Mark and Ashley like tattoos.

Errrr…let me re-phrase, Mark and Ashley like OUR tattoos.

As soon as we found out that each of us had tattoos, an instant office bond developed. It didn’t matter that Ashley is nearly a generation older than Mark, or that we come from different cultural backgrounds—but after 10 minutes of comparing tattoos and tattoo stories, we had each other’s backs. We were no longer just co-workers, but rather friends with a common interest. (Plus, it didn’t hurt that we also both hate the Los Angeles Lakers, but that is a whole other blog…)

Tattoos allow a visible open-door for employees to interact and share their stories with one another. This creates team building and connections within the company. EMG is a place where we can truly express who we are. It doesn’t mean we can’t be professionals when it comes to pitches, client meetings and conferences. Of course we need to dress appropriately for these types of events, but during  the normal workweek, allowing employees to be themselves helps ease the pressure of meeting tight deadlines and stressful days.

With that said, some employers have policies that do not allow visible tattoos. Depending on the industry and type of job, we suppose this makes sense. But we’d like to submit contrary evidence that people with tattoos work in a variety of industries, holding positions that range from entry-level to top executives. The way we see it, body art is a display of self-expression: having tattoos has nothing to do with an employee’s ability to perform their job.

To further relate tattoos to our everyday grind, it’s interesting to consider what significance our tattoos hold for us as individuals, and in context of this blog, what they say about us as team members of an ever-flexible, evolving and often fast-paced Digital Marketing Agency.

You can find out a lot about a person’s experience, beliefs or simply their personalities through their tattoos. Some get tattoos to remember a loved one who has passed and others simply get inked to tell a story of their background and culture. For whatever reason, tattoos are a part of our lives, whether it’s religion or just to have fun. Either way, we are who we are because of the choices we’ve made.

A Softpedia article reporting on research done by the University of Arkansas on the significance of tattoos said:

A tattoo is a snapshot of a part or scene of the owner’s life, turned into a personal myth. “We continue to be struck by rapid and unpredictable change. Consumers adapt to these changes by varying their lifestyle. They downshift, upgrade, change their hair, body, clothes, car, house, career, geographic location and even family. The result is a loss of personal anchors needed for identity. We found that tattoos provide this anchor. Their popularity reflects a need for stability, predictability, permanence and identity,” said co-author Jeff Murray, marketing professor at Sam M. Walton College of Business.

There is something very true and relatable in that statement, because while we both work in a cutting-edge industry, we find comfort in being grounded and take solace in consistency. There is also a very real connection that we both have to where we came from and how we got here—a respect, of sorts, to our family legacies and our own personal history.

In an ever-changing day-to-day work environment, a strong foundation and something consistent to fall back on, or turn to, is critical. Our tattoos are daily reminders that not everything changes, despite what this industry might try to convince you.

Of course, this is all written in hindsight—we don’t think either of us could have seen some of the parallels in our careers to the tattoos we’ve selected for ourselves for more than a decade, when we actually chose the tattoos. But now, we feel like the parallels are easier to spot.

Who knew the tattoos we chose would end up holding new meaning for who we are, were and may evolve to in the future? Well…maybe now people will add an extra level of consideration to what their tattoos say about them.

By: Chrissy Winchak & Zac Keeler

It is said that music soothes the savage beast, but did you also know that music in the office cannot only increase productivity but also lead to greater creativity? There have been an abundant amount of studies on this topic with one of the first and most notable being conducted in 1993. In this study researchers at the University of California at Irvine (one of our clients found that college students who listened to Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 448 for ten minutes prior to taking an IQ test scored eight points higher than those who did not. The concept is that listening to music might somehow enhance the brain’s ability to perform abstract operations immediately thereafter. This phenomenon is known as the Mozart effect.

This effect has not only been found to pertain to IQ tests but also contributes to and helps create a more positive atmosphere, increases focus, improves alertness, motivates people, decreases boredom and leads to increased productivity. At EMG a good number of employees have their own personal music devices in the workplace. There are also many employees who share their iTunes library. I know this was valuable for me when I first started at EMG because I got to see what types of music everyone listened to. I saw that a lot of people were into the same artists and genres as I was, so it was also a way to foster conversation and get to know people on a different level.

Some other benefits of music in the workplace are:

• Being able to focus on the task at hand without having to worry about ringing phones and background chatter.
• Wearing headphones could signal that you are on a tight deadline and want to zone everything out.
• Offering a great pick-me-up in the afternoon and be the catalyst that gets you through the rest of the day.

It has been estimated that we endure up to 60 interruptions a day, and take 10 minutes to get back to our original focus. If you add in all the interruptions throughout the day we suspect the interruption rate is higher than researched. Music is sometimes a means of escape and a way to get in the zone. Even while you are at work you can listen to your favorite band and feel like you are somewhere different if that is what is needed.

EMG understands as a company that sometimes a means of escape can lead to the greater good and that team members being able to have that choice is a valuable notion. This is the case across the board at EMG when it comes to our 9/80 work schedule, extended lunches for working out or free healthy snacks. It is great to be at a place where we all work hard and are creative as a team but we also get to be who we are.

As John Cusask’s character said in Say Anything when asked about what he wanted to do for a career, “A career? I’ve thought about this quite a bit sir and I would have to say considering what’s waiting out there for me, I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed or buy anything sold or processed or repair anything sold, bought or processed as a career.” I think this quotes sums up perfectly why being able to do what you truly want to do is something people should strive for. Productivity and creativity are essential in any workplace and anything that may increase both of these is a win in our book.

By: Jimmy Phan and Lawrence Richard Williford

“Mobile Web” is generating an inordinate amount of buzz in the streets these days.  The cause: smartphones.  Such phones as the iPhone, HTC EVO, Blackberry, and Nexus One are changing how people view and access the web.  The increasing amounts of users are causing websites to cater to these mobile devices due to smaller screen resolution and browser limitations.  With these smartphones getting more and more popular, websites must look to new development and designs to create more compatible ways for user interactions while staying within the confines of their domain.

Development for mobile devices is about speed and compatibility.  This is getting easier with new mobile browsers supporting HTML5 and CSS3 standards.  HTML5 gives developers the ability to write less code and support web videos without the need of Flash; which some phones, such as the iPhone, are not supporting.  CSS3 allows developers to use codes to create website elements rather than rely on excessive images which take more time to download.  With these two new technologies, developers are able to create richer mobile websites and applications that accommodate users without being limited by the smartphone that a user may have.

When it comes to designing for mobile devices, it is about user interaction and understanding the fundamentals of mobile web design.  Remember that even though mobile devices are getting larger screens with better resolution and have the ability to switch to horizontal viewing mode, not all sites are designed FOR mobile. Making a website “mobile friendly” is not the same as designing a mobile website!

Here are a few things that you should keep in mind while designing for mobile web:

1. Understand the differences in navigating in mobile web vs. web
2. Remember that with touch screens a user’s finger is doing the navigation, so make your buttons easily clickable for them
3. Know your design space and phones
4. Simplify your content
5. There are no hover states, as of now
6. Understand that your users are on a phone and on the go, so they have more immediate needs; they would be using your main site on their computer at home, otherwise.
7. Test your site on a Mobile simulator. iPhone Simulator (http://www.testiphone.com/), Blackberry Simulator (http://na.blackberry.com/eng/developers/resources/simulators.jsp)

*Need Inspiration? Here are a few well designed mobile website that may help:

1. Vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/m

2. Burger King http://www.bk.com/en/us/kings-phone/index.html#main_menu.aspx?c=/en/us/

3. Flickr http://m.flickr.com/#/explore/interesting/

4. Twitter http://mobile.twitter.com/

So what is in store for the future of mobile devices and mobile web? Obviously one can only hypothesize and dream, but with advancements in nanotechnology (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpJQNMBNtOo), Haptic surfaces and 3D technology the line between reality and science fiction is getting more and more blurred.

The standards and best practices in creating HTML Email are different compared to creating HTML for a web design. Instead of checking for cross-browser compatibility, it’s necessary to test to check how different email client types render HTML and CSS.

The Email Standards Project [www.email-standards.org] is an organization leading the way to improve the web standards and accessibility in email. They are working with both the designers and email client developers to ensure that emails render consistently. Currently, acid test is conducted on several of the email clients to determine the level of support. Based on the acid test, they’ve determined which commonly used CSS are supported.

For example, in Google Gmail, there is partial or no support in following high priority styles:

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“ A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” 

-Hebert Simon.

Whether it be print collaterals, corporate identity or a website, the best element you could ever apply to a design is the one thing that’s been on the page before you even start…space. I will be showing the importance of space through its relationship between elements and how it affects the overall appearance and aesthetic.

“White space”, or “negative space”, is referred to as the space between graphical elements around a subject. These elements vary from text, images, shapes, etc. When used properly, it can be very effective! It often relates to importance, elegance and professionalism. Space is beautiful. Space shows sophistication. Space shows you know how to use it. So don’t be afraid of using it!

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When I was younger I served tables in a restaurant and one of the main training mantras that management tried to instill in their servers was for them to “Delete the Wonder” for their guests.  This meant that you should always keep the client aware of what was going on and to preemptively ask questions and foresee needs that they may have.

Today as a creative director this mantra still rings true with me.  Most issues with projects steam from a lack of communication, miscommunication or the designer not managing the clients’ expectations.  So with this said how can you as a designer “Delete the Wonder” with your client?

Step 1: Introduce your client to your creative process!

After a project is green lit the first thing that should be done is to have a kickoff meeting to review the scope of the project, introduce the team that the client will be working with throughout the project and most importantly introduce the client to the creative process.  Every designer has a different creative process that they use but here is a sample of a process that through my experience I have found to be very successful with web related projects.

Sample Creative Process:

1.    The Creative Brief
2.    Research
3.    Requirements
4.    Brainstorming
5.    Wireframing
6.    Presentation
7.    Revisions
8.    Final Presentations
9.    Sign-off from the Client

Step 2: Keep your client focused!

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Recently EMG worked on a non-profit website for “The Ecology Center.” I was blessed with the opportunity to create the fun, interactive headers on each page. YIPPPY! If you check out the WEBSITE HERE, you can mouse over the headers to trigger animation.So now you’re probably thinking, “How’d we do that?” Well, let’s move on as I guide you step-by-step on how this was achieved.

Step One: Concept & Design

Once the look and feel was handed over to me, I needed to develop a creative direction for each header in terms of the layout and content. If you’ve noticed, the home page flash header has an assortment of colors spanning across through the depicted nature scene. To proceed, EMG decided to split each colored section to represent a different sub-section for the website. After splitting up the homepage graphic we added some more elements to bring the images to life. Check out the screens shots below.

 Step Two: Import & Layout in Flash Read the rest of this entry »

Is social media a dead space for Advertisers now?  Certainly not, however, according to this article that was forwarded to me by a friend (thanks Spore); Randall Stross from the NY Times seems to lean in that direction.  I have a few issues with this article, or perhaps, I take issue with the case study presented as well as the social network platform that was used for this particular Advertising promotion.

The case presented was about Crest White Strips which Proctor & Gamble ran a large promotion.  This article discussed P&G’s campaign on Facebook, specifically, and how they felt the campaign fell short of the desired metrics.

According to the article, “Independent experts on Web advertising” has identified “a myriad of difficulties in making brand advertising work on social networking sites.  Members of social networks want to spend time with friends, not brands.”  This is ludicrous.  First off, I would like to know who these “Independent experts” are, and see what level of involvement they have with social networking sites and advertiser campaigns.  As an avid social networking user, I feel that the above quote about users wanting to spend time with friends and not brands is a completely inaccurate statement with a caveat that the brands that are trying to engage the users must position their campaigns in a way that is enticing to that brand enthusiast.

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As one of the few coders who were first introduced to XHTML prior to HTML, I was fortunate enough to not acquire the bad habits of HTML. However, I did have my share of encounters of bad HTML over the years. Back then, I remember being asked to fix a style issue on a page that was coded in all caps with no CSS style and why the page looked different in Firefox and Explorer. Today, these are the habits of the old. And now, there is XHTML to resolve such issues.

XHTML is the “new” HTML and it stands for Extensible HyperText Markup Language. XTHML is a form of XML which is designed to describe data. XHTML, on the contrary, is stricter and cleaner version of HTML. XTHML is the Word Wide Consortium’s (W3C) Recommendation, considering that all new browsers support it. Basically, this is the proper method of creating web pages.

Here are guidelines to write XTHML:
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I really enjoy attending User Experience events. This is one place where I can tell people that I am an Information Architect, without them looking at me and say: So I guess you design houses then?

Trust me, I get that quite a lot at other social gatherings, like birthday parties, weddings and high school reunions…

So, I was at this Los Angeles Designers Meet up recently and a young lady in her mid 20s asked me a question that I have not thought of in recent years.

Her: What would be THE one principle that you have stood by throughout the years in your line of work?”

(I deep thought about my past 10 years in the User Experience field and replied)

Me: Well, it has to be KISS Usability or Keep It Simple Stupid Usability.

(I went on and elaborate)

Me: In fact, it’s easy to make things difficult but it’s difficult to make things easy.

But the key when it comes to usability is to focus on just one thing.

I then shared an article that I’ve recently read, with her. It’s called “Choice Kills Usability” by John Rhodes and here are some key points from that article:

“One of the easiest ways to improve usability is by focusing on just one thing. When you present something to the user, be sure that it’s just one thing. All too often we try too hard to offer people several options.

The reason many people love Google.com is that it offers just one thing: Search. A single-minded focus has enormous implications. Users can clearly understand what Google is about and what it does. Even new users to Google are instantly put at ease because of the outlandish simplicity.

There are branding implications as well. When people think about search they think about Google and when they think about Google they think about search. This brand strength translates to billions of dollars of market capitalization…”

“…billion dollar companies down to gritty little sales pages can benefit from ultra focus. When you eliminate clutter and choices, usability invariably goes up. When there is a single purpose of a web page, product or service everyone wins.

Next time you’re thinking about giving your customers 100 choices, think about the effort that it takes to investigate each decision. Think about the cognitive effort required to sift through option after option. Look, if you “know” there is one best choice; eliminate the junk and focus, focus, focus.

Choice kills usability. Not always — But when you are in doubt about adding features, choices, and options, take the safe path.

Provide a clear vision. Be practical. Focus for usability. “

So, next time, when your customer wants the “About Us” link to be repeated on the header, footer and again on the infamous quick-links section, just because they said it is not prominent enough. Think again, try to recommend a solution that focus and make that “one link” more obvious and prominent.

The footer definitely has much greater use than just repeating what’s in the header and so is the quick-links section. I guess that may be a topic for my next chat up and a blog to follow.