K e r n i n g

Cool little nugget about where the word kerning comes from:

“The word kerning is a cognate of corner (that is, the two words have a common root). In the days when all type was cast metal, a corner was notched to a consistent height on one or both sides of a letter-piece. Such notched pieces were only set against one another, not against unnotched ones, which had straight sides. The corner allowed for a character’s features to reach into the area normally taken up by the next character, for example the top bar of the T, or the right diagonal stroke of the V to hang over the top left corner of an a.
Having a consistently shaped corner cut-out allowed for using fewer pieces of type to make up all possible kerning pairs; for example a T- and V-piece with kerning on the right would match the same A piece with a matching kerning indention on the left.” -Wikipedia

So many of the words we use every day in design have very tangible real meanings that date back to a non-digital world.

Good thoughts -Paul Rand

The businessman will never respect the professional who does not believe in what he does. The businessman under these circumstances can only “use” the artist for his own ends. And why not, if the artist himself has no ends?
-Paul Rand

The designer who voluntarily presents his client with a batch of layouts does so not out prolificacy, but out of uncertainty or fear. He thus encourages the client to assume the role of referee. In the event of genuine need, however, the skillful designer is able to produce a reasonable number of good ideas. But quantity by demand is quite different than quantity by choice. Design is a time-consuming occupation. Whatever his working habits, the designer fills many a wastebasket in order to produce one good idea. Advertising agencies can be especially guilty in this numbers game. Bent on impressing the client with their ardor, they present a welter of layouts, many of which are superficial interpretations of potentially good ideas, or slick renderings of trite ones.
-Paul Rand

New Site Launched! – Southwestern College

We launched a website this week that’s been awhile in the making. It feels good. Several months back Southwestern College chose us to create a brand new website for them. They had lain out some pretty ambitious goals for the site. They wanted something built on modern standards, easily scalable, and with pages numbering well over a thousand. Plus, -they wanted it to look great. It’s the kind of challenge we love.

Normally we try to talk about the feel-good part of launching a site, congratulate our client a bit, and try to keep it short. This time, if you’ll permit us, we’d like to talk about the nerdy side some. We’re really proud of the technical aspects of this site, and think it warrants a few bullets.

• This site is built so that individuals all over the campus can be in charge of specific parts of the content. We built the site around the “many hands make small work” philosophy. As this site grows, it will get richer in depth, and usefulness to all that use it.
• Each of the relevant sections of the site has an RSS feed attached. As you wander from section to section, news specific pages have ever-more-specific RSS feeds. The net effect is that you can keep up with campus-wide happenings, or with only the small piece that you’re interested in.
• Virtually every bit of content within the site is swappable through online administration. All the way from the staff directory, to the individual calendars for each department. In fact, if SC creates an entire new department, they’re only a couple clicks away from adding it to the website.
• Individual departments get great tools to connect with their students, and anyone interested. Dynamic photo galleries, rosters, news feeds, and calendars make it easy to get the word out about what’s happening on a micro-level.

We’re thinking this new site is going to be a big hit for SC. The deserve it. They’re a great institution, and a great group of people. They worked extremely hard these last few weeks leading up to launch, and it really shows.

Thanks to SC for the great collaboration, and the fun project. We’re proud to be along for the ride.

If you want to see the site for yourself, see it online here:
http://www.sckans.edu/campus

Used Website For Sale.

Wouldn’t it be nice? You’ve spent thousands of dollars developing, and maintaining a website, but now it’s starting to feel old… Or maybe you need new features, or lots of new content. Wouldn’t it be great to get some of your original investment back?

Take heart. If your developer has used modern standards to develop your site, there is a lot that can be done to recapture your investment.

• Sites built with CSS can be more rapidly changed graphically to reflect new branding. They’re also much easier to rework structurally.
• Sites built on common database platforms are easier to extract data out of. If you have a static website, or a website in a closed CMS, it might take a lot of copy/paste.
• Programming can be hard to salvage, but if it’s built well, and in a mainstream language it makes the process easier. Sometimes it’s as easy as changing a few lines of code to make code run up to modern standards.

What about a remodel? You don’t have to start over unless it’s really required.

• Simple things like changing headlines, and important graphics can make a huge difference.
• Adding Flash to a page can make a big impact on how your site feels to your audience.
• Working with a copy writer to update content, and make the call-to-action more apparent can make a big difference in capture rate.
• Replacing PDF’s with real pages, and forms helps make your site more usable, and is often an inexpensive way to make a dramatic impact.

Before you throw in the towel, talk to us, or another qualified developer about how you can salvage the best of your current site.

Show Your Potential Employer How Great You Are.

We get lots of applications to work at Entermotion. One thing is true of all of the applications we pay attention to: They show real work. It’s amazing how many applications we get from people wanting to work in a visual field that don’t show anything visual. Even for non-designer positions, it’s critical to demonstrate what you can do. Here are the things that tend to get us excited:

• Show us a great online portfolio. And we really mean an online portfolio. If you’re applying for a web dev position, build it yourself. If you’re applying for a designer position, it’s cool to use an existing online service. A lot of what we do involves using online apps, and revolves around websites, -so the more you can show us that demonstrates knowledge of the internet the better.
• Write a letter. Collaboration is about communicating, and to work well with us you have to be able to communicate. We’re increasingly a dispersed team, and being a succinct writer with a friendly tone will carry a lot of weight. A few well written sentences about who you are will go much further than a bunch of bullet points on a resume. We particularly love people who have blogs, and write about their experiences in the worlds of graphic design, and web dev.
• Design your resume. We’re not usually that interested in resumes, but if you include one make it look great.
• Show us great code. If you’re applying for a programming position, show us some code. It’s hard to lie in code, and you can see someone’s expertise in the details. Showing us a tight little function, or a small app you’ve built can tip the scale.
• Be clever. For us, or for any job you’re applying for, have your facts checked, and say something specifically unique about that employer. Tell us why you’ll fit in. Tell us why you want to work here as opposed to other places.

Don’t do these things:

• Call up and while asking for an email address to send your resume to, -ask how to spell Entermotion.
• Send a portfolio that is mostly illustrations of comic book characters or fine art.
• Show us an example of work you’ve done that’s broken, incomplete, or that you had a very small part in.
• Ask for an in person meeting before you’ve shown work.

We’re always looking for great additions to our staff. I’m sure most of our competition is as well. You can always find room in the budget for someone that is impressive. A great employee more than pays for themselves, so it’s only smart to snatch someone up before someone else gets them. If you want to work for us, or anyone else, -do yourself a favor, and set the tone for your new career by blowing the socks off of your potential employer.