I’ve created a photo narrative of our trip below. Have a look and tell me this country is not beautiful!

https://sheena.exposure.co/wild-west

According to the judges, the Challenge The Greenway website “demonstrated a cutting edge as it tackled a serious cause in a modern, intuitive and uplifting fashion. The site was both, stylish and current, technically well organised and easy to navigate, a worthy winner!”

To have been shortlisted along such high profile nominees was an achievement and honour in itself, but to have won on the night was just simply amazing! For us Irish ‘web nerds’ it has been described as the equivalent to winning an Oscar, so as you could imagine I’m chuffed to bits.

Although regrettably I was unable to attend the event in person on the night, I was more than happy for Cystic Fibrosis West advocate, Caroline Heffernan and members of the Cystic Association of Ireland to accept the award on my behalf. I’m told I missed a throughly enjoyable evening – and the opportunity to meet the hilarious Des Bishop.

In any case, I really hope this recognition goes a long way in helping to raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis in Ireland and in motivating even more people to get involved in next years challenge which takes place on March 23rd 2013.

L-R: Caroline Heffernan (CF West), Des Bishop, Julie Crawford, Philip Watt

Now in their 17th year, the Eircom Spiders is an annual event which recognises and honours both Irish individuals and organisations for their outstanding achievements online and in the digital realm. There are 18 award categories this year which recognise achievements across a variety of industries including Media, Education, Financial Services, Sports, Retail, Travel, Tourism and e-Business.

With this being our first ever entry, we will be joining some high profile nominees in the Charitable & Non-Profit Organisations category including The Jack and Jill Foundation, Temple Street Children’s Hospital and Trócaire to name but a few. Having only been up and running for just under a year, we’re surprised, yet hugely proud to have been shortlisted alongside such well known and worthy causes.

Winners will be announced at a black-tie ceremony, hosted by the fantastic Des Bishop in Dublin’s Convention Centre on November 1st. We look forward to a great night and have our fingers firmly crossed!

I’m delighted to be a lead member of the Challenge the Greenway team and to have had the opportunity to play my part in terms of branding and design. It’s always lovely to have your work and efforts recognised, especially in such a prestigious manner and I hope this recognition helps to further promote the CF West fundraising event so it can continue to grow year upon year.

1. Best Responsive Design
2. The Most Beautiful Website in Ireland

The Realex Irish Web Awards is an annual event which aim to recognise and honour both individuals and agencies who simply do great things on the web and specifically within the Irish web community.

With record numbers of entries this year, website submissions were judged multiple times and whittled down from a large list of Nominees to a Shortlist and finally to a handful of Finalists. IWA’s organiser, Damien Mulley, said he was delighted and a bit taken aback by the award’s success this year: “We thought we might get over 600 website nominations but 900 is incredible. We don’t think any other event, free or premium, has ever gotten this. Now comes the task of judging all these sites across the various categories…” [source]

This year’s cermeony will take place on Thursday 1st November 2012 in the Mansion House, Dublin. Personally I can’t wait for a fun, informal and enjoyable night. As they say, it’s a case of fingers crossed!

On another note, a website I created for the charity fundraising event Challenge the Greenway has also been shortlisted in this years Eircom Spider Awards which will be held on the very same night. Tell me more…

One thing’s for sure though…the widely adopted approach to website design that we’ve all adhered to in the past, and presently still, is no longer relevant. Imagine having to create a unique website for each and every device on the market? Not only is it impractical, it’s also very costly. A radical new approach is required. Ideally it would make more sense to take the “build once, works everywhere” approach. Not only would this reduce the need to maintain multiple versions of a website, it would also help businesses reach a wider audience than ever before. Responsive Web Design is one such approach.

So what is responsive design exactly?

As the name implies, Responsive Web Design (RWD) is simply a style of web design/development in which a site’s content responds to the device or environment on which it is being viewed and rendered. According to, or as defined is “an approach to web design in which a site is crafted to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones)”.

For the sake of argument and simplicity, I’m going to consider the concept of adaptive layouts as a form of RWD – the difference being that the content adapts at various popular breakpoints (sizes) such as desktop, ipad portrait, ipad landscape, iphone etc. This is by no means a 100% foolproof or future proof solution, but it is undoubtedly a huge step in the right direction at the very least.

With my own business undergoing a re-brand and my website in need of a refresh, I figured there was no better opportunity to make it more responsive. Go ahead, grab your iPad or smartphone or simply make the browser window smaller and watch how the content magically adjusts to give you a better overall user experience. Of course there’s no magic involved at all here, but I’d rather not bore you with the technical details on how web professionals make RWD a reality. Let’s just say it involves a mixture of fluid grids, flexible images, media queries and a whole LOT of planning, research, thought and testing.

Responsive Web Design is the future

At this point you may be asking yourself, “if this whole Responsive web design idea is so fantastic, why isn’t everyone doing it?” Well there are many reasons for this, but simply put – it isn’t necessarily right or applicable for every business. No pressure to jump on any bandwagons here. What you do need to do is carefully consider your target audience, their unique browsing habits and of course your budget amoung other things.

It’s important to stress also that RWD is still only in its infancy and continues to evolve on a daily basis. It may not be a one-stop solution to all your problems, but it is however an approach that you should be seriously considering as this web ship steams ahead at full speed…

The term ‘freelancer’ actually originated in the Middle Ages when mercenary knights, with no allegiance to anyone in particular, would take their lances into battle for various kings, princes, lords and wealthy land owners – for whomever paid them the most.  Our modern day knights however constitute a multitude of business professionals ranging from designers, developers, writers and actors to photographers, journalists, consultants and many other solo professionals.

21^st Century Knights

By definition a freelancer can be described as “a person who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term” while a self-employed person can be defined as “a person who works for himself/herself instead of an employer, but draws income from a trade or business that they operate personally”.  Honestly I find it difficult to distinguish the two, however I have come to learn from personal experience that the term freelancer often stirs up negative connotations and I’ve had many a pity look thrown my way by those who don’t fully understand exactly what it is I do.  The term itself is frequently associated with those who don’t have a ‘real job’, who are currently in-between jobs or desperately waiting for something better to come along.  This may in fact be true for a small minority of freelancers, but it by no means represents the industry as a whole. A self-employed, freelancer, business owner all often one in the same.

Why freelancing aint’t free…

One commonly held misconception is that starting and running a freelance business is somehow free. Unfortunately, that’s not the case!

Freelancers are relatively free to decide when I work, where I work, how I work and whom I work with.  This freedom is a privilege. Regrettably however, they are neither free nor exempt from all the regular costs associated with running a business.  While it is true to say that some freelancers may experience lower start up/operating costs than other types of businesses, the term “free” certainly does not apply.

Like all other businesses and professions, freelance designers also incur annual expenses and costs ranging from:

• Equipment & Tools (computer, laptop, monitor, printer, scanner, copier, fax, phone, internet connection, web hosting, stock resources, design & other software packages, office supplies – desks/workspaces etc)
• Advertising & Promotion (stationery, printing, online advertising, networking fees)
• Legal & Accounting
  
• Training & Self Improvement (books, magazines, tutorials, seminars, conferences)
• Rent & Travel Expenses
• Maintenance Costs
• Self Employment (taxes, insurance, retirement funds etc)

As a self-employed professional I am also expected to wear many hats on a daily basis.  Not only am I a creative designer first and foremost, I’m also a project manager, an accountant, a collections agent, a customer service representative, a sales agent, a marketer, a secretary and even an entrepreneur – a jack of all trades with a multidisciplinary skill set if you will.  Many freelancers also pursue years of education, obtain various degrees and qualifications and also train professionally, prior to embarking on the journey to becoming self-employed.

It’s true that there is a global recession taking place, but should we therefore be expected to work for pittens or significantly cut-rate prices and provide the same quality service? Are we any less deserving than our corporate competitors? The truth of the matter is, if you expect high quality work and service, you must be willing to pay a fair price – no matter who you choose to employ! As the saying goes “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”.

I find myself wondering which part of the word “free-lance” makes sense these days?

Consider this…

When you’re sick and need to visit a doctor or specialist do you question their hourly rate? Do you try to haggle them down to the minimum wage or try to obtain the lowest possible price by offering to visit more regularly in future? Why not? Because they are experienced professionals who are highly skilled, most likely experts at what they do. You visit them because you need their help, their expertise and their advice. If you could self-medicate or solve the problem yourself you would probably would be doing it already, would you not?

So why then would you consider treating a professional freelancer any different?

The design process however is not always an easy or straight-forward one, as design is rather subjective in nature. In order to create an effective solution, both the designer and client must work closely together to communicate their individual ideas and requirements. With this in mind, below you’ll find a list of topics (or the 6 D’s as I like to refer to them) to consider when contacting your chosen designer.  Answering these questions will not only help you determine what exactly it is you are looking to achieve, but also aid your designer in gathering the necessary creative brief for the project so that they can fully understand your specific goals – the result of which will be a solution that will not only match, but hopefully exceed your expectations.

1. Description

• Is this a new project or a re-design of an existing brand?
• Describe your current business, product or service
• Could you specify your main business goals and objectives?
• Who will be the main decision maker(s) on this project?
• Who are your main competitors and what differentiates/sets you apart from them? Why should customers choose you over them?

2. Definition

• Who is your primary target audience? This could be based on demographics such as age range, race, gender, employment level, social & economic conditions, education, income or geographic location
• Do you offer your target market anything that others do not? Competitive advantage?
• What problem does your current business, product or service solve for customers?
• What will be your main source of advertising? How and where will a potential client discover your business? Newspapers, magazines, directories, print marketing materials (posters, flyers, leaflets, brochures), online (website, email, social media etc)

3. Decision

• What impression would you like your business to create for customers who experience it?
• What keywords best describe how you would like your business to be portrayed going forward? Trust, loyalty, dependability, traditional, corporate, professional, established, edgy, modern, high-tech, fun, creative etc.
• What would you like your new logo/identity to accomplish? Stand out from the competition, highlight a new product/service, upgrade the outdated image etc
• If you have an existing brand, why is it currently not working for you?
• Is there a unique story behind your business or business name? Family business etc
• Is there anything specific associated with the your business that is important to emphasise?

4. Design

• Are there any specific elements you would like to see incorporated in your logo? Icons, symbols, imagery, characters etc
• Do you have a tag line or slogan for your business which needs to be included?
• Do you have any colour preferences or existing brand colours which must be adhered to? Existing brand guidelines
• Are there any restrictions on the design?
• List/provide links to 5 logos that you like or feel worked well? Explain what caught your attention or why were you drawn to those in particular
• Similarly, list/provide links to 5 logos which you believe do not work well and explain why…

5. Distribution

• Where will the logo primarily be used and in which mediums? Printed materials, website, signage, vehicle, clothing (embroidery), merchandise, products etc
• Are there any production restrictions or considerations? Size, colour, format etc

6. Deliverables

• Is there a time frame or specific deadline for project completion?
• Please provide your project budget? Ballpark figures will suffice
• Will you require any other design services in addition to a logo? e.g. stationary, print marketing material (posters, flyers etc), website presence…

Should you have a particular project in mind, I’d invite you to take a look at my Project Kickstarter. It’s essentially a short questionnaire (similar to the points above) which will allow you to explain a little more about your project – just so I can provide a better and response!

View my Project Kickstarter now!

Question is, how do you go about finding a professional, quality designer who really knows their stuff and who won’t rip you off? How do you weed out the good from the bad?

In this day and age with the prevalence of the Web and various social media marketing platforms, the commercial design industry has never been so competitive. In an industry with such limited regulation, we are unfortunately beginning to hear more and more horror stories. There’ll always be those few individuals who own a computer, installed some free software and have completed a 6-week educational course marketing themselves as “professional and experienced” designers. However tread carefully! Not only does this devalue the work of highly qualified and experienced designers, but unknowing and unsuspecting clients could be taken for a ride by amateur (or god forbid “cowboy”) designers – with unfortunate consequences.

We rarely get a second chance to make a first impression and design has a large part to play in this regard. Design however isn’t about merely making things look pretty. It’s an equal mixture of aesthetics and function and when done right, engages and connects with your viewers. So finding a solid client-designer match is important, abeit a little daunting if you don’t know what to look out for…

So, how do I determine if a particular designer is right for me I hear you ask? The answer is quite simple really…you have to do your homework. Below is a list of some aspects to consider before making your decision:

1.  Specialised or Multi-disciplined?

There are as many types of creatives out there as there are cars brands. You’ll find designers, developers, illustrators, copywriters, and animators to name just a few. Because of this you need to carefully consider everything you will require for your project currently and for the foreseeable future. Do you need just a logo, or do you require complete branding, print, marketing and web design services? While there are many creatives out there who specialise in one particular field, there are also ample multi-disciplined creatives who offer various services across many mediums. No matter which option you choose, you should always aim to maintain a consistent style and message across all your material/projects. Brand consistency is vital to the success of any business.

2. Do you like what you see?

Showcases and portfolios are how designers sell themselves, so this is one of the most important resources available to potential clients when researching a designer’s skill, aptitude and suitability for their project. Qualities to look for include variety, originality, creativity and whether you consider their style of design effective and suitable for your business.

3. Is it up to scratch?

If you’re searching for a designer, it’s most likely because this type of work is out of your realm of your own personal skills or something you require professional advice and guidance on. When browsing a portfolio, try to determine if a designers past work is of a high quality and suitable for its purpose. The quality of the work you view is what you should expect to receive.

4.  Is The Price Too Good To Be True?

Price is often one of the biggest concerns when starting a project or business, so you must always be particularly cautious when receiving a quote that’s very low or very high. Every designer is unique and come with their own skills, experience and price. There will always be those who charge on the higher end for their work, while there are equally as many who will offer work for ‘next-to-nothing’ prices, both of which you should be weary of. If you deem a quote to be rather low, it may indicate that the designer may not fully understand your project requirements or may be cutting corners. Price should never be your only determining factor, however more than not you get what you pay for. As the saying goes “pay peanuts, get monkeys”. My advice is to shop around and compare price with quality and always ask what exactly you’re getting for your money.

5.  Evaluate their Experience!

If you’re happy with all of the above, then it’s time to consider the individuals background. Do they have much experience? Where have they worked previously? For how long? What was their position? (director, lead designer, intern etc). Ask for a CV/resume if applicable. What did their education entail? Have they any other skills that you might find attractive or relevant? Remember though that you want someone who can think and work creatively so don’t be discouraged if they don’t hold any degree or diploma. It’s their work that is often more relevant.

6.   Do they seem interested?

You send through a project proposal and don’t hear anything for over two weeks! This should set off alarm bells. It’s important that a designer responds to your requests and queries in a timely manner where possible, so you know that you and your business are important to them. If they don’t respond they are either too busy, unprofessional in their work manner or simply not interested. Presuming they are interested however, determine whether or not they plan on building a working relationship with your for future projects. Have they repeat clients? This will help you to determine whether or not they will be in it for the long haul.

7. Do they understand what exactly you want?

There’s nothing worse than have a mental picture of what you want or need to achieve, only to get back solutions that are so far from the brief that you can’t fathom what went so wrong. A professional designer will try to ascertain your project requirements by asking appropriate questions and gathering all the information they require before commencing any work. Although you should listen to a designer’s suggestions, they also need to listen to yours and guide you on the right path. Their job is to find a medium between your ideas and their expertise.

8.  Do you get along with your designer?

It’s important that you take the time to talk to or even meet with your designer to ensure that you work well together and that your personalities don’t clash. This may seem rather obvious, but having a good working relationship is critically important, as you will need to communicate effectively with one another to achieve the desired result. There’s no sense in having the world’s best designer if you can’t work together.

9.  Get Referrals!

There are many ways to search for a designer (local directory, social media, online search engine etc), however one of the means is to simply talk to friends, family, colleagues and associates and ask for personal recommendations. Word of mouth referrals often do go a long way! You may also want to follow up on their previous client testimonials.

10.  Legalities!

Always a good idea to ensure you both agree upon (and sign) a project contract or terms of service agreement. It’s important to have the specific details in writing in the unfortunate case that should anything go awry. If a designer is unwilling to sign some form of agreement you may want to question why?

Designers are the people who will be designing the face of your business or helping to develop your brand experience, so it’s important you find the one that’s right for you – the result of which will be an effective solution and a solid working relationship.

Whether you arrived by chance or with the intent of finding a designer, it doesn’t really matter. I’m glad you’ve taken the time to experience my site in any case! Recently I took the plunge from full time employment at a small design studio into starting my own business venture and I’m excited to find out where this journey takes me.

I’m by no means a writer of any kind, but I intend to use this blog to discuss all things design-related, be they inspirational or merely informative. I also hope to write some useful articles on relevant topics such as branding, print design, web design, freelancing, social media and business in general (maybe even share some trade secrets) – so if you’re interested in that sort of stuff then stay tuned…

It’s always great to hear other people’s take on things, so feel free to have your say. I welcome comments. The best way to keep up to date with my latest ramblings is to subscribe to the RSS feed or alternatively via email if you prefer – that way you won’t miss a beat!

Happy reading…