 Your new post is loading...
Scoop.it!
Take a look at the top skills that you require if your designing a website .
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
I would add patience, ability to work in a team and a generosity of spirit :). M 
Scoop.it!
Check out these 10 gorgeous websites to see what makes them so critically acclaimed.
Scoop.it!
![Planning, Design, and Optimizing a Website Simplified [Infographic] - Marketing Technology Blog | Must Design | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/zjmiQrejQyhlAZ_HYIxMpDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Infographic: Planning, Design, and Optimizing a Website by Douglas Karr on Marketing Technology Blog
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Anything you can find to help SIMPLIFY concepts related to creating or optimizing a website is valuable. This Infographic creates an interesting visual map, a map that makes the process feel easier and less daunting.
noorazeanty's curator insight,
June 10, 2014 12:00 PM
Planning, design and optimising a website simplified by internet initiatives. Website simplified infographic design is a process of website design in a simplified way using effective planning, design layout and strategic implementation.
Scoop.it!
Justin Knecht is a proven master of innovation and user-centered design. Don't miss him live with many other A-listers at HOW Design Live 2014, in Boston.
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Great interview and I'm going to pick up "Orbiting The Giant Hairball" since it sounds like a MUST READ :). M
Scoop.it!
![What is Visual Language & How Comics Can Help Create It [graphic] | Must Design | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/0RICjgYtoNqjfMSoHL5udjl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Visual language Lab: Researching the structure and cognition of the visual language of comics Marty Visual Language Important For Internet Marketing One undeniable trend is Lean Visual Marketing. We want videos and pictures and we want to understand complex ideas FAST. Scooplit is riding the crest of the lean visual marketing wave and exploding. We know that there are some core ideas in this new "visual marketing revolution" including: * Surprise helps but is had to create. * Smashing expected visuals into unexpected can create surprise. * Humor works. * Arresting visuals only work once UNLESS aligned to their content. * Without arresting visuals content marketing is doomed. * The "visual language" of your marketing must be consistent with all other marketing or dissonance results. I like the idea of studying comics to help achieve a sense of visual tone and for ways to connect images seamlessly with copy, tone ane theme. Via Bucky Dodd
Scoop.it!
![Website Design Projects Timeline From Research To Testing [infographic] | Must Design | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/KmYc6GekuduKzrZ_joBL7zl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
This great infographic takes you through the initial engagement stages for new website design work, through research, landing page design, coding, validation onto final launch and search engine optimi
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Cool way to visualize web design process and true to my experience of creating more than 100 websites.
Katja Tschimmel's curator insight,
February 14, 2014 2:35 PM
Design Thinking applied to Web Sites. Very nice graphic!
Scoop.it!
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 24, 2014 10:23 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Designers no longer have to compete with independent film directors, bands and dance companies. There's now a Kickstarter for design called CrowdyHouse.
Marty Note
Expect niche crowdfunding platforms to proliferate in 2014. Several trends are driving the explosion:
* Creating a crowdfunding platform isn't hugely expensive; we created http://www.curecancerstarter.org for right around $50K.
* Kickstarter does some things like film and music well, but its internal curation and push marketing are poor.
* Crowdfunding, as my startup CrowdFunde wrote today, is powerful "new SEO" content.
* The jobs act will make equity crowdfunding legal by the summer creating a rising tide that should lift all crowdfunding boats (reward, donation and equity).
So expect more of these niche crowdfunding plays in 2014. Also, KUDOS to CrowdyHouse.com for embracing the store aspects of crowdfunding. Kickstarter famously said, "We are not a store," after the Pebble Watch $11.2M campaign. I loved it when they said that, but it does explain why finding relevant content is such a challenge on their network (architect an ecommerce site like KS and you go broke).
Great Comment By @Lori Wilk
I totally agree that this niche crowdfunding will continue to expand and there will be more affiliated products and service businesses launched around the crowdfunding industry.
What about you? Do you see crowdfunding coming to your business? Is it already there? Leave comments and I will curate in. Thanks. Marty
I totally agree that this niche crowdfunding will continue to expand and there will be more affiliated products and service businesses launched around the crowdfunding industry.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 18, 2014 8:07 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Cloud computing is one of the latest technologies that have come to change the way people interact with the web. Cloud computing accords you the chance to
Solid post by Inspired Magazine on what the cloud means for web design. I got a first hand lesson when we created http://www.curecancerstarter.org.
The sophisticated file management of cloud computing allows more file size without crushing network performance. This means we won't have to create "lowest common denominator" designs that bore everyone to tears but load fast anymore (or that is the theory :). M
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 14, 2014 11:24 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Buy and sell handcrafted, mousemade design content like vector patterns, icons, photoshop brushes, fonts and more at Creative Market.
Easy agreement here:
1. Flash Intros - not SEO or mobile friendly and effectively killed by Apple.
2. Complicated Forms - Don't ask for information you don't need and expect your email open rates to continue to decline even as your list grows.
3. Skeuomorphic 3D Design - Flat design is in.
4. Stock Photos - YES, finally we kill the Stepford people.
5. Pop Overs - Maybe, but pop unders are all the rage and they are gross and obnoxious, predict they will wane in 2014 too. Look at Rocketbolt.com's much less offensive triggered, subtle popunder instead.
check out the additional links at the end of the article.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 10, 2014 11:05 AM
|
Scoop.it!
Between brand new consoles and blossoming indie development, this is a year to watch the gaming industry.
Marty Note
The longer I do this (Internet marketing) the more I think lines between content don't make much sense. Uber-content curator Maria Popova (http://www.brainpickings.org) agrees. One of my 2014 goals is to learn as much from Maria as possible.
Another goal is to mine helpful ideas from wherever they arise. Video games is and has been a huge goldmine for web design, Internet marketing and creative ideas and this post on 5 Gaming Trends to Watch In 2014 from @RWW is right on the money.
Particularly important for website designers is emphasis on storytelling and the cloud. Both will change what we Internet marketers do in 2014 in amazing ways. Great post and I promise to continue to "steal" as much from video game creators as possible :). M
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 4, 2014 1:55 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Why keeping up with web design trends is vital In today’s fast-evolving trends, people’s interests are being influenced briskly by the web, wherein onlin
Marty Note
Like #7, use of Neon Colors as accents. Color is so tricky online its use as "accents" is the best idea. Will see if I can find a "neon color accent" example and shsre it, but sounds like a cool trend I've only read about from this Chinese social agency.
Other trends noted include ones we've seen in several of these "what's up for 2014" posts including:
* Simple.
* Flat.
* All in one.
* Responsive.
* scrolling.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
December 30, 2013 11:52 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Great post about the last day o the 6-month Venice Biennale art exhibit bit. Lately I've been thinking about if visual art has any future. In a digital time slapping paint on canvas seems quaint. So, it turns out, is visiting the last day of the Venice Biennale.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
February 17, 2014 8:35 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Shannon Stull Carrus shares six strategies that will help spark fresh ideas while working in-house.
Great post on how to keep your creative edge no matter where you are:
* Learn from examples.
* Forget the Mood Board, Create a Vision Board.
* Talk to people outside your in-house team.
* Practice sensory deprivation.
* Find creative inspiration at hone.
* Search For Creative Inspiration on Vacation.
Here are ways I stay creative:
* Go to art museums.
* Buy art and print magazines and raid them for ideas.
* Paste stuff up around the room (only take it down when new ideas start coming).
* Do something ELSE (riding a bicycle is a great way to do an active, physical thing that clears out cobwebs).
* Get PHYSICAL - use pieces of paper or something physical instead of digital THEN go back to digital.
* Keep applying occam's Razor - whatever we've created cut in half and keep doing that long past where you thought there would be nothing to cut.
* Video your thinking and share it.
* Share where you are stuck with your tribe online.
* Ask for ideas online.
* Travel (something about being in a hotel with room service hellps creativity).
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
February 15, 2014 9:12 PM
|
Scoop.it!
It's amazing what can be done with CSS these days. Support for the latest CSS3 properties is strong in the latest versions of all the major browsers - even Internet Explorer - and the possibilities for typography, animation and interactivity have never been greater. But finding web design inspiration can be tricky.
CSS3 has some cool applications as these 50 examples show.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
February 13, 2014 4:30 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Over here at Paper Leaf Design, we make much ado about communication & process. In our minds, these two elements are key to a successful design project
I like this infographic of Paper Leaf's design process. Linked artcile is excellent too. My process is less linear. Image little tornadoes of circles at each of those linear steps with bullets bouncing hither and yon and see inside the creative chaos my teams depend on (lol).
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
February 12, 2014 9:14 AM
|
Scoop.it!
Last week, Jeremy Osborn, Academic Director for Aquent Gymnasium, had the chance to attend the Artifact Conference. Here are his key takeaways.
Marty Note
This Artifact Conference looks interesting and worth checkout out (http://artifactconf.com/ ). I love this quote from the Responsive panel at the conference in Providence, RI:
"On the other hand, responsive design is forcing companies to prioritize site performance. The consensus is that slow-loading and bloated sites are just as much of a “design” flaw as confusing layout, clashing colors, and the rampant proliferation of typefaces on page. "
Most designers focus on how to accordion a website so it looks good on any device. The real challenge is deeper. How do we architect "less bloat"? How do we design information to be lean and responsive?
Couple of things I've noticed include:
* Building stories via visuals and rich snippets.
* Taking advantage of the swipe and spin options on mobile devices.
* Creating easier to understand backend functionality.
* Using a LEAN or MEAN filter forcing messaging to get to the point FAST.
The SEO and engagement benefits of the second half of responsive design - the information architecture half - are enormous. We know that as engagement goes up so do our site's heuristics and the "new Google" loves more time on site, lower bounce rates and other "engagement metrics".
The "Responsive Challenge" for designers is to realize more is involved than look and feel. The very core of our communication must be reviewed, reevaluated and changed to be leander and more responsive too or we design dissonance in. Confused customers do many things converting is never one of them.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
February 7, 2014 10:02 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Designed by Colin Harman , How Would You Like Your Graphic Design? made me laugh this morni...
Nothing I've seen so focuses the impossible task of designers (graphic or product) as this infographic. We want greatness but rarely are willing to PAY for it. Here is a hint and something we all know is true -
There are NOT Short Cuts to GREATNESS. Great is always expensive and painful :). M
|
|
Rescooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
from Internet Marketing, Content, Blogging and SEO
February 6, 2014 9:08 AM
|
Scoop.it!
![EYES and How They MOVE Around A Website [infographic] | Must Design | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/hq4_dMRx6ZSnPz9l40RoQzl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Engage website visitors better by designing your site to match how people's eyes move on the page. Here are some surprising eye tracking stats to help.
Putting together a great looking website is a great start, but it is just a start.
True web design requires you to venture beyond the aesthetic and into the worlds of User Experience and Conversion Rate Optimization.
Knowing how the viewers of your site really see it can help to shine light on new and/or missed opportunities within your current design. It may also bring out the need for new elements or changes.
While there are plenty of options for improving CRO, eye tracking analysis provides some of the most useful information for optimizing your biggest digital marketing asset, your website.
A good design will catch people’s eye, but a great design will keep people on your site and get them engaged with your content. And while you shouldn’tunderestimate the power of good copy, your design is what people notice first.
We teamed up with our friends over at Single Grain to put together the infographic below in hopes that it will help everyone get a better, basic understanding of what eye tracking is and what it can do.
Eyes move different on a website and this infographic takes you through how to design to maximize HOT ZONES people create by how they view websites.
Designing clean, effective websites that work and deliver clients
One of my students' favorite topics... XD
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 26, 2014 2:23 AM
|
Scoop.it!
Beats By Dre Web Design Lessons
A friend shared the impressive NEWSJACK Dr. Dre and his Internet markeing team pulled off last week. Beats By Dre (http://www.beatsbydre.com ) has some cool web design tricks to steal too such as:
* Consistent images across channels (the Richard Sherman image rode the crest of the wave created by his "controversial" statements after last Sunday's game).
* HUGE RED BUY NOW Call To Action on the home page.
* Hero moves but does so SLOWLY so it isn't jarring.
* They've programmed their Richard Sherman page so his picture matches to every style, something I bet the site does for all celebrity endorsements (cool and NEW).
* Their social buttons are a little low for my taste, but they are well labeled as the "Beats Army" and every major social net is there and they are robust and fresh on all social nets.
* I like how they handle the colors too via the small swatches.
All in all a great ecommerce site in support of one of the best NEWSJACKS I've seen (see my notes on Dr. Dre's multi-channel attack of the web here: http://sco.lt/8bJiDJ
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 22, 2014 8:39 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Todd Henry, author of "Die Empty," encourages us to be uncomfortable with comfort in a principle he developed from a quote from Kahlil Gibran.
Some Destruction Is Good
In college I heard a lecture by an art student. He insisted that the only creation left was destruction. When everything has been commoditized, marginalized and homogenized beyond some bland point destruction is all that left.
Didn't understand the lecture thirty years ago and am not sure I would go all the way there now, but comfort is an enemy to the restless soul creativity requires. Being satisfied is to accept way too much.
When we stop being willing to tear our preconceived notions down, to let new light onto our stage we limit our creative vision. Starving is not a requirement, but a little starving intellectual or otherwise can hone the senses and heighten receptors.
As Internet marketers we live in a constant state of vicious and unknown entropy like the surprise tsunami. Our most dangerous obsessions become anything that worked yesterday because there is less than no guarantee they will work tomorrow. There is an almost sure bet past strategies and the past YOU responsible for them have been washed away with the tide.
Now, using only new shells, driftwood and string washed ashore during the storm we construct a new castle on the beach. We are different. It is different just as it and the builder will be swept away again destroyed by yet another entropy tsunami.
To be comfortable in such a world is to be living a lie. Everyone needs repose, but denying the inevitable rotation, tide and destruction is to cling to a world already put asunder. The hardest thing about Internet marketing may be the growing realization the last person we can become "comfortable" with is ourselves. We must rotate, shift and roil like the tides.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 16, 2014 10:41 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Just as we did a year ago, I'm kicking off 2014 with a list of design trends I expect to gain ground over the next twelve months.
This great Gizmodo post had me at Theming Apps. 10 very cool and "out there" web and mobile design trends for 2014.
1. Theming Apps
2. Color as Affordance
3. Layers and Depth Within Apps4.
* 7 more in the linked post. Must Read. M
14 trends to keep an eye out for. Relating to web design, to app design, and some to ideas over visual elements.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 12, 2014 9:41 AM
|
Scoop.it!
2014's lurking around the corner: what technologies will take off and have a major impact, which of the fashions and fads of 2013 will become important trends and game changers in 2014.
Ever think you know enough about the technology we all depend upon? Don't since things change and then change again way too fast for any one to "know" anything (lol). This post outlines a group of highly technical changes that will impact our web and software designs next year whether we know or realize them or not:
My favorites are private clouds, their note about Internet of Things and questioning immutable deployment.
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
January 7, 2014 10:21 PM
|
Scoop.it!
December is always a great time to look back on the year that was and the new year that is soon to come. There are many exciting things that 2014 has in store for us who live, work, ...
Great UI for this look at 2014 Web Design Trends. Trends are inline with consensus including:
* Better and more artistic type online (cloud may help this too).
* Flat design.
* Large heroes kill sliders (hope so, sliders are distracting & bad).
* More MOBILE (thinking and design).
* VIDEO instead of text (YES).
* The LONG Scroll (already seeing this).
* Simple colors (and NEON accents from another trends post).
* Simplified Content (lean content, visual content).
* Dropping the sidebar (especially magazine-type designs).
* Image manipulation (old is new, new old, Instagram-ization).
* More crazy cool stuff (agree cloud is going to change design and then change it again).
Love the way they say VIDEO instead of text and I would modify to say hyper-short video (Vine-like).
|
|
Scooped by
Martin (Marty) Smith
December 31, 2013 5:28 PM
|
Scoop.it!
Web Design Trends 2014
* Simplicity.
* Long Pages.
* Interactive Infographics.
YES, YES, YES. These are 3 bedrock web design trends for 2014. Interactive Infographics are going to be a MONSTER trend. Infographics WORK add interactivity and the increased engagement it brings and WE HAVE A WINNER!
If you are a content marketer and you are NOT figuring out how to create interactive infographics next year even if you have to hire an agency to help (OUCH) you are nuts.
Thankfully, after a year of building, I'm on track...but really? Infografic travel?
...plus the skill of copywriting is most helpful. lorrinda