Posted on April 6, 2011

Have you been let down by your web designer?

Isn’t it funny how things come in threes.

In the last day and a half I have had three separate conversations with business owners who have been let down by their web design company. From failing to deliver promised work, shoddy non functioning web elements, to hosting a site with a company who seems to have no concept of up-time guarantee.

It appears these web design companies do not value their clients, a strategy I find hard to comprehend.

Its not the first and certainly not the last time, I’ve heard stories like these. Over the years I have collected quite a few, for example

My web designer takes too long updating my site with the new content I send.
My emails and phone calls are never returned
Something is broken on my site and I need it fixed now
Google has black-listed my site and I am getting a “malicious” warning
I have paid a web designer to develop a web site and they have disappeared off the face of the earth
My web site is always down and I have just discovered my web designer is hosting it on a server in his basement
My web site looks different when viewed on a MAC or a PC, help!
I am getting bombarded by spam from my web site
…

There are a lot of “cow boy companies” out there

If you are looking for a web design company who is with you every step of the way, who measures your success as their success then give us a call: 847 607 8679.

We will not let you down.

Posted on April 4, 2011

The Chicago web designer is refreshed.

There is nothing like a good vacation to refresh the soul and a fabulous week in the UK has done the trick for me. I’d written a couple of blog posts before I left and scheduled their publish while I was away, busy NOT checking my email… not even once. That is a liberating experience I want to repeat …and soon!

I am back on US soil now busy already and following up on a nice bundle of leads generated by some good old fashioned organic Google ranking for my Chicago web design company.

Here is a little photo montage of my trip.

Posted on March 29, 2011

Using Twitter to solve problems

Twitter is a great platform for getting problems solved. A quick tweet about an issue and more likely than not you will get an answer, saving you time and aggravation.

Here are a couple of examples of how my Twitter friends have helped me out.

GoDaddy coupon fail
I was having real trouble applying a coupon to items in my GoDaddy cart. Any coupon I tried was immediately rejected.

Firefox 4.0
I upgraded my browser to Firefox 4.0 but the default position of the Home button was causing me aggravation!

Look at the time frame of response from both of these, within minutes I had answers to the issues I was facing. For both of these tweets I used hash tags at the end of the tweet. This can help get your problems noticed faster as many hash tags are monitored. In the case of@goodguydan he was not a follower of my tweets but was monitoring the hash tag #Firefox.

Posted on March 25, 2011

Sneak peak at Restore North Shore web site

Here is a sneak peak at the new web site I am creating for Restore North Shore, a Chicago home remodeling company.

The site is designed around a palette of cool muted colors. This allows the photographs to pop through and take center stage as they really do most of the talking about the capabilities and quality of workmanship the company offers. The site features a simple slide show on the home page and more detailed portfolio sections within.

The framework of the site is completely built and I am just awaiting copy…

Posted on March 22, 2011

New Blog: Creative in Chicago

Since moving to Chicago a little over six months ago much of my free time has been spent decorating a 1970’s house. It is a fun journey and has allowed another outlet for my creative juices.

I have launched a blog Creative in Chicago to share my endeavors!

Visit the site at www.CreativeinChicago.com

You can also connect via RSS, Facebook or Twitter

Posted on March 11, 2011November 6, 2015

Is your brand image consistent?

I am working on a couple of branding projects at the moment, one is creating everything from scratch ( see the start here) and the other is a brand consistency project.

Is your brand image consistent? Do your customers have the same experience however they interact with you. From visiting your web site, to paging through a brochure or even receiving and invoice, all these interactions offer an opportunity to convey your unique message. Lack of consistency creates confusion and sends conflicting messages to your clients.

For example your web site projects an air of professionalism and trust through design, a well thought out color palette, fonts, imagery and excellent copy. Does that image carry through to your brochures, folders, flyers or whatever other marketing pieces you use, or have they been hastily put together with no thought as to what they communicate?

Here is brand consistency in action, from web site through to presentation folder and DVD labeling the client is getting the same message.

Interested in how we can give your collateral material a more branded and polished look? Checked out our Branding Services.

Posted on March 3, 2011

Building a Brand Image

Full image branding is one of my favorite type of projects and I am delighted to be creating brand and marketing materials for a Chicago home remodeling company, Restore North Shore. The project is moving at quite a pace and there is nothing like a deadline to get things moving along. It is energizing.

The project started on Monday this week and by Tuesday at noon the client needed business cards to hand out at an open house. In that short space of time I designed the logo, established the color palette, selected a corporate typeface, designed a business card and got full client approval along the way via our online project progress system. Phew!

There was no time to get the business cards professionally printed so I took a pdf of the file to a Fedex Office (the one here in Lincolnshire IL is great) where they printed it on card stock using a laser printer and I cut the cards down in their store. While they are only temporary the quality was pretty good and plenty got passed out at a very successful open house in Wilmette.

I will be starting work on the web site tomorrow. It will feature lots of before and after photos showcasing the fabulous work of Restore North Shore. Prepare to be blown away.

Your Creative Partner

The Chicago Web Designer