Category: Website Development

Post date August 2, 2011

Ideas Process Umbrella Drinks

A lot of people are enjoying a well-deserved summer vacation. The vacation you are enjoying probably started with the simple question: Where to go? Do you want an adventure experience or a more relaxing getaway? After a little location research, most of us dust off the calculator to match our budget to a location. Then we start to plan our vacation experience, making tour arrangements or restaurant reservations.
The bigger the vacation, the more planning it requires.

While we all want to get to the fun part (really, who doesn’t love an umbrella drink poolside?), it’s all the work you’ve done before departure that makes the vacation so much fun.

Much like a summer vacation, the creative process is a whole lot of fun. But behind every logo, video, website or marketing campaign is a thoughtful creative process. This process digs into the weeds of your marketing needs, and it is what turns a great design into a powerful marketing tool.

For example, a logo advances your company by supporting desired perceptions. Brand identity expresses itself in every touch point of the brand, and becomes intrinsic to your company’s culture and a constant symbol.

Wow! That brings into perspective why branding requires a disciplined process. Admittedly, it does take some patience to complete a logo design questionnaire (yes, every question) and spend time in conversation about the nuances of your product/company. Clarifying brand strategy through a full discovery makes it possible to design a logo that frequently appears in a space of about 1 ½” x ½” to represent your brand.

Sometimes the excitement of the creative process can overwhelm one’s patience for the process. It really is important for you to compile all your logo design feedback into one document. This step brings your focus away from the individual elements and back to the big picture. Your feedback written down into one document also gives your team a chance to make sure everyone is on the same page. Our designers will use your specific direction to move your logo through several rounds of revisions until the final concept is achieved.

With this perspective, you can see this outcome, your company logo, is worthy of a thoughtful and intentional creative journey.

We love bringing our clients into the artistic world to explore colors, style, fonts, etc. But just like the roadmap to your summer vacation destination, it is our creative process that gets us to our destination — the right idea and design to meet your marketing needs.

Thanks to all our clients for the awesome road trips we have experienced together to market your brand.

Audience Consumer Journey Mapping Creative & Production Media & Analytics Search Engine Optimization Video Production Website Development

Post date July 14, 2011

Traditional vs. Digital Agencies

In the advertising industry, we are now seeing a divide between traditional and digital agencies. And the people searching for creative advertising agencies are left feeling like they need to pick a side. Do you stick with the conservative, traditional agency or try something different with a trendy, digital agency? This definite division between agencies and marketing philosophies leaves consumers stuck between two extremes.
On one side of the spectrum, you have traditional agencies that cling to what is safe and commonplace in marketing, such as print, billboards, radio, newspaper, TV and direct mail. Some traditional agencies think along the lines of, “print isn’t going anywhere,” and “social media is just a phase.” Although overhead costs may be a bit of a burden, the vast visibility of these marketing mediums has been proven reliable and successful.

On the other side of the spectrum, you’ve got modern-day digital agencies pushing Web, video, mobile apps, social media, QR codes, SEO and other non-traditional forms of advertising. These agencies live by the latest and greatest trends and stick with edgy, innovative marketing concepts. With a “print is dead” mentality, these agencies tend to focus on the next big thing on the marketing horizon.

Like most things in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Print is not dead and social media is not just a phase. It’s not about utilizing one or the other. It’s about integrating these mediums together. Weave your social media platforms into your print pieces, and vice versa. Your billboard’s call to action can be to visit your robust website for more information. And your business cards can don a QR code that links to an innovative video explaining your company’s philosophy. These types of collaborative marketing initiatives can work together to provide greater brand awareness and, ultimately, ROI.

When shopping for an agency, make sure you find one that sees the big marketing picture. You shouldn’t have to pick a side. Instead, pick an agency that is on yours. BIGEYE seamlessly integrates digital and traditional marketing initiatives into one big picture, your big picture. Give us a call at 407.839.8599 or contact us here to get started.

Creative & Production Insights Website Development

Post date May 6, 2011

The Myth of the Page Fold 1200x600 c default

What is the fold? This is a reference to the upper half, or above the fold, of the front page of a newspaper which is considered to be premium space.

Campaign Creation & Development Creative & Production Insights Website Development

Post date February 15, 2011

webdesign 1 1200x600 c default

The internet plays a great role in the information transfer today and one of the major ways through which information is shared is through websites. There are many different kinds of websites, some just for information, some for games and others for commercial activity.
No matter what the purpose of the site is, it needs to be carefully researched and designed in order for the website to meet its objectives and satisfy users. Our Florida web design agency can help.

Some of the characteristics of great web design include:

Simple and Intuitive Layout

Simple designs pay off because it offers fewer distractions to the visitor. There is a gradual shift towards designs that feature just one or two columns and they make it easier for the visitor to find what they are looking for.

Centered Orientation

Today there is a gradual shift towards websites that use a centered orientation as research has proven that the eye is more likely to catch the contents at the top centre than at the bottom and so building your site in his way will ensure that your content becomes easily noticed.

Content is King

As web design ethics become more developed, there is a gradual shift from the shell and the general design of the site to the content. The first few years of web design concentrated on construction of the total site, background and graphics and usually the content was left for others to deal with. However today, more attention is placed on the content and care is taken to match the content with the overall message. In general great and regularly updated content will the battle against a well polished site with not much content.

This trend can be seen in the move from regularly structured sites and strict layouts to freer less regular layouts. The colors in the background are usually muted and the use of effects is kept to the strict minimum so that the user can focus on the contents.

There is a trend towards neutral to plain background against which captivating headlines can be placed to draw attention to the important parts of the page. However it should be used sparingly and the colors should only be used to navigate the user to important parts of the website.

Therefore the trend is not to use too many attractive elements on one page.

Plenty of Whitespace

The best way to describe the of this white space is to contrast it with sites that have a profusion of text and graphics filling the whole page, not leaving any place to rest the eyes.

A good deal of white space gives the eyes a place to rest, allowing for maximum focus when you get to read the contents of the page.

Make your Site Easy to Navigate and Use

Have you ever gone to a site where you are unable to find your way around, or to retrace your steps? I have seen my share of sites that just has no way of telling you where you are. It is intelligent design to show your visitors where they are by leaving little signs and navigation marks in each page. This quickly helps them to find their way around.

Moreover, make sure that your site can work on more than one type of browser. Think of your clients and what they might be using and try to make sure that your site can work on these browsers.

Use Relevant Graphics

Graphics can be used to make your site more interesting. Good web graphic design can be used, but they must be used sparingly and must be relevant to the content. Placing irrelevant graphics will only serve to confuse the surfer.

A well designed website is one of the best tools of making your company known and for building a great following of customers. Great design will also make sure that you stay relevant for web users worldwide.

Is your online presence ready for a web design refresh? Contact our team of experts to determine how we may assist you in your efforts!

Audience Audience Analysis Content Marketing Creative & Production Insights Website Development

Post date February 15, 2011

Characteristics of a Great Website 1200x600 c default

If you hit a search term and come up with websites dealing with the same subject, it is certain that some will attract your attention than others, even when they may all carry the same content. If you are a user, you can switch until you find a site that can quickly give you what you want. However if you are a web designer, you will want to produce a website that will attract and keep your visitors engaged. [quote] The trick is to get users attracted with great web design as well as with engaging content. [/quote]
Formula for a Great Website:

Create Original Content

Besides the obvious problems of plagiarism, making sure that your content is well written, appropriately presented and unique will give your readers something to always come for. It is common to see sites that just spread the information around, or just throw keywords for SEO purposes without making much sense. Try to make give value to your visitors by presenting carefully thought out text to attract and keep them coming for more quality information.

Design for your Target Audience

Keep your target audience in mind. You cannot design for the whole world, of course you can but if you are trying to sell a product or service, you will want to target a particular niche and keep that niche population in mind when you create your site. You have to think about them, put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself if you were of the target population would you like your site.

Create a simple but creative and professional design. You might have come across sites whose webmasters have included all the tips and tricks of web design that they have learned to get and keep visitors. This is counterproductive as it reduces the value of the site. What is more the user gets confused with too much elements and you may find them avoiding your site instead. Therefore choose your design and follow through to the end. If it doesn’t work then change, reinvent and give your site a facelift.

Work on your Navigation

One of the important characteristics of a good website is the navigation. Great navigation lets users see where they are on your site, and also lets them know how to move about. Use creative techniques, text and symbols to help visitors navigate your site. Chances are when a person needs to look for information on the subjects that you deal with, they will likely come to your site, and also keep coming for more as they can find what they want, and they can also reference and cross reference with ease.

Design for Speed

Make sure that your site is easy to load on the browsers. Limit the graphic elements or optimize them for speed. If your site takes too long to load, it may be frustrating and users may tend to avoid your site.

Optimize your site for search engines

Good SEO techniques will enable your site to be indexed and found. Do not use keyword stuffing or other guerrilla tactics to get your site indexed and ranked. Use keywords so that they blend naturally into your web content and you will be on the way to attracting and keeping great clients.

A Good Website should have Functional and Reciprocal links

Create good content, but support them with great links for further information that that they may find your site an excellent resource. Moreover these links should regularly be checked to know if they are not dead links. Dead links should be checked, removed and replaced.

A good website regularly has information updated. They will keep information fresh so users can benefit from fresh content. You can use feeds to let users know when content is updated and also employ social marketing skills to make people know that your site is up, running and improving daily.

Need a little expert advice on how to take your online presence from good to great? Contact our team of web development gurus today!

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