Archive for June, 2007
Launchapalooza
Friday, June 29th, 2007Wrapped up the week with a flurry of activity. Three new sites flew from their nest in the span of 60 minutes late this afternoon.
The first to go was our latest version for Alys Beach…the luxurious community nestled on the sugary white beaches of Florida’s Panhandle. The Slaughter Group has done a beautiful job with the brand and materials and it’s been our pleasure to carry that magic to the website. This version features an expanded footprint, new imagery, upgrades of software and tools, and more. But the essence remains the same…stripped down elegance.
More on the day’s other launches….coming next week. Right now it’s time to pull a Fred Flintstone.
Topics: Sweat & Tears | No Comments »
Where in the world do I click?
Friday, June 22nd, 2007One of my favorite email marketing blogs, RetailEmail.blogspot.com, has a new post dissecting Home Depot’s email creative, specifically the inconsistency of hyperlinking their images and text.
I argue this point every day: make your links look clickable, and keep the clickable elements consistent. It’s something we can all do a better job of throughout the development process. And no, the “hand” is not enough.
Here’s some old, but still relevant advice from the W3C and Useit.com on how to best use links and link copy (no “click here,” please).
Topics: Marketing & Advertising, email marketing | 1 Comment »
Dreamy Meditation
Thursday, June 21st, 2007Just wrapped up a project for Reverie, a condo community on the Ashley River. We were tasked with taking an existing site that had great equity and updating the look to match a new advertising campaign. While we were at it, we also infused video throughout and converted the entire site to an XML-based architecture, which should allow us to easily update content in the future.
Check it out at www.reverieontheashley.com
Topics: Sweat & Tears | No Comments »
Spork Enlargement
Monday, June 18th, 2007
Found this last night while reading an article about the making of the new Transformers movie:
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The image of Bonecrusher®, a Buffalo® MPCV™, was something the art department pulled off the web. “It’s actually a funny story,” recounts Mann. “We found this image of a mine-sweeping vehicle that had a huge arm with what appeared to be a fork on the end. So we called the people who owned it, hoping there was a chance we could rent it or buy it, but when we got the data, it turned out the fork was only 14 inches wide — they had totally cheated the whole thing in Photoshop,” he laughs. “In their picture, it looks like the thing could lift a bus. We had to make an appliance to fit over the existing arm, that wouldn’t bounce around too much because it was about 10 feet wide, but those are the logistical challenges you face.”
This is the image of the vehicle he’s talking about, the Buffalo MPCV. I’d say it’s not so much Photoshop-trickery but image perspective… regardless, the Buffalo is still a beast.
Topics: Transformers | No Comments »
Wet Chicken
Friday, June 15th, 2007
How could it be? Here we were, concerned that the rain would dash our weekly ritual of Kickin’ Chicken Friday (KCF). Rain + parking downtown = just not gonna happen.
As luck would have it, we found a parking spot immediately outside the restaurant and didn’t even get wet.
Surely we would have a long wait for a table to seat 6 people. Not so - a large table awaited us in the crowded restaurant. OK, then it’s definitely going take a while for the food to come, right? Think again sucka - service was excellent.
All in all, it was shaping up to be the perfect KCF. Then we got slapped with the bill. Eating a small chicken fingers at Kickin’ Chicken is now equivalent to paying full price for a large Dominos pizza (full price pizza folks… not the “I’m a college student… I swear” price).
Is this the trend for King Street? The city cleans it up a bit and gets rid of the mystery smell and restaurants feel the need to jack their prices up 20%? Weak.
Topics: Fandango | 6 Comments »
William Means Gets Posh’d
Friday, June 15th, 2007
William Means, a Charleston luxury real estate brokerage, had their Web site “Posh’d” yesterday. And no, it has nothing to do with the former Spice Girl.
The Posh’d site (and its award of the same name) is a collection of inspiring real estate Web design. We’re honored they included in their list.
We set out to design a real estate Web site that was uncluttered, easy to use, and inviting - a far cry from the majority of the real estate Web sites out there today.
Obviously, there are many thanks to go around to the team that brought this vision to life: HookUSA, Courtney Gunter Graphic Design, and the crew at Blue Ion, of course.
P.S. If you want some non-inspiring work, check out the “50 Worst Web real estate Web site designs” post on the Posh’d blog. Cringe-inducing stuff.
Topics: Marketing & Advertising, charleston sc web design | No Comments »
Mind The Landing Zone
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007Next time you walk into an Apple Store notice the entry display and area. How does it feel? How does it make you feel? Then walk into your local Radio Shack and note the same things.
Exhibit A - Apple Store
Exhibit B - The Shack
One of the key differences is that the folks at Apple (and other good merchandisers) understand the importance of the “landing zone”…and those at Radio Shack don’t. Paco Underhill was one of the first people to point out that when people walk into a store they need a “landing zone” where they can transition from the chaos of the street, soak up the store atmosphere and overall sense of place, get their bearings and then…and only then…prepare to shop. So the good merchandisers don’t push tons of product at the door, knowing that it won’t sell anyway because people aren’t ready to buy yet. What a carefully selected product or message can do, however, is set the tone for the entire experience.
Now, apply that concept to websites. Especially those featuring branded products, services, experiences or ideas. Visitors enter a website from the chaos of the internet/web…..and may need a similar sort of landing zone. Before blasting them with the deal of the century, the latest news or a page full of links and callouts instead offer them a chance to decompress, soak up the experience, pick their path and then make a move. It will make for a more engaging website encounter and may keep them on your site longer and coming back more often.
Topics: Sweat & Tears | 1 Comment »
Olympic Marketing Challenge
Thursday, June 7th, 2007
What is it about the Olympics that always seems to brew marketing and design controversy? Remember Izzy?……a mascot so odd his name was derived from “whatizit?” (although, Izzy was a better choice than runner-up Jimmy Nastics).
This time it’s the logo for the 2012 London Olympics, which was just released this week. The initial reaction has been brutal. The logo (in animated form) was said to provoke epileptic seizures and was pulled from the website. Some have compared it to a broken swastika or “some sort of comical sex act between ‘The Simpsons.’” A petition of 35,000 signatures was gathered to demand that it be replaced.
In response to an Olympic organizer’s statement that “it will grow on us,” one media response was “so does foot fungus.”
There’s no question that it’s impossible to nail a perfect “10″ from the judges for an assignment like the Olympics logo. I can only imagine the design brief read something like…”the identity should be modern yet traditional, energetically calm, iconic in its flexibility while capturing the triumph of the human spirit.” In the end, the mark won’t be remembered any more than Izzy (he is still popular with some E-bay junkies, however). What will linger are people’s perceptions of the actual Olympic experience and its reflection on London/GB.
Topics: Fandango, Marketing & Advertising | 1 Comment »
Street Viewing
Friday, June 1st, 2007On Tuesday Google rolled out the beta of their new mapping service…Street View….which offers 360-degree views of locations as seen from the street/ground. At this point the service only covers parts of five large metropolitan areas (San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, Miami and New York). It’s sort of cool checking out street views on a block by block basis in NYC or San Fran…just by dragging the little humanoid icon from street to street. The images and scenes of daily life are often entertaining and sometimes a bit surprising. Just look at these two…
In fact, there has been much chatter and concern over the privacy implications of Street View. Some worry that it’s an intrusion into their daily lives. I’m sure these guys thought so.
However, it seems hard to get too worked up about a privacy invasion in this case…as it’s only showing street views that are seen by anyone driving down a public street. In fact, that’s how Street View gets its material. Images are captured by vehicles equipped with special cameras rolling down the streets. Apparently here’s what they look like so keep an eye out for their arrival in your hood.
Topics: Fandango, Sweat & Tears | No Comments »