With the current “keep up or fall behind” state of digital design it is more important than ever to be seen as a leader in the industry.

There is so much amazing technology at our disposal that what seemed impossible 12 months ago is now totally achievable with a touch of creative thinking.

We have to strive to continue pushing the possibilities of what current technologies can achieve. It is about taking the standard information available to us and using it, or presenting it in a new manner.

While Facebook Open Graph Plugins are relatively new to the scene, there has already been some really top examples of putting them to use in a manner that benefits the user (as opposed to using them for the sake of using them).

Levis

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After recently putting the call out for some fresh new talent to come and join the We Love team as an intern, we have found our “Robin”.

Reiss has been with us for the past week and has been working on a very cool project for one of our big clients, and is yet to even make one cup of tea. What kind of internship is that!?

We are all looking forward to having Reiss work alongside us for the next 3 months to share our knowledge and experience to help him learn the ins and outs of the industry, as well as have him inject some of his own style into the studio.

I’m sure we will all be pressuring Reiss into becoming an active blogger for us, so to get the ball rolling this is what Reiss has to say for himself -

“My name is Reiss Butler from East London. I studied Graphic design at Barking college from 2005 to 2007 finishing with a National diploma and a Higher National diploma both at distinction levels. I became a fan of print design as the majority of my projects were based around Book design, typography, Poster design and logo design. I then swiftly moved on to the University for the Creative Arts at Maidstone. Studying Graphic Design. I then moved from that course and onto the BA Hons Graphic Media course where my interests turned from print to digital. I graduated in June 2010 with a 2:1 upper division Honours Degree in Graphic Media. I have recently finished being a part-time teacher in Graphic Design and am now currently enjoying my time at We Love.”

We have already established communication, problem solving, understanding code, attention to detail, time management and human behaviours as core attributes of a designer (see Part 1 and Part 2) and in this article we continue to delve into what makes a successful designer.

Look at websites and analyse WHY the designer has utilised certain elements

It is one thing to look at a design and like it, however it is only when you make the effort to understand the reasons why you like it, that you can actually learn from the design.

When analysing a successful, or just as importantly, an unsuccessful design, it is important to consider why the designer has placed particular elements in certain positions, what they are aiming to achieve through their design, and what message they are trying to get across to the viewer. It is often an interesting exercise to consider how the message of the design could be totally changed by altering a particular aspect of the design.

Another point to consider is that you should always look at other designs subjectively. Whether you like the design or not is almost irrelevant. The more important question is whether or not the design is successful in meeting its objectives by effectively communicating to the target audience. As an aside, an unsuccessful design is not always a reflection of the designer’s ability but is quite often a product of the restrictions, or requirements imposed by the client.

Make the user happy

Some of the most successful web and mobile designs in the past twelve months can credit their success not to their innovative services or offerings, but simply to their execution. As designers we should aim to be making the users’ experience as simple and as enjoyable as possible, regardless of how menial or basic the task may seem to be.

As designers, we should always strive to deliver an “experience”. Users want to be able to connect to the designs in their day-to-day lives, and we should respond to this by offering design in which they not only feel comfortable using, but also actually enjoy using. We should appeal to people’s emotions. Make them smile, make them laugh, make them happy but most importantly make them forget that they are actually having to complete the task at hand. A user may not always recognise a “good” user experience, however you can guarantee that they will notice, and be turned off, by a bad user experience.

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In the previous article, I highlighted communication and problem solving as some key attributes a designer should be constantly striving to improve. In this continuation I will continue to explore the often overlooked skills which form the foundations for a solid and successful designer.

Understand what is, and what isn’t, possible

Developing a close working relationship with a developer (yes, I know how hard that can be!) is one of the most beneficial strengths a designer can have. I disagree with the statement that all web designers should be able to code, but I do agree with the sentiment behind it. It is not necessarily the code we have to understand; it is the capabilities and limitations of code that we must be aware of.

Not everyone needs to know how to code, but it is important to understand how code works and understand if what you are asking the developer to achieve is actually possible. Asking a developer to do a fully animated website in HTML and CSS is comparable to a client asking you to design and build their website using only paper and crayons.

It is important for anybody designing for the web, to read and learn as much as possible about the restrictions that are in place. It is imperative to bear this in mind right from the outset of a design. Yes, you might have seen examples of this JQuery technique and that JQuery technique, but you need to understand why applying 87 JQuery animations on one page is not a good idea.

If you don’t have a developer who you can bug with your questions, search the web, join discussion forums and read tutorials to discover what is possible. Then it is up to you to take that technique and make it work in the best manner to solve your problem.

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After attending The Future of Web Design conference in London recently I can safely say it is a pretty exciting time to be involved in the digital industry.

As was to be expected there was a lot of discussion about the capabilities (and limitations imposed by particular browser/s) of HTML5 and CSS3. Admittedly, it is very exciting to be able to utilise these tools when designing for the web, however a few of the speakers touched on some points which I think are of much greater importance when it comes to the real future of web design.

Paul Boag mentioned that we should forget about the new technologies for the time being and focus on improving our Marketing, Copywriting, Contextual Understanding, Strategy, and Psychology skills. This is very much in line with what I believe makes a good designer, so I thought I would use this as a basis for what I, personally, would like to see for the future of web designers.

Over the coming weeks I am going to discuss in detail the often overlooked attributes which I feel make a successful designer in the creative industry.

What I hope to achieve is an increased awareness of the design industry outside the specific “digital space” and a more considered approach to the use of the new technologies which are available to us. Ultimately I would like us all (as creatives) to work towards avoiding an era of over-used CSS3 effects and being faced with a repeat of the original Photoshop filter overload.

So, while it is easy to get excited and spend all of our time learning the new technologies, I urge you to hold back and concentrate on improving your foundations skills before anything else, and only utilise the new technologies when the right project comes along.

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Last Friday, I, along with several other Kent agency representatives, went to a Creative Strategy meeting organised by MediaTree and The Kent County Council. The objective: How best to strengthen Kent’s creative proposition in the short, mid and long term.

It was a good session that dealt with the issues of being ‘outside of London’, the diverse cultural variations of a large county, defining what makes working in Kent attractive (and what doesn’t), adopting European mindsets – where the focus of  an industry isn’t so centered around a single locale, getting creative at a grass routes level, Kent’s Brand (or lack of), identifying and retaining the talent and support from our local government to grow what is an already important industry to the county and country.

After years of working in London, as well as all over the world for top tier agencies, I walked away with even more conviction of what I already believe to be true – knowing that creative Kent has a growing and relatively untapped creative potential. And, as potential is core to success, that this should be explored via inter-agency thinking with council support to help activate and encourage ideas. That there are companies in Kent that are making a difference to our industry, that push boundaries without the blinkered and repetitive approach of many London based agencies. That here is a place that allows exploration of idea and space to grow. An alternative, and a good one at that.

That people who fail to understand what Kent has to offer, that beat the London drum far too loudly, are in fact intimidated by the challenge. Who wish to be just another number, rather than a valued player. Someone who hides behind others decisions and doesn’t really want to think for themselves. There is ample opportunity to work for the ‘Big Brands’ in Kent… and to ‘own the project’ with it. They just have to open their eyes.

I look forward to continuing these conversations with MediaTree, the KCC and likeminded agencies. Expect more. The Future is Digital Kent…

A bit slow getting this on the blog, however a couple of weeks ago I attended the Future of Web Design in London.

This was a really interesting event, and was great to see so much talent come together in the same room.

There was a lot of interesting discussion on emerging technologies and design approaches, as well as an insight into the minds of some of the other leaders of the industry.

Props go out to Carsonified for putting on such a top quality event, all the speakers, and to all those that attended.

I will be following up with some opinion-based articles on a few of the topics broached at the conference in the coming weeks, but thought this would be an opportunity to show a couple of photos of some of the lighter side of the 2 days (My apologies to Ryan and Elliot for the “blown out highlight faces”)…

Nice… 2 of our newsletter made the hit list for dzineblog’s top 30…

Go check >>

2010 has seen our good relationship with global brand L’Oreal continue, with lots of new work coming our way.

Here’s a quick break down of what we’ve been up to:

Vichy VIP

We created a Vichy VIP page where you can register to find out about new products and receive invites to Vichy events. Once registered, users get the chance to complete a FREE online Skin Health Consultation and receive a sample starter kit in the post. For more information and to sign up for your Vichy VIP account visit the site.

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Well, with my first month out of the way and having fully acclimatised to the Manor, I thought it was finally time to lose my blogging cherry and post something… And what better way to start than to introduce our latest recruit JD, who has joined us as a Jnr Project Manager.

  
Having worked Client side for a number of years developing his skills and wanting a new challenge, JD has made the switch to agency, working alongside myself to keep the rest of the team in check (!) and to offer our clients outstanding service.

We wish him every success in this position.

(And thanks to Gav for being kind with my blog name!) :0)