Lestini Designs - Web Design, Front-End Development and Photography

Smashing Magazine, that great source of all web design and development articles, released their first book, “The Smashing Book”. Due to some printing issues (which the Smashing Staff was good about communicating), it was supposed to come out in August, but I actually got mine toward the end of December. Regardless, it arrived and it is such a nicely done package that it was worth the wait. Smashing Magazine took all of there great ideas from the blog, and combined into The Smashing Book that has just about everything you need to know to create smashingly amazing websites.

So my mini review is as follows. I know, I just got around to reading it, but I have been busy and it was worth the wait. The book features 311 colored pages of essential information in topics ranging from User Interface Design to Websites Optimization to Typography. Each chapter is written from different authors in the field, so it gives a comprehension and complete package of information with many different perspectives. I am not going to go through all of the chapters, but point out a few that I thought were really well done.

The Art and Science of CSS Layouts

In this chapter, the authors, go through the different CSS layouts, fixed-width, fluid, elastic and hybrid, explaining the pros and cons of each one. Each explanation is accompanied by examples, CSS code, and a website that had achieved those layouts.

Typography: Rules, Guidelines and Common Mistakes

This chapter goes into details about best practices in the area if typography in design. It starts with a definition of terminology used in typography, which though basic is a needed foundation. Then, the authors talk about the need for white space in design, which then leads into the need to provide balance and legibility in a design.

How to turn a site into a Remarkable Brand

Chris Spooner, (who I think is “all that”) writes about the importance of creating a website that is new and fresh, but also how that stylish website must provide new and useful information in order for you to make it in your field.  I  liked his explanation of the idea of using social networking sites as a way to promote your site.

Conclusion

All in all, I think the Smashing Book is a very good book for intro to mid-level designers, and I liked how it touched upon the basics in a visually pleasing and original way. If you read the SM blog as much as I do, then this book is a good buy. You can order your copy of The Smashing Book yet, order it here. I do hope they continue to produce books (maybe offering it in PDF format as well) but I also hope the next book is either more on development, or a little more advanced. I think there isn’t anything wrong with offering books on all levels and all topics. SM is off to a good start here, and I hope they continue!

Before I start on any new website project, I find it is really important to give some time to challenging my clients to really think what their idea for their website project is going to be, and to make sure that it is worth the investment that will be required by both parties to realize it online. So I have some basic questions I pose for each propose project and to each client, and thought it might be helpful to share my process. This list is by no means inclusive…actually my full list is exhausting, but this gives a good basic start to my process. Hope you find it useful!

Budget

As crass as it sounds, the first question off the bat should be what the budget of your potential client is. I find that helps at the onset to get an idea of what they can afford and it lets you shape the conversation of what they want – which will come next. It just helps me get an idea of what their figures are, so when then start to talk about what they want to see, I can think of some alternate ideas in my head if the standard way of doing things is not going to match their budget. They have no idea really, of what they are asking for and how that equates in time and money, but you do – so get that established for them right away.

But Why?

So, why does the client really want this website? If the client has a hard time answering this, any further questions you propose are going to be difficult for them to answer. At this stage, if you find the client can’t really answer this, your job is to steer them to a place to consider what they need. Is their site a lead-generational tool, are they highlighting a service or need to offer customer support via their site? Just little things you can talk to them about to help them get a clearer understanding of why they really need a website.

Who Are They Trying to Reach?

Identifying who is going to use your client’s site is so important. It helps shape your content strategy. Also with this, knowing what they want from their website visitors is extremely important. Clear and easy calls to action are essential, and this is something you really need to spend time with your client discussing so you have the full picture and know how to implement lead nurturing processes though out the site.

Who Will Maintain Their site?

Once it’s built, maintaining a website is a major ongoing effort and really impressing this upon your client is key. Many clients assume that this task can be just folded in to the already long list of responsibilities of someone in their marketing department. Perhaps this is realistic for some, but not many. The amount of work required to maintain a website should correlate to the level of expectation for its value as a business tool.  And this concept doesn’t mean that if you build the site on top of a Content Management System that your role in shaping this concept is over after launch. A CMS allows clients to update the site basic content themselves, but it doesn’t substitute for someone tracking and nurturing leads, evaluating site performance with various measurement tools, planning for and managing ongoing upgrades, and all kinds of engagement activity necessary to generate valuable traffic to it. If you are the person that can impress this upon the client, the odds are that you will be the one they turn to to manage their site after it is built.

Ready? Then Get To It!

These are just a few basic ideas I take into my initial client meetings. However, each of these is just a starting point in an often long and complex designer-client relationship. Along the way, you may find yourself coming back to these points, expanding and finding new issues to discuss.

Just remember that this process is as fluid as the web is. It should evolve naturally during your partnership with your client. If you go in feeling that it is a partnership, both you and client will come out at the end of it feeling as though you have both gained from it.

Just found this by surfing the web and since I have started using it, I can say I am seriously impressed with After the Deadline spell and grammar check.

I know, another spell check program. Don’t I have that already in all my other applications? Yes, probably. I have it in this WordPress install I am using. But, since I rely so heavily on spell check (ahem) I really like the way this one works. It has contextual spelling checks. It makes its best stab at what you are trying to type.

After the Deadline checks spelling, misused words, style, and grammar using artificial intelligence and natural language processing. But what I really like is the grammar feature. I use passive voice all the time (I know, stop it) and really appreciate the way this helps you pick it up. Best part, you can install it directly in Firefox, so it can be used with WordPress, Twitter, Google Docs and a whole host of other apps you run through a browser. The only thing I think is a little clunky is how you get to the preferences panel, but since it is an add-on to Firefox, I guess it is to be expected. Anyway, check it out when you have a moment. It’s a free download.

Wow! No updates since January, huh? Well, I moved and am starting a new job so things have been pretty busy. I hope things settle down a bit in the weeks to come, but at least it has made January fly by.

So as 2009 has come to a close and the year of “Twenty-Ten” is upon us, of course it is a time for reflection on the past and what is ahead.

On the web design side, 2009 was a year full of simple, clean usable design. It has become part of the consciousness of the profession. I was so overjoyed by this move in 2009 and hope it continues in 2010. I tend to see things visually this way and hope it continues. I hope the web industry has finally fully accepted that simple, direct communication beats fancy design, and that we must strive to deliver what our web site visitors want. It is about finding the information they came to find in the best possible way.

Usability is now more mainstream and accessible, User-Centered Design has become part of many people’s design processes, and we’ve also seen SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing – pay-per-click etc.) become dedicated professional disciplines. If there is any big trend to continue in 2010, I hope SEO continues to show its might and worth. Of course, Social Networking was king in 2009, and I am sure that will continue. I do hope however, it finds a way to mainstream itself more to be a transmitter of quality content and quality networking of ideas and groups. I worry with the “jump on the bandwagon” that has happened with SN lately, that we will have so much information that the quality of the content may be lost. But let’s hope there are new methods and forms of IA that continue to evolve with this medium.

My 2010 wish list on the geek side is, of course, the iSlate, iTablet, iGuide or whatever they choose to call it. I hope it lives up to its hype. And I hope I can continue to worship at the Apple Altar. I will if the product they deliver continues to be as stunning as it was in 2009. But, I also hope some friend of mine will buy an unlocked Nexus One so I can play with it. Competition is a fine thing.

I hope to be able to continue my freelancing business in 2010 with the pace and quality of the projects that 2009 brought me too.

On a more general side, I hope and pray 2010 is the year we remember how close and connected we are as a people, nation and world. A little more civility and cohesiveness all around would be most welcomed.

And finally, I did not mistype that. It is HOPPY NEW YEAR – and old family tradition and a great one at that.

For all those that celebrate, peace and joy this Christmas.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14