What is a Competitive Analysis?

A competitive analysis looks at the marketing effectiveness of a company's online presence and their competition's. It takes a look at each site and determines what can be done to increase your market share. A Competitive Analysis is conducted at the beginning of every project to establish a basis for the success of the project.

There are three questions that must be answered before a competitive analysis can be started. (read more)

New Orleans Events | 01.01.09 - 01.15.09

As some of you know, I live in New Orleans. There is always something going on. There are festivals most weekends, live music, Prospect 1 (until January 18), great art, and there is always a party. The problem is that I don't do a very good job of keeping track of it all. To force myself to pay attention to what is going on around me, I'm going to do a best of New Orleans post every couple of weeks to highlight events in the community that I find interesting.

This post is going to cover from now until New Years. Email me if I left anything out and I'll gladly include it. (read more)

New Orleans Events til New Years

As some of you know, I live in New Orleans. There is always something going on. There are festivals most weekends, live music, Prospect 1 (until January 18), great art, and there is always a party. The problem is that I don't do a very good job of keeping track of it all. To force myself to pay attention to what is going on around me, I'm going to do a best of New Orleans post every couple of weeks to highlight events in the community that I find interesting.

This post is going to cover from now until New Years. Email me if I left anything out and I'll gladly include it. (read more)

Design Advice - Have a Process

Most people have no clue how we go about doing our jobs. A typical view of designers is that we are impetuous, esoteric creatures; we go off behind closed doors and play with the magical substance of creativity, and emerge hours later with a completed design. The reality of what we do is much more boring; we use a well defined series of steps to complete the project.

How do we bridge the gap between what we do and how others perceive what we do? We must explain that there is a rhyme to our reason. That we have a well thought out process that enables us to complete our projects to the best of our ability in the (read more)

Safe Speed Lafayette vs Beu

I received my first speeding ticket ever in the mail a few months ago. I wasn't pulled over by a police officer. I was caught on camera by Safe Speed on the corner of University Ave and Simcoe St in Lafayette, Louisiana.

My first reaction was anger. My second reaction was to wonder what the bumsen, so I sent in the little form to contest the ticket. If you lose, you pay a $30.00 adjudication fee on top of the fine. I didn't mind getting the ticket, I was speeding. There was just something about getting my first speeding ticket in that manner that didn't feel right. (read more)

Christmas Creep Boycott

Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. Before Halloween, stores everywhere start selling Christmas related items and running Christmas advertisements. This year I noticed giant inflatable snowmen at Wal-Mart in early September. When Christmas arrives four months later, everyone is burnt-out on Christmas carols, the colors red and green, and tinsel.

The List
The List is my father's gift to humanity. The List is a simple device to punish stores or restaurants with bad service or shoddy products. If your store made the list, we would not be coming back until my father forgot the transgression. (read more)

Design Advice - Learn how to type

Learning how to type is very important. I know this seems obvious, but it is simply amazing that many designers type like a Bonobo playing the keys. I don't mean to insult the noble Bonobo. He hasn't been playing the keys for that long. In a year I'm expecting him to tackle Oscar Peterson's Summer Me, Winter Me.

You need to learn how to touch-type
Touch-typing is typing without looking to find the keys. You need to learn how to touch-type. This is not an option. This is a necessity for anyone who works on a computer all day. If you actually have to think about typing while typing, then your work is suffering. (read more)

Web design is not print design

Designing for the web is a different experience than designing for print media. With print you are designing a tactile object that is measured in inches (or centimeters) and printed in pantone colors on a surface of your choosing. With web design you are designing an interactive experience based on pixels, screen resolution, internet speed, and the browser. The designer has more control over the appearance of a print piece than a website. The print designer is only limited by what the client can afford and what would be appropriate. As much as we would like to, we can't choose your screen resolution, internet connection, and browser for you. (read more)

To-do Lists for More Productivity

I use to-do lists to run my business. It is an easy way to keep track of progress on projects. Crossing off items one by one gives a visual assessment of what you have done. Crossing off item after item builds momentum.

I use three different lists to run my business. I have a list of things that I must take care of every month, every week, and a list of things to take care of today. When I am done with my to-do list for today, I am done working. (read more)

Secondary Income for Designers

Our government has added vast sums of money to the monetary supply that will cause significant inflation. The credit market is frozen. The Dow is down 33% this year. We have started to see the beginning of a recession.

The economic woes of today may not be affecting you, but chances are in the next few months they will. In tough economic times print and web design are considered expendable. In order to prepare for tougher times, we need to look for secondary sources of income. Here are three ways to supplement your income. (read more)