And the answer, of course, is both yes and no. You can calculate exactly how much it cost you to create this thing, but then you’ll still have to decide what your time is worth, and what the art is worth to you. And those are much harder to quantify because we humans tend to undervalue our time and because we artists tend to pour too much of our souls into our work.

I think the most expensive piece I saw at one of our senior art shows was something like $200,000. My friends and I were astonished, and at the time we joked that maybe it was a typo (it wasn’t). In retrospect I think she just marked it up because she didn’t want to let it go, and I have to wonder how much of her was hidden in those brush strokes.

I wonder how much of myself ends up in the things I create. I wonder, constantly, if I’m attributing too much or too little value to my time. I had been with Portent for more than three years when I started discussing time estimates with a colleague, and I told him how much I would quote for a project and his first response was, ‘Wow.’ I immediately wanted to backtrack – I was convinced that it was too much time, that I was much too slow, and then he said, ‘I would have said at least twice that.’

I had no idea what to do with that information. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and about process, and about how tight deadlines tend to be. About the idea that good communication can change the world, and what it takes to create something truly valuable – if that’s even possible when the definition of ‘value’ tends to be relative.

In my experience, more value comes from collaboration than anything else, so I want to open this discussion up, look at what it takes to get from start to finish on a creative project (specifically, the design or redesign of a website), and talk to you, dear reader, about how this process can get better, and bring real value to more people.

The Kickoff Meeting

Players: copywriter, designer, developer, UX architect, art director, project manager

In the beginning, there is a brainstorm. In grade school they taught us to do this by writing words in little circles and connecting them to other word circles and branching out until you have a complex thought. In college, they gave us a few hours of studio time to do research and bounce ideas and come back with the beginnings of a plan. It didn’t need to be fully fleshed out, we just had to present some idea of what we’d be doing for the next few weeks, whether that was a sketch or something still too abstract to put on paper.

In a marketing company, this means getting everyone who’s going to be creating something for the project – structure, content, art, code, etc – in a room and coming to a consensus on what the project’s goals are. Are we informing people? Are we inspiring them? Do we need them to take the time to share their thoughts with us, or do we only need them to click a button? How do we make this a positive experience for them?

The brainstorm should give everyone a clear idea of where they’re going, so that the designer can do competitive research and start building a mood board, the UX can begin working on wireframes and site architecture, and the copywriter can begin drafting the voice. There should be check-ins for these things, even if it’s just a couple minutes, to keep everyone on the same page, so that the team can take something like this:

And turn it into something like this:

The Design

Players: designer, art director, project manager

Once the wire frames are approved and the first round of copy has been coaxed into existence, the design starts to form. I worked on a refresh for a hotel site recently and long before we officially got started I was gathering travel apps, brochures, hotel and resort websites – anything that I could get that was beautiful or functional or (preferably) both – to inspire my work. Because of this, by the time I get to the design stage I usually already have a couple sketches or ideas that I want to try, and a solid idea of the style I want to go with. There’s that old adage; good artists borrow, great artists steal. I keep my stolen hoard of good design on Pinterest, as a sort of digital mood board that I can return to frequently while I work.

When I was fresh out of college, my design process (much like my meeting-new-people process) mostly involved sitting alone, not speaking to anyone, and eventually emailing someone a jpeg to look at with an email signature that just said ‘thanks’ though I’m not really sure what I was thanking them for. Their time, I suppose.

I’ve come a long way since then. Today, my design process involves a lot of bass-heavy music and regular critiques with colleagues, which sometimes last less than a minute and sometimes turn into group discussions of functionality, color theory, typography, and best practices for UX and SEO. We no longer email jpegs to people, instead we create presentations, whether that’s a PDF deck or an interactive prototype of the website we want to build.

While creating a comp, I also create all of the hover and on-click states for the page I’m designing, and when we get the necessary internal approval to move forward with presenting the design to the client, I start prototyping it. The tool we use here at Portent is InVision, which recently came out with some pretty excellent mobile updates that allow you to prototype your responsive designs as well. This enables the client to view your work the way they’ll see it once it’s developed.

This is especially useful when we can present in person or over screenshare, so that we can expand on the logic behind our choices, describe what the color palette is meant to convey, the energy the design is supposed to elicit, the interactions the users will experience, and if there are animations, how and why they’re there. The client can discuss the design, express concerns, and ask questions while they’ve got the full attention of their Portent team.

Bringing it to Life

Players: designer, copywriter, developer, project manager

A development environment has to be set up. The developer can (and should) work locally at first, but at some point they’ll need server space to host the fledgling site. Then, if it’s being passed off to the client for them to manage content after launch, it’ll need a content management system. The content needs to be edited and finalized, if it hasn’t been already. If there’s no imagery, the designer will need to source some from stock photography sites, which is a time-consuming process if you want quality images. If there is imagery, some (if not most, or all) of it will probably need to be resized to suit the new design.

The developer has to slice up the designs and convert them to HTML/CSS/JS – at which point they are going to desperately hope  that whoever created the design file organized their layers and clearly labeled all the hover states and interactions. Once the HTML mockups are done, the reusable elements (menus, headers, footers, etc) need to be separated out to create a template system that can be integrated into the client’s CMS.

Before launch, the scripts and images need to be compressed, and the images and content need to get entered into the client’s database. If the structure of the site has changed, 301 redirects will have to be implemented for pages that no longer exist or have moved, and incorrect links need to be removed from all onsite content. SEO, Social, and UX need to make a final sweep of the site and provide recommendations of changes that should be made before launch. The site needs to be tested across several browsers and platforms – there are tools for this, like BrowserStack, but it’s always a good idea to use actual devices as well. Bugs have to be logged and fixed and finally, when everything is done, launching will hopefully be as easy as switching the URL over, running a broken link report and testing everything. Twice.

Every site launch is its own brand of challenging, and we should always be looking for ways to make that process better. Working on the internet, and particularly in communications, allows us to improve the world around us faster, so long as we always aim to create something that can be objectively considered valuable.

So how do you get through launching a site with your sanity intact and make sure that you have dotted and crossed everything put in front of you to dot and cross? How do you make sure that the things you create are worthy of the time and soul that you give them?

The post Creative Process: Where Does All the Time Go? appeared first on Portent.

The above image was taken by light artist Leo Villareal and shows the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge at night during a test run of Villareal's The Bay Lights art installation. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Information Space has a conceptual mirror... Physical Space

Having recently worked my butt off to earn a Master of Architecture, I often come across those who are curious about my decision to channel my design education into the wonderful world of the interwebs. Basically, I'm regularly asked what capital-A Architecture actually is– as in, physical space-making (i.e. buildings, cities, landscapes)– and what it has to do with web design and development.

The Short Answer:
Everything!

The Slightly Longer Answer:
There’s a good reason that information technology professionals have co-opted the terminology of traditional architects and engineers. The processes of creating physical spaces and information spaces require similar strategies for problem solving, throughout both design and development– both are focused on handling complexity. You need field-specific knowledge for each, but the system of design is interchangeable.

Building dynamic artifacts

The resultant physical building or web site/application is all that remains of this process at the end. The product acts as a functional artifact of the process. Each artifact, whether physical or digital, requires maintenance (hopefully minimal) and offers an opportunity for improvement the next time around. Cities, buildings, and landscapes, just like websites and web applications, are living and breathing entities. They are not static, but intended by design to be lived in, played with, updated, improved, personalized. Nothing (even if it literally is) has to remain set in stone.

Creating anything this dynamic, whether it manifests as an everyday object, tested through generations of use, or as the most bleeding edge technological innovation, requires serious negotiation with a significant degree of complexity. True art emerges when complexity is rendered intelligible through smart design and development.

Where simplicity and elegance meet

Distilling complexity into something simple, intuitive, and meaningful is extremely challenging. And, it just so happens that excellent design seeks to realize these outcomes, whether the medium be digital or physical. Superb architectural design and suburb digital design never overlook or diminish the experience of the user, regardless of the complexity of the behind-the-scenes systems that help create it.

Blending the physical and digital

As information technology continues to penetrate further and further into our physical spaces, it behooves us to continue to look towards capital-A Architecture for inspiration regarding how best to approach the complex task of designing and developing tightly integrated artifacts. We are not trying to create a pseudo-built world. However, by consciously and carefully blending influences from both the physical and digital, perhaps we can eventually seamlessly integrate the two. And, while we’re at it, we can learn from the physical pioneers that came before us, to avoid the pitfalls that can ensnare a project, destroying otherwise nobel design intent.

We should aim for wholeness, a balance. If we root our digital systems in the real world, we create Place– a specific space that we experience and identify, navigate to, and associate with the experience of being there. The creation and habitation of space goes back to civilization’s very foundations, but only recently could we create Places in both the physical and digital realms.

(If you want to fall down this philosophical rabbit hole, checkout Martin Heidegger’s work.)

The application of design thinking to solve complex, interconnected problems applies equally to information spaces and physical spaces. Ultimately, the intent is to deliver a seemingly simple product that is immediately approachable, legible, functional, performs well, and is enjoyable to use. Of course, this isn’t easy. There are numerous stakeholders whose expectations must be met (and hopefully exceeded) throughout the process. So, here’s the kicker: when things get complicated, old-school design process alone isn’t enough. The way out is Integrative Design.

This is merely the preamble

An integrative process creates a support system within a creative environment. There is a multidisciplinary blending of specializations in which a diversity of fields inform, support, and elevate our work. In practice, Integrative Design is hard– really hard– but the rewards far outweigh the challenges.

So, I know you’re saying, “Wait, what?” But, this post is simply the first entry in a series on the topic, so stay tuned. In our next episode, we'll look at what composes the Integrative Design process. Following, we’ll explore the specific challenges of such a process, for example, the switching cost for an individual between different modes of thinking, and the challenges faced by a multidisciplinary team as they quickly iterate between cycles of design and development.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my inaugural post here at Portent. Until next time, keep making.

Bonus Section for the curious types: A theoretical perspective on the relationship between physical and information architecture

In both professions, a congruent process makes sense. It's no wonder that Christina Wodtke’s recent essay, Towards a New Information Architecture, takes its cues from Le Corbusier's seminal work, Towards a New Architecture.

At one point in Christina's treatise, she responds to a query by Jesse James Garrett asking where we can locate the "great works of information architecture." Christina asserts that they are "just showing up now." And, that they are not “pseudo-libraries or pseudo-buildings." Instead, information architects are “understanding spaces made of information. They are new works that make data dance. They make the impossibly complex clear."

The featured image above was taken by light artist Leo Villareal and shows the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge at night during a test run of Villareal's The Bay Lights art installation back on January 24, 2013. This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

The post What Does a Degree in Architecture Have to Do with Web Design & Development? appeared first on Portent.

Am I a brainstorming genius? Well, I came up with this post!

The World Wide Web has robbed the world of mystery.  Its epic reach into the far corners of the collective conscious has placed long odds against unleashing amazing new information – and with every blog post and product description, these odds get longer.  As a result, it is imperative to creatively impart information to differentiate your message, and consequently, your brand.

But just how do you do that?  If it were easy, everyone’s blogs would be as clever as Oscar Wilde, tidy as Ernest Hemingway, and lyrical as Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  And yet… they’re not.

The secret to making a splash in this brave new world is repackaging and refining existing ideas in a palatable, engaging way.  Consequently, brainstorming may be your best friend when it comes to molding an attractive delivery for your core message.

Below are 7.5 Tips for Becoming a Brainstorming Genius.  Use them with careless abandon.

1.     Be self-critical

Use this perspective to anticipate criticisms of your brand, and then write content that addresses them proactively.  FAQs are a great source of topics (as well as a portal into your more discerning customers’ heads).

It is important to note this is not being negative – but “going oppo” on your product or service will expose you to a fresh perspective, and hopefully, fresh content ideas.

2.     Think about your mom

Your mom, my mom, all moms… What does she like?  What turns her off?  What confuses her?  What would the average Joe think of your product?  What message would appeal to him?  Yes, this is Marketing 101, but, while it’s amazing to imagine, many marketers exist in their brand cocoon, convinced their perspective is The Perspective.

Ultimately, ‘thinking about your mom’ is content as user experience: Consider the audience when crafting the message.

2.5 Ask a little kid

How would he or she view your product?  My seven-year-old cousin once said to me she wished she could have a “magnet in her back so she could sleep on the ceiling.”  If your content is even half as creative, you shouldn’t have a problem attracting readers, and subsequently, customers.

3.     Think about Tom Cruise

Yes, he’s Maverick.  And Jerry Maguire.  And Rain Man (technically).  But he’s also a metaphor.  And what better to make a stale topic fresh than with an out-of-the-box, extended metaphor?  “7.5 Ways Sales Meetings are Worse than Giving Birth.”  “Why Dating is the Original Contact Sport.”

Metaphor is also a great technique for explaining complicated or heady concepts, processes, products, and services.

4.     Research everywhere and everything

Knowledge begets knowledge, so be curious!  Learn things!  Explore trending news topics, check the calendar for holidays, browse Wikipedia (or yank out that old Encarta CD-ROM – ha), see movies, listen to lectures (or Rihanna… or lectures ON Rihanna), make a trek to the site of Amanda Bynes’ latest crash…

The point is, you never know what’s going to inspire, but you need to open yourself up to being inspired.

5.     Use a tool

OK, really use one tool.  Our Content Idea Generator should get you off and brainstorming in no time flat.  Props to whoever posts the craziest headline in the comments.

6.     Change your world

Most of us don’t consider it, but environment affects inspiration.  Looking at the same four walls – the same wall art, computer desktop and agro co-workers – inhibits a free mind.

Ideas can be visceral, originating from all of the senses…   The smell of popcorn might inspire you to write about your brand’s favorite movies; feeling hot pavement on your feet might translate to “7.5 Places You Should Really Wear Reeboks.”

So remember: offices are stodgy.  Many of the best ideas come out of left field… wouldn’t it be a lot easier if you were already in left field?

7.     Borrow…

Steal, plunder, abscond with… then MAKE IT YOUR OWN.  No one likes a plagiarist.

Example: remember the Alamo.

OK.  You should always remember the Alamo… but also here are some specific examples (and free content ideas for my favorite rental car company!):

1. FAQ from the Alamo site – “Appeal a toll or citation”
   Potential post: “The Alamo Guide to Avoiding a Citation”
2. Your mom – “7.5 Most Comfortable Cars for a Cross-Country Trip”
3. Metaphor – “7.5 Reasons Alamo is Better than a Lion” – 1.) We rent cars.  Lions do not.  2.) Lions will eat you.  Alamo will not.  Etc.
4. Research – “Why Alamo Would Never Rent to Amanda Bynes”
5. A Content Idea Generator result – “A World without Rental Cars”
6. Environment – I can’t really give you a specific title, but I will say I’d be sitting in my car during the brainstorm – or – “Why You Should Brainstorm in Your Alamo Rental Car”
7. Borrow – Take THIS painting and have a graphic designer put some cars on the road, with a thought bubble above the main subject reading “$10 off weekend rentals!!!!”

I also gave a webinar on this topic; consider it the live, extended, slightly R-rated version:

The post 7.5 Tips for Becoming a Brainstorming Genius appeared first on Portent.

The economy is rocky. Resources are tight. It's the perfect time to run out and hire a creative services firm to do your Internet marketing, right? Right! While resources must be considered carefully in a rocky economy, I am here to explain why investing in professional creative development is one of the soundest business decisions you can make.

1. You have it forever. Unlike other maintenance-driven services like PPC and SEO, which require constant upkeep, a bells-and-whistles web site design or some truly keen copywriting have endless charms that don't depreciate. A timelessly great design or some especially astute written resource do the trick today and ten years from now. I believe that is what super-logical, non-airy fairy type persons call "a sound investment."
2. In troubled times, it's more important than ever to stand out from the crowd. Certainly, you don't need a professional creative team. You too could grab a blogger template design, cobble together some clip art, and cough up some copy for your site. But since that's what everyone else is doing, you will look like everyone else. This is a deathknell in a crowded market where it's crucial to stand out and seem immediately better than your competitor. A smart-looking design, professional art and polished copy all give you that instant cache that makes searchers sit up a little straighter when they come across your site.
3. Creative services help you clarify your message, making it more palatable to buyers. Believe it or not, good creative drives the business objectives home; it doesn't just cover them in glitter and call it a day. No matter how dry, dusty, or cryptic, it's the creative team's job to make an offer, message or service compelling and comprehensible to its target audience. Here are some examples:
   • Example 1: Our creative team was once called upon to promote a client's one-click, call home GPS navigation system. "Huh?" you say to yourself. Exactly. The client suggested bullet points. The account manager suggested a landing page. I suggested a campaign centering around Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, clicking her heels together and uttering her famous "there's no place like home." Of these three ideas, it was the creative messaging that communicated the service best, and transformed a campaign from telecommunications tedium into something sexy and simple, with optional flying monkeys. Winner!
   • Example 2: Another time, we were tasked with creating a campaign for a glue gun that could heat up really fast. Who cares? No one did-until our creative department crafted our signature campaign, comparing the rate at which the glue gun heated to the breakneck pace at which a cheetah can go from a full stop to a sprint. Suddenly, people got it. These are examples of creative at its best, and for truly cryptic, complicated, or otherwise unsexy services, a crack creative department is pretty much essential.

All in all, if you are craving Internet marketing that hits your bullseye business objectives in an aesthetically bedazzling, long-lasting way, a professional creative department is your answer. Flying monkeys not (always) included.

The post Why You Need Creative Services appeared first on Portent.