If you’re asking, ‘Where is Dirk+Weiss!?’, then this may satisfy your curiosity, we hope. Truth is, we are the busiest we have ever been. Maybe a clear sign of a rebounding economy? We have been busy working steadily with our clients to provide the best solutions possible.
Since May, we have broken new ground with our website client from India, and are almost ready to launch a brand new website for them. We have also been in talks for a few new Apple iOS apps with local companies here in Boston, that range from utilities to more advanced experiential applications.
On a more technical note, we have gone 100% HTML5 and JavaScript in lieu of Flash for web and mobile based projects. While we believe flash can still have appropriate applications, the ever growing sector of mobile devices and platforms has shown it’s demand for such lightweight, open programming environments. And at the end of the day, we are looking at solutions for our clients that can range from computer screens to mobile devices, maximizing return on investment, as this is the road we are all on as consumers.
As the summer continues, we are preparing for a busy fall. We have some projects in the pipeline, and are working on what seems like a million things all the time. In addition to all the new projects that we are working towards, Matthew White of DW is working hard expanding his teaching experience over at the Art Institute of Boston @ Lesley University and Bunker Hill Community College teaching marketing and design classes.
Stay tuned to dirkweiss.com for a fresh, new, fast, efficient look coming soon. While the economy is rebounding, we all still live in an environment where trimming the economic fat is a necessity. If you’re unsure who to contact about your new design or marketing project, just give us a ring.
A New, Fast Website for Motorcycle Enthusiasts
We recently completed a new website and branding for Speed Club Inc. Speed Club Inc. is a Minnesota bases chopper motorcycle website, forum, store and blog. The website’s focus is on Yamaha chopper (custom built) motorcycles, and chopper culture.
Dirk+Weiss created both the Graphics, layout and programming for this site, and included some great add-on’s for increased Search Engine Optimization.
“Manufactured in the Midwest, Speed Club Inc. is dedicated to all things speed. We’re talkin’ about that blow your hair back, demon on wheels kinda speed, man. We’re talkin’ about gettin out and choppin it up. You get it? Speed Clubs’ for people like that… people like us. See, It dont have to be pretty but it’s gotta be fast. Bob it, chop it, cut it, twist it. Your job is to live it. Speed Club Inc. is here to document it.”
The site and brand is fresh, updated daily, and receives about 100 views a day, and is growing each week. If you are into motorcycles, or speed, visit Speed Club Inc.
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.
The project to be presented is a digital lab, used in professor Scott Benjamin’s science classes at BHCC. The lab’s subject matter is understanding Evolution by Natural Selection. Matthew worked directly with Scott to translate a previously analog lab, comprised of seeds, paperclips and bits of paper, to a Flash driven, interactive experience.
The process of creating this lab involved collaborating with Scott on every step, from graphic design to Flash Actionscripting.
The results of translating the lab to digital media, has proven to be quite successful. Scott has collected statistical data from his students, including pre and post lab usage. Based on his testing, Scott sees a definite increase in concept retainment after students have used the software. Matt and Scott will split the presentation between the design and development process (Matt), and the statistical data and impact of this digital lab in the classroom (Scott).
The 13th Annual Massachusetts Community College Conference on Teaching, Learning and Student Development happens on April 9th, 2010 at Bunker Hill Community College.
The site contains a collection of ideas and projects, and is loaded with lots of information and connections.
This new site is built in Flash, and contains information graphics, video, marketing, web development and graphic design.
Talking Apps and business: ‘Design Is My Thing’
Creator Jason Stevens asks Matthew White of Dirk+Weiss a series of questions about what and how we do, what we do. Here is our response to our questions.
[DIMT]Where are you from and what do you do? [DW] I am from Medford, MA and I design and author iPhone Apps and Websites for a living.
[DIMT]What does an iphone app look like during development, what’s the file type and what are the major components? [DW] In a nutshell, during the development stage, Apps are code. But, thanks to Apple’s XCode environment, iPhone Apps have two overall parts: XCode (Under The Hood) and Interface Builder (The Look). The file extension is .xcodeproj until the building stage when they are packaged into .app files.
[DIMT] How is it there are 120,000+ iphone apps, plus those for other mobile devices, are apps easy to make?
[DW] First and foremost, Apps are lucrative if you know how to make them, and sell companies on having them. At this point in the game, to make apps, you need to know the CocoaTouch (Objective C) programming language. Could be a hurdle for some, but in the reality of things, that is no excuse. I am a designer, and I continue to learn code. Its not difficult, it’s actually quite logical. There are websites and forums out there that have thousands of developers sharing code and project files for learning. If you have time, you can learn to make apps. PLEASE do not go buy a $40+ book at Barnes and Noble. Just last week I watched a YouTube tutorial on how to incorporate horizontal finger gestures into my app. We all know Apple is known for there easy to use applications like iMovie and iPhoto. I would put money on the next iLife series having an iApp program so anyone can make Apps (ugh…Apple tablet…ugh). Speculation only of course.
[DIMT] Apps are just a portion of your business under your technology focus, what else is keeping you busy these days?
[DW] Designers that need programmers, and business that need results. Like I said, I am a designer that does development. There is ample value in being able to drive on both sides of the street, and clients know it. I would also say that clients (a.k.a the people and business of the world) expect graphic designers to be able to at least talk about current web solutions right off the bat. If this is not the case, you can appear a bit antiquated. In our case, we find clients almost never request print design. Apparently this is a trend for not just us but lots of designers. In addition to clients, we also work on new initiatives for Dirk+Weiss that include our weekly Podcast, workshops, and of course iPhone Apps. I also am an Adjunct Faculty member at the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) @ Lesley University, teaching design and marketing related courses.
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.
2010, and the process of design evolution
Graphic: Hugh Dubberly
What do designers do? I ask this question to may folks, and the answer is never the same. Some people say “designers make logos.” and some say “designers make websites”. I would answer ‘yes’ to all these responses, and then ask myself what happened to good old print?
Point here is, the first decade of the 21st century is over, and the term “designer” has migrated from a paper-centric profession, to ‘a creative type that makes things that make things happen’.
Let me elaborate. Design thinking and strategy typically had a more narrow field of view. It was the scenario that if you went to school to become a graphic designer, you looked for a job doing layout, logos, and posters. It would be your job to design that advertisement or cd package for a company or band.
Now, the playing field has changed dramatically. A designers value as a professional is not solely based on the “perfectly designed portfolio”. You can have a set of fabulous designs in your portfolio, but that does not guarantee you a job. You need to sell yourself as a cutting edge, competent, knowledgeable, and indispensable professional first, then show that you have visual design skills. How valuable is ‘fabulous design’ if nobody wants it? A five minute conversation can make or break the hiring factor. Cut the fluff, and make them want it.
Now, lets get hired.
This leads to how we at Dirk+Weiss approach and strategize our projects. Each time we are asked to work for a client, a specific set of steps is planned that revolve around a specific goal.
Brainstorm / Info Session
Research
Visual Sketching
Prototype (Working Demo / Programming)
Presentation
Visual Refinement
Development
Delivery
This combination of research, visual sketching / barnstorming, and real-time prototyping make for a most efficient workflow. Typically, wireframes would be created for web projects. These wireframes would be a printed document of many, many pages. As informative as they may be, there is still an abstraction between form and content in presentation. In place of wireframing, we create web based prototypes that show information architecture, and features in context. (More on this…)
The caveat of any preliminary presentation, wireframing or prototyping, is the misconception that the project is “close to done”, or somehow the visual design of the final product is reflected. The prototype advantage is not immune to this, it just decreases the abstraction variable, and makes the whole project seem more real.
The heart of any process is a goal. Our goal is to make the design and development experience as clear, and efficient as possible, while maximizing our clients return on investment.
Our approach to design and technology allows us to cross the boundaries of design, business, technology, promotion, education and culture. See Some Clients>>
