Blog Topic #10: Final Project Research

I am planning on redesigning an existing website for my marketing consulting business. For one thing it was designed in the old style table format and needs a CSS makeover. I would also want to reflect the creative side of my business, in addition to marketing consulting, strategy development and so on, which means I want a site that looks professional and shows creativity.

Doing some research, I was surprised how few sites are out there that actually meet my criteria. Maybe I am on the wrong track here, I wondered. Do I need to make a decision between professional/business look and fun/creative feel? Can't I have both?  There are plenty of funky designer websites and even more professional looking (somewhat boring) consulting sites, but sites that fulfil both requirements are indeed hard to find.

Here are a few that I liked, in the order of my preference:

http://pittnycreative.com/

http://bealcreativegroup.com/services

http://www.absolutecreative.ca/

http://www.imageworksstudio.com/

http://yldcreative.com/work.html

All these sites are professional looking and employ creative visual elements to create interest, while maintaining good usability.

I have to add that I did run into many marketing/design sites that had problems with either usability, looks or both...

Blog Topic #4: Customize This!

My blog is powered by Blogger, which provides plenty of options for customization. I did not go into customizing with my own graphical elements, just used their templates and the options to chose colors, fonts and a bunch of gadgets. I did change the color-font combination that came with the template. I also added several gadgets, my favorite being the slideshow and the daily doggy... It is pretty amazing what you can do with their free customization options to create a functioning, impressive blog (not talking about mine...) that can even earn money for you.

Blog Topic #12: Net Neutrality

Limiting the free flow of information is not new. It is one of the key tools of dictatorship to control the masses. Protecting free speech is essential in a democracy. If a few (who have the money) have the ability to control what everybody reads, watches and what search results are presented online, democracy suffers. Our reality will be distorted because we will only know whatever the highest bidder wants us to know. Screening sources and content is a form of censorship and can lead us into dangerous territory. Ironically, it would not be a dictator or the government, but whoever has the money, who decides, what we know...  it is already happening with unlimited (and undisclosed) political ads and campaign contributions, but I think it is even more dangerous on the web, because people consider the web as an unbiased, open source and we are not even aware that we are being manipulated. When I see a political ad, I sort of know I am being manipulated. When I search the web and certain things pop up and others don't, or if I get certain news but not others, I don't even know that I am being manipulated... I do think we need stronger regulations to protect our constitutional rights.

Dude, this site is the coolest!

This site represents the brand really well. It's visually engaging, interactive and has tons of useful info and interesting features. As it should. This is after all BMW...

http://www.bmwusa.com/default.aspx

I liked this site because it had tons of features to explore, yet was easy to navigate. It uses flash, javascript, animation, databases in a stylish, user friendly way. You can explore all the vehicles inside out and defintely can get a feel for the luxury they offer.

Here is their cool intro to the hybrid 7:

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/7series/sedan_active_hybrid/2009/experience/phase_1/experience.html

I really liked the build your own feature, I whish I knew how to create something like this:

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/BYO/ByoHome.aspx?enc=42tTtZT4K2UT4Lkc6iGPBQu+zHzSDyMMO9wWuhGDWFtyM0ZVsU/h6CJa84XbwBJeDBdp6geiSBzCqF7xS5SW/xKfXoiyupTiIP9nQ4P4lBHvIwE8EcZxmBU9uHtrCEZChlAQxToVh3xKyDPGX7CKK/6NJvG/GMq484ndytjiUN9eJ2vN2Tm1lOOK1SgYDL3o

The site has financial calculators, drop downs menus, international sites in diferrent languages, a dealer locator, shopping functionality, just to mention a few features, so I think it is an excellent showcase of web design skills. I am not quite at this level yet...

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This blog is my attempt to reflect on subjects in web design, as I learn knew tricks.