Category Archives: Oblog

Be a good client.

This blog post I am about to link to is rather tongue in cheek, and in no way reflects my feelings toward our beloved clients. It is however very representative of the types of prospects we see everyday. Thankfully our clients are not like this, because we only take on work from good folk that understand the value of our services.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard #1, I would have retired many years ago. Be a good client, your web designer will love you for it.

Read: Nightmare web design clients.

I will follow up with the clients perspective one of these days to be fair.

Web 2.0 Design hurting users?

In a recent article I found on Digg, Jakob Nielson attempts to make the point that current design trends with all their promise are actually hurting users.

“Describing Web 2.0 as the “latest fashion”, Mr Nielsen said many sites paying attention to it were neglecting some of the principles of good design and usability established over the last decade.”

I have to agree with this statement.  Many sites are simply high on “cool” and low on substance.  If you have used Myspace, you know how terrible it is from a UI perspective.  But lets not through the baby out with the bath water.

We have gone through a few iterations of bestpartyever.com, the first of which was a showcase in cool web2.0 UI  and browser tricks.  We made the mistake of focusing on the cool over the actual use of the website, which is to plan parties. However that iteration was key to our development plan as we were testing new methods of organizing and displaying data [read innovation].

These new websites like flickr, facebook, twitter, etc. are the leading edge of web application development.  In an effort to push web applications to resemble a desktop application with the same ease of use familiar to many, web design firms have to explore new ground in website design.

“Good practices include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.”

Again I agree. Yet with today’s “launch early, launch often” mantra in web development, sometimes the basics in the traditional sense do not apply.  Mapping out a multi-layer UI for some new world changing whiz-bang website simply cannot follow the existing mold.

What’s it mean? Don’t forget that the user is still the most important stake holder in the website design equation.  Creating an interface that is easy to use is paramount, yet trying to apply old standards to new technology may not work as Mr Nielson is trying to do.  Also there is an air of web2.0 backlash going around that always happens whenever a trend hits the peak of the adoption curve.

Flowers and European cars: how do they relate to web design?

Good question right? I have been asked that quite a few times over the last year or so since we re-branded obu. Why does this website have rotating images of flowers and fast cars. Well here is/are the answer(s).

  1. They are reflection of me, the designer. I am a bit of an amateur road racer, and so my interest in the sport bleeds over into many aspects of my life. (Ask my wife who has to listen to me). I like cars; fast cars, and admire the lines and symmetry of car design. And flowers, well I cannot say I have a flowery disposition but I cannot ignore the natural beauty of the world around me.
  2. Together they are a perfect analogy of web design. As a web design company we are tasked with crafting a visual message using technology. The flowers are the desire to create a visually pleasing and memorable design, the cars are the use of modern technology as the medium of that message. Or said another way: We make pretty pictures with computers.
  3. The web itself is organic and mechanical. The (ready for this archaic term) world wide web is a living, breathing ecosystem that is expanding every second. The energy powering this expansion is both organic (human’s creating content) and mechanical (the power lines, server clusters, switches, etc). Without the mechanical you have limited access to information, without the organic you have a very boring and static repository of information
  4. It’s all about sensory perception. Drive a Honda Civic, then drive a BMW 535i. Inhale the aroma of a fresh picked flower from the garden, and then take a wiff of warm cabbage. We are trying to invoke a positive mental state in the viewer. If you have driven a BMW, Audi, or a Koenigsegg, or ever wanted to: the imagery creates feelings of desire, happiness, exhilaration, etc. We want you to think that way about our company. And who doesn’t like flowers?
  5. They provide visual balance. Light and dark, text and pictures, color and the absence of color (black).
  6. It’s a chance to open a dialog. Use the comment’s section and share your thoughts.

What does this really have to do with anything? Well I was taught in my college studies that you cannot have graphic elements just for the sake of having them. If the element does not serve a purpose, it should not be there. After being asked so much why I chose the imagery I did, it really made me think about it and I came up with better reasons than “it just feels right”.

Site Reboot. New CSS Design, New website that rocks.

We are happy to unveil the new design for obuweb.com. As part of the Annual May1reboot and the CSS Reboot, we thought it was a good time revamp the already award winning obuweb.com. We opted to keep the same feeling, yet attempted to clean up the layout by adding spacing, and removing some elements.

Before:

design29.jpg

After:

Well you are looking at it. Comments, Thoughts? Please share them in the comments section. Also if you feel so inclined please go the following 2 sites and vote for us.

Vote at CSSReboot.com

Vote at May1reboot.com (search by name, find obu)

Back to your regular scheduled programming.

BestPartyEver.com on the move…

So our little project BestPartyEver.com is moving forward in a big way.  Just in case you dont know what it is, BestPartyEver.com is an online party planner that will help you plan your next party.

We have come to an agreement with some local talent and will be executing our phase 2 plan.  The additions to the website over the next 6 months will be fairly significant and really add value to our special event advertisers and users.  Keep and eye on the website over the next few months as we re-define what you know about event planning.partyplanning.jpg

New Site Coming 5-1-07

It was a great year for obuweb.com, the brand change that we did last May really worked in garnering obuweb.com more exposure, better cliental, and a more cohesive message. This year we will be updating the website again on May 1st 2007 as part of the CSS Reboot and the May1stReboot. The new design will maintain the integretity of the current site, yet provide a fresh feel. Look for the new site on May 1st, and be sure to vote for us in the two above named compeitions.