How spec work can harm your business

Posted Saturday, 6 February 2010  |  Category:  Branding and marketing ideas  |  Comments

Back in the day, when Helios Design was still very young, we came across a prospective client who sent us the following request:

I'm interested in working with you. Please send me three different design concepts for my website. Based on the quality of ideas provided, I'll decide whether I will go with you or not.

These are warning bells for your typical designer. "Spec work" (essentially design work done for free as part of project pitching) can damaging to both parties – designer and client – for the following reasons:

a. It reduces design to an arbitrary "hit or miss" game among competing agencies.
b. It goes against the fundamental principle of design – taking a client brief and translating it into visual format. Without the proper consultation and research phases, designers work in a ‘vacuum’.
c. Spec work drives up prices – other clients have to pick up the tab for time on unsuccessful spec work.
d. Spec clients are often left with mediocre work.
e. Lastly, there are ethical concerns. Nothing stops a client from taking free spec work, handing it over to their nephew and asking them to recreate it "with a few slight modifications".

1. Comparing the two

Here is a quick comparison between spec work and proper compensated design:

You Are What You Tweet - The Do's and Don'ts of Corporate Tweeting

Posted Friday, 31 July 2009  |  Category:  All things web  |  Comments

It's official – twitter is no longer optional! Companies large and small are using twitter to connect with
customers, strengthen relationships, humanize their brand and manage large-scale marketing campaigns. When used correctly, twitter can be an excellent addition to your social media toolbox.

In this article, we cover the do's and don'ts of corporate tweeting for those starting off with this tool.

First off:

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a free online micro-blogging platform that allows you to post public messages 140 characters at a time. The brevity of messages as well as the immediacy of information sharing makes it a very unique communication tool. Twitter reached new heights of popularity in April 2009, when it was hyped up by the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey, and later featured on the cover of Time. Over a short period, it reached an unprecedented growth rate, gaining the reputation as the fastest growing online community.

So let's begin...

1. Don’t let your twitter page become a running informercial on your business

Resist the temptation to treat twitter like any other advertising medium – it doesn’t work that way. Twitter is designed for relationship building. The most successful corporate accounts provide insights and value to the general listener. This involves tweeting about the industry at large, sharing links to useful articles, providing commentary on topical events and starting conversations with your followers.

Now and then, inject a marketing-based tweet about yourself – a link to a web update, information on upcoming promotions and additions to your service portfolio.

A well accepted ratio is one tweet about yourself for every 6 tweets about the industry:

Google Wave could mean the death of email

Posted Saturday, 13 June 2009  |  Category:  All things web  |  Comments

Watch out for Google Wave! It's set to come out later this year and completely re-structure the way we communicate electronically. Some have called it the most exciting thing Google has launched since it brought out Google.

So what is it?

Essentially an online collaboration tool, Google Wave looks to answer the question, "what would email look like if it was invented today?"

While traditional email is based on the snail mail concept – posting messages back and forth between individual recipients – Google Wave treats email as shared conversations (called waves), which users can open up and collaborate on in real time. As such, it merges elements of traditional email with instant messaging, wikis, web chat, file sharing, social networking and project management software. Sound complicated? It’s actually not. Here is an introduction on the key elements:

1. Real time communication

Instead of waiting for the proverbial postman to arrive, Google Wave users can communicate in real time, seeing messages instantly as they are being typed. This allows you to formulate faster queries and responses, similar to face to face scenarios. The full potential for this feature becomes clear when you see how it can be integrated with robots like Rosy and Stocky (more info below).

2. Multi user collaboration

Have you ever tried to wade through a multi-colour email where different users provide input on the same project? Over time, it becomes a technicolour nightmare! With Google Wave, multiple users can collaborate on the same wave, with clear denotations of who contributed what. Replies can be posted contextually within the message, and late comers can "play back" the entire conversation, seeing all amendments and replies in sequence.

3. File sharing and embedability

File sharing is super-easy with Google wave! Simply drag and drop your videos, photos, maps and documents from your hard drive directly into your wave client. This makes it easy to share files with particular users on specific projects – and could replace intranets and online file sharing apps. Furthermore, you can easily embed a wave on your blog or website, and see it update in real time. View the demo here.

Travelling far for colour inspiration

Posted Wednesday, 3 June 2009  |  Category:  Design spotlight  |  Comments

A web design case study

When you think of truck dealers, you typically think of guys with greasy hair, tattoos, beer bellies, cigarettes in one hand and beer in the other. The managers at R21 Truck and Plant are the polar opposite of that image! Their yard is the epitome of neatness and cleanliness (which could put our office to shame at times) and they emanate an unmatched sense of professionalism.

When R21 sent us their meeting invite with map, we were at a bit of a loss how to get there. Has anyone heard of Doornkloof Oos?

They were kind enough to pick us up from a central location and chauffeur us to their offices. The deep rich colours of their yard (Komatsu yellows, coco browns, rich blues…) left an indelible mark on us and evolved into the design below:

Together with their feedback, we made some minor tweaks to the menu and thumbnails until the design received the official green light.

Shades of Blue and Late Night Bursts of Inspiration

Posted Tuesday, 2 June 2009  |  Category:  Design spotlight  |  Comments

A Web Design Case Study

"I'm new to this web design thing. How does it work exactly?" is a question we frequently hear from new customers. In this series of web design case studies, we hope to demystify the process - starting with our latest web launch, 3P Consulting.

1. Meeting

It all starts with the briefing meeting. After sending through a rough proposal with cost estimate, we went to the 3P Consulting headquarters to chat about the website scope. The company provides consulting services to the public sector and wanted a fresh web presence in line with their new branding. The brief was to create a website with a "dynamic look" and dominant blue hues.

2. Electronic Design Briefing

Now there are as many shades of blue as there are fish in the sea! We sent off a few design references via email to get a feel for right combinations of blue-ness. It's important to note that we used industry references and online templates – this speeds up the design process and gives the client the freedom to say "I hate X… but I like Y."