Confusing your ministries speech with normal everyday speech can be a big problem on the web. It can make a well designed website into a mess for an end user. We do a few things to make sure that doesn’t happen.
UIE on Usability and User Experience: Great blurb on who a useable website doesn’t equal user experience. I actually had a very similar experience to the one described here. It has soured me from using the store-pick-up for a particular big-box electronics store that rhymes with Vest Pie.
WaSP Street Teams: I am fan of web standards, so I’m this appealed to me. Of course anything called a Street Team with graffiti like font has to be cool. If you’re not sure what web standards are, then check out the web standards project.
Hugh MacLeod on The Conversation (via Seth Godin): I’m a fan of The Cluetrain. It is a bit out there, but I think that is a good thing. I think in the ministry space the web as conversation is especially true.
For sometime now (ten years) I’ve been trying to humanize the web experience with hand generated illustrations or effects. It is one lonely crusade out here. Since before “graphic design” was termed, illustrations have been used to visually communicate message, tone, desired audience and so on.
However the web is void of Read more >>
(Saturday Afternoon) I made it back to the hospitality suite after my Creating an Integrated Web Strategy to find Fedor and Silas Man (and everyone else.) We needed to get the booth set up in the few hours I had available before my session prep with the panel for the ‘Is your site a bust or a must; website critiques‘ or something like that. Our booth location is great on the exhibit hall floor (I believe it is 1131 for those of you reading this while at NRB…please stop by and Read more >>
People want the pigment power. It is a primal instinct exposed through the child development years, this need to choose the crayon of one’s choice to color. I cannot remember hearing an adult chastise me for coloring a tree purple with crayons but I can trace my early works of art from purple trees to green trees. It happened to us all, this sad day when authority took away our color freedom. THE TREE MUST BE GREEN they scolded! Forget the fact that trees are orange or yellow in the autumn. Forget that your classmate Lulu ate your green crayon. Forget it all. You must adhere to society’s coloring guidelines - adhere they tell you! Make sure your pillow sheets match the comforter they tell you. Those pants don’t match those shoes they tell you.
Understanding the drain of giving up one’s power to color the world the way they want, Silas Partners developed an Read more >>
Read an interesting article today from the gentlemen at 37 Signals about designing web applications using a process involving “patterns“.
Designing with patterns bascially involves defining bits of information that need to be included in your layout, grouping those bits into chunks, prioritizing those chunks, and then making them look good. It also involves breaking old habits. This puts it very simply. I recommend you read the article to be truely enlightened.
One of my good friends - John Falke (who we call “Flash”) - is holding at Photoshop for Ministry half-day seminar on Thursday, November 9. John is the Graphics and Communications Director at Fairfax Community Church. The cost is $29, which seems pretty reasonable based on what is being offered.
Besides giving John a pointer, I’m wondering how churches and ministries view this event. Does it look worthwhile to you? Is it in your budget? Would you be willing to travel for such an event?
We are always seeking better ways to serve the Christian community. We previously held two free blogging teleseminars and are constantly thinking of new ways to equip, educate, and empower our partners.
Go check out Photoshop for Ministry. Let us know what you think and tell us how Silas Partners can provide you with new educational and training opportunities.
Today’s lunchtime reading featured the wisdom of Abient Signifiers from the brilliant minds over at Boxes and Arrows. Ambiant signifiers are “design elements that communicate subtly as part of the environment’s ambiance.” Ross Howard compares subtle techniques of communication and user guidance found on the high-traffic Tokyo Rail System with similar techniques of communication that can be used on our high-traffic websites. Apparently every design decision need not be overt.
I recommend reading this article here .
I especially like his example of BBC’s “digital patina “. Let’s explore opportunities to use Ambient Signifiers in our own lives.
Jaa, mata ashita aimashou (See you later).
Splash pages went out about the same time as snap bracelents. However, many sites are sticking beside the old girl like I continue to root for the Pittsburgh Pirates (final record 67-95). Great post on SEOmoz hopefully will drive the final nails into this 90s holdover.
Silas Partners exists to help Christian ministries fulfill their missions. Our specialty lies in helping ministries use the Internet effectively, in a way that supports their overall goals and strategic priorities. Read more >