Hi all. Here are a few quick rules of thumb for a successful small business portfolio site.
These rules never fail.
LOGO AND BRANDING
Respect the logo. Love the logo. Value the logo. It is the cornerpiece of your brand and visual identity, and it should convey everything your company is and will be. Do you want people to see your company as sleek and high-end? Playful and innovative? All of the above? The logo will make or break every first impression.
There are no shortcuts to proper logo design, which in the right hands is a fast, fun, and collaborative process. An idea or cool font is a start, but it’s not enough. Having a skilled designer who can research, develop, and execute the logo properly is fundamental. Let a professional designer (AKA us) guide you through, and you’ll come out looking better than you ever thought possible.
Did you know? The following fonts are universally overused – use them at your own risk: Zapfino, Skia, Comic Sans, Papyrus, Copperplate, Eurostile, Bradley Hand ITC, Curlz NT, Vivaldi, Kristen ITC, Viner Hand ITC, Brush Script…
LAYOUT
Conciseness. It’s an art form. The golden rule is to say as little as you have to, in order to get your point across. And that’s it. Nothing more is needed. Seriously. We mean it. Concise, clean, well-written web copy looks great in design, reads convincingly, and inspires action.
Did you know? You don’t necessarily gain momentum in the search engines by having a lot of content. Search engines are smarter than they used to be. The key is to have relevant content that is specific, easy to read, and contains all of your keywords and main points.
IMAGERY
People don’t read much these days. We’re pleasantly surprised that you have read this far! Compare your images to others in your field, and how they display their work. Chances are, there’s an opportunity to gain a competitive edge. It’s not about the number of images, but how well the images represent your work. Are they shot professionally? Current? These things matter. If you know your images are outdated, chances are that everyone else does too.
Did you know? There are tricks to saving your images properly for web usage. You can avoid issues like image degradation, pixelization, and dithering that are common across poorly designed sites. For best results, check out Photoshop’s Save-For-Web feature.
CONSISTENCY
There is something intensely satisfying, (to us designers, at least), in coming across a site that is consistent in its usage of hierarchy, text treatments, and compositions. When sites look unintentionally different from page to page, or the content is scattered all over, this indicates a lack of control. Clean, organized layouts that are properly executed allow the site user to focus on the message, instead of problems with the delivery.
Did you know? CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are instrumental in creating text styles and colors that are consistent across a website.
IMPACT
The best approach to websites is to think of them as hotel rooms. You open the door, and right away you know if you’re in a classy establishment, or an economy motel. You make a split second judgement about whether you’ll be comfortable spending time lounging around, or whether you want to check out as soon as possible. The most memorable hotel rooms are the best ones where you’re treated like royalty – you’re extremely likely tell all of your friends about your amazing experience. You also remember the worst ones, and tell all your friends…but for different reasons. The ones in the middle don’t even register. Let’s take this opportunity to create one of the best.
Did you know? Sites are all about value and potential, not bottom-line cost. Some of the most expensive sites ever created are some of the most profitable. That doesn’t mean you always have to spend four times more than everyone else, but it’s worth the extra effort to invest in a site that creates the best impression possible. After all, it is the face of your company.
Until next time…
