MindComet was a proud sponsor for the 2011 Orlando InControl Conference which included throwing a happy hour blowout at the recently remodeled Attic downtown. We let loose from a long day with an open bar, catering by the Pourhouse, and audio atmosphere by Nelson Bauza. Our “IE 6 Kills Dreams” t-shirts were a hit ( ), and so was are own Will Chang playing Asian elvis. Check out the photos here.

The conference offered an intimate setting to dive deeper into topics related to client-side development, usability, and design. Our Art Director James May, and Front End Developer Jeffrey Pia were in attendance and provided some insightful highlights on their favorite sessions below:

James May:
“I enjoyed the session “Seriously Playful with Web Apps” which discussed the evolution of the interface design in forward thinking websites. One of the emerging trends I call “Infotainment” uses cues from the interaction of video games to keep the user entertained while they are delivered information. Another enlightening session, was the discussion on HTML and CSS3 which further proved that IE not only has held back on design over the years, but continues to do so even with the release of IE9. It still seems like developers are still going to spend just as much time on workarounds and limitations. Unfortunately, some browsers still fail to listen to developers thereby slowing the innovation of future web experiences. The “Responsive Design” session discussed the idea of morphing and adapting on the fly to fit different user experiences. It is an efficient idea to make your site as flexible as possible, but not at the loss of good design. Most sites that do this now, still have the look of a developer design with basic typography. Most of the fixes were not friendly with older versions of IE which makes it irrelevant to our clients. In an age where people want to read less and be visually engaged more this theory may need to be modified.“

Jeffrey Pia:
“I enjoyed the early sessions, as they were more code-related and focused on topics I could apply directly to my daily job. Emily Lewis gave a great overview of how Microformats can enhance the web experience by enabling content to be directly imported into a calendar or address book. Greg Rewis gave a very promising view of the potential CSS3 offers with Transforms, Transitions, and 3D Animations. Unfortunately, browser support was severely lacking, especially on the IE side, but the conference’s tagline could easily have been “Javascript will save us all” as there was a JS or jQuery workaround for just about everything. Lastly, the highlight of the day was definitely Cameron Moll. He did the keynote presentation on inspiration, how to find / capture it, and what the difference is between inspiration and influence. Even as a non-designer, I found his talk very inspiring and made me view the design process from a completely different perspective. Overall, the conference was easily the best I have been to in Orlando. It was the first I’d been too that covered code (HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery) in such great detail. The speakers were all very talented and able to keep the entire audience, which ranged from devs to designers to non-technical managers, engaged the entire way through.“

Thank you to everyone who made it happen!

A few days ago an interesting article was posted by YM Ousley of Signature 9 about the redesign of blogs in Gawker Media’s network. The network includes popular blogs such as: Gawker, Gizmodo, Deadspin, Kotaku, Jalopnik, IO9, Jezebel and Lifehacker. According to the article, decreased traffic on the sites may be the result of the new URL structure which includes a hashbang (#!) tag. I’m admittedly no SEO/SEM expert, but generally, traffic tends to decline as the organic rankings adjust, and search engines propagate the new structure of the site. The site should stabilize, pick up, and hopefully exceed previous success IF the proper strategy includes page remapping for older pages, proper keyword density and page optimizations, cross-linking through partner and network mentions, search engine submissions, and of course, appealing content to encourage distribution. Additionally, the decline in traffic can be offset with an increase in paid search.

Search aside, let’s talk about usability. I’m certain a good majority of the user complaints and issues could have been resolved prior to public launch. Did the new design go through the rigors of usability testing and focus group analysis prior to launch? What could they have learned from the feedback? Recent history tells us that if a redesign is too dramatic for its intended users, they shy away from learning the new interface. Most users are typically finicky and resistant to change until they go through an adaption period. Such a sentiment was felt during the DIGG relaunch last year; and of course the user and developer grumblings from the constant Facebook changes over the years. It’s understandable with the pressure of deadlines, and internal politics, but this seems like an example of the Gawker team avoiding the due diligence required to fully understand the core audience and anticipate their needs and preferences. Or…were they so intent on shaking up the blogging world that they surged ahead with their redesign despite indications from test groups?

Here are a few additional thoughts to consider…

• Will each blog design really resonate with the intended audience?
• How usable is the modified layout?
• What was the SEO/SEM implementation/maintenance strategy and was it executed properly?
• Why didn’t the strategists build off existing SEO success?
• Did the content quality change?
• Were the content distribution channels optimized?


Additional REF: http://www.iprospect.com/media/newsletter_aug07_fujioka.htm

My original impression was only based off of a memory of the office looked like and looking at the MindComet Web site. Which was a great way to get to know and understand a company’s brand, but you really don’t get to know anyone from a one hour meeting. Which is why it’s so important to spend time with them to truly get to know and understand who they are. Person or business, for a Web site or for a business venture. You need to know and understand who they are so you can offer a solution they will be happy with as well as yourself.

On my first version I think I was just trying to create something that “looked cool” and had a similar look but was just my interpretation of the brand. David was excited to see the work I put in prior to getting the job, but he knew it needed a bit more pushing before it could be hung up on the walls. I honestly didn’t mind. After all I was doing this to get my foot in the door and show that I am a team player and open to communicating to make something better then what it was initially. As painful as it can sometimes be, it’s better to go with your 20th idea and not just your first or second.

So what is the MindComet brand? Well that is what I had to learn for myself. At first glance most would see globs of blue, pink, and greenish jell-like colors overlaid upon one another. This is understandable as it was close to the initial thoughts I had and decided to follow through with on my initial poster designs, only with a bit more oomph and and a little something extra here and there. I did not truly take in the subtle strengths our brand has. It looks simple, but it also feels like there’s a lot going on. The power of this is control. While it is a cluster of shapes they are controllable and allow you to create more compositional elements than you would expect. I had a hard time of wanting to put too much in when first working with the shapes. I lost control, and had to learn to scale things back. Once you learn to control the shapes they become very powerful.

Printing finally!

Most people also fail to see the simple motion and flow the brand carries with it. The brand shows a very dynamic power with an easy unforced feeling. The tiny details of line patterns that are in the blues and whites are also a reminder that there is a lot more going on then what you see at first glance. If you pause and really look at the shapes their is an amazing amount of details. It’s not enough to distract users and make them feel color / pattern overload, but just enough to show some time was dedicated to this design. This ebb-and-flow branding that was laid down by David has empowered myself and the entire creative team to give their own interpretations of what they feel the brand can be at any time. Of course it took me a few days to understand this but after asking for feedback and constructive-criticism of my designs I was able to push the concepts and at the same time fully control the style without making it feel cookie cutter or identical to everything else that had been created before it. I was able to put my own visual interpretation of what I felt the design could be.

The icons were a very different challenge. The icons were something that David wanted to introduce over 2 years ago when the new brand had initially been introduced. However, due to time constraints and client deadlines sometimes your wants have to be pushed to the background for your client’s needs. Each icon represents one of the MindComet Services. Initially these icons were not meant to be part of the poster designs. They came from feedback during one of the critiques of my original designs. James, another Art Director here at MindComet, had mentioned that David had always wanted to create these icons to represent each one of our core services. So from that a whole new project had emerged within the original posters project.

The goal of the icons was to show each service in a visual way without actually having to show something that was a visual trigger for each element. For example, “Mobile” we didn’t show a mobile phone, nor did we show the traditional “wifi” wavy bar lines fading off into infinity. We dug deeper and thought of the feelings you get from being mobile. You can move into any direction without feeling tied down. And at the same time we introduced motion by making the shape circular and allowing the wavy lines to curve and twirl as the extruded out. With “Mobile” you have the power to always be in motion.

We wanted the icons to each have a unique design and story without feeling that they had to be similar to ever other company’s iconography. They are probably some of the most creative icons I’ve ever had the chance to work on. Currently the they are being used within most of our new company presentations and collateral. It was a great honor to see them being hung up and to be accompanied with 2 of our new business pitch meetings.

Below you can see the progression of the designs as I worked on them along with our giant HP printer spitting out the final print outs. It was a fun first project and I’m looking forward to the next challenge and working with my new family of creatives. If you’d like to know more about the designs or posters feel free to hit me up and we can talk design. You can reach me at: jeremyc(@)mindcomet.com

Posters Version 1

Posters Version 2

Posters Version 3

In the meantime, check out http://www.frontenddesignconference.com to learn more, or read Daissy’s post about last year’s Front-End Design Conference.

What do you think… flop? or an intelligent move forward?

Here is the original post:
http://motionographer.com/2011/01/05/in-depth-comedy-central-re-brand/#more-35178

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