What Sites Do You Pay For?
What web services do you pay for online?
Flickr ($25 year)
Have a Mint ($30 one time fee)
I have a feeling there might be more, I just can’t think of them right now…
YOU?
Time Warner Cable SUCKS!
As I write this I’ve been on hold for exactly 29 minutes and 13 seconds waiting for someone to take my call to their customer service department so I can cancel a promotional service. The promotional period for RoadRunner Music—which I’ve never used—expired a couple months ago and a month before that happened I chatted with their online support crew and had them cancel it. Or so I thought. For the past couple months the mysterious charges of $9.95 and $5.00 have continued to appear on my bill.
AGGGHHHHHHH! The customer service line just hung up on me. This is ridiculous.
On the flip side, I’m number 9 in the queue for the online chat support (30 minutes later).
Create a WebClip Bookmark Icon
iPhone and iPod touch allow a user to save a WebClip bookmark to your site on their Home Screen.
To specify a bookmark icon for all pages of a web site, place a PNG image named “apple-touch-icon.png” at the root directory of your web server - similar to the “favicon.ico” for site icons.
To override the site bookmark icon on a specific web page, insert a <link> element similar to <link rel=”apple-touch-icon” href=”/customIcon.png”/> within the <head> element of the page.
The bookmark icon dimensions should be 57×57 pixels. If the icon is a different size it will be scaled and cropped to fit.
Safari will automatically composite the icon with the standard “glassy” overlay so it looks like a built-in iPhone or iPod application.
The Uncontrollable Kodak SV811 Digital Picture Frame
The other day I was trying to load a picture slide show on a Kodak SV811 digital picture frame and I learned the hard way that you can’t control the order of the photos.
I tried editing the file names (001, 002, 003 / a, b, c,) and I even tried saving them in order with the thought that the frame was deciding which order to play the images based on some meta data, but to no avail.
So the next solution I tried was to convert the slideshow into a video and just save that to the frame. No go.
Unfortunetly the “video” capabilities touted by the digital frame are also severely lacking. Apparently it doesn’t accept all versions of .mov or .avi files. Tsk Tsk…
City Taglines
Here’s an extensive list of city mottos/taglines.
U.S. City Mottos
A Whole Lotta Texas Goin’ On!—Abilene, TX
It’ll Make You Smile—Adair, IA
Good For You, Albuquerque—Albuquerque, NM
Where the People Are Warm Even When the Weather Isn’t—Andover, KS
Read more
Crocket has found a home.
On our first weekend as foster parents for a small Aussie/Lab puppy named “Crocket“, he was adopted.
5 Agency sites that awed*
It looks like the Capstrat team did it again. Capstrat.com has been recognized by PRweek as one of five agency sites that “awed” in 2007. We’re in good company with the likes of international firms like Edelman and Fleishman Hilliard. I love that PRWeek got the message that it is our people that make us what we are. Kudos to Steven and his team for making sure the cobbler’s kids have shoes. Just for kicks I’ve also included the five sites that annoyed. Enjoy.
5 Agency sites that awed*
1. http://www.gcigroup.com/
<fleishman.com > GCI Group is clearly taking great emphasis on positioning itself as a creative agency. The animation is decent enough, but what is breathtaking about the site is its remarkable simplicity. Available instantly is a one-minute video describing the agency’s philosophy, latest blog post, and case studies.
2 http://www.fleishman.com/
OK, the site does take a little longer to load than it should,
but it also has a simple landing point, and does understand that you can have a little bit of a scroll on a homepage. Information on Fleishman-Hillard is in uniform, easy-to-digest bites.
3 http://www.capstrat.com/
Many agencies have tried to show its “people.” Capstrat’s ingenious panoramic view of the office succeeds where everyone else failed. Every single employee appears to have a bio, declarative proof that it’s an agency that cares about all of its employees.
4 http://horngroup.com/
The homepage is clean, the rotating image captures your attention, and the content on the site is updated. But what helps transcend Horn Group’s site to one that awed is the simplicity of its blog page. The homepage takes you directly to the official Horn Group blog, and you’re able to immediately transfer to other Horn employee-written blogs and client-written blogs.
5 http://www.edelman.com/
The main image immediately draws your eyes in, then as you gravitate downward, you get a sense of the thought leadership from Edelman available at the site. The rotating career opportunities banner is a smart move, too.
* Based on sites as of December 3.
5 agency sites that annoyed*
1 http://www.burson-marsteller.com/default.aspx
You may wonder, “When will it ever load?” Ah, yes, you had to wait for the animated avatar to get ready to spout bland marketing speak. Combined with the huge promotion for CEO Mark Penn’s book “Microtrends,” the site wants to hide whatever information that might be relevant about the firm.
2 http://www.schwartz.com/
You lost us, immediately, with the homepage flash animation of falling letters that assemble to spell out GS Schwartz & Co. Where’s the content to draw in the reader? But it gets worse. The news releases are PDFs, the site changes fonts at random, and the navigation is unnecessary due to the paucity of info on the site.
3 http://text100.com/
The agency that was first to conquer Second Life still has not figured out how to put RSS feeds on its news section. Combined with an image of people doing handstands, the miniscule navigation buried on the left-hand side, and the undistinguished marketing copy, this site does not impress.
4 http://www.coynepr.com/
Coyne PR must have employed a good SEO firm because from its opening image to a list of clients, it all appears to be locked up in Flash prison. That, combined with no thought leader-ship content, is no way to build organic traffic.
5 http://waggeneredstrom.com/
WE’s inclusion on this list is unfortunate, given the site is easy to use and has a lot of information. But the homepage looks like a poorly put-together high school paper, and the text randomly changes colors and sizes. A PR firm should know about first impressions. **
* Based on sites as of December 3.
** Denotes the Web site has changed since publication
From the December 24, 2007 Issue of PRWeek
Puppy up for adoption.
Thinking about getting a puppy for the new year?
My wife and I are the new foster parents of a 4 month old Aussie mix puppy.
He’s available for adoption through the Animal Protection League of Johnston County.
Just call (919) 989-7601 or visit jcapl.org and let them know you’re interested in “Crocket”.
Happy New Years!
Adobe Illustrator Tilde Trick
This is one of those semi-hidden features that you may have stumbled upon already, but if not here’s how it works.
llustrator has a key command for repeating any of Illustrator’s drawing tools as you drag your mouse across the art board. Simply hold down the tilde key (~) [right above the left tab key] while using any drawing tool.
Kindling’s first spark.
Welcome to Kindling Design.
My name is Ben Requena and I am a graphic designer living in Raleigh, North Carolina. Before moving to North Carolina I lived in Augsburg, Germany where I picked up the beautiful game of soccer and a taste for gluhwein and schnitzel, but that wasn’t all. While in Europe I took numerous trips to the many ornate cathedrals and fine art museums across the continent and absorbed as much of the rich art history as a I could.
Once I returned to the U.S. I enrolled in several art classes and shortly afterwards graduated from university with a BFA in Fine Arts concentrating in computer graphics and traditional printmaking. Ah, the good life.
I’m currently employed by the great agency CapStrat as a Sr. Graphic Designer. So what’s the deal with this blog?
Well, Kindling Design is a visual reservoir and freelance design studio. I hope to fill this blog with interesting information pertaining to web and graphic design, usability, and general marketing fodder.
Contact me if you would like to work together, have a suggestion or just want to say hi:
benjamin.requena [at] gmail.com
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About
Kindling Design is the visual reservoir and freelance design studio of Ben Requena. more...
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Sideblog
I seriously owe John Romano and Todd Moy of Capstrat a drink or two.
- #at raleigh nc addys awards. congrats to capstrat
- #Do all websites need to look the same?
- #@ioubeer [Chris Maire] for helping out with GarnishBar.com
- #I'm thinking about redesigning the GarnishBar blog.
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