About a month ago, we received a free $100 credit for Google Ads. We deposited our free coupon, and in return, have landed a client on the other side of the world.
These Google Ads are the ‘Sponsored Results’ that appear when you see search results, on the right side of the page. The way it works is quite simple. You decide what search phrases pertain to your business, and decide how much per day you would like to spend. The more you spend, the more visibility you have.
In our scenario, we decided to just try it out, and spend only $1.50 per day. So after about 60 days, our credit will have been spent. So far, we have only spend $45 out of the $100, and we have had some great results.
Pocket change in the world of advertising. We are planning to ramp up or daily allowances for Google Ads, to increase our visibility. Even if we deposit $1,000, it is still considerably more cost effective and efficient than taking out an ad in the newspaper or printed media.
The other upside to Gooogle vs. Printed Ads is the turnaround. It takes time to create and publish printed media, and the ads that live there. With Google, your ads are up in minuets, and tracking happens in less than 12 hours, with millions of potential clients to see your ad.
This method landed us an India based client, that found us via Google, and loved what they saw. We are currently working on a new website design / development, and a re-working of their branding elements.
This type of advertising is manageable and accessible from small to large businesses, placing many competitive businesses on the same playing field.
Last night, Dirk+Weiss attended the launch party for Design MuseumBoston. The party started at 7:30, and by then, a good amount of attendees had already shown up. By the 8:00 hour, the place was booming, shoulder to shoulder.
The event had many interesting components, including a silent auction, with many donated items from such companies as Bose, Philips, Wacom and Converse. All proceeds going to help fund the new museum initiatives.
By far, the most exciting thing to see was the turnout. The almost overwhelming number of people out at this event, supporting design, was fabulous. There was definitely an electricity in the air, and lots of networking going on.
We believe that design is strongest when collaboration happens (www.ourdesign.us). Pigeonholing your self as one type of designer can be limiting. The Design Museum Boston launch event was proof that there is strong motivation towards melding the formerly narrow paths of design (graphic, industrial, instructional, marketing etc..), into a unified mission.
Speaking of missions, Design Museum Boston’s mission also is a reflection not only the design profession, but our economic environment. Firstly, having many venues and locales for events and showings, rather than one space that rotates work. Maybe even renting spaces that have been long vacant, to help support local realtors. Secondly, a focus on design education, especially to the general public, about the role of design in their lives. Communicating, and creating a new value for design.
Design Museum Boston’s crew is currently working on two new events, to be coming soon to the Boston area. When they happen, we will most certainly support in any way that we can, even if it’s just buying the special drink at the bar. We feel that this initiative is a real push forward for design, in the right direction.
We’re Back! When websites get hacked–
Above Graphic: How are phishing sites created? – Symatec
This is mostly and update to let you all know we have officially eradicated our Dirk+Weiss website hackers. They did quite a number on us. Besides leaving files everywhere on our server, they also deleted folders and created new ones. So, some content from our site had gone missing! But now it is back.
So, on that note, here is some information about what hackers like to do with your web server and websites –
Most people now-a-days know two main things about websites. First, websites are designed on the front end and run by some sort of code on the back end. Well, theres the back end, and the way back end.
The way back end, is your server. Your server, or web hosting, is where all your files live that make up all the bits of your website. Basically, a web hosting server, is just another computer like what you are reading this on now. While servers are pretty secure, there are always vulnerabilities.
Last week, the Dirk+Weiss hosting server was hacked by a South African phishing scam. Phishing scams are usually fake emails or social media messages. The messages will tell you that your bank, or some other secure site, needs to verify your personal information. Theses fake sites look just like real sites, except they are collecting your personal information to steal your money, or identity. The scam that hit our server, was a bank scam.
How did we know we were hacked? Website Analytics. Our analytics engine tracks every page view and visitor to the site, and the unique internet address of the visitor. I noticed an increase of site hits to a certain folder on our sever. Then one folder location turned into many folder locations. All from the same internet address. I then took that internet address, and plugged it into a trace program that tracks the signal back to it’s source. In this case South Africa.
The first and most important step in eradicating hackers, is to change your web hosting passwords. Make them difficult to guess, and use lots of numbers and symbols. Then, go through and clean up all the files left behind by the hackers. The last step to do, is to add the internet addresses from your analytics, to the Blacklist or Blocked List on your hosting account. This prevents them from getting in from that internet address again.
Most of the time, hackers are not stealing data from you, but from others by taking over functions of your hosting account.The best advice we can give, is to keep a keen eye on your website traffic, and make note of any odd behavior. Also, it’s in your best interest to keep all your installed files and services up to date.
A Formula For Design – [INFOGRAPHIC]
A quick sketch to visualize the concept of ‘Our Design’, and the focus of a working theory on creating value based design.
Dirk+Weiss practices ‘Our Design’, and believe that value does lie in knowing that what we are designing and developing, actually is working. This working theory focuses less on (but does not disregard) the upfront, aesthetic design process, and approaches every project with the assumption that design has a formula, yet is not formulaic, and is calculable.
Are scam artists really just designers, designing a way to get paid illegally?
A giant event scam was unveiled this week in Boston Massachusetts. The event, promised to be “the biggest and most extravagant Home & Bridal show”, actually turned out to be a total scam that duped over 6,000 potential vendors and attendees. On NPR (WBUR) Boston, they reported that the head of the MCCA (people who run the venue) had no idea this site existed or the scam was happening.
So how did they do it? How did a few individuals scam hundreds of thousands of dollars out of wedding vendors and brides to be? Well, lets first take a step back and look at the evening TV lineup.
There has definitely been a huge increase in the last 2-3 years for bridal based shows on TV. Everything from the classic Bridezillas, to the ever popular Say Yes to the Dress. Here is the complete listing – http://bridestelevision.com/tv/allshows.php . Not to mention websites like The Knot, the largest wedding website community on the web.
This observation of TV and Web wedding domination is just one underlying factor. The second reason why this fake event scam worked, was the simplicity of execution and utilization of certain web services. The first service is available to anyone and allows a user to automatically create a convincing (and useful) event website in minuets. With this automated service you can sign up attendees, sell tickets and help promote your event. The only cost is a small fee on sales. Money can be sent to PayPal or GoogleCheckout with ease, or you can use the on-site service to collect payments and be paid.
Now, put on your business cap. Combine the heightened cultural saturation of Bridal TV Shows and Web Sites, with automated event planning and marketing services and spread the word virally via social networks. BAM! You have an event that people will pay money to be part of or attend.
Ok, now be smart about your scam (ha). Lets plan it around Valentines Day, the biggest wedding proposal day ever. Then, provide a phone number to call, and when people call you, answer the phone and be polite . Answer all questions, even if the question is “I do not see the event listed on the venue website, is it still happening?”.
So far, quite simple. The police even agree that the scam artists were “aware of the subject and market”. The whole operation was definitely planned out ahead of time, and most likely set up in as little as a few hours. Of course, we are not encouraging people to go out and make scam events and websites, but it is a fantastic example of how design, marketing, and cultural observation and research can make for great projects, and could even get you paid.
Design and marketing is about focusing your idea (or goal) to be the most effective. When talking in these primitive terms, ethics and legitimacy are not a factor. These scammers were aware of how to market, plan, and execute an event to a point of making hundreds of thousands of dollars. But, looks like they neglected to design how not to get caught.
So the moral of the story here is to please trust your common sense. Weddings are fun and exciting, and take lots of planning and effort. The last thing you need is to be, as a bride-to-be, is sucked dry of funds. Not to mention getting into a fight with your Fiancee about why you bought tickets to a fake event.
The new graphic design Street Cred
Forget about posters in museums, and covers of Rolling Stone(age)… Dreaming is ok, but fantases can be dangerous.
In January, Wordpress, the famous Open Source blogging and web publishing software maker, announced a new inititatve to get designers involved in improving the overall user interface and user expereice with Wordpress.
Dirk+Weiss loves Wordpress. It enables our clients to have full control over their content, thus keeping their site relevant and fresh. This is great for customers and search engines. We have seen many iterations of Wordpress over the years, and love the improvments made each time.
This initiative also points out that for designers, web publishing is not the same horse has old, static, HTML type sites. In our experience, traditional Graphic Designers always have a bit of hesitation towards the web. Part of this is due to the cumbersome thought of learning programming. In reality, its programming is quite logical. And straight HTML code is so 15 years ago. Standalone HTML has been replaced by newer, server side technologies such as PHP and MySQL. And honestly, these solutions make life easier for clients, designers and programmers, and take less time to develop.
Speaking of development time, lets chat quickly about the value of design in 2010. Remember when designers had hourly rates of $100/hr or more? Good luck getting jobs when telling a client that your rate is that pricey. We believe that value of design has shifted dramatically. Clients favor speed and efficiency over pretty graphics. Now, that does not mean ugly graphics are ok (even though they sell), it simply means that if the design of graphics is necessary, they must be smart and efficient, rather than decorative and fluffy.
So how can graphic designers, that for so long dreaded programming, step up their service offering in 2010? Simple. Offer solutions that require zero code for clients, and damn near minimal code for you, the designer. Wordpress is a great example. And when we say minimal code for the designer, we mean CSS only. Don’t know CSS, check out and learn at W3Schools. Its Free.
Designers: Please do not go out and buy a $60 book on making websites, and designing for web. Just ask Google, and watch You Tube. It’s all out there, for free.
Take some time, and learn whats new out there with web technologies. Maybe even take part in the Wordpress UI / UX inititative. Make bold steps towards learning about the current world of design.
Mobile tech, not a distraction, but a vital connector for students
It seems in the last few weeks, the topic of mobile devices and college students has come to my attention frequently. There has been quite a bit of discussion online and on college campuses about the distraction factor of student cell phone usage (i.e. texting, instead of listening to the instructor).
The first wave came from an email I received from the department chair at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. His email was proposing a design wide faculty meeting based on the feedback he received from instructors about “technology distractions”. Observations were made that students are missing key points, due to laptop and cell phone usage during class.
The second wave came from an article on Wired about the very same issue. In this case, the private college took part in a research study that introduces iPhones and iPod touches into the curriculum. The study was a two-fold experiment. The students could choose a device to utilize in their studies, and the instructors must integrate the devices into their curriculum’s. The goal here being to reach the students with the tools that they already are accustomed to. The college had fantastic results. The experiment was a success.
The third wave, and connector for me, is my experience teaching design to 16-17 year old pre-college students. Also known as the future undergraduate design students of the world.
I noticed at the beginning of my class in September, the abundant texting going on with my students. The first thought in my mind was, ‘wait, this could be a distraction problem’. As I began to think about this situation, I decided not to bring up the topic of their phone usage during class, and took the opportunity to observe their behavior. There are some interesting results from my observations.
I found out of all the students (ten total) that one or two may have had a distraction issue when texting. The other students could very easily multi-task and take part in discussion. I also polled the class about their experiences in their high school about their texting. The consensus was in each high school, there was some sort of reprimand for (getting caught) texting during class. These reprimands ranged from withholding of the device, or contacting parents, or detention. They also gave me some great insight on how to text message friends while keeping the phone concealed.
Also, most students could text without even looking at the phone.
So, what does this say? Are students distracted by texting? Or is it time for a fundamental shift in pedagogies. The students in my class answered questions with fast response times, and we’re able to take direction with ease. The model featured in the Wired article above, is just one of many examples of colleges and professors asking critical questions about their teaching model.
What is the answer to mobile tech in the classroom? Maybe a good start, is to ask the students about what they know.
Should colleges use Facebook instead of Blackboard?
Widely used at colleges and universities, Blackboard is the most common, privately licensed, Learning Management System. Students can use Blackboard to see grades, participate in discussions, share files and notes etc…
Recently I was invited to teach a class over at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. I was promptly emailed credentials on how to log-in to my Blackboard account, and begin building my course. A few problems with that though, and one big one being that I am not familiar with the interface! The other issue being the cumbersome, and somewhat antiquated, posting abilities.
I need to post videos, links to blogs, links to syllabus and course materials, upload photos and media, and message the entire class. Facebook can do all these things. And, the bonus being my students and I already know how to use Facebook. It’s like second nature. Also, Facebook puts a nice presentation on posted items such as videos and links, making them more enticing to the end user.
Yes, there is a Facebook / Blackboard connector app, but my two attempts to use it, resulted in errors and warning messages that the URL I typed has Blocked this app to access it. This is probably due to lack of support by the college network admins, security, and just plain lack of knowing. Pretty far from a solution. I am also aware that some instructors enjoy the use of copyrighted media behind school login credentials. Great. Leave the copyrighted content in Blackboard or authenticate some other way. There is tons of terabytes of servers out there. Or there is also only displaying public domain content via YouTube or other services…
Using Facebook to empower you and your students is pretty much a genius idea. Not only can your students benefit directly, others can watch the progress of your class and through downloads, photos and other media. MIT paved the way with it’s Open Courseware concept. Having your class content open to the public is like “taking the cover off the magical box, and revealing the secrets that lie within”.
The design of buying and selling domains…
…Or is it more like wrangling? Point is, it’s anyones game when your in the wild west.
Funny Story.
The AIGA is America’s most popular design association and has thousands of members nation wide. We have worked frequently with the AIGA on various events, and regularly attend their events throughout the year . They own all the other domain names .com, .net etc..
One day while searching for usable domains, we came across a domain that was surprisingly not purchased, AIGA.US.
So we bought it for $9.99.
Knowing that AIGA is a fairly well known business, we figured that someone would buy it up sooner rather than later. We also figured that we knew enough AIGA Boston people that someone could get the domain back to AIGA corporate. Well, before we had the chance to get a hold of corporate, we had someone contact us to buy it for $500! Out of the blue! Now this is interesting…
A domain that we bought for $9.99 was now worth $500, instantly. To avoid an old fashioned domain bidding war, we gave AIGA a chance to make an offer of at least that, and if they could match it, then we would sell it to them. I mean, we were planning on transferring it to them anyway at some point.
They did in fact match it, and will soon own the new domain. The economy is down, cash is tight, and 500 bucks is 500 bucks. Who knows what the mysterious bidder wanted to do with the AIGA.US domain. Maybe they wanted to re-sell it. Maybe they wanted to give AIGA some competition. Those details are unknown. We’re just glad the domain is now in the right hands.
Just another example of the speed and state of infancy the web is currently in. We always say that the web is still like the wild west, and in this case, domains are like nuggets from the California gold rush.
IE6 Must Die – More than a trending Twitter topic – 5 Facts to upgrade now!
A sentiment that we have shared for some time now, was a trending topic on Twitter for a while. Millions of tweets labeld ‘IE6 Must Die’ had flooded the Twitter network, in hopes that many site owners will concur, and Windows users will upgrade their browsers finally. First, a little Internet Explorer facts:
Internet Explorer 6 was released and bundled with Windows XP in August of 2001, eight years ago. At this point, it made up almost 80% of browser usage.
Internet Explorer 7, the next generation to replace IE6, was released in October 2006, three years ago, and made up 30-40% of web browser market share.
Internet Explorer 8, was released May 2009.
W3Schools, the leading source of web standards, has detailed statistics about browser usage over the last five years or so. According to W3Schools, who by the way will not be supporting IE6 on their next website launch.
A fact about a modern browsers: Currently, modern browsers like Firefox 3.0 and other open source browsers are seeing almost 50% of browser market share.
Now, on to the top five reasons why you need to upgrade your browser to a more modern browser:
Designers and web developers must spend lots of extra hours programming for your antiquated browser, thus costing their clients more cash and over expended resources.
Major websites like YouTube and Digg have announced the end of IE6 support. So many other small and large sites will immediately follow suit.
Technology, media, and content management have change dramatically in the last 9 years. As more features become available, the more older browsers become less compatible, because of their antiquated architecture.
Important security holes have been patched in more recent browsers. Keep your data and browsing experience safe.
Rich media drives the user experience on the web; Java, Flash and other web media services will be faster, and more compatible with a more modern browser.
Upgrade your browser now! Here are the links to upgrade:
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