Google Changes its Name

In an effort to win over Google and get their coveted new broadband internet technology the city of Topeka, Kansas changed its name to Google for a month. On April 1st internet users were probably a little confused when they visited their favorite search engine and saw “Topeka” in the middle of their screen. The April Fools prank was a response to Topeka’s name change, but according to Google is not an indication of what city will get their new high speed internet.

Ferret Powered Broadband

The guys at Telegraph Media Group reported that a new and unlikely delivery method was now being used to bring high speed internet to people living in rural areas. According to the article on their website “The animals have been used by Virgin Media for over a year to help lay cables for its broadband service”. Finally, a better way to close the digital divide!

Prescription Windshield

Finally the seeing impaired people of the world can drive without the hassle of wearing eyeglasses! A video popped up on April Fools Day touting the new and innovative prescription windshield that brings everything right into focus.

You Scream, I Scream, Lick Your Screen for Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry’s had one of the most original April Fools pranks this year with the world’s first virtual ice cream. Simply activate the ice cream on their web site and lick!

Creativity and ingenuity usually lead to success in Social Media campaigns, but sometimes you can be creative and successful by going old school. Volkswagen is doing just that by bringing back the old “Punch Buggy” game. Remember it? Every time you passed a VW Beetle on those long family road trips you and your little brother would exchange punches. It’s a game that pretty much everybody can remember being a part of at some point, which is why it makes for a great social media campaign. People can relate to it and get a tingly feeling of reminiscence.

So, starting with an ad during the 3rd quarter of this year’s Super Bowl, VW is reinventing the game and calling it “Punch Dub”, referring to their nickname “Vee Dub”. The new game allows punches whenever any VW is spotted, not just a Beetle. The modern version of the classic game will feature celebrity comedian Tracy Morgan (from SNL and 30 Rock). Fans of Volkswagen will be able to share their excitement over the reemergence of the game by going to VW’s Facebook page where they can become “Punch Dubbers” and dole out punches of their own and also get a chance to win a new VW CC.

The combination of bringing back a classic game with a chance to win a car and a popular comedian is something that will almost surely turn into a successful campaign. While most companies can’t afford Tracy Morgan, or a Super Bowl ad, the formula can still be followed by small businesses. Connect with your fans on a personal level by inviting them to get involved with a fun and quirky activity and offer them incentives to do so. Chances are, if you remind people of something from their past that they enjoyed, even something small like the “Punch Buggy” game, they will see your brand as more human and more fun. While it might not last long, such a campaign can leave a lasting impression on people and can leave them seeing your company as more Social Media-friendly.

Too small/large text

typography in web design

Typography is very important on the web and with the advancements in Cascading Style Sheets  there is no reason for not getting creative with font styles. However, too small of text can be hard to read while too large of text can be a nuisance to the design rather than an attribute.

Not enough content

What is your site saying if there isn’t any content? Many sites may look pretty, but if they lack text describing who you are, what you do, and what your purpose on the web is then why should visitors be compelled to come back? Furthermore, I’ll bet those search engines won’t pick up on that site very well.

Too much content

A website with too much content can be compared to a bad date with too much too say about themself and no regard for the other person at the table. Sure, content is great and very necessary but it’s also important to have a balance between imagery, content, and functionality. Don’t bore your audience by talking too much. A good web designer looks for any chance possible to communicate and interact with their visitors whether it be by adding flash animation, polls, or an image gallery with comments enabled.

Someone else’s design

Sure, all designers take hints from other people’s work and use them as inspiration for their own designs, but completely copying someone else’s design is the worst thing you can do. Be creative – use your own unique style to come up with a look all your own.

Its really amazing how different we live our lives today compared to 10 years ago. Looking back, who really could have predicted this?

Social Media has had a profound impact on our lives. In his article on Mashable Soren Gordhamer does a great job looking at 5 of the ways it has changed how we live.

First on his list is Where We Get Our News. Most people still read their favorite online newspaper or watch the nightly news, but we also are looking at news posted by our friends, colleagues, and other people or businesses that we have become “fans” of or have “followed”. These are the people that we choose to get news from at every minute of the day. When we get up in the morning we check facebook for posted links and status updates; we log on to Twitter to see the latest tweets from the people we follow.

What else has changed? How We Do Business (say, for instance, social media marketing), How We Meet and Stay Connected with People (how many people have you friended or followed that you barely know, or didn’t know at all? Would you have cared about what these people are thinking or doing 10 years ago?), What We Reveal (Would you have announced to the world that you’re making a trip to Starbucks before social media?), and What We Can Influence (Anybody with a blog or Twitter account and some spare time can gain thousands or even millions of followers that read, care about, repost, and comment on their ideas and thoughts).

It really is amazing how the world has changed. Are you online?

Inspiration

webcreme.com

If you haven’t heard of Wecreme yet, you should really check it out. Whenever I’m in need of a little web design inspiration I stop by webcreme.com and see their findings. Webcreme searches the web for aesthetically pleasing and CSS/XHTML valid websites and posts a couple per week.  Their archive goes back 359 pages, so there’s plenty of inspiration to keep you satisfied.

To satisfy your font addiction…

Abstract Fonts

I’m always looking for new and interesting fonts to include in my projects. While it’s true that you need to keep in mind the “timelessness” of a font when designing a logo or other company branding, it’s nice to have a wide selection of options to choose from. My favorite site to satisfy my font addiction is Abstract Fonts.

Abstract Fonts has the motherload of free true type fonts available for download on the web. There’s no fancy website design to distract from the fonts – just the font in plaid old black laid out on a white background so you can get the real feel for it.  Ok, so there are ads on the left and right sides of the page, but at least you don’t have to login to download the font – just click and “save-as”.

Where’s that logo?

Brandsoftheworld.com provides downloadable vector logos.

Ever been working on a project, but you’re missing a necessary logo? First off – make sure you have permission to use that logo on the artwork you’re creating. Then, check out Brands of the World, a handy little site that supplies graphic and web designers with vector – yea, that’s right – vector logos. What more could you ask for?

Do a simple search for the company logo that you need and up pops a list of potential matches. Be aware that some of the logos have actually been submitted by designers and not by the companies themselves, so you should read the fine print and check to make sure the logo you download is the correct one.

Brands of the World is easy to use, provides logos in the most desired format, and saves designers tons of time.

Everything and the kitchen sink.

web resources depot

Pretty much anything you could want or need for web design has been talked about at the Web Resources Depot. The site covers everything from database managent to navigation systems and RSS feeds and provides links to free downloads and tutorials on how to create/install them on your own site. I love this site because not only is it a source of inspiration when I can’t figure out how I want my navigation to perform, but it also provides links to necessary resources – like free high-quality textures.

Pick a color, any color!

Ever need a little help when choosing a complimentary color scheme? Maybe you’ll get a one color logo and need to pick 2 more colors to go with it for the web design, but you’re just not getting anywhere. That’s when COLOURlovers comes in – it’s a color and design community for creative inspiration. Visitors create profiles and then are able to vote on colors and color schemes, tag them, find photos containing those colors on istockphoto and so much more. You cna even create your own color scheme, name it, and see how much the world loves it.

COLOURlovers is a great resource for selecting the perfect color scheme

The great thing about COLOURlovers is for every color scheme the HEX and RGB values are provided which makes our jobs as designers a lot easier. You can search for all blue hues, by #ffcc00, or just browse the lastest additions. Colors not doing it for you? COLOURlovers has patterns and photos to match the colors too!