Will our future be terrifying or exciting? Probably both. When I was a little girl, I was afraid of the future. Looking back, I suppose it could have been my choice of reading material. I read ALL the dystopian fiction, or at least as much as I could carry in my backpack. The Velveteen Rabbit,…
The end of the year is a natural time of reflection for us, both personally and professionally. Your business or organization may not be required by law to produce an annual report or impact report, but there are strategic reasons you might want to. They’re the same good reasons behind every effective piece of brand…
Is it the social media platform you can’t refuse? Chances are, if you have anything you’d like to sell or promote, from a product or service to a cause or an event, you’ve been told you need to be on Facebook. The social media app‘s pervasive penetration in the global marketplace has earned it a reputation as…
Do you need a new or redesigned website? I have good news for you. There are a lot more options for how to build one than ever before. But the bad news is… there are so many options! How do you decide which is best for you, your business, and your customers? Don’t worry, there’s no wrong…
Author Martin Walker has filled the website promoting his food-obsessed detective character Bruno Courreges with loads of real content related to his fictional character. This surprisingly deep site contains recipes, wine recommendations and a visitor’s guide to the Perigord region of France where the novels are set. Walker also co-authored a cookbook for Bruno with his…
Avoid lawsuits, understand your customers, members and employees, increase profits and make the world a nicer place A recent New Yorker article, “The Engineer’s Lament,” looks at well-publicized auto recall failures from an engineering perspective. In the famous cases of the exploding Pinto in the 1970s and Toyota’s sudden acceleration problems in 2009 and 2010, the car companies “[knew]…
Jeffrey Zeldman, founder of A List Apart and the Happy Cog web design studio gave a talk at An Event Apart in Orlando called “Understanding Web Design.” Here are my notes on key points: How do you describe what we do? Examples include “I make things on the internet. I design things on the internet.” These…
shu shu design has a new address. Again. This time, the people who help me when I have to move hope it’s more permanent. So do I, because I love this place! You can now find the office at 1882 E. Main Street, in a building owned by Accipiter Properties. It’s a beautiful place to work on projects,…
Thanks to Cresa Madison for leasing affordable coworking space to microbusinesses and startups!
Summer can be an incredibly hard time to focus and get things done. In addition to your overcrowded inbox, the sun beckons you outside, and taking summer vacations means it’s even more important not to fall into bad patterns when you’re at work. Here’s the good news: you can have your time in the sun…
Cooperative Trust brochure design for Filene Research Institute.
Sign up for a free weekly infographic of your Google Analytics report. Generate a CSS style guide for any site without digging into source code. Use as a template for your own style guide. Conduct an interface consistency audit.
Yep, I made this up. Since discovering a local Tart Cherry Grenadine made from real Wisconsin cherries, I’ve been concocting as many uses as possible for it. INGREDIENTS 2 oz. Quince & Apple Tart Cherry Grenadine 1 oz. blood orange bitters (I found mine at Whole Foods) 1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice 3 oz. good…
Here’s to the Little Guys National Small Business Week was June 17 – 21. Let’s celebrate with some marketing tips and inspiration for your small business. I love this definition of an entrepreneur: I understand the struggles of running what I fondly call a “micro business,” and oh boy does it ever take a considerable…
Package design for a new line of artisan crisps for Potter’s Crackers of California. These sturdy, hearty crackers are made from locally sourced, organic ingredients. New flavors coming soon to Madison, too!
For developers: create a custom icon font. Create an html signature for iOS. A search engine for Twitter.
Planning is Everything. Where do you start? The range of possibilities can be intimidating and choosing the wrong path can be expensive. The best way to avoid buyer’s remorse is to do your homework first. Start at the Beginning. First, let’s define what’s important. The primary things your site needs are: Functionality: with few exceptions,…
This illustrated logo was newly designed for the People’s Food Co-op, a community-owned, full service grocery store with convenient downtown locations in La Crosse, WI and Rochester, MN. A brand new store will be opening in Rochester this fall!
Inspiring 6 second transitions and animations for the web. Copy special characters that aren’t on your keyboard: Copy Paste Character. Share files up to 2GB for free!
You already know you’re unique because your mother told you so. And she was right! Your company or organization is unique too. Defining what makes it stand out and communicating that to your clients, customers and prospects is key to successful branding. This is where your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition comes in. If you…
Design of the 2013 limited edition screen printed client appreciation calendar for 5Nines, Madison’s premier Cloud service provider offering consulting, hosting, and management for servers, networks, VOIP, business applications, databases and user devices.
Create sitemaps, wireframes, flowcharts, network diagrams, etc. to export as jpg or png and place in your Office document or on your website at lovelycharts.com. Check writing for spelling or grammatical errors: polishmywriting.com. Create a disposable web page: disposablewebpage.com.
What does the new year mean to you? For me, it’s a time to set my intentions for the year to come. This ritual feels more positive and deliberate to me than a resolution, which I usually associate with giving something up. Each January, I take some time to think about what I really want…
If you’ve got a WordPress web site, my colleague Jonah West at Jonah Coyote Design is offering a a special: $150 to update WordPress and all plugins*, and a cross browser compatibility check to make sure your website looks and works well in the most recent browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, IE9, iPhone, iPad). He’ll also do a…