Posts Tagged ‘web development’

Stock Photos or not?

// November 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // strategy, web development

I was reading an article on the pitfalls of using stock photography recently. Basically this Chicago based online pet business bought a stock photo of a pet to use on their website only to discover:

“I bought a stock photo of a dog for a website and it had become the companies unofficial mascot. Recently, I discovered that another pet site is using the same photo. Can I stop the site from using it?”

Unfortunately unless you have an exclusive license or have contracted a photographer to take the photo for you you have no exclusivity to it and anyone can use it. And therein lies the rub. What may seem like a cheap option (stock photos can be bought from as little as $1) can end up being an expensive lesson as you can see.

More and more businesses, including large corporates, are going down the stock photography path and are being embarrassed by finding images they’ve used in campaigns being used by competitors, making it difficult for consumers to tell brands apart.

When using photographs in your website or marketing materials it often pays to spend a little money and have them done by a professional photographer . Not only will they look better, you are guaranteed that all the hard work you’ve spent in building and promoting your brand can’t be undone by a competitor simply buying the same image/s and muddying the water.

Uniqueness is important in business – don’t drop the ball by making it easy for others to copy you.

Web vs Print Design

// September 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // web development

As a web designer/developer, you usually get taught that web design is not the same as print design issue. If a client thinks the website will be exactly as the printouts, then that is your failing as a designer by not conducting the presentation correctly. This is often the result of misunderstanding, not the result of paper. I find presenting on paper, especially early on in the process, as a very conducive method for client engagement. They can engage with paper, scribble all over or tear up and throw in the bin. You cannot do that with a screen. Paper is more immediate and less precious.

So, I guess there are a couple of things which are happening within graphic design. Web design has been for a long time now separating itself from its print based brother. Now I know there are fundamental differences in the medium of delivery and, in many cases, the nature of the design. However, I believe this is a bad thing. If you have a background in print design, don’t forget it, it helps in a lot of ways you may not realise. Sure, the web is not print, but there are hundreds of years of design experience crammed into the minds of designers lucky enough to have a print background, and we’d be totally foolish not to make use of it. There are many differences between the mediums, but there are many similarities, too. There is a lot that can be learned from print designed and applied on the web. The only difference I see is that print media is read, web media is interacted with. So, interaction or experience design is more the key here for a well rounded web designer. You could totally disagree of course, or you may be bored to tears with the whole thing, what do you guys think?