Randa Clay Design

Review: Sumo Sway Couple

2010-07-09T16:17:31Z

Not your momma’s bean bag chair…

Last summer the folks at Sumo contacted me and asked if I’d like to review one of their awesome bean bag chairs. I agreed and they sent me the Sumo Omni, and we love it. So, when they offered me the opportunity to review their new Sumo Sway Couple I was totally up for it.

This chair is closer to being a “regular” chair than a bean bag. It’s formed with a back and a bottom and it’s heaven to sink into it- so comfortable. I wish the bottom were a bit taller, because it can be a challenge to get out of for old folks like me. <wink> I chose the microsuede chair in Funky Brown. The material is very soft and there’s even a nice pocket in the side to hold a remote control.

The chair is perfect for a game room, media room or kids room. We now have two bean bag chairs made by Sumo, and the quality is top notch. The chair cover is removable, so washing it will be no problem. I expect my boys to be taking these off to college with them, still in excellent condition.

*Disclosure: though I did receive this chair at no charge, I am under absolutely no obligation to review it positively. If I didn’t like it, I’d tell you.

Redesign 2010

2010-06-03T21:33:06Z

I really don’t PLAN to redesign every year. It just seems that I’m happy with a design for only a year or so, and then something I see strikes me and I’ve suddenly got redesign fever. This time, it was a font- League Gothic. I have long been a fan of Trade Gothic, especially in it’s bold condensed form, but I just cannot spend almost $300 for a font, no matter how much I like it. So, when I discovered League Gothic, I did a little happy dance and promptly decided to redesign my site around it.

This design is probably more “me” than any in the past, clean and simple, lots of color and some unexpected touches here and there. I always have a hard time deciding on just one color scheme, so with this design, there are several color schemes and each time a page is loaded a random one is chosen. Also, I’ve gone with a bit less focus on the blog and more on my work.

Thanks, as always, for visiting my little corner of the world- I appreciate it!

Build Your Web Sites By Building Relationships On Twitter

2010-05-26T16:18:05Z

I develop sites for clients on a regular basis (which is often why it’s difficult for me to find time to post here), and there are still some who are resisting the use of social media as an important part of building relationships with their readers. It took me a while to understand the value of Twitter, so I know it can be a hard sell. After all, there is only so much time in the day.

I already use RSS to keep my readers updated and interact with them in the comments. Why do I need to be on Twitter?

It used to be that you’d set up a new site, make sure that people could easily subscribe and keep up with your posts, respond to readers in the comments, and that was all there was to staying connected with those who wanted to stay updated with your site. As Twitter has become almost ubiquitous these days, many are slowly moving away from the feed reader to using Twitter exclusively. I’ve had several people tell me they can’t remember the last time they opened their feed reader.

There are many, I imagine, who are not happy with this turn of events. They don’t understand Twitter and don’t see the value in engaging with their readers this way, but that’s a rather short-sighted view of things.

Building relationships

The great thing about Twitter is that it’s a two-way conversation. Sure, people visit your site and who subscribe to your feed can comment on posts, and you can reply, but Twitter allows regular interaction with your followers, on more than just your blog posts. It’s a much more effective way to develop relationships with readers, and people are much more likely to stay engaged in your site’s content if they’re also engaged with you on a bit more personal, immediate level.

What if I have multiple web sites?

Okay, so maybe you get the reasons to use Twitter if you’ve got a web site, but what if you have multiple sites? For many, having a separate Twitter account for each site is the way to go because the content of their sites is different. For example, I have Twitter accounts for one of my kids sites, and my Solutions for WP site, along with my regular personal Twitter account. I would likely annoy many of the followers on my main account if I tweeted posts from my kids site on a regular basis and tweeted incessantly about “Mommy stuff”.

How do I manage multiple accounts on Twitter?

I use TweetDeck. I know there are several options for managing multiple accounts on Twitter, but I have found TweetDeck to be so easy to use, I haven’t even bothered checking out the others. Looking for other options? Check here.

Brand your Twitter page

Don’t take the easy route by just choosing one of the default templates. Take the extra time to brand your Twitter page. There are plenty of Twitter templates available for download.

Have fun at the Twitter party

Twitter is like a party. You go, you mingle, you have conversations, and take a break from your work. You’re not at the party too long before you know who to avoid. It’s “that guy” who is selling something. It’s usually insurance or financial planning. You can tell what is foremost in his mind. It’s not having a good time and getting to know people. He’s not really interested in people in general except that they are potential clients, and you can tell within a couple minutes of talking to him.

How to do the Twitter party the right way:

Go – show up, tweet a couple of times a day at least

Mingle - get to know lots of people, follow the most interesting and important, especially in your niche.

Relax – this isn’t all about work. You’re not there to sell yourself. You’re there to develop relationships.

Have conversations – retweet, ask questions, be genuine, be yourself, get to know people and share stuff about yourself. This is the part where you tell people what you do, share the latest thing you’re working on, talk about what you love and what you’re excited about

If you’re involved in social media- Twitter in particular- just to market yourself, people can often tell. Just like they can tell when they start talking to “that guy” at the party that he’s trying to work the conversation around to what he does, what he sells and feeling you out to see if you’re a potential customer. Don’t be that guy.

New site: Solutions for WP – How to do it in WordPress

2010-05-10T12:15:16Z

For quite a long time, I’ve had an difficulty keeping track of all the cool, interesting, and useful WordPress solutions I read in posts and forums. I bookmark things, put them on Delicious, etc. but just end up forgetting where I put them and then spend time Googling around for that thing I read about 6 months ago. Finally, I got the bright idea of using a WordPress database to keep track of them all, and pretty soon I ended up with another website, in the hopes that others might find it useful as well:

I know there are lots of WordPress tips and hacks kinds of sites out there. This site is designed to aggregate and categorize the solutions I find, and contains some original content as well. If you know of a post that should be included, you can submit it via the form at the top of the sidebar; particularly if you’ve posted a “how to” on your site- you can never have too many incoming links right? This site is somewhat inspired by CSS Globe, which is a great resource for web developers, linking out to all kinds of great tutorials, tips, hacks, etc…

So, check out SolutionsforWP.com. Submit your WordPress solution posts and bookmark it for the next time you’re trying to figure out a way to make something happen in WordPress.

*Props to ElegantThemes.com for the site design. I didn’t have time to do a custom theme for this site, and one of my favorite sources these days for AWESOME premium themes is Elegant Themes. You get access to all his themes for only $19.95 and they are not only beautiful, but have some great options on the back end, and I have found them to be easy to customize as well.

Thinking of using a design contest site? Think again.

2010-02-18T04:49:13Z

Let me tell you a story…

Once upon a time a running group decided they wanted a new web site design. They thought that going to one of those “crowdsourcing” sites would be a great way to go because they could hold a design contest and get lots of ideas and then take a vote on which was the best. This is what they ended up with (go ahead and click on the image so you can see it in it’s full glory):

One of their group is a former client of mine who has good design sense, and she thought the site was sort of awful. She had taken the reins with the project and sent the Photoshop file asking me to keep the same basic design (since the group liked it), but to “fix it” so it looked and worked better. I realize most designers would have probably said no to the request, but I wanted to help her out and I had time in my schedule for some extra work, so… here’s the site after I spent some time on it:

It’s still sort of awful in some ways, but in several important ways it’s a much more effective site.

Fonts

There were WAY too many fonts used and almost none of them were web safe. Much of the text had drop shadows and outer glow applied which interfered with legibility. A good rule of thumb when designing a site is to keep the number of fonts to 3 or less and make your main font a web safe font so everything doesn’t have to be a graphic element. Also, be very judicious about effects applied to fonts as they can interfere with legibility.

Graphic Elements

The site was plainly over-decorated. Everything had a gradient, strange shadows inside and outside of containers, extra borders and pictures. The eye does not know where to look. Clean visual elements allow the visitor to easily process what they’re seeing so they can interact with the site in a productive way. When in doubt, keep it simple.

Clarity of message

Visitors should be able to take in a site in just a couple of seconds and have a decently clear idea of what the main message is and what you want them to do about that message. If fonts are too small, illegible or hidden within visual clutter, the message is lost. If the message is lost, it does not matter how “pretty” the design is.

And the moral of the story is…

You get what you pay for. This organization paid for a design that would have been a big, bloated, ineffective site. The person who did the original design likely didn’t know any better. When you’re just starting out, you make mistakes- it’s just part of the process.People who participate in these kinds of design contests are almost always inexperienced and mistake-prone, and the mistakes they make will often cost more than the money you saved by using a design contest site in the first place.

You can read more about crowdsourcing/spec work sites in this interesting article about design contests at Web Designer Depot.

Free Blogging Icon Set Part 2

2010-01-28T16:21:45Z

Finally, I have the second part of the Monster Blogging Icon Set! This is a new set of icons designed for Randa Clay Design readers by IconShock! This is the first installment of a set of 15 created for use in blogging websites. The icons are completely free for personal or commercial use, you may use and adapt them as you like. You may post the preview image on your site, but please link back to this post for download.

The set includes the source vector files and the following sizes: 256px, 128px, 64px, 48px, 32px, and 24px in two color variations.

Click here to download

Get Set #1 – click here

Coming next in the series:

Set #3 - Sponsors, Plugin, Theme, Author, Home

If you need professional icons, custom designs or
even free icons, you need to check out IconShock!

Business Card Giveaway

2010-01-20T16:33:29Z

Anyone need some business cards? Here’s your chance for some free ones! AllBusinessCards.com is offering SIX lucky winners 1,000 business cards each! The cards can be single or double sided, printed on thick 16pt card stock, and have a Glossy UV finish or a Silk Matte finish.

How to enter:

Just leave a comment on this post before midnight November 17th (US eastern time). Be sure the email address you leave in the form is valid so I can contact you if you win.

Shipping is free to the US or Canada, and if you live somewhere else, you’d just need to chip in for the shipping.

Need some business card inspiration? Check out CardObserver.com, this set on Flickr, or this post that’s full of ideas.

Top 10 Favorite Free Fonts

2009-11-11T12:28:40Z

There are so many great free fonts available. These are my 10 favorites:

Free Blogging Icon Set

2010-01-11T19:32:18Z

I’m happy to release a new set of icons designed for Randa Clay Design readers by IconShock! This is the first installment of a set of 15 created for use in blogging websites. The icons are completely free for personal or commercial use, you may use and adapt them as you like. You may post the preview image on your site, but please link back to this post for download.

The set includes the source vector files and the following sizes: 256px, 128px, 64px, 48px, 32px, and 24px in two color variations.

Click here to download

Coming next in the series:

Set #2 – Blogroll, Article/Post, Email, Twitter, Archive
Set #3 - Sponsors, Plugin, Theme, Author, Home

If you need professional icons, custom designs or
even free icons, you need to check out IconShock!

Ask The Experts: How Do You Get a Project Off On The Right Foot?

2009-10-21T02:14:12Z

Installment #2 in the Ask The Experts series is focused on best practices as a designer as you’re beginning a project with a client. Thanks to my panel of experts for their input on this interesting topic.

When you start a project with a client, what are your first steps? Do you use a questionnaire? Have a phone call? Do you use a contract? What do you think is key to getting started on the right foot?

Char Polanosky:

While I would love to have a questionnaire in place, I still find that the most effective way for me to start a project is to spend 30 minutes or so on the phone with the client. Since each project is different, I can tailor the questions to what I already know and what I still need to find out in order to make the project a success.

I always use a contract that spells out the scope and terms of the project. I learned the importance of the contract years ago – it just protects everyone’s interest the most effectively. Also, using a contract helps manage client expectations which I feel is the most important part of starting off the relationship on a good note.

Vivien Anayi:

It depends on how I’ve been approached or contacted by the client. If I get an email, then I reply with a list of questions to get as much information about the project and the client as possible. Usually my questions are specific to each project & client. Currently I’m re-designing my business web site and considering to put up a PDF questionnaire for clients to download before contacting me for a quote. This should streamline my research and planning process and make it less time consuming.

If I get a phone call or meet in person, I usually ask a few important questions, then ask the potential client to give me additional information by email, after that I either email with more questions or put together a project proposal. I’ve been burnt a couple times for doing business without a contract, so now I always get clients to sign a contract (or rather in my case it’s a Statement of Work) and asking for a deposit before proceeding with any work.

If I’m working with local clients, I usually like to meet with them in person before embarking on a journey of working with them.

The important things to keep in mind when getting started with a client on the right foot are to get a good feel for the client and the project, bring professionalism and personality to your communications with the client, set up clear and realistic expectations, under-promise but over-deliver (David Airey’s favourite mantra that I’m now trying to follow), and finally, keep asking questions until both you and your client are crystal clear about the project’s goals, tasks and deliverables.

Brian Yerkes:

In our online contact form, we ask the client if they want us to respond by “phone or email”, so our response depends on what they choose.

If they choose “email”, we reply with a “thank you for your interest in working with Brian Joseph Studios…etc” and then we ask them a few questions about their project. I have been back and forth on whether or not to use questionnaires. My company has used both and I’ve seen the positive and negative effects of this. Lengthy questionnaires can turn a lot of people off, they see more than 10 questions, and they decide not to fill it out or get back to you. It really seems to depend on the person. Another part of me thinks that if the person is too lazy to fill out a questionnaire for their important project that they are about to spend a few thousand dollars on, do I really want them as a client?

The positive side of having questionnaires filled out by the client is it gives you a lot of information and confirms with you exactly what the client needs. Obviously this depends on the length and detail of your questions, but by doing it this way, both you and the client really understand the specifics of what will be produced. This provides a clear playing field for both of your during the project, and saves you from arguments about what was promised/asked for etc..

Currently, we mainly use the phone to discuss the project with the client. Our prices can be a little at the high end of our competitors so we always make sure to ask the client for their budget before we arrange an in-person meeting if they are local.

So, we get all of the details that we can, and if they have an appropriate budget, we will meet with them. The face-to-face meeting is really just a trust building process. If they are going to spend thousands of dollars with us, they really need to know the person or company they are giving that money to. Some clients don’t need this meeting, but I find that a lot prefer it. It’s makes them feel more secure and it makes for a better client/vendor relationship if you have gotten a coffee with them prior to the project starting.

We then get the contract ready, send it over and require 50% to be paid up front, then we are ready for the project to start.

Tracey Grady:

I try to find out as much as I can about their business or professional activities before talking with them, as it always comes across well in that first discussion if you can show you’ve already done some research.

I arrange for a discussion by phone or Skype, or in person. I have also had preliminary client meetings using IM but I much prefer being able to talk with someone if possible. I have a questionnaire but I now prefer to use this during the discussion rather than sending it out to a prospective client to fill in and return to me.

I use a contract which includes all details of the work to be carried out, and the amount which I’ve quoted for the work. I also request a down payment prior to work starting.

To get started on the right foot with a prospective client you need to be a good listener, prompt with your correspondence, and show enthusiasm for working with them. What need are they seeking to fulfill for their business by approaching you with a design query? By listening, communicating and taking an interest in their business, you’re showing the client that your top priority is addressing that question. You also need to demonstrate that you have a good command of both design and project management, as well as the confidence to see the project through in a timely and professional manner.

One more thing: after the preliminary discussion with a new client, I quickly send them an email outlining everything we covered during the meeting (and asking them to correct any details if necessary), and if it’s a lengthy project I’ll also provide a breakdown of all the stages for their design project from start to finish. Clients appreciate knowing what to expect, and it’s a great way to give a very positive first impression.

My turn:

Clearly setting and managing expectations along with a good contract to protect everyone’s interests lays the foundation for a great working relationship. I usually have a preliminary meeting by phone with a client to get to know them and their business, and gather information about the project. One of the most important questions I ask is “What is your goal for your site? What do you want the visitor to DO?” That is a really valuable piece of information to have in mind as I create the site and the answer can be very different from client to client.

Your turn:

What do you think? If you’re a designer what do you have to add that you think makes for a great start on a project? If you’ve been a client, what do you expect from someone who is providing you with design services?

Do you have a question you’d like us to answer on the subject of design, WordPress, blogging, marketing, etc.? You can either leave the question in the comments or use my contact form.