I'm up early and going over reports. I decided to make a quick blog.

Updates:

I recently finished donating design services to the Susuan G. Komen for the Cure foundation (Central New Mexico affiliate), in conjunction with Michael Roanhorse. We (Jeremiah and I) would like to get into doing more charitable work in this way, which is another reason we have considered signing up for the Taproot Foundation. The ad I finished, which will appear in the August Issue of the Santa Fean Magazine is a 2-page spread for an auction of one of Mr. Roanhorse's pieces, all proceeds will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Ideas:

Take a look at this packaging. Is this not some of the sexiest stuff you have ever seen? Jeremiah and I bought a bottle of Izze and of Dry just because we liked the packaging. The Dry was delicious (my favorite is rhubarb). The Izze tasted like cough syrup, baby aspirin, and seltzer. But we both agreed after we drank the disgustingness, that the packaging really sold us. No one escapes the design machine.

Smashing Magazine compiled a list of beautiful and expressive packaging and they have more than a few favorites of mine. I've followed a lot of these companies for a long time, but one of the companies I was surprised to see not there, Duffy. Duffy's packaging is amazing and their identity work is incredible. This is how much we love Duffy, we saved a Basil Hayden whiskey bottle (from the Jim Beam small batch collection) just for the packaging.

Of the projects that I've worked on recently (and in the past), I'm amazed at how much people are willing to spend on "superficial" design, but forget about the little they spend on "functional" design. The two aren't mutually exclusive, but rarely do people get both.

Generally, when I'm called in, I'm called in for ideas. This is a big part of our job. Clients bounce ideas off of us, "Would this be possible?,"Why would we do it this way?","Take a look at this and tell me what you think?","How can I increase sign ups?" One of the really great things about working with companies who place a value on this sort of thing is that they like science anytime it gives them results, and they actually want to hear about the science.

So, when I was asked my opinion on an auction project (in October 2007), I was very surprised that while over 40% of the site was forms, there had been no importance placed on actually designing forms for accessibility or ease of use. The same thing happened on an auction project I looked over in December! I'm getting excited now, because it was obvious that these companies put a lot of money into the sites.

Alright, three issues that we're tackling right now, because of the busy-ness of our schedules. Our time is so pressed that we're not really available to work on outside projects.

Issue 1: The issue of new blogger. We had planned to bring Brian on a few months ago, but because of our schedules we never had a chance to sit down and train him because of scheduling conflicts. Our plan now is to bring in another blogger, but we don't want to jinx that before it's secured.

Issue 2: Because we've had an unexpected increase in our workload, we're unable to finish our own personal projects (which were pretty damned awesome, by the way). So we're currently reworking a schedule that will allow us to complete some of our own projects. There are some projects that we weren't able to get to.

We are very pleased to announce our redesign of Enemybook. Enemybook is a Facebook app that disconnects you to the so-called friends around you. Enemybook was created by MIT student Kevin Matulef and his latest press interview aired today on NPR's, "All Things Considered". Congratulations Kevin!

We're working on our own Facebook app to be released in 2008.

Our favorite shopping cart:

When this is a company's description for their product:

Magento is a new professional open-source eCommerce solution offering unprecedented flexibility and control. With Magento, never feel trapped in your eCommerce solution again.

It had better work well and be beautiful. Magento succeeds at both. Magento is simplicity. Whether in the hands of a novice or an expert, great things can be accomplished. It's also got a near perfect stylish, "out of the box" template, that we've rarely seen with other shopping carts open-source or not.

As if the look weren't enough, they won me over with the single page checkout, also known as the money page. It's using Script.aculo.us/Prototype and validation scripts to make sure your users are typing in valid information.

Our favorite program:

Here's an excellent article about the types of design and the way that people use the word design, from professional usability consultant Frank Spillers. People can learn excellent lessons from this article. Often what clients are asking for when they ask for design is "graphic design," or "make this look pretty." Everyone should recognize that other forms of design are just as important as the graphics. They create an entire atmosphere, that if done correctly guides users through an experience.

Which leads me to my next point:

The web is littered with personal and company websites that have "neat" graphics. However, that doesn't always translate into success.

"Why not? They sure look successful!"

Looking successful and being successful are two different things. I can point you to four websites of companies who are the leaders of their industry and they have terrible websites.

Why?

There are no secrets for good or adequate writing on the web. However, there are definitely tips that can improve your writing. One of the problems that people get into on the web is trying to make their product/organization/service "sound" professional. That attitude often yields awkward sentences like this one:

We facilitate discussions on issues of import to us all including impending legislation on our common values.