(www.esiliners.com) We were approached by ESI to re-design their existing website. ESI develops specialty plastic systems. They’ve managed over 2,000 projects involving civil earthwork, supplying and installing numerous types geosynthetics and numerous types of HDPE pipe systems. (One thing this designer will say is that I love working with a variety of customers, I get to learn so much about other businesses!) They’ve developed their business not only on the services and quality they provide, but the relationships they develop. Their motto is “Building on you Confidence” and follow through on this in every step they take. In addition to their services, they focus highly on their team’s safety and provide consultation on projects in order for their client’s engineers to choose the best product.

When we met with them they had three main goals. They wanted their site’s information to accurately reflect their services and abilities, as they had recently expanded their business. Secondly, they wanted the web user’s experience to be more interactive. Finally, they wanted a fresh face on their site, not just your everyday business site.

We addressed their goals by utilizing cutting edge design techniques and pushing the envelope in the design phase. Design followed through to implementation and we built two interactive photo galleries for potential customers to review. Finally, our copywriter tackled their information and delivered up-to-date  content.

We were so excited to have had the opportunity to work with ESI. They are a fun group of engineers who work to build relationships that last.

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Easy post today folks. I wanted to toss in a few links to share some of my resources with all you designers out there.

Seamless Textures has some really nice textures to pull from – paper, grunge, fabric, etc. These guys make it easier to play around with all the retro and grunge designs.

I found this really cool site called Your Fonts. You can fill out their worksheet and send it back to them and it will generate a font based on your own handwriting. Pretty sweet! I’m hoping to play with it later this week.

And finally, for two of the all around best resources I’ve found online….wait for it……Web Resources Depot and Smashing Magazine. Tons of everything: tutorials, css resources and Photoshop awesomeness. Many of you are probably well aware of these, but for the wayward traveler or new-to-the-design world, I thought I’d pass these on.

That’s it! Happy Monday! 

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I heard on NPR yesterday (Morning Edition: Boyish Charm: Disney XD Woos Young Princes) that the Walt Disney Company remembered that boys are a part of their audience too. Well, ok, that wasn’t specifically said, but that is what I got out of the segment. In all of their fanatical success with the Princess craze, High School Musical and Hannah Montana, Disney has begun to target their young male audience. What sorts of things capture the attention of boy ages 6 – 14 these days? Honestly, when my choices are the above mentioned, I wouldn’t answer with “Disney”.  (Heck, I still miss Ninja Turtles.)

Apparently, Disney is looking to make themselves edgier, with Disney XD – a cable channel marketed towards the 18 million young male viewers. I specifically heard “edgier font” in the interview and that is what piqued my interest.

Edgier Font, huh?

It all comes back to branding folks. You can put content geared toward your viewers online, but the look has to match who you are targeting. You don’t want  a grunge, distressed look for your corporate bank website. You don’t want a sterile, boring and flat layout for a restaurant. A huge part of Disney recapturing these guys’ attention is to appear more authentic. Cause really, there is only so much “edgier” Disney can get while keeping it real.

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Company meetings are usually accompanied by food of some sort. At our latest, we got pizza! Pizza Hut to be exact. So, when our pie of cheesy goodness arrived, we were slightly surprised to find the box emblazoned with a new company look – “The Hut”.

Maybe it has been around for a bit, and we just haven’t had Pizza Hut in a while. Maybe its part of a growing trend for older companies to “minimize and modernize” their logo (think Circuit City’s “The City”). Whatever it is, we immediately burst into laughter and picked up that Sharpie.

We here at Drift Web Design like to think we have a wicked (but harmless) sense of humor.

While I think it is great that companies try to stay on top of their corporate image, all I’m asking is for graphic designers to “artist-proof” their images. When going for a modern look and following trendy design techniques, try to think about all the different ways that your logo can be perceived. This usually doesn’t happen overnight and rarely ever with one person.

Think about the media jumbotron that is Coca-cola. They have invested billions (with a “B”) in honing their corporate image. While not all of us have billions to spend on marketing and development, we can implement good design.

There are four elements that can be seen in every great logo:

1. It’s describable
2. It’s memorable
3. It’s effective without color
   
4. It’s scalable i.e. effective when just an inch in size

So, for all the businesses out there that either need a logo, or need an updated look, consider these elements when you choose a designer. A strong logo is worth its weight in gold. A slightly weaker logo is worth its weight in giggles and does nothing to help your business stand out.

With that….back to Jabba.

Seriously, we snickered about this all night.

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