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Sabtu, 29 Juni 2013

Creative Web Design

By contracting a creative web design company to design your new website as opposed to a more traditional web company, you give yourself an unmeasurable edge over your competition in the eyes of your potential customers.
Traditional design companies focus on purely getting a site put together with relevant information, that functionally works. Enter Web 2.0 and more traditional marketing avenues venturing into the marketplace, and creative web design companies have come into the game.
By 'creative web design', I refer to websites which still have the functionality and relevant information consumers have come to expect, but have a huge focus on the aesthetic aspect, and use traditional marketing 'wow factor' to capture the users attention, and last longer in their mind than those of the competitor.
Picture a billboard with great graphic design and immaculate choice of imagery, compared with an ad on the side of the road simply with a name and number. While you may have chosen to look at both, the creative approach will prompt you, the audience, to remember the creative billboard.
Now picture two websites, side by side. One with a flash intro page, immediately showing a montage of images and grabbing y our attention; which leads into a visually beautiful website where every pixel is perfectly crafted into alignment. Next, a bland website showing you purely text and a basic navigation. The difference is so enormous it's like comparing Black and White TV with a 3d Movie Theatre.
Through the use of the latest and greatest technology, a creative web design company will use Flash, jQuery, and HTML5 to visually engage the user; however this is where the pitfalls of a creative web design can come into play.
Many years ago, around the year 2000, many graphic design companies started to see an emergence in the marketplace for web services. Many of these companies had employees with a little web experience, enough to get by, and as such they began offering web services. What they didn't understand was functionality, valid mark-up, cross-browser compatibility, or SEO - all things which a more traditional web design company would take into account.
While this would be classed as a creative web design company, often their creative web design's wouldn't be successfully converted from a design into code, and having mis-alignments in a design (especially cross-browser) became commonplace. Without experienced developers on-hand, many of these problems became overlooked, and many substandard creatively designed websites are still around today, with more and more being sent live on the world wide web every day.
For this reason, when looking to hire a creative web design company, you should always be sure to look into their operation, most reputable companies won't mind you asking a few questions. In a creative web design company, the people building your site should be working as a team. The days of all-rounders are over, and when creativity is to be combined with functionality, it is essential to have a 'designer' as well as a 'developer' work on your project.
A designer is generally artistically minded, and may have worked as a graphic designer in the print world at some capacity. Thei r goal is to create a visually appealing design for your approval. This will be a static image of what your website is going to look like, as it is much faster to edit a graphic than to edit a coded website. Most creative web design agencies work in a similar fashion, as this allows for the complete artistic talent of the designer to be used, and complete use of the imagination of not only the designer, but also the client.
Once a design is approved, a developer steps in to convert this to a web format in standards compliant code. This may include implementation of a Content Management System (CMS), and generally involves some mild Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well as cross-browser compatibility. Once this is done, your brand new creative web design is all ready for the World Wide Web.
You need to choose a creative web design company that can fulfil all of your needs from creating a website which suits your brand image and captivates the user, to something which will navigate easily, rank well on search engines, function the same across your entire user-base, and ultimately lead to more conversions in your market.
The main things to keep in mind when choosing a creative web design company are their design to implementation process, their cost, their portfolio, and ultimately the level of service you can expect. I am an online consultant, and can help you shoul d you have trouble finding an agency, or even if you would like me to help in assessing another agencies ability to meet your needs to come up with a creative web design that will fit your needs and help in squashing your competition.
Jared Codling from Creative Web Design Blog [http://www.creative-web-design-blog.com/]

Minggu, 09 Juni 2013

Top 10 Web Design Schools in Canada

There are many web design schools in Canada that offer a promising career for hopefuls looking to get into the design industry. Web design is still a pretty new subject in terms of education and it can be difficult to understand what the different is between a "good" program and a "bad" one. The field is bursting with potential and if you find the right school in Canada it can prove to be a very smart step in your career progression. Whatever path or school you choose, make sure it is the right choice for you.
1. DeVry University - Calgary, Alberta
The web design program at Devry University is one of the top programs in Canada and is widely recognized for its accredited courses. Their program provides graduates with the ability to produce visually appealing designs that are functional, user-friendly and accessible. They also give you the technical software tools to be successful after you graduate DeVry.
2. Humber College - Toronto, Ontario
Humber College knows that interactive design is a growing field of study. That's why this is one of the most up-to-date courses - they provide students with all the fundamental basics such as HTML, CSS, responsive web design, prototyping and application development. They regularly check with industry standards to update their curriculum and keep it up-to-date to be compliant with professional practices.
3. Art Institute of Vancouver - Vancouver, BC
The Art Institute of Vancouver is one of the top schools in Canada. They offer students with a high percent rate of employability after they graduate with a strong focus on blending theory and practice. According to their website, they provide students with employability, development of key technical skills, development of critical thinking skills, ethical awareness and concept development.
4. Sheridan College - Toronto, Ontario
Located in Toronto, Ontario, Sheridan is one of the top-rated schools in Canada to get a degree. With its program, students will become well-versed in applying design to advertising and marketing mediums through the web. It offers a two semester program so that you can be working within less than a year - with up-to-date technologies and techniques.
5. NAIT - Edmonton, Alberta
Want to learn how to design engaging layouts and user-friendly, intuitive designs? The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology can provide you with a web design certificate that will give you the curiosity, inspiration and imagination needed to explore every inch of the industry. Packed with both the technical and practical information to becoming a web designer, these courses are industry relevant and will give students a great start for their career.
6. Digital Art School - Fredericton, New Brunswick
Building web and interactive content is the Digital Art School's speciality. Located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, this school is one of the top in the country. This school specializes in the digital arts, giving them a higher student satisfaction rate. The curriculum itself was compiled by industry-working web designers so students can get the real-world experience.
7. Pacific Design Academy - Victoria, BC
The Pacific Design Academy provides students with a quality education in the beautiful city of Victoria, BC. The major differentiator between Pacific Design Academy and other colleges is that all their professors are practicing in the industry. This means students are guaranteed to have a curriculum that fits the industry requirements. Their approach provides students with a great mix of illustration, copywriting, marketing, digital graphics, marketing and creative problem solving - all skills that are highly sought after when you graduate.
8. George Brown College - Toronto, Ontario
George Brown, located in Toronto, Ontario, is one of the best design schools in Canada. Their approach to teaching is to give students a wide variety and option of design, so you have a vast working knowledge once you leave. Their intensive program train students to become accustomed to the fast-paced industry that awaits them. All the programs George Brown offers are interesting and cutting-edge courses.
9. Red River College - Winnipeg, Manitoba
The programs at Red River College have been providing Manitoba student's with a great start to a career in web design. These programs focus on how design plays a vital role in communication technologies and presenting ideas to clients. They give web design students a good balance between the technical knowledge required and the practical information needed to be successful. Red River College also provides web design students with a design internship or placement.
10. Academy of Design - Toronto, Ontario
The Academy of Design in Toronto, Ontario provides design students with a fast track to their career as a web designer. This school is well-known for recognizing that the interactive media field is booming. Highly skilled graphic and web designers are in great positions to secure employment after they graduate from the Academy of Design, one of the best web design schools in Canada.
The wide variety of design schools can be overwhelming. This list proves that some of the best schools and programs are right here in Canada. Meaning, they can provide you with a high quality web design education right here at home. With this profession booming, you will never be without a job when you get an education through a Canadian design school. With an intensive design program as a student, you'll receive a great combination of skills that will help propel your career.
Janna Hagan is a web designer from Canada. She is the founder of Student Guide to Web Design and Junior Design Jobs, a resource to better equip design students with the information they need to succeed after graduation.