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Am I Too Late to the Web Design Party?

Ask a Madman: Am I Too Late to the Web Design Party?

Categories: Designing | Tags: design career, learn web design, learn wordpress, learning html, mobile web.

April 18, 2012 | Speider Schneider | Comments: 1

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I’m a graphic designer just now getting on the web design bandwagon. Am I too late to the party?

For years, my father refused to learn how to set the clock on his VCR. Twice a year (if there were no power failures) I’d get a call from him, asking how to do it. Eventually, he just got acclimated to deducting an hour from the clock time in the spring and summer months rather than try to learn it.

So when my mother bought her first computer, I started screening my calls. But soon enough she learned how to do an email attachment and even set up her own blog—oddly enough—about how to set your VCR clock.

Don't worry, you aren't that late to the web design party.

Some graphic designers have felt left behind by rapidly changing web technologies. At first it was just easy drag-and-drop web design software supplemented by a simple understanding of HTML. Soon Flash and Java scripting became the norm. Then HTML gave way to DHTML, XHTML and HTML5 and so on. Now, putting Dreamweaver on your resume incites snickers from 23-year-old creative directors.

Many of my peers are taking web classes, trying to catch up on needed skills. Some succeed enough to not be laughed at; others just can’t keep up with all the new programming languages and plugins. For the 23-year-olds who grew up coding HTML and build apps for fun, print designers are like the elderly parents who call about VCR clocks. Print designers who have a few more years (or decades) before they retire need to learn some new tricks.

If you confuse PHP with PCP and think jQuery might be something conservative politicians want to outlaw, you may be a little too late to the technology party. To stay competitive with younger, more savvy designers, you’ll need to work twice as hard to catch up. It means not only keeping up with the changes Adobe makes to its graphics programs but knowing about web language developments, learning new software AND having examples to show employers. No one said it would be easy. 

It's never too late to get back on your feet.

In fighting obsolescence, it might seem like there’s just too much technology to digest. So we’ve boiled it down to four main points for you to focus on. Being familiar with all of these concepts is important; being an expert in one of them can help you score jobs and keep hustling.

Learn WordPress.

WordPress makes it easy to set up websites and blogs for clients—and yourself! In fact, the WordPress content management supports the majority of websites started today. You can use a stylish theme to get started, and when you learn some code, you can customize it or even start building and selling your own awesomely designed themes. HOW Interactive’s got a whole series on how to use Wordpress themes, plugins and tools.

Be a presentation software guru.

Believe it or not, there are design companies that do 90% of their business in creating digital presentations. Creatives excel at presentations because of our ability to make beautiful visuals, and clients big and small need presentation material. While PowerPoint is still the gold standard in corporate environments, keeping up with emerging presentation technologies can be a great selling point for yourself. For example, check out this amazing animated presentation made with Google Docs:

Stay on top of new technologies.

From left: a QR code, a Microsoft Tag and a Data Matrix.

If you haven’t seen these crossword-looking things on packaging or posters, you aren’t getting out enough. QR codes are barcodes you scan with your smartphone to go to a web page, video, app or to make a call. The boring black-and-white squares can also be modified with great design and color. New design firms are popping up everywhere to handle the design of these codes. With trial and error, you can still create some really impressive pieces for clients. (But be careful you don’t end up in the annals of QR code fails!)

And it’s been around for a few years, but augmented reality technology is starting to make its way into our daily lives. It’s a way to interact with your surroundings through your smartphone’s camera—the videos in this articleare great examples.

Prepare for the mobile web. 

Oh, to have been in the forefront of this technology a few years ago. It’s no secret that making just one monster app like Angry Birds will let you retire. Two will let your whole family retire. Three popular apps, and you can buy a better family! 

But responsive websites (ones that work just as well on laptops as they do on tablets and on smartphones) are the real future of mobile apps. It will take some training for a print designer but having a creative eye is the key to being a superstar of this technology. And if you aren’t ready to design for the mobile web yourself, justbefriend some developers!

There are many avenues for creatives to follow to stay on the forefront of technology. It takes hard work, dedication, imagination and the passion we all feel by being creative. Catch up or get left behind—the choice is yours.

Party detrius photo by Ben Seidelman; party lawn chair photo by Erich Ferdinand

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Mohawk Paper: branding + promotion

Mohawk Connects the Dots

Established in 1931, Mohawk, a fourth-generation family-owned business, is the largest privately owned manufacturer of fine papers and envelopes for commercial and digital printing in North America. Mohawk employs over 580 people and operates three paper machines in two mills in upstate New York and two converting facilities in New York and Ohio, with warehouses around the U.S.. Popular paper brands under Mohawk’s portfolio include Superfine, Navajo, Via, Beckett, and Strathmore. Last week Mohawk announced a major reinvention of their business to “thrive in today’s digital world” and today marks the launch of a snazzy new website designed by Hydrant and developed by Avatar, as well as the introduction of a new identity designed by Pentagram partner Michael Bierut and associate partner Joe Marianek.
Disclaimers: I worked for Michael Bierut at Pentagram. When I worked there I worked on Mohawk projects. Joe Marianek sometimes contributes to Brand New. Mohawk is an advertiser on UnderConsideration (starting in May). I know many of the people involved in the brand/marketing side of Mohawk. In other words, I have so much conflict of interest writing this review that you would think my pockets are lined with cash. But after six years of writing reviews I believe I have established I am fair. Lastly, all the visual assets arrived last night and there is no contributing writer up at 5:00 am, like me, to cover this identity on the same day it launches. Anyone who finds a problem with all this: deal with it.

The launch of MohawkConnects.com is the customer’s first introduction to Mohawk’s vibrant new brand designed by Pentagram, Mohawk’s primary branding agency for more than two decades. Michael Bierut, who leads the Mohawk brand team at Pentagram said, “The logo is a monogram for the name Mohawk. It’s based on the letter M, but it’s also constructed to evoke the papermaking process and the printing process, both of which involve paper going around cylinders,” he said.

The logo also speaks to the basic idea of connection, which is what Mohawk paper is designed for, “Whether it’s for a small book of photos featuring your niece and nephew or for a giant global corporation — it’s about communication,” said Bierut.
— Press Release

The old logo, also designed by Pentagram in 2002, was an attractive wordmark based (or perhaps purely, I can’t remember) on W.A. Dwiggins’ Metro. Nothing fancy but nothing earth-shattering either. The new “M” icon seems to take its cue from the open-legged “M” in Metro to create a lively visual element that manages to capture many of the press release talking points, from connectivity to paper-making. To me, it looks a tad more like a commercial printing company logo than a paper company because of the cylinder approach and the color overlays — it’s not an altogether bad thing, since a big bulk of Mohawk’s paper goes through big ass printers. The icon is attractive and punchy, for lack of a better word and, in contrast to the previous logo, takes prominence over the company name, now subtly typeset in House Industries’ Chalet. I’m not convinced if it needed to be set in all lowercase — the icon already conveys friendliness and the uppercase “M” would have balanced out nicely with the “k” in the end. The icon looks best when it’s in multiple colors as opposed to a single hue and definitely better than the single-color, stroke version which starts to look more like something out of a kids toy box. Nonetheless, the logo is a charming new asset to deploy anywhere from paper reams to the web.
As a bonus, the logo animates well and it even has a sound mnemonic. See it (and hear it) here.

Display type: Chalet, all caps only.

Text type: Sentinel.

Ream.

New Mohawk Product Selector by Michael McGinn Design Office. Photos by Alex Tobin.

In application the logo proves to be a playful element that can be blown up big really nice and it makes those color overlays stand out. The use of the medium weight of Chalet doesn’t feel like it works very well with the big bold patterning. It tries to take on a spare European feel but, to me, it starts to look cheap and generic and, instead of creating a pleasant contrast, it goes against the all lowercase use of Chalet in the logo. Overall, there is good potential in the identity and there are dozens if not hundreds of applications to experiment and take the elements in different directions (perhaps even elevating Sentinel to more of a display use).

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Four Ways QR Codes Could Revolutionize Education

Quick Response (QR) codes are beginning to pop up on city buses, in museum exhibits, and just about anywhere people need easy access to information. But we're only beginning to scratch the surface of how they can be used to improve the formal educational experience. As the number of Americans, particularly students, with smartphones continues to grow, here are four ways QR codes could revolutionize learning in the next decade.
1. Digital portfolios for students. Imagine if all students were assigned a QR code at the beginning of the school year—or even the start of their educational career? Every year, instead of putting that student's assignments or projects into a manila file folder that gets sent home (and oftentimes chucked in the trash) the teacher could upload a few examples of papers, projects, tests and quizzes to the QR code. The code could also include links to student videos, blog posts or other multimedia projects. That QR code-portfolio could then be printed on the student's report card, so that the grade becomes about more than just one single letter.
2. Connecting with parents. Teachers could create their own individual QR code that includes links to classroom goals, behavior expectations and other pertinent information, and send the code home with students. The teacher could even include sample questions the parent might want to ask their child about the class, thus equipping the parent with the knowledge she needs to have a conversation with their child about what they're doing in school. On back-to-school night or during open house, teachers could post QR codes throughout the classroom. Once a parent scans the code, they'd be digitally whisked to explanations of the curricula being used or of student work displayed in the classroom. Sure, the teacher could accomplish all of this with print-outs, but scanning with a QR code is definitely more eco-friendly.
3. Engaging students. Many K-12 schools ban smartphones, but as their potential as a learning tool starts to be better understood, they could end up working well with QR codes. At both the K-12 and college level, the number of textbooks featuring QR codes is sure to grow. And teachers and professors could hand out an assignment or study guide with a QR code printed on it. Once students scan it, they could be taken to additional resources or activities.
4. Easing the transition to college. This year the University of Illinois jumped on the QR code bandwagon and started using them to help acclimate incoming freshman. QR codes are scattered throughout the campus, and when a student scans one, they're taken to campus maps, videos, and other resources. The codes also connected students to the school's Facebook and Twitter feeds—a smart move since connected students are less likely to drop out.
Since QR codes are so new, it's hard to imagine all the ways education institutions will be using them in the years to come. But given the possibilities these black-and-white squares of data present, they just might revolutionize the way we learn.
Photo via wikimedia commons

 http://www.good.is/post/four-ways-qr-codes-could-revolutionize-education/

HTML Useful Character

HTML Useful Character Entities

Note: Entity names are case sensitive!

Result	Description	Entity Name	Entity Number
	non-breaking space	 	 
<	less than	<	<
>	greater than	>	>
&	ampersand	&	&
¢	cent	¢	¢
£	pound	£	£
¥	yen	¥	¥
€	euro	€	€
§	section	§	§
©	copyright	©	©
®	registered trademark	®	®
™	trademark	™	™

More Info.

http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_entities.asp

http://www.ascii.cl/htmlcodes.htm