Anyway, It took a lot of clone brush, healing brush and just plain old extrapolation of what this man looked like— for which, I had no reference. Basically, I had to guess.

Also, the original photo was only 2 inches wide to begin with. I scanned it in at 600 dpi, but there is always going to be some data extrapolation (there’s that big word again).

Here is how the original photo looked—note the extensive damage.

The Original Photo

After many hours of working on it, I finally had to give up. The client was demanding the photo. If only there had been more time.

The Photo After

For the amount of time I was given, I don’t think it’s a terrible restoration. My relatives remarked that it’s how they remembered him; so, I guess I wasn’t too far off.

About 5 minutes after the previous version of this site launched, I started working on the version you see now. Seriously, just 300 seconds in and I was already unsatisfied with the layout, typography, user interface and the lack of social media interaction.

Sure, it had a few good points—scarce as they were; Josh Durham created a nifty interactive portfolio for it, but that’s about all I liked about it.

But aesthetics weren’t the only thing bugging me about the old site. I also felt like it lacked a clear focus. What was the priority? Are we providing a service? Are we merely showcasing our work or are we just another blog site?

Truth be told, we’re all of those things to varying degrees, but we’re designers first and foremost. Designers marketing a service.

So, this was more than just a redesign this was also a realignment. A realignment of goals and of marketing strategy.

Designing to Realign

The homepage is probably the most important page of a site when trying to sell something. In our case, we’re selling ourselves—so, we tried to make who we are and what we are about as clear as possible.

The first thing you see when you come to the site is the logo, the short paragraph that explains that we are graphic designers and the call to action buttons that direct you to our work, the about us page and the contact page. Positioned along side these elements are work samples that fade in and out using Jquery and link to their respective projects.

So, essentially, everything you need to do business with us is right on top. No digging required.

Our most popular blog posts are featured on the homepage—and are given their own special emphasis, while still serving as a secondary function of the site.

We went big with the footer and added links to all the sites on the web that we love and links to all the social sites where you can find Parks Design.

I also happen to love Flickr and I wanted a way to display my frequent forays into photography. So, I’ve added a Flickr badge. I have Cindy Li to thank for that as I was inspired by the way she uses Flickr on her site.

Now for a few design specifics…

White Space is your BFF

Something that really bugged me about the old site was the small size of the content area. Everything felt so confined and claustrophobic.

The new design has much wider margins which makes for an easier read—especially on the blog posts. The overall size of the pages is about 200 pixels larger than the old site as well.

So, time to do away with your 640 x 480 CRT, Grandma.

Scheming with Color

I have completely revamped the color scheme and even tweaked my logo to match. I went with a warmer blue than before because the old blue would, at times, look purple—and I got tired of Josh ragging on me for that.

The New Color Scheme

However, I needed an accent color as well. I didn’t want the site to be nearly monochromatic. So, I selected a red-orange for the links  and menu bar rollovers.

I Heart Typography

Interstate is my typeface of choice for headlines and subheads—even my logotype uses a customized version of Interstate.

I think I like Interstate because of its unique ascenders and descenders. It just has an unusual look compared to most san-serif typefaces—and that appeals to me.

I agonized over for it a while when trying to decide what to use for the body copy. I went back and forth between Helvetica-Neue and Georgia before finally settling—with a little help from my associates on Twitter—on Georgia.

The Nerdy Development Stuff

I’m using Wordpress for the CMS. It powers the whole site—pages, blog, portfolio—all of it. I built in a lot of php functionality this time, so I’m relying on very few plugins this time—maybe 3 total.

As always, I’ve made web standards a priority. Nearly every page on this site validates. There might be a few little things in the CSS that don’t validate, but to me these are minor quibbles. What can I say? I like to use rounded corners on some elements. Sue me.

Why So Serious?

Since I was doing a total redesign, I figured why not have some fun with it? There are a few hidden goodies all over this site. Some of the portfolio projects may be clickable and lead to interesting, funny or maybe embarrassing stuff.

Hint: Try to generate an error 404 page.

Where do we go from here?

I’m fascinated by what Jason Santa Maria does with his blog posts. Periodically, he’ll art direct certain posts differently than the default layout his CMS spits out.

I love this idea. Magazines don’t have the same layout for every article. So, why should blog articles?

We’ve decided to try this approach on some of our future articles. So keep an eye out. It could get interesting.

To remedy this, you need to find a way to stimulate your creativity. @Bri_Malaspino and myself have a great time looking through the book Caffeine for the Creative Mind. It’s a book full of creative exercises to help get your creativity back on track. Check that book out if you find yourself staring at the walls for long periods of time as I sometimes do.

Anyway, this particular exercise wasn’t in that book, but it probably should be.

This exercise involved creating a Venn diagram. Each of us took turns writing something in one of the overlapping circles. The challenge was to make them all relative, or to make them all overlap, until the middle area contains the something that relates to all of the outer circles.

Sounds complicated or perhaps my explanation sucks. Whatever the case, here is what we came up with.

Just as a sidenote, Josh insisted that Hannah Montana was the source of moral and societal decay. I guess those are interchangeable.

And yes, I know, Twilight probably should have been on here.

Anyway, if you ever get stuck in a rut, check out the book I mentioned or break out the paper and pencils and try making your own Venn diagram.

If you’re feeling creative and do decide to make your own, let us know. We would like to see what you’ve come up with.

“The balloon factory isn’t really a bad place to work if you rationalize a bit. It’s steady work, with a bit of a rush around New Year’s. The rest of the time it’s quiet and peaceful and not so scary. Except when the unicorns show up. At first, the balloon factory folks shush the unicorn and warn him away. That often works. But sometimes, the unicorn ignores them and wanders into the factory anyway. That’s when everyone runs for cover.

It’s amazingly easy for a unicorn to completely disrupt a balloon factory. That’s because the factory is organized around a single idea, the idea of soft, quiet stability. The unicorn changes all that. The balloon factory is all about the status quo. And unicorns change the status quo.”

Marketing has taken a drastic turn, and companies, wishing to survive, must be willing to change. The old model of relying on television ads, billboards, and radio spots, is much less effective. Traditional media still has its place, but now companies must create a product that is remarkable-one that customers will talk about. The customer must love the product so much, that they become a tribe, and not merely customers. Seth challenges companies to lead their tribe, instead of marketing to their customers.

Tribes is a must read for all professionals. It may change the way you view marketing.

Just like the video illustrates, this wouldn’t fly with any other business or service provider. So why do so many people think they can treat designers this way?

Do Your Homework

A clear understanding of your target audience helps you make decisions about word choice, tone and structure. Make a list of attributes before you start writing. What is the age group? Is it a business or consumer audience? What are they interested in? What problems are they trying to solve? The purpose of web copy is to engage prospects, gain their trust and turn them into customers. Web copy needs to appeal to the visitor’s self-interest; therefore you must clearly understand who you are writing for.

Write Conversationally

A web page is a one-to-one, person-to-person conversation. Business web sites exist to inspire a visitor to take action: to click on a buy button, ask for more information, request a quote or join a mailing list. Visitors only take these steps if they trust you. People don’t trust corporations. People trust people, so talk to them directly. Write in a natural tone, but don’t use sloppy language, buzz words or jargon. Be friendly, but not overly familiar.

Write Eye-Catching Headlines and Sub-Headings

Headlines draw the reader in and help them quickly find the content they are interested in. Headlines and sub-headings are also important to search engine rankings, so they should include important key words and phrases. Don’t overdo it, though. Remember that you are writing for people, not search engines. Make your headlines:

• Descriptive (Give the reader a good idea of what they’ll find if they read further.)
• Bold (Don’t be afraid to be strong, positive and even playful.)
• Use active verbs (Avoid flat, passive verbs like is, was and have. Try to avoid words that have been overused to the point of being meaningless like maximize, enhance and empower.)

Make Web Copy Easy to Scan

Visitors read about 20% of the text on the average page and spend the rest of their time scanning the page’s navigation and incidentals (sidebars, ads, special features). Readers scan headings and subheadings first, and then scan for hyperlinks, numerals, and bold keywords. You only have about four seconds to grab the reader’s attention, so shorter is better. Make copy easy to scan by using:

• Bullet points
• Bold text (sparingly)
• Subheadings
• Hyperlinks
• Short, one topic paragraphs
• Easy to read typeface, font size and color

Focus on Benefits and Solve Problems

Visitors come to your web site because they have a problem to solve. Customers don’t want to know what you can do. They want to know what you can do FOR THEM. If you can identify what the true benefits (not features) of your product or service are, you will be light years ahead of most of your competition – and you will be making it easy for your customers to achieve buy-in.

Don’t Bury the Lead

Journalists know all about the inverted pyramid style of writing. Newspaper articles sum up the story in the first paragraph, giving the most relevant details and the conclusion up front. Web pages should also be written this way. State your conclusions first and then you can build your case. There should be no more than three important points on a page. Maybe there are ten great reasons to do business with you, but don’t ask your reader to absorb more than three.

Write for Emotions and Five Senses

As much as we humans would like to think that we make decisions rationally and logically, the truth is that we make them emotionally. Reach out to your reader’s emotions and five senses. If you are writing about a Hawaiian vacation, don’t write about “rooms with ocean views.” Write about “waking to soft ocean breezes lifting the rich aroma of fresh ground Kona coffee.”

Don’t tell readers that your software is “backwards compatible.” Tell them that your software will save them time, frustration and money by running on any platform and integrating easily with their existing software. Tap into your reader’s psyche, but beware of hyperbole. If you sound like a snake oil salesman, you’ll be treated like one (see any “make a million dollars on the internet” web site). Be energetic and positive, but not ridiculous.

Use Descriptive Hyperlinks

Readers like links, and they like them in the text of what they are reading. Do not use “For more information, click here.” This stops the flow of the text and adds no value. By using descriptive, textual hyperlinks you are drawing the reader’s attention to important content (remember that part about scannable copy?) and you are maintaining the flow of your words. Descriptive hyperlinks also boost search engine results.

Don’t Forget the Call to Action

Don’t write one word until you know what you want your visitors to DO, and then ask them to do it. Too many websites are content to fill their pages with lists of features and overblown descriptions of their illustrious company history and god-like founders. Not only do most people not care, they will roll their eyes and click away.

A good call to action will lead the visitor to the next step. This may be to complete a short questionnaire to learn if your product is a good fit, call your 1+800 number, or complete a form to join your mailing list. Whatever it is, be sure you clearly understand what you want the reader to do and why they would do it. Be specific and give them a reason to do as you ask. Would you be more likely to click on a link that reads “Click here for more information,” or “Learn Three Ways that Widget Software Company Can Increase Your Profits”?

It may also be a good idea to place your call to action in several places on the page. Don’t save it for the bottom of the page, only. Try placing it near the top of the page (remember those link scanners), and in a prominent place in the sidebar or header.

Proofread!

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by skipping this crucial step. If you aren’t a strong proofreader, get someone who is. Grammar and punctuation matter. If your writing is clean and correct, conventions like grammar and punctuation are all but invisible. If you get it wrong, you just look stupid or careless, or both. Neither inspires confidence in the customer. If you can’t be bothered to write well and correctly, then I can’t be bothered to do business with you. ‘Nuff said.

Finally, consider hiring a professional to write your web copy. You may think that this is an unnecessary expense. After all, who knows your company better than you do? A fresh perspective may be just what your site needs. A professional copywriter will help you clarify your goals and your message. Their expertise may just bring results you never dreamed of, both in search engine visibility and in sales.

Comments?

If you find these tips useful or have something to add to this list, please leave a comment and let us know!

Twitter is an ever evolving tool – new ways to use, participate and collaborate are being created every day. We all know how to use twitter, or at least we think we do. But like any tool, as it becomes more and more mainstream, the ideals of the tool tend to get lost.

Whether you are just starting with Twitter or have been using it for months, these few tips and techniques from design to the not-so-basic basic will help (all in under 140 characters each of course!)

Bio/Design

• Avatar. Of you. Your face. Recent. Helps to make a connection. Trust me.
• You’re not really boring. So fill out your bio. If you are really boring & have nothing to put in a bio, why would want to tweet?
• Oh, and put in a link. Not to Myspace. Or Facebook. Or Blip.fm. A website, preferably YOUR website.
• A custom background shows us who you are. Be interesting, share something. That’s the point.

Tools

• No matter what tool you use, make sure it works for you or it doesn’t actually work
• Tools will make twitter easier and more efficient. They don’t make you a better tweeter
• Share tools you find with the rest of the community

Twetiquette

• RT’s don’t have to be thanked, but there is nothing wrong with doing it.
• You might be a spammer if you claim you can make people millions by sitting on a couch doing nothing
• You might be a spammer if you still have the stock avatar, no custom background, and no biography
• If someone sends you a DM, do not reply in the public stream
• If you wouldn’t yell it in the middle of a conference, don’t tweet it, DM it

Not so Basic Basics

• Block. Use it. Seriously! Spammers get punished w/points against them when you do. Awesome!
• 2000 limit doesn’t exist as long as your follower/followee ratio is almost 1:1
• If you think you’re an expert, don’t tell us in your bio, show us by your tweets.
• Twitter is a conversation; it involves sentences, questions and answers. Not just statements
• Protecting your updates is like going to a party and not talking to anyone.

Remember, the inherent goal of twitter is to listen, share and connect. Make sure that you’re doing all 3 and you’ll survive the stream.

That being said, I do feel like I know a little about the subject. Enough to be dangerous or, at least, helpful.  And so, I offer you my SEO tips. Try them out and see if you can improve your search engine placement.

1. Use Correctly Formatted URLs

Obviously, you can’t use spaces in your URLs, but you shouldn’t use underscores either. Using underscores can cause Google to see words in the URL string as one big word and hamper the ability for people to find your site through a keyword search. Instead, use dashes in your URLs.

Like this:

Not Like this:

If you’re using a CMS (content management system) like Wordpress, you can use a custom permalink structure and Wordpress will generate a correctly formatted URL automatically.

2. Remove Stop Words from your URLs

However, it’s not just about how your URLs are structured—it’s also about the content they contain. Certain words, known as “stop words”, are words that are likely to be ignored by most search engines, in particular, Google, when a search request is processed. These are usually common words such as I, the, it and what.

If you are using Wordpress and have custom permalinks set up, you can download a plugin by Andrei Mikrukov called SEO Slugs that will remove stop words from your URLs.

3. Write concise and focused Meta Descriptions

The meta description is a tag that goes in the head section of your webpage and conveys information about the page that may not be contained within the title.

The tag looks like this:

Most search engines still use meta descriptions to describe the content of your pages. Because of this, it’s important to make sure these descriptions are accurate, easy to read, and representative of the content that’s on the page.

4. Stop Relying on Meta Keywords

I notice people still load their meta keywords tag with keywords thinking it will magically increase their page rank.

The bad news is, most search engines have dropped or only have minimal support for the meta keywords tag—and no one is quite sure if they help your page rank at all!

Rather than loading your meta tags up with keywords, write copy that includes these words organically. And if you must use keywords, use them sparingly and make sure that they appear in your copy or you could be penalized for it.

5. Make Sure your Site uses Heading Tags correctly

Some people hate the heading tag and I’ve never really understood why. Regardless, they are important to the hierarchy of your site and therefore, important to your SEO.

Here are a few quick tips on being SEO friendly with heading tags:

• Only have one H1 heading per page
• Don’t skip heading levels (e.g H1 to H3)
• If possible, have the H1 heading be the first on the page
• Use the main keyword on the page in the H1 heading

The heading tags are also very easily styled with CSS—so use them.

6. Use Alt and Title Attributes on your Images

It’s very important to include alt and title attributes on all of your images. Alt tags describe the content of images to the search engines. When someone does a search for a certain image this is a key determining factor for a match.

Now, from what I know, It’s arguable, whether or not the title attibute helps your page rank, but it’s super simple to do—so what have you got to lose?

Adding the title and the alt attributes is as simple as adding this to the html of your images:

title="your title here" alt="your alt tag"

7. Use a Robots.txt file

If you use Wordpress and display your archive pages, tagged posts, or categories, there is a possibility that you will be penalized by Google for having duplicate content on your site.

However, if you use a Robots.txt file on your site, you can tell the search engines, namely Google, not to index the directories you specify.

Robots.txt is simply a text file, that you place on your site root. If you want more information about creating a Robots.txt file please check out http://www.robotstxt.org/

8. Optimize your Page Titles

Optimizing your page titles is another key step in good SEO practices. Here are are a few steps you can take to optimize yours:

• Make sure that your important keywords occur within the first 60 characters of your page title
• Unless your brand or company is really well known, it’s probably best to put the title of the specific page first and the name of your site or company last in your page titles
• Write page titles that evoke emotion, make queries, or promise to solve a problem (that the page makes good on)

9. Create an XML Sitemap for your Site

XML Sitemaps are an easy way to inform search engines about new pages on your site. They also help search engines find and index pages that they might not find otherwise.

Using a site map doesn’t guarantee your pages will be included in the index, nor does it insure a higher page rank. However, it provides infomation that will help the search engines crawl your site and that can’t hurt!

Again, there if you’re using Wordpress, the XML Sitemap plugin is available and is capable of automatically generating a site map for your site. However, if you aren’t using wordpress, there’s a site map generator online at  XML-Sitemaps.com that can generate a free xml sitemap for you as well.

10. Use Social Media and build Back Links

While not technically SEO, this is one of the most important steps in increasing your page rank and getting traffic to your site.

Having quality links pointed to your site will increase your “link juice” or the importance of your site to the search engines.

Getting good back links to your site all goes back to how well you market yourself. Some steps you can take to get these links include:

• Sharing a great blog post on Twitter or any of the other, numerous, social networks
• Trading links with other sites
• Posting comments on other sites that “do follow” while adding value to the conversation
• claiming your name on other social networks that allow you post a link to your website
• Writing really great content that people WILL WANT to link to!

It takes some hard work and a little elbow grease, but link building is probably the top way to improve your SEO.

So that’s it…

Before you tell me, I know there are many more advanced and technical SEO techniques out there, but I wanted to focus on the simple things that you can do to improve your site SEO.

Feel free to let me know about any other simple SEO tips that I might not be aware of.  Also, please join in and discuss, argue or comment about any of the tips I’ve posted.

Now, I don’t know how the movie will turn out, but I like the poster art for it. It’s refreshing in an era of terribly photoshopped posters, floating heads and airbrushed body parts to see a nice, minimal, design. Click on it to see a larger version.

I like the simple color scheme and the nice use of negative space.  Plus, I notice they are using the old logo type from the 60’s tv series, which adds a nice bit of nostalgia.

Now I realize that what I learned in school was only scratching the surface. I’ve actually had to deal with, first hand, some of the nightmarish things that some designers do when preparing a project to be printed.

The following are the top 7 things NOT to do:

1. Not Including Enough Output Instructions

This is probably one of the more common problems that I see. You know how you want the finished piece to look, but don’t just assume your printer does. The printer will need to know things such as, what the finished trim size will be, how many colors the job will use, whether the job will use special printing methods like a spot varnish or a die-cut, and are there any folding instructions.

The best step to take, is to contact your printer and just ask them what kind of information they will need. The printer will be glad you took the initiative to contact them, and you will save time and money in the long run.

Including a laser print of your document is a great way to show your printer what the final piece should look like. The more information you supply your printer with, the better.

2. Incorrect Use of Spot Colors

Nothing is worse than getting a document with 23 spot colors, all in use, and not knowing which ones should be spot and which ones are ok to run as process. It seems a lot of designers don’t realize that every spot color is a new plate, thus more money. Also, most presses can’t handle more then 6-8 colors at a time.

Before a document is sent for output, all spot colors that are not needed should be deleted. A spot color should be used when absolute color consistency is needed, such as in logos, and for large fill areas. If, for example, a document is being printed with a black background and color images, the black background should be made a spot color. Making the background a spot color will keep it from shifting when the color in the images is adjusted.

Small type should also be either black or a spot color because of registration problems caused by building small type out of 4 color process.

3. No Bleed

Yet another big problem that I see is a lack of bleed. Bleed is when an image or another object extends outside the trim area. Having a bleed insures that there will be no unwanted white border around your printed piece when it is trimmed down.

A typical bleed is 1/8 of an inch, but a larger bleed could be required for a die-cut. Ask your printer how much bleed your document will need.

4. Low-res or RGB Images

It never ceases to amaze me how many people think that the web is an excellent source for images to use for their designs. Not only are there issues of originality and legal concerns raised here, but the majority of images from the web are screen-resolution (72 dpi). A dpi of at least 300 (sometimes higher) is needed for most printed pieces. Just because it looks good on your screen, does not mean it will look good on the press. I also see a lot of images provided in RGB rather than CMYK. Files should always be converted to CMYK before they are sent to the press.

Typically images are converted to CMYK early in the game, however, Andrew Kelsall makes a good argument for working in RGB and converting everything upon completion—and that’s usually how we do things around here at Parks Design.

The main thing here is to avoid using images that have already been saved for the web. If you got it from a Google image search, chances are it won’t work for print.

5. Incorrect Document Size

Yet another mistake some designers make is not knowing the correct size to make the document. Depending on what the printed piece is, things like scores, wraps, grooves and hardware will need to be allowed for. It can cause a lot of extra work for the Production Artist when the document has to be resized, after-the-fact, due to a lack of planning. In some cases, the appearance of the artwork will change drastically.

Again, it is best to contact your printer when in doubt. A lot of times your printer will gladly provide you with a template to set your document up by. All you have to do is ask.

6. Use of Conflicting Fonts

Now, I’m not talking about using two fonts that visually clash–that’s another post, for another day. I’m talking about the font files themselves. Font problems are probably the worst problem to deal with. I can’t tell you how many times I have opened a document, that had everything else done correctly, only to get a missing font error.

Most, if not all, printers use a font management system, such as Font Reserve or Suitcase, that automatically activates fonts. These font management systems cannot activate both Postscript and Truetype fonts at the same time. So, if both types of fonts are used, it will cause problems.

Dfonts are also a big problem. These are the Truetype fonts that come packaged on your computer, if you are running OS X. Dfonts can conflict with Postscript fonts of the same name, so your printer will likely not load them. When a Dfont or Truetype font is replaced with a Postscript font, there can be text reflow due to slight differences in the fonts, and the printer is left with the problem of fixing the reflow.

To avoid any font problems, and legal gray areas, you should convert all fonts to outlines before submitting your document.

7. Waiting Until The Last Minute

This is usually the fault of the client, but another very avoidable mistake is waiting until the very last minute to submit your design for production. There may be some cases where waiting until the last minute cannot be helped, but far too many times it comes down to a simple failure to plan.

If you know in advance that you will need something printed, then don’t put it off any longer than you have to. Allowing plenty of time for design and production will make things easier for the designer and the printer, and you will likely get better quality at a lower price.

Please don’t wait until it’s an emergency to get something finished! Your Designer will thank you, and your Printer will too.

In Conclusion

Taking the time to make sure your documents are press-ready will create a good relationship between you and your printer, and will save you and your client time and money.

Look for a follow up post, on how to make a press-ready PDF, in the weeks to come.

If you have any printing horror stories, further suggestions or input, please leave a comment below.

Note: This article is featured in the November, 2009 issue of American Printer Magazine.