Just wanted to post a link to one of our most current projects. The site is still under construction but many of it's features are in place.
http://www.animevillaonline.co.cc/
This site is dedicated to all the anime fans out there who are looking for that one place they can call home. The list of features on this site is pretty extensive but here is a short list:
- Profile pages
- Customizable profile pages
- Fan fiction submition
- Forums
- Chat
- and much more
Remember, many of these features are still being implemented, a full release day will be announced soon.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Transfering Your Brand To The Internet
Do you already have an existing branding system?
Or, you simply have a disparate set of images tied together with a logo? You must determine if any design elements serve as visual clues for the brand from medium to medium. Logo placement, use of tag lines, image types, key colors and typography can all be parts of such a system.
How do you use photographic materials?
Many Web sites are created with the assumption that you must use photos in limited, web-friendly ways. Small images, usually cropped into tidy little rectangles. Web conventions were made to be innovated out of existence. Don’t be afraid to explore more ambitious image use you may have used in your companies print or broadcast work.
What is your company voice?
You can not communicate with someone without assuming a manner of speech or writing style. As a consumer, you know what you think a brand should “sound” like. Honda is witty and informal. Lexus is stately and serious. When you read an advertisement, watch a television commercial, or visit the web site of a brand you’re familiar with. You should be able to get a feeling for whether or not the style fits.
It’s a site’s developer’s job, and yours as a client, to try to ensure that your site speaks with your company’s voice.
What kind of expectations are consumers likely to have?
Perhaps you have a witty, cynical brand on your hands that lends itself to a sarcastic site that spoofs someone else. Or maybe the consumers are already familiar with your company through serious, authoritative TV commercials. Then you may be best served by an elegant but informative Web site with few surprises. Other sites may benefit from a community feel, stories, publications or combinations of those and other ideas.
What kind of typography fits the brand?
Every company has a favorite typeface. Every brand will also have a range of typeface styles that, when used correctly, can help drive a message home. Pay attention to type. The use of headlines and sub-heads as GIF images can help to fight the bland look of traditionally used, web-safe fonts.
In what other mediums will your customers see your brand?
Do you currently advertise on TV or in print? Full color magazines? Black and white newspaper ads? Direct marketing? Banners at trade shows or public events? On the side of a race car?
By understanding how and where customers receive your company’s branding messages, and by trying to put yourself in their shoes, you can make more sound instinctive and strategic decisions concerning the design of your Web site.
What image do consumers currently have of my brand? Is it consistent with our goals?
Web sites, like other mediums, will sometimes be called upon to not only reinforce a brand’s message but also to refute consumer misconceptions. Nearly every company has work to do in this area, and most know it. It is important to identify these problems areas so you can use your web presence effectively to help combat these problems.
Working with existing materials can be both helpful and challenging. The more defined your company’s corporate identity, the easier it can be to focus on fulfilling a certain image. On the other hand, if consumers currently identify the brand with fast-paced television commercials, you may have a harder time translating that style to the Web.
You must address, and sometimes challenge, the audience’s expectations with the visual, structural and editorial design of your Web site.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Why Do I Need A Website?
You operate a traditional small business, a store, salon or restaurant, and you have no intentions of becoming the next Amazon.com. Why should you consider a presence on the web?
A great question, but unfortunately there is no single, easy answer. The web is not a panacea, nor is it the automatic solution to every business problem. It is a tool, no more – no less. It is neither good nor evil, expensive or cheap – it can offer alternative solutions, and in many cases, solutions which simply are not available through any other method.
Do you have a small store selling specialty products? Do you have problems finding enough customers in your immediate geographic area? Put that business on the web and geographical barriers no longer exist. Anyone who speaks English and has Internet access is a potential customer. According to the latest Census Bureau report, 62-percent of Americans have Internet access in their home, up from only 17-percent in 1997. Even more encouraging, 82-percent of those households have broadband instead of dial-up.
What does that mean to your business? Over 70 million American homes currently have access to the Internet. Almost 60 million of those have broadband connection, meaning they can take advantage of more interactive services. If that isn’t enough of a potential customer base, we need to include the other English speaking areas of the world, Canada, large parts of Europe, the Caribbean – well, you get the idea.
But I have a Pizzeria, I’m not going to ship pizzas to Denmark. Maybe not *, but what if people could login to your website and get directions to your location, or see a map describing your delivery area, see your hours of operation, what forms of payment you accept, read over your menu or even place orders right over your website. That is simply something no other media can offer. What if you change your menu? Those fliers you just printed up are obsolete, but you can update your website easily to reflect those changes.
Maybe you have a collectibles shop offering Hummel figurines? The web can expand your potential customer base far beyond the geographical limits of your brick and mortar facility. A shopping cart will allow you to bring your entire store online. You could easily add features to your web site that educated your customers in Hummel lore and facts. Or possibly allow them to exchange photos of their collections and discuss their common obsession, exchanging personal stories and tips.
Want to send out monthly newsletters? Or keep your customers up-to-date on the latest news or developments, want to show them the latest additions to your line? All of these services, and many more, are easily provided using a web site. A web presence isn’t a replacement for your current business model, or even your current advertising plan, it is an additional set of options. A way to reach new customers, a new way to offer old services, a method to educate, to provide additional information, spread your philosophy or even to simply provide information to customers or employees.
* If you sell pastries, spices, or exotic ingredients – with the help of UPS you might want to reconsider that statement
A great question, but unfortunately there is no single, easy answer. The web is not a panacea, nor is it the automatic solution to every business problem. It is a tool, no more – no less. It is neither good nor evil, expensive or cheap – it can offer alternative solutions, and in many cases, solutions which simply are not available through any other method.
Do you have a small store selling specialty products? Do you have problems finding enough customers in your immediate geographic area? Put that business on the web and geographical barriers no longer exist. Anyone who speaks English and has Internet access is a potential customer. According to the latest Census Bureau report, 62-percent of Americans have Internet access in their home, up from only 17-percent in 1997. Even more encouraging, 82-percent of those households have broadband instead of dial-up.
What does that mean to your business? Over 70 million American homes currently have access to the Internet. Almost 60 million of those have broadband connection, meaning they can take advantage of more interactive services. If that isn’t enough of a potential customer base, we need to include the other English speaking areas of the world, Canada, large parts of Europe, the Caribbean – well, you get the idea.
But I have a Pizzeria, I’m not going to ship pizzas to Denmark. Maybe not *, but what if people could login to your website and get directions to your location, or see a map describing your delivery area, see your hours of operation, what forms of payment you accept, read over your menu or even place orders right over your website. That is simply something no other media can offer. What if you change your menu? Those fliers you just printed up are obsolete, but you can update your website easily to reflect those changes.
Maybe you have a collectibles shop offering Hummel figurines? The web can expand your potential customer base far beyond the geographical limits of your brick and mortar facility. A shopping cart will allow you to bring your entire store online. You could easily add features to your web site that educated your customers in Hummel lore and facts. Or possibly allow them to exchange photos of their collections and discuss their common obsession, exchanging personal stories and tips.
Want to send out monthly newsletters? Or keep your customers up-to-date on the latest news or developments, want to show them the latest additions to your line? All of these services, and many more, are easily provided using a web site. A web presence isn’t a replacement for your current business model, or even your current advertising plan, it is an additional set of options. A way to reach new customers, a new way to offer old services, a method to educate, to provide additional information, spread your philosophy or even to simply provide information to customers or employees.
* If you sell pastries, spices, or exotic ingredients – with the help of UPS you might want to reconsider that statement
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Branding and Business Websites
A problem with many web sites has always been that they are concerned with products and not with brands. People have come to expect comprehensive product information, but such materials should be integrated into web sites as thoroughly and unassumingly as possible. Anyone can build a web site about products … but brands are a bit trickier.
A brand is a combination of many things. It’s public perception and the history of a product as well as the company that makes and markets it. It’s the product’s name. Branding is the product’s visual identity and packaging. It’s the consumers’ association between that product and things such as quality, style and functionality.
Branding is the trust and greater identification that consumers have in one product or company over others. In many ways, a brand represents to consumers a collection of traits or values they aspire to or respect. The best brands are inseparable from the products they represent, but at the same time, they are portable to other product categories. When Land Rover introduced a line of clothing, for example, consumers familiar with the company’s SUVs already knew what to expect – rugged, well made clothing to complement their outdoor lifestyle.
By building a site that is more than a slightly modified online product catalog, you are creating a valuable interactive identity that can easily accommodate your future product offerings and advertising messages. By seeking a brand’s value and embodying it online, you create a solid foundation that enables you to grow your company’s online presence as the Internet grows and evolves.
A brand is a combination of many things. It’s public perception and the history of a product as well as the company that makes and markets it. It’s the product’s name. Branding is the product’s visual identity and packaging. It’s the consumers’ association between that product and things such as quality, style and functionality.
Branding is the trust and greater identification that consumers have in one product or company over others. In many ways, a brand represents to consumers a collection of traits or values they aspire to or respect. The best brands are inseparable from the products they represent, but at the same time, they are portable to other product categories. When Land Rover introduced a line of clothing, for example, consumers familiar with the company’s SUVs already knew what to expect – rugged, well made clothing to complement their outdoor lifestyle.
By building a site that is more than a slightly modified online product catalog, you are creating a valuable interactive identity that can easily accommodate your future product offerings and advertising messages. By seeking a brand’s value and embodying it online, you create a solid foundation that enables you to grow your company’s online presence as the Internet grows and evolves.
The web is an amazing medium for brands, you can accomplish the long-term goal of brand exposure while combining elements of direct marketing, customer support, and sales.
If you would like to build a website that has these goals in mind as well as having your business goals and intent incorporated into its design than visit http://www.thependex.com/home
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
