Facebook, your parents are now on it, and maybe even your grandparents too! Proving to have staying power, Facebook towers over the demise, and eroding of previous contender Myspace. Facebook has many interactive features, and various functions we can all take advantage of. As design sites, we have all slowly migrated over to having our own Facebook fan pages, and this can prove to be very successful in driving Facebook ‘friends’ over to your site.

My Favorite Design Blog Fan Pages

These great design sites can be found on Facebook, head over and become a fan today!

MyInkBlog on Facebook (350 Fans)

AdmixWeb (80 Fans)

AdmixWeb is an amazing web design, and development blog, owned and operated, by Teylor Feliz and Holly Lamarche.

AREA1 (33 Fans)

AREA 1 is a blog related to graphic/web design, blogging tutorials, & articles.

Colorburned (2,869 Fans)

Colorburned is a design blog featuring the best in design news, resources, and tutorials from around the web.

Coroflot (7,028 Fans)

Coroflot is a creative network for designers of all stripes. Upload your portfolio of work, and allow great employers, and observers to be able to see your skills!

Design Juices 36 Fans

Design Juices has its own facebook page. I encourage you to pass on the page to all of your friends, so we can grow in our presence online. The Facebook page is the place to go for all the updates regarding Design Juices, and is an open forum for any thoughts, and feelings you have regarding the blog.

Design Your Way (37 Fans)

Design Your Way is a great place to submit links relating to design, and offers great design articles on a range of topics.

DeviantART (216,917 Fans)

DeviantART aims to provide a place for any artist, both emerging and professional talents, to exhibit, and discuss works of art. With over 12 million registered members, and 100 million submissions, DeviantART is the world’s largest art community.

Fudge Graphics (1000 Fans)

Whether you’re looking for high quality freebies, inspiration, or design related news; Fudge Graphics has it.

Graphic River (616 Fans)

At Graphic River you can buy and sell, royalty free, layered Adobe Photoshop Files, Vector Graphics, Icon Sets, and Add-ons for Adobe Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Inspired Magazine (1,966 Fans)

Inspired Magazine is a daily inspiration source for web designers, illustrators, Twitter addicts, and other creative humans.

Inspiring Pixel (272 Fans)

Inspiring Pixel is an online inspiration repository for designers. The website features creative, and inspiring designs from Web, Graphic, and the UI design industry from professionals. This enables viewers to understand their work, and create similar designs themselves.

Lady Umbrella (3,374 Fans)

Lady Umbrella is a designer ladies t-shirt company based in Ireland. The company was established in 2008, with the dream of creating stunning t-shirts with the heroine, Lady Umbrella, in a variety of scenarios, and with a host of friends. Lady Umbrella has successfully run various giveaways, and competitions, in coorelation with improving their facebook profile. This has rapidly increased their fan base.

MacApp Storm (1,079 Fans)

MacApp Storm is a great site dedicated to Mac application news, reviews, competitions, and tips.

Naldz Graphics (257 Fans)

Naldz Graphics is a Design Blog for designers, and design lovers. They showcase the best tutorials, freebies, inspirations, and other useful, and informative resources to help, and give love to the design community.

Psd Tuts+ (3,331 Fans)

Psd Tutsplus is a blog/Photoshop site, made to house, and showcase some of the best Photoshop tutorials around.

Smashing Magazine (11,797 Fans)

Smashing Magazine delivers useful, and innovative information to Web designers, and developers. Their aim is to inform our readers about the latest trends, and fresh techniques in design, and Web development.

The Web Blend (133 Fans)

The Web Blend is a community for designers, developers, and tech junkies that keeps you current with a summary of the latest in web related news and trends.

Visual Swirl (80 Fans)

Visual Swirl is a creative design blog from the mind of Chris Thurman, dishing out tasty snacks for the creative mind.

Promoting your Facebook Page

Well, now that you have your Facebook page up and running, you want people to visit it?

• Use the great Facebook badge, and place it on your site. This is done with a simple piece of code provided by Facebook themselves, it simply fits inside your sidebar (or wherever you wish to place it.) This allows users to see your latest posted updates, and become a fan right away.
• Run a competition/giveaway through your site/Facebook page, and encourage users to become a fan in order to enter the giveaway. Simple ideas like this (with the right prize) often bring you hundreds of new readers and fans. (you can encourage them to follow your blog in various social network sites.)
• Syncing your twitter feed to your Facebook page is only a click away.
• Post up your new articles on your Facebook page, allowing you to receive additional traffic.
• Promote Facebook button at the bottom of your posts.
• Be interactive on the page, but don’t over-run users with updates, typically a one or two posts per day is necessary.
• Encourage your community of readers to comment on Facebook posts, and respond, encouraging conversation.

Quick Nav

• Mind Mapping and Cluster Diagrams
• Using Statistics
• Browse Through Related Blogs
• Social Media
• Use Your Own Growth
• More Useful Tips
• Tools

In this post we are going to take a look at the fine art of brainstorming. Analyzing the ways and means that some of us use to get those clouds rolling in, and the storms raging relentlessly inside our heads.

I have talked in the past about the importance of the content on your blog, especially for garnering new readers, and so I decided that I would do a post that could help you achieve this content for your site. In this post we are going to take a look at the fine art of brainstorming. Here we will examine the important role that this plays in the creative process, and how it can be a blogger’s most invaluable content contributor.

The creative process is an involved structure with many pieces, fueled by our imaginations. In order to run wild with the process, we need to have the idea that is steering the wheel. For bloggers, this process is no different. But how do we find those ideas when we are facing this topical drought? Well, below are some ideas that tend to work in our house for this pair of creatives, so I thought it was time to share the style behind our storms, in hopes that they might work for others as well.

Mind Mapping and Cluster Diagrams

Cluster Diagrams, sometimes more commonly referred to as Mind Maps, are often times the visual representation and centerpiece of a brainstorming session. Transferring virtual thought clouds to paper have long been a staple in the productivity arena. By generating ideas that center around a single topic, and allowing for sub-categories to emerge through this mapping of your thoughts, you can help maximize the output of your storm.

Most of us, whether we have used them ourselves or not, are familiar with this type of thought structure, and have seen them in some form or another. They can be used to thoroughly examine a topic by allowing you to group information into clusters, and follow multiple avenues to draw connections to other areas or ideas. This can lead you to all kinds of content ‘clusters’,  allowing you tackle a topic from every possible angle. This also deters areas of your discussion to fall through the cracks, leaving gaps that readers will want filled in.

Using Statistics

A great way to understand your readers is to use your site statistics, such as Google Analytics or Mint. This offers some perspective as to what people are interested in. Find out what your readers are seeking, and then work towards giving it to them. This at least gives you a direction in which to point your creative output.

Now if you find that you have covered the area that is being searched, and are bringing people in to your site to the degree that you really cannot find a fresh approach, or at least an updated approach, then don’t. Have the presence of mind to know when enough is enough, and remember that re-hashing the same content over and over only diminishes the impact and effectiveness of your site’s posts.

Browse Through Related Blogs

Do not mistake what I am saying here. I am not advocating content theft or idea stealing by any stretch of the imagination. Copycatting is not exactly finding your way to your own content, as much as it is, helping yourself to someone elses. But simply browsing through blogs related to your topic can often times spark ideas separate from what you were looking at, yet still would not have come to without this jaunt through the blogosphere.

Another way that this can be especially useful is if you take the time to read through the comments to see if the readers are asking for more information, or have questions that were not addressed. Then you are not stealing their ideas, but you are expanding on them to help supplement the original post (which you should link to and credit so that readers can get the whole pie not just your piece), and fill in any informational gaps on the topic that have gone unbroached.

Social Media

Another great way to find content that is needed by the community, is by of course, going social. Media, that is. Get out on the various social media networks and find out what questions are being asked, and more importantly, which ones are not being answered. (I should qualify that with relevant questions.) This is another way to connect your content with the community, and that always helps it land.

Try to work a little social media into your brainstorming sessions, and you may just find that they tend towards the more fruitful end of the scale. Though, once again, be self aware and know if this media reach is actually helping, or simply distracting you from your search for content. And know that if you cannot find any questions that need tackling, take the initiative and ask some of your own. Find out via the SM outlets if there are any topics or questions your followers would like to see you take on for the blog. The outlets are there at our disposal, so make the most of them.

Use Your Own Growth

Another great place to look for ideas when you are brainstorming, is you. Look at the path that you have been on, and the many ways in which it has grown, and splintered, and what those changes have meant to your development and shaping. What have you learned on this road that you wished you had known before you got started?

What bumps in the road did you encounter, that had you known about them ahead of time, you would have avoided?

Your personal experience in your field can offer a look into that arena that others may not have noticed themselves. And as unique as you feel your tale will be, it can always assist others in their journey, even if their path does not always resemble your own. As you learn and grow in your craft take your readers along with you. You are a cog in the machine that is your industry, add value to your contributions by offering helpful insights to others from your own growth, so as to help them do the same.

More Useful Tips

• Schedule 1 to 2 half hour sessions a week for brainstorming to keep a cache of ideas. Try to make it a time when you can get through the half hour without any interruptions at all.
• Write down everything, even incomplete ideas. Don’t judge or criticize your ideas while brainstorming, just let them come, write them all down and make judgments later. This is the one time you want to go for quantity instead of quality.
• Keep a small notebook with you at all times so that you can jot down ideas as they come to you – it’s really easy to forget an idea if you don’t get it out of your head immediately.
• Set goals for brainstorming sessions. I might spend an entire session focusing on just freelance article ideas.
• Know the limits of an idea, and extend it as far as you reasonably can. Let it lead you to other places and down other avenues.
• Gap Filling. Identify your current spot – Point A – and your end goal – Point B. What is the gap that exists between A and B? What are all the things you need to fill up this gap? Write them down, and find out what it takes to get from point A to point B.
• Have a backup of your ideas. I recently lost aprox 40 article ideas because I only had them stored in one place.
• Free writing, free speaking, word association and the spider web
• If you feel like you’ve completely run out of ideas, free write for 5 minutes. Write anything and everything that comes into your mind.

Tools

Freemind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. The recent development has turned it into a high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click fold / unfold and follow link operations.

Mindmeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions. Users can create, manage, and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other’s changes as they happen.

StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click

Stumble!, we deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended by your friends or one of 8 million+ other websurfers with interests similar to you. By rating the sites you like () it automatically shares them with like-minded people – and helps you discover great sites your friends recommend. Use the search feature to stumble specific topics for ideas.

Cluster diagrams are a type of non-linear graphic organizer that can help to systematize the generation of ideas based upon a central topic. Using this type of diagram, the student can more easily brainstorm a theme, associate about an idea, or explore a new subject. Enchanted Learning offers a collection of printable graphic organizer templates for creating cluster diagrams.

Dabbleboard is an online collaboration application that’s centered around the whiteboard. With a new type of drawing interface that’s actually easy and fun to use, Dabbleboard gets out of your way and just lets you draw. Finally, the whiteboard enters the digital age!

Your Turn

What are some brainstorming techniques you depend on when your mind is on empty. Share your thoughts with a comment below.

Designing websites seems to appeal to a certain niche of people. Sure, we get called geeks and nerds (and we somehow find it endearing), but that doesn’t begin to cover the wide array of personalities that make up the design community. In this post the last thing I want to do is to paint all designers with a broad brush, but I do want to get to the bottom of what makes being a web designer so appealing to so many of us.

One common denominator seems to be the design process itself, and how it tends to be the perfect blend of creativity and logic, but that only touches the surface. In this post I’ll uncover my top 5 reasons why I love being a web designer.

The Creative Process

Photo by LookatLao

I love the start of any design. It’s awesomely open and full of potential. It’s our job as designers to tap into the creative potential and to give a project direction.

The importance of sketching has been touted across the design community for a while now. Not only is it extremely helpful, but it’s also a lot of fun. I just purchased my first Moleskine sketchbook to optimize this portion of the design process. The feeling you get when an idea begins to take shape is unparalleled in almost any other profession.

Logical Thinking

Although the creative process is a blast, I sometimes just like to figure out the best way to make things work. Fortunately, in web design the next logical step… is, well logical. Making my designs look as good in a browser as they do in a mock up can be very challenging, however it’s the learning process and the road blocks that inevitably follow that help me learn and develop my skills. These challenges that always ensue definitely strike a cord in my determined personality. There is a lot of satisfaction in the ah-ha moment.

Constantly Changing Technologies

Photo by Guillermo Esteves

Chris Coyier over at CSS Tricks recently put together a fun, tongue in cheek list of of all the things a modern web designer should know. Although it was mostly a joke, it was also pretty true. The list was enormous, but for me that’s part of the intrigue of being a designer. I don’t ever want to get to point of contentment. If I did then I would lose a lot of the drive and desire that made it interesting in the first place.

A Great Community

You’ve probably heard a lot of us design bloggers boast about the so-called “Design Community”. I know I’ve raved about it before, and I’ve created a design news section to share the community with you.

I think the thing that separates this community is it’s willingness to help each other. In what other field do people in direct competition go out of their way to help one another? I also love the helpful advice I get anytime I ask a design question in Twitter or Facebook.

A Much Needed Service

In a poor economy it sure is nice to be in a position of need. I’m not suggesting it’s always easy to get a job or freelance gigs, but the opportunities are out there. We’re at a point in time where almost every business needs a website. That’s great news for those of us that make a living creating them. It’s awesome to play a role in such an important aspect of a business. It’s easy to take pride in your work when you feel you are very much needed.

That’s A Wrap

If you are into web design (and I’m assuming you are if you’re reading this) then I’m quite curious to see if you agree with these reasons, and to find out what other ones you may have. Feel free to join the discussion and drop a comment below.

I was once told an inspirational little nugget of truth that I have clung to since, and allowed its influence to guide me along my path. The saying was told to me by an old manager whom I worked under for only a short time, but whose simple words stuck with me. He said, ‘Good is the enemy of great.’, and the words took a second to wash over me and for me to fully grasp what it was he was saying, but it was simply this. If you are content with being good, then you will never by great.

I thought about this for a while, as we often do when things strike us profoundly. In essence, we get to a point where we consider ourselves, or say our design skills are good and rather than continue to allow ourselves to grow, we stay stagnant. Satisfied with our progress to the point where, even if we don’t realize it, we stop progressing. We are good, and we know that, and as long as we are happy with that label, we will never strive to improve and possibly become great.

At one time, we are all beginners, but it is where we take ourselves from that starting point that matters. We all have different abilities when it comes to design, and though our strengths and talents may fall in different areas, it is how we play to and outside of these strengths that really set us apart. It is a case of good vs. great, and here is a look at what I mean.

Good Designer

A good designer has taken the time to learn the basics of design, on which they will build their foundation, and they settle comfortably into this place. They nurture the developed and inherent skillsets they have refined into a good fashion with which they begin to make their mark on the design world. A good designer listens to their clients and does whatever necessary to meet the demands made of them. They take few risks that might upset the norm and challenge the trends currently shaping the community.

A good designer takes on clients that do not ask them to reach outside their settled comfort zone, allowing them to not dare beyond their safety netted borders. They are never the best at processing and handling constructive criticism, seeing it more of an attack and reason to be defensive. A good designer is fine with being a good designer as long as it is paying the bills and keeping their portfolio stocked. A good designer is just that, good, and they are happy with that. Which means, they will never be a great designer.

Great Designer

A great designer is always taking time to learn more about the complexities and subtleties of design, never resting in their pursuit of knowledge. They do not settle into a comfort zone, because their passion pushes them to keep delving into, and trying new things. A great designer engages their clients guiding them towards the right design, overdelivering on the expectations placed on them. They are always taking risks in their work allowing creativity and ingenuity to lead them over the trends that are steering so many others.

A great designer takes on clients that challenge them to reach beyond their comfort zone, and dare into new territories and unexplored landscapes. They welcome feedback and use those critiques to further hone their creative skills and efforts. A great designer does not consider themselves to be great, as much as they see themselves as successful with a gallery of interesting and varied work. You see they are always striving for more and pushing forward, knowing not that they are great, but just that they are designers.

Defining – Where It Gets Tricky

Defining this is where things can tend to get more than a little tricky, because good designers can assign themselves the title as they deem themselves worthy and a success. But alas, great designers are defined by their work and by others, merely deeming themselves a success based on their line of satisfied clients. And though the cybersea is densely populated in the design arena, there are so many various levels of professionals working in the field it can be hard to get a barometer reading as to just where it is you land. Lots of people get hung up trying to figure out where it is they are, forgetting the most important part.

It does not matter where we are, just where we take ourselves from any one point that matters. Remember that this is a journey, and as such, the wheels should never stop turning. We all have within us the potential for greatness, however, some of us get sidetracked along the way by being good at what we do.

Where Do We Go From Here?

If the question is good enough for Buffy and the gang to poignantly ponder in song, then it is certainly good enough for this path to greatness, I mean, hello, she was the chosen one. Anyway, where do we go from here, is certainly the better question to be asking yourself, than where am I at? It indicates that desire to press on and keep moving forward, which a big first step on the path to greatness. There are a few things you can do to ensure that you are heading in the right direction and they are listed below.

Keep Moving Forward

Never be satisfied with where you are at in design. It is always changing and you should be growing along with it. You should effectively never stop learning. Keep challenging yourself to learn and do more, never let your skills and talent stagnate.

Be A Leader, Not A Follower

Guide your clients to the right design choices do not let them lead you to a subpar, phoned-in performance. Yes, listen to their suggestions and know what they want, but find the best way to give it to them without compromising your talent or reputation.

Try To Set Trends, Not Be A Slave To Them

Design trends come and go almost with the seasons, and there is no shame in designing in that theme, especially if you never have before, but do not let these whims become your only bearing for what to do. Think outside the proverbial box, and find new directions to veer off in.

Critical Thinking Accepted

The design community is available to garner valuable feedback and insight regarding your work, but you have to know how to take and use constructive criticism and not let it bother or deter you. Learn to identify true criticism from callous comments intended merely to upset you, and this will be easier to do.

Collaborate, A Great Way To Reset The bar

Working with others in the community is another invaluable tool you have at your design disposal for sure. This always challenges you to step it up a notch and push yourself more so than working with a client on a project can. This can also be a fun way to learn new things from other designers, good or great.

Stay Inspired

One thing that separates the goods from the greats is passion. Our passion keeps us inspired as long as we keep it fed and the flame fanned so it does not burn out. Always turn to new avenues to find inspiration so that your creative mind stays revitalized, and your perspective fresh.

That Is All On This End

So what are your thoughts on the differences between what makes a good and great designer? What else would you add to the list of things to do?

Making New Friends

Twitter has allowed me to connect and network with other design creatives from all over the world, people who in a normal situation I would have never crossed paths with. I always love to share new ideas with creatives, and gather advice from people who are more successful and knowledgeable in their field of expertise. As I have matured using Twitter over the past few months, I have grown to love some very special people.

Lauren Thompson: @nymphont

Lauren is someone I have found a great joy to communicate with, she is often looking for a designer’s feedback on web templates and other works. So I have the privilege of having a peak at the work she is soon to release and discuss the finer nuances of her brilliant web design work and font design.

Mia Zoe: @Vegagirl5

Mia is someone I have only truly begun to converse recently with on a daily basis, she is always offering me positive feedback and lines of communication relating towards my article writing over at Design Something. She has a brilliantly diverse portfolio and I have found it a rewarding experience when talking to her about all things design related. She has been a massive help in my ideas and thoughts of my own personal website design and future thinking, offering me useful links and information on a range of topics I would otherwise be lost in.

Christy Latz: @OuttheOtherSide

Christy is probably the first designer I have had the chance to speak with on a regular basis when first setting up my blog and design portfolio online, Twitter allowed me to reach her either privately through direct messages, or simply hitting her with a quick message. She provides me with positive thoughts and always makes me smile when I’ve had a rough day with work, I attempt to do the same when we both come to discuss our workload and experiences from each week.

Chris Trude: @trudesign

Ask and he shall deliver, I wanted someone to collaborate with on a professional level and work with me on a guest posting. Chris straightaway delivered and I get a real good vibe whenever I have the chance to speak further with him, he works hard on his personal blog ‘Ruminations of designer.’ This blog holds great articles on design and everyday life.

Amanda: @GritFX

Forever working hard with her own community and website I know that if I send a message she will endeavor to take a moment out of her time to get back to me on Twitter. She is on the other side of the world in Australia and of course in different time zones but this doesn’t stop her from taking time out to communicate with me.

Special mentions must also go towards

• Andrew Houle @myinkblog
• Karen McDade @KarenMcDade
• Roberto Blake @robertoblake
• Franz Jeitz @fudgegraphics

Keeping in touch with Old friends

Facebook is often cited as the main place with which social events are seemingly organized through Facebook events, groups and wall posts. But if I want to write a quick message to friends I would normally contact by phone and text; then I am able just to address a quick point or question towards their inbox. Posting this information on Twitter means that it can be accessed by others but it does also offer the flip-side of hearing their opinions. I have left questions for friends only for another person to have seen it and offered me help in return.

Networking

Twitter is a fast acting and non-stop feed of information, you can reach so many people with a tweet and instantly receive feedback and information on an idea or problem you have undertaken. I have often found a quick precise tweet which can be responded to within a few lines, that very often sees some great useful feedback received from people. This back and forth is a quick form of communication and can often build relationships and bring to you new followers and friends.

Promotion

Twitter has helped massively in spreading the word on all sorts of activities I undertake in my online experience, the creation of my twitter page directly stemmed from me blogging about design more seriously. I wanted an outlet where I could direct people to the articles I was creating and network with other bloggers, designers, and creatives to gauge feedback, understandings and any questions helping me to improve my way of working.

Promoting My Blog

Twitter helps me to tweet about all my articles and get other people to quickly pass or RT the articles to another set of followers, which only goes to improve the possibility of the article reaching as many page views as possible. Constant re-tweeting of a personal article is counter-productive though, and I would definitely recommend to only tweet it a few times. Although the flip side to this argument is the more you tweet about one thing the bigger expanse of people you are going to reach by them clicking the link and exploring your site.

Other things which I find are helpful in promoting through twitter are Flickr groups in showing off people’s work and this promotion can also bring to it new articles. Having your own Facebook page for your blog is invaluable by increasing the page views on your site and then can be further promoted on Twitter. I have been fortunate enough to connect with some great creative personalities through my Twitter feed, this has further lead to articles being written with some people as guest authors and performing informative interviews on the blog. It is always refreshing to work with new people, and working alongside someone on an article is something which really ignites creativity and a willingness to work as hard and productive as possible.

Promotion of my personal portfolio and the work that I have created online can further be spread to large numbers of followers that will hopefully equal to more opportunities for people to be interested in my work, and can later lead towards an increase in job opportunities. Connecting with more experienced Twitter creatives and designers is often invaluable, if they become interested in your work it can lead to more exposure of your work, articles, and thoughts; if the right people tweet your links to their large numbers of followers. Increasing the amount of people you can reach can mean increased opinions, job opportunities and constructive feedback on work.

What do I Update twitter with?

Echofon was my first twitter tool I used over an extended period of time. This is a small Firefox plug-in resides on your toolbar and updates periodically alerting you of messages, tweets and direct messages. I found the user interface easy and simple to deal with, and its settings could be easy adjusted to the amount of times that the icon popped up notifying you of new messages. It also offers you the opportunity of turning the add-on off when you don’t want to be interrupted with notifications.

I have only begun to see the massive advantages of using Tweetdeck, it’s a program which is widely spoken of in twitter circles as being a great program to keep up-to-date with all things relating to your twitter account. It works as a fully functioning program and offers a lot of customization in its layout, and the settings are so minutely adjustable you will have a program which can either bother you every minute or just once an hour on your coffee break. The program also offers the advantage of working with Facebook and other social network sites so you can monitor several social network sites at once.

This base, could also mean the difference between getting the job, or getting passed over. So it beneficial to familiarize yourself with the common elements that normally make various niche sites stand out from the others in their genre. In this post, we will be looking at the elements of great band websites. So if your next client needs you to build a site for this field, here are some must-haves for your design.

Also, you will notice scattered throughout the post are a few ‘Greatest Hits’, or in other words, some of the best band sites out on the webs.

Band Photo & Member Info

The first, is the most obvious, and one of the most important elements to include. The picture of the band with band member information. Remember most of their fans not only want to know more about the music, but they also want to know more about the individuals that make up the group. So remember to make this a priority, not only because of its necessity to the site and the fans, but also because of the way it can feed the design.

With band websites you want to make sure that the design of the site matches the personality and attitude of the band without going overboard with flash. The time you invest to build the site and put everything together could all be for not if the design doesn’t embody the essence and feel of the band. Keep it simple so as to not detract from the band, make it useable so they can get all the info they need, and make it relevant to not break from the tone of the band.

Greatest Hits – Fallout Boy

Fallout Boy’s website does a great job of both showcasing the talent and allowing the band to connect with their fans. I love their Q&A section for allowing fans to ask questions, it’s a great personalization technique. Their tour info page could use some work to make it a bit clearer, but it’s not much of a deterrent. Joining and signing in may do that, but I wouldn’t recommend making fans join your site just to get your touring info.

Showcase The Music

Now given that the band’s art is their music, you want to make sure that it is highlighted on the site with an appropriately styled presentation befitting their work. So be sure to have a great looking playlist for the users. Remember not everyone visiting the site has necessarily heard the band’s music before, they could have been sent there by friends. Having a well designed playlist can draw new listeners and help to gain new fans, so pay attention to this element.

And being that past is prologue, you want to be sure that you are not only focusing on the band’s current music, but also featuring and pointing visitors to their full discography. Without listing their past body of work, you are in effect minimalizing the band’s previous efforts. And while it is not necessary to have their entire discography on the front page, you are going to want to make sure that the navigation to it is clearly marked and easy to find.

Quick tip: Don’t have the music start automatically, let the visitors decide whether they want to listen or not. Generally it is not a good idea to take over a user’s sound.

Greatest Hits – Kings of Leon

The Kings of Leon’s site is another great example of a band site done right. Their Discography allows logged in fans to rate and review the albums. This is not only a fantastic way to show confidence in the music, but also to demonstrate how much the band values their fan’s input. Their events page lets you know that there aren’t any upcoming events so you don’t have to wonder if the page is working, and removing any guesswork is a must.

Merchandise

Another main element that fans of the band are going to be looking for when coming to the band’s website is merchandise. Not every band will want sell merchandise on their site or even have any to offer, but if your clients choose to have a shop you need to make sure to use a dependable shopping cart system to set them up. Also the presentation of the merchandise is key, so pay attention to the styling you use. You want to compliment it, do not distract from it.

Once the shop is in place, you may think that your job there is done, and it very well could be, if that is how you want to play it. However this is an opportunity to go above and beyond and help steer your client in the direction of some reliable and safe outlets to provide great customer service. By helping them find a service to assist them in this arena, you are demonstrating your passion for customer service, and helping your reputation. Pointing them in the direction of services like Zendesk, and getting them a customer service base to work with helps guarantee they will not be calling you to handle these needs.

Greatest Hits – U2

If you are designing for a big name band, then you have a lot to live to up to, but in the case of U2’s site you can see another way it has been done with style. The site has a great tour page where you can actually find links to purchase tickets to upcoming shows. The depth of the Discography is also engaging, containing backgrounds on each album as well as lyrics to each song.

Calendar of Events

Another classic must have element when designing a band site, is a calendar of events. This is another area of the site that the fans are certainly going to be searching for, so you do not want to make them have to look far. You need to be sure that the fanbase knows where and when they can catch the band performing, and you as the designer need to include this section and make it really pop. You want this to be more than just a stagnant event list, you want it to draw as much attention as the rest of the site.

This can be a tricky element to effectively include, especially if the client has to be in charge of updating it regularly with information. The client may not have much experience with site maintenance, and that can often tie your hands as to how to work in an element like this. This could also offer an opportunity for you to get a recurring maintenance contract with the client to handle these updates to insure that they are done without breaking the design.

Greatest Hits – Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys are another great band with an equally awesome website. Just like U2’s site, AM’s gigs page also allows visitors and fans to purchase tickets for upcoming shows. This is one of the few band sites I came across that actually had a way to contact the band. They also have a really in depth discography allowing users to comment on their music. And most of their songs have lyrics posted on the site.

Newsletter

Beyond just a calendar to help the band’s fans keep up with what is going on with the group, the inclusion of an online newsletter than can be posted to the site is another great way to get this done. This element offers a bit more of a personal reach into the band, making more of a connection with the fans. So steering the client in this direction not only furthers the scope of the site, but the effectiveness as well.

Newsletters offer you yet another opportunity to flex your design muscles and wow your clients and site visitors alike, but again, this may not be an area that the client wants to go in. Though if you can explain the benefits effectively to them, you might soon find yourself designing the layout of a band newsletter.

Greatest Hits – Band of Horses

The Band of Horses website is an awesomely creative, extremely original and well designed site with fluid navigation that really adds to the overall feel of the band. The band incorporates a newsletter and blog into their site, along with a performance schedule to fully connect with their audience and keep them informed. Which does demonstrate a desire that your clients may share, to have all these various avenues to reach out on their site.

Contact Information

Now this next element is not necessarily specific to a band site, but the customization and styling of the contact information is still key for those looking to get into contact with the group. You also want to make sure that the information is easy to locate and access so that opportunities do not easily slip passed your cient.

Also, given that you are setting up a website for a band, the amount of contact information may be limited so the group does not get overwhelmed with fanatical followers bombarding them with fanmail spam. So it may be a better idea to set up a contact form on the site rather than simply giving out the various phone numbers or e-mail addresses. Once again, you will want to be sure that this is a form that you can customize to fit the tone and feel of the rest of the site.

Greatest Hits – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan has been a musical icon for generations, and his transition to the digital world via his site is just as stellar as the man himself. Encompassing so much more than just what we have discussed here, Dylan’s site has some extra features that go above and beyond to highlight the fans. Like a community page that pulls in fan blogs that discuss the music and the man behind the myth.

That is a Wrap

That covers things from this end. What are your thoughts on the matter of band sites? What makes them shine? What elements would you include on your list of must-haves? And what band sites do you think are doing things right?

Recently a project came our way that we were extremely excited about, however, as things unfolded, we realized that the project was doomed from the start. Now as designers we are used to working with non-creatives, or at least people who are not in, or do not understand our field, therefore you have to work across an information gap. This is something we are used to dealing with, but in the context of the discussion about to take place, it only makes things, that much more difficult. This project had the gap, but beyond that, there was an underlying instruction from the client that let us know this would be an utter waste of our time. ‘We want it to appeal to everyone across the board. Consumable to all.’ It was at this point, that we walked away.

You see, going back to Honest Abe’s words of wisdom and tweaking them as we mentioned before, we work under the premise that you can appeal to some of the people all of the time, but you cannot appeal to all of the people some of the time. Perhaps we have too much of a cynical streak running between us, but as varied as the masses are, even when broken into discernible groups based on similar interests or occupations, we believe that there is not much that they will all find appealing. As designers, this is reflected easily in the fact that we all have differing tastes and opinions as to what designs and styles appeal to us.

Breaking Down the Myth

Universal consumability, in the creative communities, is a myth. Given that our tastes play such a large role in our creative consumption, finding a flavor that everyone is going to appreciate equally generally will not happen. The appeal of what we create will have a heavy draw for some and perhaps little to none for others. The sooner we come to that realization, the less stressful and more fun our designs will be to create, thus making our job easier. And if we compromise our creations to try to bring in that universal appeal, we will slight our audience, and our designs. Allow us to elaborate.

When we create something, it will automatically appeal to a certain crowd for a specific number of reasons (theoretically at least, we hope there will be some appeal, and for the sake of this argument, we will work under the premise that there will be some inherent draw). Now if we take away from those areas, to try and make it appeal to another crowd, we have already lessened the appeal of our design for the crowd that initially responded to it. The more aspects we include or alter to further that mass appeal, only takes the design farther from both its original intent and audience. Look at it in terms of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The PB&J Factor – An Analogy for the Ages

If you make a PB&J sandwich, then you are only appealing to those people who like PB&J sandwiches. There is really no way to alter the sandwich to make it appeal to those who don’t like PB&J, and if you tried, then it will tend to lose appeal to the PB&J crowd. And even in your group of PB&J fans, there are still degrees that affect the sandwiches appeal. There are those who like more PB than J and vice versa. Once again, you can alter the amounts of PB&J to try and appeal to both, but chances are, you are going to end up with a sandwich that still appeals to one faction over the other.

So what does this all mean (beyond the fact that we are apparently hungry for a PB&J sandwich and are a little particular as to its construction)? It means as designers, we need to accept that our work is not going to have that mass appeal and trying to design with that in mind can have more of a negative impact on the work, not to mention our psyche, than a positive one. Universal consumability simply means an end product that falls far short of its potential and intent, and since when has that ever been appealing to anyone? So when you are designing, do it with focus. Meaning basically do it with a particular audience in mind, and go for it.

The Client Variable

When working with a client, designing with focus may be a bit of a challenge, but it can be done. It is our responsibility as designers to lead our clients towards decisions and away from bad choices, this is simply one of them. If the client keeps pushing for more mass appeal, we need to be able to make them understand why that will effectively hurt the project. We need to make the client choose a crowd to appeal to, and work within those boundaries while not trying to reach out beyond that crowd so much that it no longer appeals to anyone.

In the case of the project we walked away from, we made our attempts to sway the client over to our side, but after a couple of attempts and lots of time wasted we surrendered and threw in the towel. Perhaps we should have tried harder, but we did not see our arguments as having any effect whatsoever. Not to mention, we had not thought of that whole sandwich analogy, so we walked away. With so many opinions, tastes, and overall individuals populating the masses, trying to design for them all is a mistake. But designing with focus, never will be!

Finding Your Audience

In order to find your audience and allow them to guide you in your work, you must make sure that you are doing two major things. One, connecting with your audience. And two, listening to them once you have connected. Now as we mentioned before, when we create, our product will have inherent appeal to certain members of the crowd, but you first need to find that audience that you are going to be designing with in mind to bring them in and make them aware of what it is you are doing. Reach out via the various social media outlets to find the fans that will be drawn to the designs you will be crafting. Other places to try to connect with the audience you are seeking are related sites and blogs who share a similar style or mission as you. By becoming more active on these related sites, you can easily tap into that necessary connection you are after for your business or blog.

After you have made this connection, then the next step is so simple to accomplish as you are engaging the crowd. Listen to what it is they are talking about, or moreover, what they are looking for. This is easy to find out because overall, people like offering their constructive critiques on where the community is lacking or letting them down. So ask. Get in there and mix it up a bit. Talk to your audience to find ways that you can improve your work so that its reach is much more effective. Take these suggestions and critiques that you find being repeated from various places and make adjustments to fine tune the direction of your designs. Afterall, what is the purpose of connecting with them, if you are not going to listen to what it is they have to say. You can also interview others in your field, who may share in the audience that you are seeking to tap into, and find out what they have done to connect and listen to their followers. What helped with their reach? It may be something that can help you as well.

Again, when dealing with a client, it is still important that you have this connection and avenue for access to the intended audience, so if the client is not already tapped in, then you both need to work out the best way to extend this reach before you begin. Having this understanding of who you are trying to appeal to with the design, can assist you invaluably, and making sure the client does as well should help ensure that they are not steering you away from their target with their input. So this is always a critical factor in the overall equation, and trying to reach out in a universally consumable way, is only going to close you off from your audience not widen them. So know which audience you are going to go after, and focus on them as you move forward.

That is All

So that concludes the talk from this side for now, but just use the comment section below to keep the discussion going and offer your thoughts and perspectives on this topic.

A Little Background

For those of you out there who are not familiar with Ping.fm, don’t feel bad. I had only heard about them, but was never sure of what they were, nor was I interested enough to actually find out what they were all about. It wasn’t until their recent buyout that I discovered what kind of service Ping.fm offers the online community. With a single status update, your info will be shared across 50 different social media networks, including Twitter, Facebook, etc…

The Discussion

If this is the first time you have heard of Ping.fm, some of you just got an excited rush of goose bumps running across the surface of your flesh, and others just felt a sort of nervous sinking feeling in their stomachs. Or at least I am hoping there are others with the pit in their belly like I felt when I first read that. Because while some may be thinking of the huge personal advantage this affords them in their quest to spread the word about them or their work, you see, the pit party on this side of the fence sees this a little bit differently.

For those of us who think that social media should be about interacting with the people who populate your various circles sharing in the numerous streams you send out, this kind of sharing limits the senders ability to actually interact with others. It all becomes a one sided burst of information, not communication. And if these different social media networks were started to introduce new ways to communicate with each other, then these kinds of services are actually going against the idea that established these lines of communication. By decreasing the senders actual connectivity and accesibility from their readers.

So I landed on the side of services like Ping.fm being detrimental to the health and value of the networks that are fed via this kind of app. Currently, Ping.fm has in the neighborhood of half a million users with a couple hundred thousand shares sent out a day. But how effective are these bulk wrapped info-bursts? Is there appeal in this service beyond self-serving ends, with their spam-like infiltration into the numerous data streams it feeds? Or is it less about the community and the interaction between the sender and reader, and just about the information?

Either way, in those instances, be it just about the info or yourself, it is no longer about connecting and growing the community. Which in turn, means that half a million users are already using the social media networks as more of a web based advertising format, so they are being degraded from the communicative role they were initiated to fulfill. With this new wave of public accesibility and awareness of these kinds of services, what does that mean for the future of the social media networks?

Will they be reduced to nothing more than an underaccessed forum for advertising, or will people realize the negative impact of this trend and resist it, maintaining that element of socializing that gives the social media networks’ title relevance? Or will it have a more positive effect on the spread of information, while removing the interactiveness that once drew many of us to these waters? Or will it have no effect whatsoever? I believe if more people see these kinds of shares as beneficial and begin to care less about interacting, then they will have a negative impact on social media and its effectiveness.

What is your two cents?

Now it is your turn to use the comments section below to share your thoughts and ideas on this topic, and the overall impact we are likely to see as a result of this acquisition. Do you feel like we are heading for any of the futures put forth above, or do you believe in an unoffered outcome? Whatever the thoughts kicking around in your head, please share them so that they may be discussed below as well.

I am here to offer a different approach, one that is certainly less narcissistic and self-serving, but that indirectly benefits you and your online status among the community. Because generally if you set out to improve and aid the community, then the community will respond to what it is you are doing. You will garner the traffic and attention that you hope will find your blog and your work, but you will do so in a thoughtful, less antagonizing manner. And given that you are responding from a place more true to yourself, that means you will be more passionate about it. That always makes people respond to what you have to say.

So here are a few Shakespearean words of advice that can apply in the search for clout for your design blog. Tips that will tend to draw eyes from the community, while keeping you in a helpful, favorable light, and less of a self-serving narcissistic one.

To Thine Own Self Be True

Be honest with yourself and your audience is key to gaining clout among the participants of the online design community. In fact, if you speak to them honestly and share your opions and ideas as I previously mentioned, chances are, more people will respond to what it is you are saying. Rather than just saying whatever it is you think will be the most contraversial and challenging.

Another great quote from the Bard that applies in this aspect is the following.

False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

Again, if you are not speaking from a place of honesty, then you have to don a false face and argue points that you do not necessarily stand behind. This will automatically diminish your points and the effectiveness of their reach. So be true to yourself, the benefits are numerous.

Ambition Should Be Made of Sterner Stuff

Once again, it is not all about you. Your goals and intentions should be overall about serving the community you are working in, not just about serving your own needs. This will garner positive growth of your blog’s readership because you will prove that you are not just out to serve yourself, and that your ambition is fixed on improving and contributing to the overall whole. Not the individual.

Another great Shakespearean quote that serves as a reminder in this area is the following.

As he was valiant, I honour him. But as he was ambitious, I slew him.

Not that the blogosphere is so ruthless that you can expect someone to be slain over self serving exploits, but if you are only pushing yourself and your site on social media, the only honor that you are likely to receive is to be unfollowed. A social death of sorts as you relegate your role to that of a veritable social pariah.

For My Part, it Was Greek to Me

Know your stuff, and do the diligence to have a firm grasp of your topic, otherwise your ignorance will immediately be recognized and called out. This will have a huge impact on your readership, just not the kind you are hoping for. If people come to your site and are immediately turned off by your unresearched, unthoughtout discussion it will more than likely be a while before they come back.

To further elaborate on the point, here is another quote from the Bard’s pen that is just as applicable.

I say there is no darkness but ignorance.

Plain and simple, the words near speak for themselves. There is no way you can shed light on a topic for your readers, if you, yourself, remain in the dark about it. So be sure that when you decide to tackle a topic, that you research it from multiple perspectives so you deliver on the promise you made by undertaking it.

The End

So those are a few words to take to heart if you would like to raise your clout among the online masses, while simultaneously building and strengthening the community at large. Leave your thoughts on the topic below.

1. Make Subtle Use of Gradients
2. Add White Space
3. Stay On A Grid
4. Improve Your Typography
5. Have Clear and Effective Navigation
6. Use An Awesome and Useful Footer

Intro

The difference between good and great webdesign is relatively small. The average person may not be able to explain the tangible differences that make up great design, but they can usually spot a design they like. By examining some awesome sites, I’ll attempt to put my finger on some of the small details that make up the difference.

A little while back I wrote an article about the 4 Principles of Good Design for Websites, this article is somewhat of a continuation of those principles. In that article I went into detail about the important roles that contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity play in webdesign. This article will piggy back on those principles as I examine 6 ways you can take your webdesign from good to great.

This post is chock full of awesome examples. I made a conscience effort to only pick sites that were great all the way around.

1. Make Subtle Use of Gradients

I’m not sure if there is an effect that can be butchered and make your site look more amateurish than poor use of gradients. Nothing screams bad design quite like a rainbow gradient (well perhaps blinking text is of equal prowess). That being said, the use of subtle gradients will go a long way toward making your site look great. The key is using them sparingly within the flow of the design.

Gradient Meets Bokeh Effect

The Newism site features a colorful, but subtle gradient that is seamlessly mixed with a faint bokeh effect. It’s visually stunning. Just as a side note, if you are interested in recreating a bokeh effect in photoshop, be sure to check out Abduzeedo’s tutorial on it.

Subtle Gradients, Shadows and Textures… Oh My!

The guys at OnWired flat-out make awesome websites, so it stands to reason their personal site would be top notch. To go along with plenty of personality throughout, the design itself is spot-on. Check out the use of subtle gradients and shadows in the design. I also love the touch of grunge and texture that is sprinkled in.

2. Add White Space

The term white space is often misunderstood to literally mean white space. In terms of design it is more accurately described as the space between elements. To break it down even further here is how the folks at A List Apart define it.

“Whitespace,” or “negative space” is the space between elements in a composition. More specifically, the space between major elements in a composition is “macro whitespace.” Micro whitespace, is—yes, you’ve guessed it—the space between smaller elements: between list items, between a caption and an image, or between words and letters. The itty-bitty stuff.

It cannot be understated just how important it is to let elements breathe in your design. This is probably the single biggest issue for young designers. It’s human nature to try to cram every design element into a small area, fortunately for webdesigners (despite every clients unrelenting belief) there is no such thing as a fold in webdesign, that’s what scroll bars are for… /* end rant */

Excellent Spacing & Subtle Line Breaks

Snook provides a comfy level of padding to break up all the post entries. Also notice the faint line breaks that provide separation, but are easy on the eyes and flow with the overall design.

Beautiful Minimalistic Approach

Made By Sofa features a beautiful minimalistic approach. The spacing is fluent, and they use an image with no background or clutter to speak loudly.

3. Stay On A Grid

The inspiration for grid based designs can best be attributed to newspapers, but if you look closer you can find grids in all kinds of things. From most websites to traffic grids.

The 960 grid and Blueprint are probably the two most popular grid frameworks. I personally love the 960 grid, it’s simple, light weight and a nice starting point. I design with it a lot of the time, but a grid just means that you have some rhyme and reason to your site elements. Alignment plays an intricate role in making your site look refined. Nothing in webdesign should be placed without purpose or alignment to another element.

Griding A Portfolio

Poccuo features their portfolio on their home page. They use a beautiful mix of a 3 column and 5 column look. It’s well spaced and visually appealing.

Columns Within A Design Blog

I love how Web Design Ledger presents their posts on their home page. The newest post is large and featured at the top, the next few are shown in a 3 column grid.

Lots of Equal Length Columns

Ecoki is a beautiful grid design layout. The 4 column, 2 row layout is obvious, but the slideshow/thumbnails and latest reviews are also on a grid.

4. Improve Your Typography

Typography is an artform that is obsessed on by most good designers. It is of prime importance when trying to bring your designs to the next level. Of course it plays an important role in readability, but it’s also quite important to design and mood.

Using Contrast To Direct Attention

SimpleBits does a wonderful job of varying contrasts to direct the viewer’s attention. In typography contrast can be altered through font choices, color variances, and size differential.

Nothing Says Typography Like Ampersand Signs

This site looks so nice and effortless, but you can tell a lot of thought and reason went into the whole process, and that’s especially evident with the typography. The spacing and font choices are flawless, and I’m enamored with the clever use of Baskerville on the ampersand signs.

5. Have Clear and Effective Navigation

Good navigation is so important in design. If a user can’t find what they are looking for quick enough, they are probably moving onto the next site. It’s something I’m very weary of, and I know that MyInkBlog could use some improvement on, and it should be drastically improved in the coming redesign.

Blog Navigation Via Categories

Far too often, blog navigation focuses on pages and leaves the categories as a secondary thought somewhere along the sidebar. Tutorial9 does a fantastic job of realizing users care much more about finding out where their photoshop tutorials are, than where their about us page is. Check out their flawless 2 level navigation with active category highlighting.

Effective Icon Hover Effect

Icons can definitely be hit or miss on websites. The web is filled with the remnants of this web 2.0 trend, but not all trends are completely bad. The reason web 2.0 got ugly was because of it’s overuse and amateur use. As with most things, when done properly it really can be quite effective. Carsonified displays a clever icon hover effect for it’s navigation. It’s simple and monochromatic and ties in flawlessly with the rest of the site design.

6. Use An Awesome and Useful Footer

When the web first started footers were tossed into the junk pile of useless things. They were minor, but necessary evils that needed to be displayed, but little thought went into the design of them. Now they’ve become more and more important to the overall design of a site. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to brand and complete your design through the use of a good footer.

Lots of Info & Credentials

The main purpose of a footer is to display necessary info about the site and copyright info. Brian Hoff adds more personality and interest to his through a 3 column look that displays everything from what he’s working on to books he recommends.

Search Functionality In A Footer?

Elliot Jay Stock’s site features an oversized search form in his footer. It’s definitely not a typical place for one, but I think it works for his site. He is also one of the many designers who have taken to featuring their tweets in the footer.

Final Thoughts

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. What separates great design? What little things do you key on?