Networked Blogs

Ok, so you created your blog, but now how do you get people to follow it? I recently stumbled upon a cool site where you can view top blogs or blogs by topic and submit your blog to their list.  The site is Networked Blogs. But the really great thing about it is that every time you publish a new post, it is sent out to your Facebook or Twitter audience. That's a good way to bring your community in to read about your area of interest.

You can see a thumbnail of each top blog by topic, region or company, such as Apple, Yahoo!, Dell and Verizon. For instance, 22 employees of Apple follow the blog "Lifehacker" with 80,669 followers globally. Wired News has a total of 88,998 followers including 16 Apple employees.

Design Musings has a long way to grow. I'm hoping Networked Blogs will help me get to the 2 digit numbers!

iPad new tool for portfolio shows

My husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and I gave him the usual list; flannel pajamas, shower gel and a book. But then I revised my list. What I really wanted was an iPad. It's perfect for showing potential clients my website portfolio as it looks on a Mac device. I can access the Internet whether the client has wifi or not and they don't need to find out the password if they do.

But what really sealed the deal was finding out that there is no internet contract, as with phones. Pay as you go. It's small enough to fit in a handbag (sorry fellas), plays music and video, even keeps your photo library handy. Topping it off is the fact I can edit WordPress sites on the iPad, since it's dashboard is online. And I haven't even touched on the subject of the apps available... I'm now on a cloud and in the cloud with my iPad!

Three years is a long life for a website

More well written and informative article on web site design from Newfangled:

"Websites don't last forever. Without consistent upkeep, sometimes they barely even make it three years! The rapid change of web technology can overtake what was once state-of-the-art and reduce a website to a quaint relic in pretty short order, which is why it's so critical to realistically consider the "shelf life" of your website when you first build it.

But the truth is that predicting how technological change will affect your website is virtually impossible. There is bound to be something—whether it be the way browsers display your website or simply what's in style—that will change in the near future and cause you to rethink choices you may be making right now. And that's ok, as long as you're comfortable with your website being a work in progress.

Meanwhile, for many existing websites, the signs of digital decay are accumulating. Dormancy has been a very common strategy for reducing web-related expenses during the economic downturn, but there really is no such thing as true dormancy. As the web around it continues to grow, an unmaintained website is subject to a similar entropy as an untended home—a crumbling foundation, peeling paint, leaks, and pests.

If that sounds like your website, keep reading. In this article, I've identified ten very good reasons to rebuild it..."

Click title to go to Newfangled. FInd out why you should be rebuilding your website.

20 Slides of 20 Web Sites for 20 seconds each

Last night I presented my entire web design portfolio to a group of web design and developers in Hudson, Massachusetts. (NEWDA) I wasn't prepared to speak, thinking that these were to be background images while we chatted and networked. But, I was happy to talk about my work because I'm passionate about it.

My career has spanned 30 years of incredible change in the graphic design industry; the web design being a culmination of only the last 10 years. From drawing in India ink for illustrative map panels at Logan International Airport to designing diagrams of the immune system on one of the first Macs and finally to web design on a laptop...

My web work takes me on many journeys. I've worked with lawyers, therapists, artists, museums, playwrights and authors, accountants and caterers to name more than a few!

If you know anyone who wants to update their site or needs a new site, have them give me a ring. I'm always ready for the next journey.

Local Font Company MyFonts Publishes Book

MyFonts, of Marlborough Massachusetts, just published a book based on font designer interviews from their online newsletter, Creative Characters. Included in the newsletters (published since July 2007) and book are examples of the font types from such popular designers as Laura Worthington, Hannes Von Dohren and Marcus Sterz. Other Interviewees include David Berlow, Jim Parkinson, Cyrus Highsmith, Ray Larabie, Nick Shinn, Rian Hughes, Alejandro Paul, Dino dos Santos, Veronika Burian, Ronna Penner, Gert Wiescher, Hubert Jocham, P22, Underware and Jos Buivenga.

The September issue of the newsletter features Stuart Sandler, who co-directs no less than five foundries: Font Diner, Sideshow, Breaking the Norm, Tart Workshop and Mister Retro. "He is enamored with the lettering and typefaces of the 1920s through the 1960s, a period when letter-making was a very different craft indeed."

The book, available from Amazon, is only $23, but you can access the interviews at the MyFonts online archive. Enjoy!

Newfangled's Message: Simple Design is Good Design

Excepts from a source I trust. Thank you Chris Butler for another thoughtful essay. To read the full article go to the link above.

"Before you even start designing a page, keep in mind the following four principles. Remember, these are basic, underlying principles. They don't close any aesthetic doors. They provide a stable foundation upon which there is much freedom to design something as unique as it need be. But they will result in a page that is simpler and more effective than much of what we've reviewed today.

Identify Your Audience
Properly identifying your audience is the most critical step to designing an effective website. Chances are, you think your audience is bigger that it actually is. Take time before any prototyping or design is done to create user personas—realistic personality profiles that represent a significant group of your website's users. Without accurate personas, we're much more prone to making guesses or assumptions about who our prospects are, and creating content based upon that mistake.

Focus Your Content on Your Audience
Once you've correctly identified your audience, you can figure out what they need from you. Your content strategy should be informed by your personas, the opportunities you give them to connect with you, and the methods that are most effective for measuring the success of the site.

Include one or two calls to action
One or two at most. If you have more than that crowding the sidebar of a page, it's probably because you haven't thought through who the page is for and what next step makes the most sense for them.

Use Related Content Sparingly
Providing links to related content is a good thing to do. It provides opportunities for a prospect to learn more about what you do based upon the material they're already reading. But make sure that the way that related content is generated results in a few links to pages that are actually related. What you don't want is to direct a captive audience to something which will cause them to lose interest."

Waltham Museum Launches Perugi Design Site

 
The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in Waltham, MA launched it's new site this week designed and developed by Perugi Design. The Word Press site enables the staff at CRMI to edit and add its own photographs and text. The many photographs on the site were culled from the museum's extensive library of historical pictures depicting the manufacturing industry in Waltham from the 1800's. Other contemporary pictures were taken by Sam Ogden and other photographers. A flash banner on the home page represents the innovation of yesterday as models for the innovators of today.