Headers are to now what splash pages were to 5 years ago. They are the new way to provide a creative introduction to visitors to your webpage (without the annoying clicking and waiting). As such, an effective header is essential to a good webpage. It is the first thing that a visitor will see so it really determines the experience the visitor will have. On the web where there may be thousands of websites with the same information, the one that has a good, unique design will be the one to garner the most attention. Think of what message you are trying to communicate to your visitors and how the embodiment of this message can entice them to click further.

Tips for designing an effective header:
1. The number one thing to keep in mind when designing a header is also the most obvious thing. Make the header stand out. The header’s job is to draw attention to the website and to provide a sneak peak as to what the website is about.
2. Find a theme and stick to it. Maintain continuity and make sure the header reinforces the overall look and theme that you are going for.
3. Use attractive colors and fonts. This is another obvious one but it is worth mentioning. Use warm colors that invite visitors’ attention in and not away.
4. Don’t be afraid to use flash and animation. Many people would say that flash graphics were so 2003 but if done correctly flash headers can really draw attention to your webpage. Moderation is key: make sure you don’t over do it, and stick to simple animations (please, no dancing people and/or bright epileptic fit-inducing colors) and it will really pay off.
Happy designing! and if you need help designing, contact us!

The Call to Action Button

low5 — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 03:15:19 +0000

Like its name suggests, a “call to action” button is a centralized button on a webpage that grabs the visitor’s attention and provokes them to take the next step. There is no formula for what makes a good “call to action button” but most would agree that it should be large, colorful, and tastefully done. It should also fit in with the general aesthetics of the website. Studies have shown that they are especially important on e-commerce sites and a well-designed button can be the difference between a person choosing to continue and losing interest.

Components of a good button
Size, color, position, and design really make a difference in the effectiveness of the button. For instance, on a website that is all green, it would not be advantageous to have a green call to action button. Users are busy and can be fickle and may not be willing to take the extra time to find out where the button to proceed to the checkout is. Size is also, arguably the most important component because it is so blatantly obvious. If you cannot miss it, you are much more likely to click it.

Avoid Overkill
It is easy to go overboard with the “call to action button.” It is a great tool, and it can make the difference between traffic and no traffic. However, we all know that one website that has so many bright buttons to click that we find it easier to just exit the website than distinguish between all of the stimuli. There is a theorem in website design that reads, “the efficacy of a call to action button is inversely proportional to the number of similar buttons on the website.” I may have just made that up, but it makes sense if you consider it.

All in all, if you keep it simple and tasteful the benefits of a call to action button will help your website grow and produce revenue.

Next we will talk about AB testing to dtermine whether your call to action button is effective. Now I call you to action…. Follow us on Twitter

Designing a logo

low5 — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:36:32 +0000

What is the importance of a logo? A logo is the starting point for your identity. It often is the first thing that a potential client sees. It helps clients recognize you, and should point them toward what your business does. Here are some tips on designing a good logo.

Just like a website, a professional business should have a professional logo. Just because your nephew can draw does not mean he should be designing your logo. Just because you took a class on Microsoft Publisher in 1997 does not mean you should take on the task either.

A logo shouldn’t just be pretty…. it should communicate what you do. Something that is designed beautifully but doesn’t communicate who you are or what you do, isn’t really designed beautifully. Famous artists usually only make real money after they die… and you that fate to befall your business.

Never use stock images. Using an image that isn’t your property can get you in trouble. If the owner sees that you have used the image without permission you may face a lawsuit or at the very least have to redesign your identity which could include ordering new business cards.

Don’t follow trends. You want your logo to be timeless like the Coca Cola logo. You don’t want to be able to recognize the decade the logo was designed in.

It is always best to let a professional designer do the work for you as this is one of the most important parts of your business. For any questions or to discuss more about logo design, please feel free to contact us.