For more information on this years event please visit: http://rhcoc.com/events.php?id=16722

What am I suppose to do here? How can I do that?

How the user will know what kind of site they’ve landed on is dependant on the structure. Is this a blog, a store, or a portfolio? Each of these forms have their own unique structures that people recognize. A list of products and a shopping cart signifies that you can make purchases. Knowing what to put where requires a lot of planning and that pre-production process is often taken for granted. Developing a good hierarchy of information will ensure that the most important information reaches the user first and that the user is less likely to be bogged down by things they don’t need immediately.

2. No Consistency

What am I looking at? Where did that button go? What page is this again?

When a site lacks consistency the user can get lost very easily. When we learn something we put that model in our brains and reference it to help us navigate other similar situations. When a web site arbitrarily has a different structure on every page the user can’t apply what they’ve previously learned to guide them but instead has to expend precious brain power to figure it out again. In a world where attention spans are short you really can’t afford to send your users on a loop. The less effort required for the user to achieve their goal the more likely they will get a satisfying and rewarding experience on your site. Consistency doesn’t mean just keeping crucial elements in the same areas among different pages it also mean being aware of excepted/expected web conventions.

3. Poor Navigation

I know what I want but how do I get there from here?

Navigation isn’t just a bar on the top of your site its a train track and it determines which stops your users will be making. If your users need to quickly get from station A to station F they won’t want to stop as B, C, D, or E every single time. A poorly designed navigation system is one that doesn’t account for the user’s needs, so step one is to learn about your user. Study them like lab rats if you must, put them through your site and get as much information as you can. I am an impatient person so if I can’t immediately get where I need to go I usually seek out the next alternative and more often than not it will be your competitor.

4. Too Complicated

Too much, too fast, all of the time and everywhere!

There is nothing more frustrating than getting to a site and being instantly bombarded with a million different things. I know you may have a lot of important information to convey but do it gradually. Your brain can only process a finite amount of information at one time so if you overload someone they won’t be able to digest any information and they will just tune out. Sometimes it may be a good idea to treat your information as if it were top secret and everyone is on a “need to know basis.” Just tell me what I need to know now so I can do what it is I want to do on your site.

5. No Consideration for Text

Whoa! Watch out for that wall of text!

Want to stop someone dead in their tracks? It’s simple just build an impenetrable wall of text. As I’ve mentioned before internet dwellers have short attention spans so everything you present them has to be easily accessible especially text. Your attention and focus is an investment so don’t just expect people to be interested in what you have to say right off the bat and don’t expect people to read everything (or anything) on your site. Make your message as concise as possible, use legible fonts with good contrast and you will have a good baseline to work with.

Image via Olly Moss

It gets kind of boring handing out the same trophies year after year. As iconic as the figure is we’ve seen it replicated time and time again from tediously stale to excellently exhilarating and just about everything in-between. Olly Moss’ 85 years of the Oscars poster takes a fresh look at how this little golden man can be used to represent the movies they are meant to honour. For the full size image go to Olly’s site.

Selfridges & Co. is a chain of UK department stores and they’ve come up with some exquisite ways to minimize the noise their customers experience. One of their methods is to carry a line of products with no logos. What I found the most striking was that the final product although had no indication of its company was still very well recognizable. As important as a logo is, a well established brand goes beyond that. A brand has a style, a voice, a personality and much more at its disposal when utilized effectively. All those seemingly minute details come together and form a cohesive entity that is much more pervasive and enduring.

Can you identify all the unbranded products in this post?

If your interested in learning about their entire campaign then head over to Selfridges’ No Noise site. You can shop their full line of unbranded products and explore some of their other unique in-store noise reduction and relaxation methods.

It’s a new year and a new time to take another look at your brand, and specifically your logo. A very well known fact in the marketing and advertising world is: YOUR BRAND IS EVERYTHING! It’s your consumers first impression, your legacy and your company rolled into one sole design – not to put any pressure on it! A logo says a million words without saying anything, so it’s time to make sure it’s exactly how you want it. Many high end companies have decided on a re-brand throughout the years. Take a look at Coca-Cola or Pepsi, they’ve changed their logo throughout the times though kept the same brand integrity from the beginning. A big logo re-brand that has gone very successfully is with Starbucks. They have just released a new logo that doesn’t even mention the company’s name. You know you have a strong, recognizable logo when you can do that!

Now it seems a new era of the food network is upon us as they’ve redesigned their logo. Usually when a company decides to rebrand itself it represents a shift in their business and the rebranding is a way for them to signify that change to their audience. It’s like a person entering a new stage in their life they may get a new wardrobe, a new hair cut or new glasses. Your attire marks a period in your timeline and as you evolve your appearance often changes to reflect that growth.

Below you will find the old design and the new redesign. What do you guys think about this rebrand? Whether you’re a dedicated foodie and avid fan of the Food Network or you’ve never heard of it before tell us what you think.

Old:

New:

Having QR codes on your food might not seem 100% practical but considering how many people like taking photos of what they eat; it might not be as insane as it appears. If you don’t have a high tech laser cutter handy you don’t need to fret because there are other ways to get QR Codes into your diet. You can for example get them printed on rice paper with soy based inks.

If thats still too technical for you than just simply layout your meal in a pattern resembling a QR code. Taco Bell produced a series of ads based on that very concept. 

As more people start getting smart phones will QR codes become an essential part of our information consumption or will they become as stale as week old bread?

Sources:

newscientist.com: Laser Cookery Makes Your Food More Fun

2d-code.co.uk: Avocado And Lemon QR Codes

At this point if you haven’t heard of Darwin the IKEA monkey you may need to check your pulse. On Sunday December 9th, a rhesus macaque money, dressed in a shearling coat and a diaper, appeared in a North York IKEA. It had been crated in a car in the parking lot while its owner went inside to shop. The smart monkey managed to escape and enter the store, where it was found by employees.

Now you’re probably asking why i’m writing about this. After finding out the monkey was captured and safe, my thoughts turned to how this is a great marketing opportunity for IKEA.

Since Sunday, the stream of social media has blown up regarding Darwin. Video and pictures of him roaming the lobby have been seen world wide, and even twitter has produced a hashtag for him (#IKEAmonkey) which has begun trending globally. Today, when you search IKEA in Google, the IKEA monkey comes up as a find. This accident has increased the social media attention of IKEA, the York Regional Police and the humane society, and amazingly enough they’re all being shed in a positive light.

Let’s focus on IKEA. They’ve already got a playful sense of humor in their commercials, so we know they would be open to embracing this incident as a marketing stunt. First things first, they should produce a monkey plush toy with a shearling jacket and sell it in their store. People are always looking for fun last minute gifts, and once they’re in IKEA, they’d be more inclined to purchase more products (have you had their meatballs? to die for!). Next, they could create a twitter account for Darwin and have him update his followers on IKEA holiday deals. This allows IKEA to personify their brand and acquire followers solely based on the monkey! Remember the hype around Angelia Jolie’s dress at the Oscars last year? By the end of the night her leg had it’s own twitter account. Darwin’s got that stem beat! He could tweet pictures of him within the store lounging on their new KIVIK 3 seater, purchasing candles on sale and showing people how to properly set up their MALM bookcases (if a monkey can do it, so can you). Next they could incorporate Darwin in their commercials to increase viewership. My suggestion would be to give him a voice for his thoughts, and find a cheeky way to make the commercials relevant to his store visit. Imagine watching a commercial where a monkey, with voice of Johnny Depp, introduced you to new IKEA products? Pure marketing genuis!

Shows you what can come out of monkey business!