The Escape - The online web log of Tom Wittlin www.tommy-boy.co.uk

Understanding the importance of  the difference between a company’s logo (eg a typeface, a device etc) and the brand (eg, the ethos, the style, the vision etc), particularly online, is something that I have not only become more and more involved in, but also something I have been helping clients understand too.

As we witness the web taking another turn in it’s journey into maturity, we find ourselves more and more concerned not just with our company’s existence online, but also it’s core message, customer service and attractiveness - eg, it’s brand. Many people confuse the word ‘brand’, often taking it to mean the actual logo which a company manifests itself as in an area of printed material. Web, newspapers, TV, when in fact this is merely just the identity. A company ‘brand’ is far more wider reaching and encompasses everything that the company stands for and is about.

Considering a company brand to be nothing more than their logo would be the equivalent of seeing a person as only their name as opposed to the person who they actually are (which in the case of people like Paris Hilton and Peter Andre isn’t probably such a bad thing). You don’t. You know their name, you seldom think about it, as you focus purely on who they are and what they say.

Companies (larger ones especially) spend millions of pounds and countless hours working on building their brand, it’s not something which happens overnight, and it’s not something you just do once and forget about. I always used to wonder why, when I was younger I kept on seeing TV ad’s for Nike, Coca Cola and Nescafe. “Everyone knows they exist”, I thought, “so why keep spending money on telling us about you?”  But then you realise simply by constantly reminding people of yourself is to confirm in people’s minds what you are.

A good way to understand brand I find is by choosing companies, and think of the first thing which comes to mind when you see or hear their name eg:

• Ferrari (expensive)
• Lidl (cheap)
• Innocent (fun and healthy)
• RSPCA (caring )
• Google (big but friendly)
• Red Bull (cool)

You don’t need to see their actual identity to immediately have a certain feeling about them, you just think of them in a certain way - and this is part of what a brand is - human perception of a company.

This includes everything from (just like celebrities) places to be seen; (Red Bull carefully choose what events to sponsor and usually involve outdoor extreme stuff; skateboarding, air racing and more recently F1); to the message you give to your customers, (google customers, while not actually having anywhere you particularly can call, still feel safe handing money over to as, well, it’s Google, whereas NatWest make a big thing about their customers being able to walk into the bank on a Saturday); to the tone of voice (innocent smoothies are laid back and friendly, HSBC are corporate and serious); and of course the balance of quality / price (you don’t expect to walk into a Lamborghini garage to see if they have a sale on, whereas you do into HMV).

Just like PR has existed in the offline world, making sure the company is delivered to it’s audience in the best light, this is now happening in an online capacity. If your company has a Facebook Group, a twitter account and a youTube page people instantly associate them with ‘now’ and goes that little step to strengthen the brand in people’s minds. People like to feel the company they are dealing with is on the pulse, and that they understand their customer.It’s more than just owning a website now.

So a word of warning to any company looking to have their ‘brand’ looked at - be sure to choose a company who can not only come up with a clever little logo to sit in the top left of the page, but also how they will move forwards, set the tone and future for your company and how they will work with you to achieve the result that you want to acheive.

Of late (and I suspect it’s due to burgeoning financial problems) I have experienced a large number of clients coming to me for suggestions on how to improve their website and make it do ‘more’ for them. This is great because for ages I’ve been encouraging them to use it as more than just a pretty picture telling people what they do, so I’ve put together a Smashing Mag style 5 point list on what I have been advising.

1. Email newsletters

It’s the obvious one, but seldom used as well as it should be. We have developed (here comes a mild sale pitch) an amazing enewsletter module for our CMS, it has SO much potential, but of the clients who own one, only a small percentage take advantage of its power.
If a person has expressly requested more information on your products or services from your site by signing up - that’s like someone walking into your shop and asking for something - these people are valuable and should not be ignored!
The enewsletter shouldn’t just be ’something else you can do every so often’ - if during this so called time of financial crisis you need to raise awareness of your products and services, or more importantly your BRAND, then enewsletters are the perfect way to do this.

Regular emails are the equivalent to TV ads, radio ads and billboard posters. Even if people don’t read or act on your story on how you have just moved into new offices, or your report on how the environment is being helped by your charitable efforts, or indeed the launch of a new range, they will have seen it drop in. Chances are they’ll delete it, but they’ll have you logo / name in their mind again and when they DO come to looking for that product or service again, they’re sure as hell more likely to select you over someone else they’ve never heard of.

Another thing is to Group your subscribers. Obtain as much information on where they’re from, what they purchased or requested more info on and send them only emails relating to this. If they asked for info on holiday only in the UK and you start firing off cheap flights to New Zealand, they’ll soon think you’re not paying attention to their requirements and probably unsubscribe.

2. Clear message, stronger calls to action

Just today I was looking through some competitors websites as part of my research for a new client, and one of sites I stumbled upon, had I not known what they did previously (by my client telling me), I had to read, click and re-read about 3 pages before I completely understood what they were about, and why I might want what they are offering.

I always think there is a tendency among companies to force themselves to appear more complex, advanced and ‘high-end’ than they really need to. Imagining probably that by using long, complicated terms it will elevate them from the competitor. Not true. If you think about when you are looking for anything online, what do you look for first - a site which is easy to use and makes it clear how to get in touch / buy / search for the product you’re after.

So BIG clear buttons, do away with a homepage explaining how the company was started in 1915 from a bike shed and has been through XYZ times, try and explain who you are or what you do in less than 20 words.

3. Integration of other elements (Social networks)

Everyone’s banging on about Social Media Marketing, and while it maybe the current buzz word in web strategy, it does have its reasoning for being there. Facebook, Myspace, youtube and twitter plus any others you care to mention, all have drawn huge audiences, and while it’s completely inappropriate for any company to wade in thinking they can wack a few phrases about and dominate Google’s rankings, it is important to understand what getting into these ‘circles’ entails.

It’s an entirely different or alternative form of marketing here. There is no taste, feel or touch, so you must go entirely on language - or ‘vibe’. Let’s say you’re selling mobile phones, to simply start targeting people on facebook that show the slightest interest in mobile phones and selling at them will most likely turn them the opposite way you want to go. However, if you show willing to offer assistance and guidance on selecting the right phone, while addressing them in a language they understand, you will build up a trust and in turn loyalty towards your brand. Once you have this, you’re half way there. There is nothing more powerful than a friend telling a friend to check you out as they instantly will trust their judgement. Brand loyalty is what can be gained from effective Social Media Marketing.

4. Know your audience

Websites, like English celebrities, date quickly. So if or when things change within your company, for example to adapt to the changing financial climate you’re company adopts a new method of working or selling or promoting, then your website should reflect this.
Quite often website owners base all the content along with the design, on what they feel they themselves, want or like. I know loads of business owners that have very little personal interest in what they do or sell, which is fine, as long as they know how to connect with their audience. If customers feel that you’re just putting up information on your site for the sake of it they are far less likely to feel engaged as with a company who sound like they love what they do as much as the people they’re selling to.

5. Manage content, stay fresh

Continuing on from point 4, to ensure people return to your site, it’s vital you update the information contained within it.

For months I was checking a favourite band of mine’s website hoping they would update it on when we could expect more songs / gigs from them but alas, they didn’t. Eventually I gave up, and only recently discovered they had released a new single a while back, through an online music store that happened to be promoting it - if I wasn’t subscribed to their news, I would never have been on and subsequently bought the track.

Many people always say to us “but I don’t have the time to update the website”. If this is the case, then I always give the same reply. “You have 3 choices; make time, get someone else in the company to make it their job, or employ us to manage it for you”. It doesn’t take a huge amount. It’s like anything, cleaning the bathroom, cutting the grass, doing the recycling; it’s something you make time for. But because those things physically exist and build up, you recognise the fact they need to be done. If you could physically see users leaving your website each month, perhaps it would persuade different thinking.

Part of our new strategy for larger clients with budgets, but not enough time is to effectively become their walking, talking (and most of all, THINKING) CMS’s. We are responsible for ensuring the content stays fresh each month. It would be our responsibility as a creative agency to call the client, find out what’s been happening throughout the month and report it in any way we see fit. Again, this won’t just relate to standard things like hitting sales targets or launching a new product range, we aim to ensure each time something is spoken about or acted on, it is another step in forming a relationship with the customers.

So there we go, just some ideas I’ve put together based on recent experiences with our clients, hopefully someone may also find it useful!

Just launched a website for a friend which involves the sale of frrrrrrresh fruit and veg in London and Bournemouth / South West visit it now at www.passionfruitsupplies.com.
He currently supplies some modern and trendy restaurants in the city of London using locally sourced produce. He asked me to put together this site for him to help spread the word!
If you are interested in placing an order at very competitive prices or would like more information email him ben@passionfruitsupplies.com!

I recently read a post on Just Creative Design’s website listing 12 books recommended for designers. As I’m forever interested in hearing other great designers recommendations I decided to write a list of the books down and as opposed to blowing a small fortune ordering them all on Amazon, head to my local library and see if they had any there.

So Saturday afternoon armed with my list of books I headed into Bournemouth Library which looks very fancy from the outside, it seems they blew the budget on exterior based on my experience inside. I’m not a member of the library yet, so I took along 2 forms of ID with the intention of joining, but before I went through the whole process of registering, I thought it’d make sense to actually see if they had any of the books I was after. So for this task I headed to a table full of PC’s (which had no signage whatsoever) assuming this was perhaps for the purpose of searching the library records. I sat at a PC and it appeared just to be regular internet access without the option of searching anything. So I then spied in the corner a lone terminal which looked perhaps more what I was after. Strolled up to it and it was apparent that it was a catalogue search - jackpot - but then, it immediately asked me for my library card number and PIN. Obviously not being a member I can’t enter this, which I felt was utterly ridiculous. It’s like when a client says “hey, let’s make people enter their email address before they can see our website”. Why do it?

So I saw another terminal, but this one looked as though it was logged on - ah ha! After multiple (unsurprisingly) unsuccessful searches, I managed to find A book I was interested in. It told me the book reference was something like 001.072. Ok so all I need to do is work out where the books start and I’d be somewhere near it. I turned around and the area I was in was 794. Pretty far off. So I wondered about and looked for any indication as to where 001 maybe. No signs, only those to say “Fiction this way, and Non Fiction the other”. Headed to nonfiction. No sign of any number references, not on the shelves nor the walls. Walked up to near the desk - A LIST OF CATEGORIES hurrah! 001 - 008 Exists. Yes. But where? Of course. It didn’t say… Perfect.

So again I did another lap of the whole ground floor hoping for any indication of 001’s. Then I thought, ah, maybe they’re upstairs. So I head towards the staircase which to my amazement is OUTSIDE of the entry gates. So in order to go upstairs, (of course, not knowing if this was even the right choice) I would have to leave the floor I was on, go down a flight of stairs, back on myself, back UP the stairs to the same floor, then up again.

It was a perfect exercise in sheer disorganisation, and lack of thought put into the system. It pissed me off massively, and perhaps made me feel a bit stupid because I wasn’t able to find a book. There are few things which I criticise about Bournemouth when compared to say, Yeovil, but I’ve never had any such problems in Yeovil library.

I spoke to a mate about it spouting on about how useless it is, and he said “you should’ve just asked the woman”. But the point is for me, I shouldn’t have to. I should be able to locate the thing I want without assistance. Christ, I’m no genius by a long shot, but there are some real blithering morons out there and if I can’t do it, how are they supposed to!?

On top of this, I was feeling slightly hungover, hot, and like I had had more than enough. I stormed out like a petulant child, but with just cause I thought. I’ve decided to write to them expressing my thoughts. I’m sure they’ll come back to me with some kind of “funny Mr Wittlin you should say this, because last year we won ‘easiest to use library system in the UK award’ ” type letter. Then I really will have to take a long hard look at myself, but until then, Bournemouth Library - you suck!

This selection actually died, then came back. Recorded using Audacity I got all the way to the last track, then as I pressed stop it crashed, taking with it my hour long mix - much frustration ensued, but by the power of Google I found there are several recovery tools available, which worked almost perfectly bar some distortion when listened to loud - sorry! So here is the final mix albeit slightly off at times, and with distortion I’d like to think it was to do with the recovery, but probably not.

Tracklisting:
1. ramblas - king britt and tim motzer
2. no more anymore - mathew adams
3. formant - office gossip
3. deep beginning - karol XVII & MB Valence
5. supique - gorge
6. jazzified - karol XVII & MB Valence
4. Tell U - ATFC
7. velvet - STP
8. a glass of chianti - dished out bums
9. can’t stop - kings of tomorrow
9. low - ben watt

Confidence is a funny thing. It exists in various measures in all of us, in some clearly it’s stronger and obvious than in others, and for those for whom it is strong, I find it occasionally leaves you feeling and wondering if they REALLY know what they’re talking about or whether they have mastered the Great British Art of ‘Blagging’.

For me, confidence is something that should only be shown in something you feel a good 80 - 90% sure about. Even then, it should be introduced in a positive and friendly manner, (this character would be called, John,  lets say) not the manner of a bloke who pulled 18 girls and drank 2x that in pints last night, when in fact he had 3 pints, threw up and went home alone. Again. (and we’ll call this character, Wayne).

So for some time I have been developing this idea in my mind about how modern web companies could become more than just a group of people who sit in rooms designing a website, (to the clients expectations ) building a website (to a clients expectations) and then perhaps doing SEO on it (to the clients expectations). The important thing here is, this is absolutely fine, (meet John), there is absolutely nothing wrong in achieving the clients expectations, and as most web developers will no doubt have experienced at some stage in their career, this isn’t always as easy as it sounds. So if you manage to get there, regularly, and feel that’s great, then really, that’s great.

But this idea of becoming something more won’t leave me alone. Our team have more or less been refined and gotten a firm understanding enough now, to have got the hang of this first stage. We’ll mess up timescales, sure, but we’ll deliver and we do a good job. But the problem I found existed not during the development process, as it did after it.

I love a good metaphor, so here goes: Its kind of like going to buy a classic or expensive car, a Ferrari lets say.  You get the love from the salesman initially, then the joy of owing the thing, racing it about and impressing the ladies, but after a while you can’t help perhaps notice that you are the only one you know driving the Ferrari. You know that there are other Ferrari owners out there, and you’re as sure that there must be some ‘clubs’ or ‘communities’ you could hang out with and get involved with, but the thing is, you’re still new to owning a Ferrari and don’t know where to look. More  over, when you do perhaps find what you’re looking for, maybe a local club, will you be treated as amateur cause you have only had one for 5 minutes? You can’t handle the shame and embarrassment that this kind of adventure could potentially bring - could you?

So what if, after the initial purchase of the Ferrari, the guys at the garage asked if you’d like to come join their local track team, where they all race together and have top fun? You’d immediately feel part of a community, and like this person that sold you a car,doesnt just want his commission, he actually wants to ensure you then get the best out of your new ride, by taking it to the places it was (more probably) meant for? Pretty good I’d imagine. Then what if they said, everyone get’s together each month to tune them up, have a chat to see how the car’s running keep them running perfectly. There’s an expert there to help out. And they’ll help you because they love it and want you to love it too.

Now I’m not sure this level of friendliness exists within the Ferrari fraternity. In fact I may go as far as to say if you for example rolled up in a spanking new GT but had Busta Rhymes blaring out the CD player you may get automatically ejected from any posse, but you get the idea.

Taking this model to the business world, specifically the online business world, wouldn’t it be good if, as skilled and knowledgeable individuals, we could spend less time dissing clients for changing the font throughout the site to Royal Blue comic sans 2 weeks after launch (Hi Wayne!), and more time teaching them why this is wrong. Call them; explain why it makes a difference and how it’ll transform people’s perceptions of the company through something as simple as a choice of font. For it’s the same as buying the Ferrari and wacking a Max Power sticker all down the doors.

But need it stop there? At font selection? For many clients know why they need a website, but our experience is that less know what to do with it once they have it. For ages I kind of took it for granted that I knew and understood things like facebook , myspace and twitter not to mention the countless other ’social’ sites and blogs springing up faster than the nations level of debt, but it dawned on me, that so many clients just don’t. So in a way, up until this realisation took place, I was Wayne. I knew (or thought I knew) loads more than my clients, and because of this chose to use this knowledge against them. Not good. Not positive and ultimately, not profitable for either of us.

So how to escape Waynism, and embrace Johnism?

We’re currently putting together a revised business plan that does just this.  Until we’ve hammered out the specifics I’m not going to bang on about it here, but essentially, it will involve us, as web people becomming not just designers, builders and SEO experts, but using our knowledge, skills and understanding of all things web, which may confuse the hell out of some people, to aid customers in their journey.

” 27% of middle class Britons have “questioned their core values” because of the credit crunch, while 41% said they will now “place less importance on material possessions” ”
GfK NOP/The Sunday Times

We’re fast entering an age whereby alot of the stuffy, rich marketing bullshit will fade and be lost, and be replaced by something far more organic and real where the message conveyed will be of honesty and genuine quality. The Times reported recently that since the credit crisis people have said they will now reassess their spending patterns and learn to be less materialistic. Sure brands and lovers of them will remain, expensive, cheap, middle range, but how they chose to promote them will differ, and as such, who companies select to promote them will also differ. I’m pretty confident about this, and that’s John talking. Not Wayne.

You know when you meet a new girl, or indeed someone you want to impress or get onside, you sometimes behave and act like someone who isn’t necessarily you in order to try and gain their love, respect or attention? The apparent reason for this would be that you feel that the actual real you, isn’t really that desirable and while (often) vastly more interesting, isn’t what you’d deem fit for public consumption. This well maybe true if your last name happens to be Glitter, but for the rest of us, in an ideal world we’d be ‘us’ from the start.

What on earth does this have to do with Royksopp? - Alot is the conclusion which I’ve drawn.

Listening to their new album launched today (available on the rather excellent Spotify) it’s immediately obvious which of the 11 tracks from this record will be bellowing out from car windows and appearing on Ministry of Sound compilations this summer, and those tracks (for my money) aren’t their best work.

Quite frankly, their lead single “Happy up here” sounds to me not dissimilar to the music they’d play in-between programs for schools on BBC2, it just doesn’t sound like a ’song’. It kind of ambles along in a fashion that will no doubt get used on countless TV ads for Citroen cars and self build holidays. Then we slip not a great deal more comfortably into “The Girl and the Robot” a track which (and this isn’t based on fact) sounds like one of many that probably didn’t get onto Robyn’s solo debut last year. Synth strings and jerky, emotional lyrics just wash over you and leave something of a disappointed feeling as though Royksopp, who despite 2 very good records in the past, have decided that perhaps they need to add a bit of fakery to their music in order to make it more palatable. (And they certainly aren’t Gary Glitter, we hope).

But then we move forward and it gets deeper, darker and more back to the Royksopp that I really like. Away from their ‘overground’ existence to a more natural state. It’s here, it seems, that they start being themselves and show they are willing to perhaps jeopardise sales of their records to mothers practising yoga in favour of maintaining credibility and keeping dance / electronic music just the right side of cool.

Track 3, “Vision One” is much better and isn’t an obvious hit, but shows less concern for the mainstream, equally Royksopp forever is a very down tempo chilled cut which maybe a nod to each other I presume?

Chart tunes do rear their head again on Miss It So much when either Robyn, or Robyn sounding vocalist makes a return, this time better than the last, less wet, but still not exactly the finest work to date.

It all starts to come together track 7 “Tricky Tricky” onwards, with the return of the girl from “What else is there” which (with or without Thin White Duke Remix) is, one of the best things they’ve ever done, which leads onto “You don’t have a clue”. More synths, more soaring vocals and dreamy piano, but this time, done with much greatness and probably the highlight of Junior. It may well be used as chart fodder, but somehow I don’t think it would cut it. There’s an abundant lack of top 40 about it, but again, this is when I feel Royksopp work best, even if their accountant would disagree.

We then progress elegantly into the ‘real Royskopp’ with “Silver Cruiser”, “True to Life” and “It’s what I want” 3 closing tracks that again display what they can do, rather than what the press and TV ads want to use.

It’s a shame they have to hide the better sides at the end of their records, like they weren’t sure if they should go on there or something, but for me, these are the highlights. Every time a Royksopp tune appears on a compilation it’s usually one which I wasn’t ever keen on. So until they start getting up to things they shouldn’t be getting up to, Royksopp should never be afraid of displaying what they really can do, and people ought to give them more of a chance and try the less commercial side of their tunes.
Like that bloke sat wearing the OTT trainers in the corner of the pub, he may actually be really rather decent once you get to know him.

Maybe it’s living in Somerset all my life, or maybe it’s just the way my web upbringing has gone, but for ages it has seemed to me like web development is treated like a one night stand for some companies, and to a certain extent, this has been true from our part too.

Once you fully understand and become ‘at one’ with the client, the difficulties of being their web designer can begin to disappear and in the gaping hole that was once filled with frustration and angst towards them is now filled with satisfaction and, dare I say it, love.

One of our largest clients at the moment who’s new website is about to go live, has spent the best part of the last 5 months deliberating over various simple things and how they should function on the website. Throughout this period I’ve been gently reminding her that “we can do it this way / that way, but it really needn’t be necessary and if you were to trust me, and be brave enough to step away from having to 100% control the development process, and let it roll” and after some time, it really seems she has started to see this, now, whenever she calls me up, it’s often to ask whether I think this or that is a good idea as opposed to requesting some other hairbrained idea.

The important thing is communication, and while this is a relatively obvious concept to most, it’s actually not half as easy as it sounds. The thing is, we run an agency with over 200 sites, and because of this, not everyone can get a the ‘love’ they deserve - at least not from me, so all too often it causes them to fall over and begin crying.

Content plays a huge role in this idea. Content is, in some ways like music in that sometimes it gets downplayed in favour of elaborate and showy packaging. Namely design can get in the way, just like artists ego’s can get in the way of making good music. Odd maybe coming from someone who is a designer, but I am acutely aware of the fact that before any design can be proposed a thorough and complete objective needs to be set, an audience defined and an outcome estimated. Then and only then, should a design be considered.

So to clients, content can often just be the ‘annoying part’ of owning this fancy super duper website. They, don’t really want to have the bother of the upkeep and maintenance to it, but have to be made aware that obviously, and oddly enough, if there IS no decent booze on offer, why would people roll up to your party anyway?

Again, through careful explanation and convincing; fonts, photos, colours and that all important decision on how big the logo is going to be, should pale in comparison to what the message is. I think as we understand and become more aware of what the web ‘ought’ to be, we can safely pass this knowledge onto clients, after all, they are, to all intents and purposes, our bosses.

Today I was introduced to what could well become how things pan out in years to come. It was essentially a collection of technological devices linked together that you wear which between them can report, project, connect and inform you on anything that you choose to interact with.

A demonstration video can be found here.

It leads to the ultimate question of how long it’ll be before we as humans, are transformed into robots of sorts by planting this kind of technology in our brains. Imagine, approaching someone and before they’ve opened their mouths, you can already find out masses of information about them that is available via the web.

It’s super scary stuff, technology is being developed at such a rate that it seems nobody questions the morality of things, it feels like a race to be the first to create the most innovative and life changing tool so it can become branded. All of a sudden films like terminator, matrix and minority report are starting to seem less far-fetched!

So the Future of Web Apps came to Ireland, and we felt, given it’s nearer than Miami, we’d go there instead. This decision based entirely on our desire to absorb a more interesting culture as opposed to our accountants desires to keep the businesses going, clearly…besides, it’s true that Guinness tastes better there

Completely obeying the ‘arrive at least 2 hours early’ rule of international flights, we found ourselves sharing a rather temporary looking Bournemouth departure lounge with 1 man and 3 bar attendants from around 5.30pm, which for a 8.30pm flight, is perhaps a little too on the safe side. However, given the severe lack of reading material and the fact I still don’t own an iPhone, we did the only sensible thing there is to do while sat in a departure lounge. Drink - Top tip, rather than pay the extortionate drink prices at the bar, why not zip round the corner and buy a load of duty free and drink it right from the bottle.

By the time we reached 8:30 I was ready for bed, or the nightclub but settled for a plane ride which was reasonable enough for Ryanair. Just before the flight I met up with Paul and Dave from Redweb and also Neil and later Keith (or ‘Keet’ when in Dublin) from Strawberry soup which was great to meet such cool web folk from the area. We got to Dublin an hour or so later went out for some weird Chinese grub and retired ready for an early start.

The day kicked off with a talk from Ryan Carson, the event organiser who talked about ways to improve you web app. While I found alot of what he said useful, some of it was rather contradictory to conventions which, seemed to somewhat be the theme of the day!

Contrast

Then the two lads from Contrast.ie stepped up and despite a nervous start stormed through a 200 odd slide talk about challenging conventions and predefined rules in web design. It was superb though and they easily provided me with the boost I needed following my booze based adventure the night before.

Rather embarrassingly I’d been aware of these guys some months before their arrival on stage through the general manner in which you find other web developers along the way, and commented (rather objectively) on their black and white photo of the team on the homepage of their site. I’m glad to say that after meeting them in person (or one of them at least) they don’t live up to the rather mild bashing I gave them in my earlier post….

They tackled the subject of convention and web conventions, when to acknowledge it and when it’s good to ignore it. Tricky one, as you can’t really take a side specifically because while it’s all well and good being the totally original inventive design agency, conventions exist for a reason. Simple conventions such as blue for cold, red for hot, a tick for yes, and a cross for no are things that are more or less ingrained into the human psyche now, and to try and change this would be bother for bother’s sake.

But the boys recognised this and presented brilliantly with a series of amusing slides of public toilets and places where signs had been put up to help users in understanding how to ‘lock a door’ or ‘where to sit’ in a toilet. Instead they were challenging the convention of navigation, of layout and how we interact with websites. Change is inevitable, the web will never remain a series of linked up HTML pages styled with CSS, and for indications on where we’ll head I turn to existing and traditional forms of human interaction and entertainment. TV for example once started life as black and white silent pictures broadcast a few times a day, now we have High definition, full colour stereo surround sound virtually on demand anytime we want it. But you can look elsewhere as TV isn’t really a direct representative of the web, so mobile phones, computers and video games are other areas to consider. When you think about it, it’s scary where the web could head.

So by challenging conventions and putting your new ideas out there as the Contrast chaps say, you are in a sense contributing to the Darwin-esque evolution of the web. Ideas will be tried and always fail but some will survive. Google’s vast power, Facebook’s ability to connect people, twitter’s simplicity.

It was for me the second best talk of the day behind DHH, and as a designer it inspired me to push my ideas and clients more to try something new – why not, until someone has proven it won’t or can’t work – where’s the harm in trying it?
Apologies then to contrast for my earlier comments, and instead a big round of applause and hats off to Eoghan for his shape throwing, irish style on the dance floor with us that evening!

I’ll be perfectly honest with you, then followed 3 people who spoke about Ruby on Rails, Flickr (or was it something else?) and then internet security. As far as I was concerned, it may as well have been about Russian architectural techniques of the year 1843, the real reason stamps moved to a self applicating back and water. Yep, I fell asleep.

David Heinemeier Hansson

But as with all gigs they left the big guns til last, and as I removed the final bits of sleepy dust from my eyes, they rolled out DHH from 37 Signals which at first I was sceptical of based pretty much on the fact he looked like someone out of Dawson’s Creek, and sounded like it. But he pulled no punches and launched into a really great talk about running your business in an unconventional manner, ignoring rules and learning to say “no” to clients and co-workers alike.

We all know how successful 37 Signals have become and they’ve done it without the worlds best designers and developers, they’ve done it through sheer effort and determination. I lost count the number of times DHH said “if someone says something’s not going to work, that’s a pretty good indication it’ll be amazing” and while much of it should have been absorbed with a pinch of salt he made very good points – all coming back to the “if your product is good enough to use, people will pay for it” belief that he has adopted and continually preaches. I agree, I think the days of offering everything for free and hoping that it’ll one day become large enough that some huge corporation rolls up and offers you $10m but in the meantime, what are you going to do? Whack a few google ads on there!?

So for me, while unrelated to design specifically it was very much directed at owners of businesses and made perfect sense.

The Evening was celebrated with several Guinness’s at various bars, the final one being a club in Temple Bar that the Carsonified guys arranged, few of the speakers and sponsors threw a few Euro’s behind the bar but I fear we arrived too late for that - we did however arrive in time to hear Keet shout to Neil “get to the bar, buy everything - fuck loads”!

I got chatting to the developer of Truvay which is Carsonified’s latest project, he seemed pretty cool, didn’t let on much what it was about, but I felt he had a rather large chip on his shoulder, sneering at the fact that I was a) a designer, and b) didn’t use any specific framework - because I’m a designer - jeez, these people!

Overall though, top night, this write up doesn’t really do it justice and is rather flung together, but well worth the trip over, got to meet some really great people and saw the Bodies Exhibition in Dublin too which was great, if maybe not the best thing to be doing the day after the night before…

Cheers to Redweb and Stawberry Soup for making me laugh so hard my gut ached, and lets do it again in 2010!