Indianapolis Web Design Blog

As a designer, I’m not real thrilled about this idea, but it’s an old idea and doesn’t come as a suprise.

We designers make our living designing things like logos. Obviously if you’re a hobbyist or don’t make a living, one wouldn’t care so much. It’s been done before, but iStockphoto carries a lot of weight in the stock arena, and I for one hate to see them go down this path.

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I finally solved an old problem that has been buggin me, I have modified the Xinha editor’s image manager to insert class=”imgleft” or class=”imgright” into the img tag instead of the old, depreciated align=”right” or align=”left”.
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Hello graphic designers, that the font issue of the web have been solved – you know the problem: the one where a designer can’t make the visitors of his new website view his his favorite pet font?

Or has it really been solved?
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A Public Service Announcement (of sorts):

Occasionally I get domain renewal requests in the mailbox- the real one out by the street, not my e-mail. These come in official-looking paper envelopes branded by some company with an official-sounding name.

The problem is this: I register my domains online with a common registrar, such as Godaddy, Register.com, or Namecheap, and renewal costs a lot less that the paper notice is asking for. The other day I received one asking for me to renew domain names for up to $50. Normal domains run about $10-$15 online per year.

So if you get one of these, and even if it seems official, throw it away. It’s a scam.

Every once in awhile I look in on my client’s websites in order to help them run the best website possible. Training is usually necessary, and together I can help them learn some best image practices. By following the image use guidelines below, you can

• Increase website load times
• Save bandwidth (bandwidth costs money)
• Help the website look more professional
• Help visitors have a much better experience

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As we all know, our economy is down, and the effects and ramifications are being felt far and wide. A lot of companies in need of design or web services are holding onto their wallets a bit tighter, but at the same time, the need for good design and marketing is at an all-time high.

It’s much easier and more cost-effective to hire a professional freelancer rather than hire an employee. All it takes is a bit of communication and an IRS form 1099 a year later.

Let me state the benefits of going with a freelancer:

1. Freelancers have less overhead.
   Skip the red tape and the layers of bureaucracy. We’re leaner, faster, and better. On average, you’ll spend about 60% of the cost of going with a web firm.
2. Freelancers have a greater desire to excel.
   I’m a freelance- and my livelihood rests on doing a great job. When you call, I am the one who answers. Going with a larger firm, your project might be handed to an intern with nothing on the line.
3. Freelancers provide a wide range of services.
   Anything a media firm can do, a qualified freelancer can do. This is because most freelancers are entrepreneurial go-getters who used to work for those same media firms.
4. Freelancers are cool.
   Well, some are nerds… but I digress.

So, just because you have to be careful with your marketing dollars, doesn’t mean you can’t get some quality work done. Contact an independent contractor (such as myself) and we’ll fix you up good.

business_trends economy freelance freelancer independent_contractor job marketing media_firm small_business web_firm

Since custom design is my #1 job, I rarely need to use ready-made templates. When I do, it’s for good reason: the client needs to save money. These designs never get claimed as my own and never make it into my portfolio.
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Recently I had a friend (who is in charge of teaching the high-school youth of America about web design) tell me that his students really liked “grunge” and felt that Web 2.0 was going away (to be replaced by grunge) thanks in part largely to this old article over at Smashing Magazine.

A whole lot has been said about Web 2.0 as a design style, and I won’t go deep into that or try to rehash all that has been said.

The Smashing article in question was written a full year ago, so that is a factor in this conversation.
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In case my three visitors have wondered about why I haven’t updated this blog in awhile -that’s because I have been busy. Busy building websites. Last year was my biggest year ever, and for that I am grateful – you can’t take anything for granted.

Since the economy is chugging slower now, as things slow down for me (IF they do) then I’ll probably get more time to write.

Well, It’s been long enough, so I may as well call it official.

The Colts horse logo design project seems to have been abandoned. The page of finalists still exists, but no update since April.

What a weird “contest” it was. If anyone knows what happened, I’d love to hear about it…

indianapolis design colts logo contest