Tag: Design

5 Ways To Convert Your Blog Into Infographics

July 10, 2017

Human beings are biologically wired to pay more attention to visuals. Did you know ½ of our brain is dedicated to our visual function? Also, 93% of all human communication is visual. Well, are you thinking this is a blog on human brains? Wait, here’s the clarification. Visual content has taken up a huge chunk of digital marketing space so much so that Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images. And now, infographics, which in simple terms mean visual representation of data, has emerged as one of the most sought after content marketing tools to engage the audience in business. According to Content Marketing Institute, infographics were the B2B content marketing tactic with the biggest increase in use, from 2015 to 2016, up from 50% to 58%. Since 65% of the entire population are visual learners, infographics which represent complex data and statistics in visually enticing format, are gaining popularity. Also, with every passing day, our attention spans are becoming shorter. This is where infographics are scoring big time. Since infographics have to-the-point text accompanied by colourful images, statistics, graphs, they are being increasingly shared on the social media platforms than text. In short: infographics are easy to scan and you can grab the information at a glance. Web usability consultant Jakob Nielsen mentioned that the average user reads at most 20 % to 28 % of words during an average visit. Now, you can also turn your text (read blog, article) into an infographic if you follow a few simple steps. This way you can recycle and repurpose the old content and give it a new lease of life. Here are five ways how you can convert your blog into an infographic.   Identify the most important information in the content You content comprises 2,000 words but you can’t replicate the exact number of words in the infographic. That won’t serve the purpose of infographics also. The foremost thing that should be kept in mind when turning content into an infographic is to cull out the most important information or points from the article. Infographics should not be text heavy. It should be concise. In simple words: you should be able to prove your point through well-organised graphical representations. The best way would be to ask a few simple questions to yourself when digging out key information from the article. Here are a few sample questions: What is the main purpose of the article? What are the major takeaways from the article? Does the infographic contain updated and authentic facts? It’s highly necessary to remember that people like going through infographic these days because it gives the most relevant information in an easy, graphical format so that it makes the maximum impact.   Here’s the link to our infographic on the 5 tech gifts for your mom on Mother’s Day https://www.indusnet.co.in/5-tech-gifts-mom-mothers-day/ Decide on the template which would best represent the data Now that you have the content with you, you need to decide how you are going to represent the data in the form of graphics. However, here’s a thought. Before you choose the type of infographic which goes best with your content, it’s important to understand the target audience and the objective. Also, before deciding on the template you also need to organize the information in a way you want to represent your content in the infographic.   So, if you are developing a content which shows the expansion and journey of your company over the years, you can use the timeline infographic. You can also create geographical infographic wherein your data will be integrated with maps. Here are some of the types of infographics you can design to make your content alluring to your customers: Flow chart Timeline Comparison Photo infographic Versus infographic Hierarchical infographics Statistical Infographics Interactive Infographics Useful Bait List infographic Geographic infographics Design the infographic using clean fonts Today, virtual bookmarking site Pinterest is home to thousands of infographics. A designer needs to make an infographic tempting enough to make it stand out in the crowd. A designer can always take help of the online tools to create infographics also. These tools will spark creative inspiration in the designer and we can come up with captivating images. Also, using of minimum text, clean fonts and applying colour palettes that represent your company, can add value to the infographic.   Here’s top 8 online tools what would help you to create innovative and engaging infographics. Canva Infographic Maker Visme.co Creately Infogr.am Easel.ly Piktochart InfoActive Venngage Add the link to your blog on the infographic You are converting your blog article into an infographic so that a reader can easily browse through the important points in your content. So, don’t forget to include the link to your original content at the bottom or beginning of the infographic. In this way you can receive unique traffic to your website. Also, it’s always advisable to include the links to the source from where the information is taken. Include the embed code under the infographic Reportedly, infographics are liked and shared on social media 3X more than other any other type of content. Infographics are easy to read and can transform complicated data into colourful graphical representations. Now, if you want your infographic to be shared, then it’s important to embed code under the infographic. Once you embed the code, your infographic can be easily downloaded and shared on the social media platforms. Remember, if your infographic is properly designed with accurate information, there will be more shares and likes. This will help in improving the SEO of your company’s website. Conclusion As mentioned above, today 83% of learning is done visually and this is where infographics are coming into play in the content marketing strategy. Did you know that the search volume for infographics on Google between 2011 and 2013 has increased over 800%? Today, infographics are incredibly popular, thanks to Pinterest. And at the pace it is marching ahead, in the

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10 Ways Design Thinking Can Help You Innovate

February 1, 2017

We’ve heard often that design thinking is the secret to the success of businesses like Apple, Nike, and many other recognizable brands. However, not many of us stop and question what design thinking really is, and how it can help us to innovate our products and services. What is design thinking? Most businesses try to approach products and services with problems in mind. However, design thinking brings a paradigm shift. Design thinking prioritizes solutions first and orients products and services toward action. Design thinking imagines all the solutions that a user might want, even if there are no problems. This unique quality of design thinking helps businesses to bring solutions before users identify problems or feel a need. In other words, when a user uses a product or service with design thinking as its basis, he experiences what can be described as a “eureka moment”.   Whether you are selling a software program, an idea or a pair of shoes, design thinking can help you innovate. Let’s take a look at how it does that. Brings value Design thinking is a combination of science, art & design. This approach helps us to bring value to whatever we are creating. Apple’s iPhone is not just a cellphone. It effectively used art, science and design to create one of the most enduring symbols of 21st century. iPhone not only helped solve existing problems, but it brought value to an entire industry and helped other smartphone manufacturers to innovate. Intuitiveness One of the hallmarks of design thinking is intuitiveness. Design thinking helps to create products and services that are intuitive. This intuitiveness helps to drive innovation in the larger industry. WordPress is a good example of this intuitiveness. It helps even users with minimal knowledge of publishing to post blogs, and even run entire websites. This is an example of intuitiveness at its best. WordPress continues to innovate publishing industry because it is rooted in design thinking. Competitive edge Design thinking helps to predict what others might be doing. It isn’t just about creating solutions but also about understanding what might happen in future. This quality helps those doing the design thinking to innovate and move further than their competitors. Nike has consistently used design thinking to stay ahead of other sneaker manufacturers. This is mostly because the company’s design thinking has helped it to combine athletic science with fashion trends, which appeals not only to those who are interested in sportswear, but also the fashion-conscious. UI/UX Design thinking puts user interface and user experience at the top of priorities. Doing so helps to create products and services that are truly innovative. Most software programs that are popular today are so because of their UI/UX. Programs that are clumsy or outdated simply do not do well enough. With this in mind, it is safe to say that software development’s UX/UI is heavily dependent on design thinking. Focus on end user Design thinking is all about focusing on the end user. Some of the most important questions that are asked are who is it for, why do they want to use it, when will they use it, how will they use, and where will they use it. As only end users are prioritized, innovation focuses on their needs. When Amazon decided to include bookmarks with books that were parceled to customers, it was engaging in design thinking. Brainstorming and collective expertise Design thinking focuses on brainstorming and the collective expertise of many individuals or teams. This helps to create a holistic solution, instead of a product or service that may not seem very well put together. Remarkable buildings around the world are a result of design thinking. The Great Pyramid of Giza took thousands of slaves, builders, architects and engineers to build, thousands of years ago. Emotional connection Design thinking stresses upon the importance of empathy and emotional connection with the user. Designers should walk in the shoes of the user, and imagine what he or she might feel emotionally while using the product. Does it elicit joy, confusion, anger, boredom, thrill, relief? Manufacturers of candies know the importance of empathy and emotional connection very well. This is one of the reasons why they hire professional tasters before launching candies into market! Focuses on the gestalt Design thinking is not about looking at various problems. It is about creating a holistic solution. It believes in the gestalt philosophy of ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. This means, it puts various factors of art, science and design together to create a marketable service or product, which is intuitive and useful. Almost all great products and services are gestalts. Be it IBM’s cloud solutions or Microsoft’s Office suite, they are all gestalts in their own way.   Creates opportunities Design thinking drives innovation by creating opportunities. It creates opportunities for competitors to innovate because a product or service that is based in design thinking is usually inspirational. We could probably again state the example of the iPhone, which helped Samsung, and other smartphone manufacturers to create products that are rivals in their own right.   Solves problems Last but not the least, design thinking solves problems. This quality of design thinking helps companies to innovate and create solutions even before problems arise. Testing and resting, research and development, innovation and strategy  are all part of design thinking. Almost all mobile and web apps that are successful today solve problems based on design thinking. Similarly, today’s extraordinary cloud computing solutions are based in design thinking too! As you can see, design thinking does a lot of other things than just solving problems. It helps to create value and bring intuitive user experience to end users. All this results in innovation in whatever you are offering to your end users, and that is what a business should be all about.

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A Brief History of Manga’s Popularity

November 23, 2016

The most popular of Manga series is probably Naruto, the teenager who seeks recognition and a sort of revenge for things he endured as a youngster. Manga is a Japanese comic series, whose history dates back to 12th century. Naruto is one of the contemporary series, and is heavily influenced by American comic culture too. There are many different kinds of Manga, catering to different audiences. There are Manga series devoted to adventure, romance, science fiction, sports and even suspense. In fact, you can even find Manga related to business. Japanese culture is heavily slanted towards Manga and this is reflected in the readership of Manga series. Manga has had an influence on design, character creation, and copy writing for years now, and this influence is likely to continue as we consume Japanese pop culture in India, the UK and the USA. Manga-influenced comics are available in France, China, South Korea and even Latin America. The form of expression and presentation in Manga is usually distinct, and the wide-eyed characters usually imply innocence. Before World War II Hokusai was one of the most prolific Manga artists, who created more than 30,000 works in late 18th and early 19th centuries. In the 17th century, artists began to use wood blocks and in the 18th, more adult-oriented comics began to appear. In the 18th century, Japan opened up to European influence, and this caused a tectonic shift in Japanese culture. New printing techniques and colors from Europe helped Japanese artists to develop better Manga strips. It was around 19th century that the first Manga strips began to appear in US magazines such as New York World, published by John Pulitzer. As World War 1 began and things began to change rapidly in Japan, Manga artists were severely repressed and censored. Some of them self-censored too, fearing retribution from authorities. Until the end of World War II, censorship of Manga artists continued, and this was reflected in the sudden lull in production of graphic and violent manga. Post World War II America occupied Japan for 7 years, after the World War II. Japanese artists began to feel the burden of their own imperial history. The dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and other difficult events and situations led to modern Manga, which looks at traditional Japanese culture with a combination of reverence and satire. Traditional Japanese roles, such as the samurai, ninja, etc are satirized and innocence is given more attention. Some critics note that this change is probably due to the artists themselves being permanently scarred form the effects of Japanese imperialism and the subsequent damage of the war. By the mid-1960s, Manga came to look like what we know of it today. Today, Manga serves audiences from all over the world, and with all kinds of interests. This makes Manga one of the most enduring forms of pop culture in the world. Manga in content marketing Manga can be a great source of inspiration for designers and graphic artists. Especially in a time when we are publishing explainer videos and infographics, manga can be seen as a viable platform for content marketing. Manga business comics already exist in Japan, and there is no reason why the same kind should not be used here and in Western countries. With a renewed focus on graphics and comic super heroes, corporate messages can be communicated to a target audience using Manga. This would be highly popular among the youth, and also among the older generation, who grew up reading traditional manga comics from the 1960s, which were published soon after the war. Imagine publishing an explainer video based on a recurring character, who is already familiar with your target audience. Each time you launch a product or an update to a service, Manga strips can be released, complete with a strong storyline and evoking superhero characters. This helps in gaining the attention of those who are often not open to traditional forms of communication. Moreover, Manga has not been limited to Japan, after the World War II. It has been equally popular in the USA and UK, and this is one of the reasons why we should take it more seriously, when it comes to designing our content. Certainly, Manga would make a great platform to convey our corporate and marketing messages to the right target audience. The future might warrant more focus on such pop culture inspired marketing campaigns in order to remain ahead of competitors. Looking forward Manga has existed in Japan since ancient times, and Buddhist monks used to create manga scrolls as early as 6th century. With time, Manga developed into a form of art which expressed violence, revenge, political satire and sensuality. One of the most famous today is Naruto, which continues to be popular across the world. These Manga strips can be useful to position yourself as a contemporary brand when you communicate the way your audience likes you to. Moreover, with a stiff competition from many organizations, it is imperative for each one of us to look towards alternative platforms and methods to market our products and services. Manga is a great way to diversify and offer marketing messages through an alternative platform. Speak to one of our design professionals about how we can incorporate Manga into your content marketing campaign.

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RAW Editing Comes to Adobe Lightroom

November 11, 2016

Adobe Lightroom just got a major update on Android. As RAW editing is now implemented on Android, photography enthusiasts can work on their Android devices much better. RAW editing was implemented on iOS back in July, much like everything else. #development #design

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Why You Must seek Inspiration in Vintage Graphic Design

November 7, 2016

A vintage looking website is often more popular than shiny new websites with the latest sliders. Why is this so? A little probing will lead you to the conclusion that we, as humans, are motivated by our memories. We seek to use our memories to create a future. It’s only memories, and memories are all we have. All that we are today, is only because of our past memories. The memories of what we have learned, memories of procedures, memories of people, things we did, things we liked and disliked, memories of ourselves, and of our larger life. These memories help in using stimulus to create an appropriate response. For example, when you look at a cat, you notice its shape, its ears and then your brain matches this information with what is stored in your brain, and then you conclude it is a cat. This process happens so quickly that you don’t realize all these cognitive functions taking place. Recognition, such as recognizing the cat as a cat, depends on memory too. With all this in mind, it only makes sense to create websites that may evoke pleasant memories. Pleasant memories usually take us back to childhood or adolescence, and these sorts of memories evoke a very strong emotional response, the kind that would make people do things that they otherwise might not. For example, a website that reminds someone of the time they spent in the 1970s at a rock club will resonate more with someone in his 50s or 60s. If you are building a website for this target audience, it makes sense to rely on various cultural references from those ages. Likewise, different age groups can be encouraged to take action when their nostalgic memories are invoked. In this article, let us take a look at 5 fundamental reasons why vintage graphic design is important. Nostalgia Nostalgia is a very powerful emotion. When design inspires nostalgia in a person, he or she is more likely to succumb to the temptation of taking action. A nostalgia-provoking design usually borrows from pop culture references such as the Archie’s comics, Sherlock Holmes, etc. They may also borrow form, color, shape, illustration, etc. All these things evoke nostalgia, encouraging a person to view the design positively. Authenticity Authenticity is what originality is. A lot of hipsters like authenticity and originality that come with certain things. These people tend to be more amenable to design that scream ‘authentic’. In order to ensure authenticity, use vintage graphic design to inspire yourself while designing a web page or anything else. Originality is something that is lost over time, and it might seem counter intuitive to find inspiration in what has already been done. Retro Is Cool A lot of youngsters today like things that are vintage. A close look at comments on YouTube videos, where youngsters point out that they would have preferred to be born in a different era is a testimony to this fact. By finding inspiration in vintage graphic design, you stand to attract Generation Z, who are much younger than millennials and will be the next purchase-oriented group. Retro Is Different Most importantly, retro and vintage design is different. It stands out from today’s design. This helps you to grab attention of the viewer, regardless of the age. Once you have their attention, your content can help in making them make a decision. Thus, vintage graphic design can act as a bait to lure people to your content. Vintage Design Is Timeless What we must really remember is that vintage and retro design is classic. These design ideas are timeless and will always remain in vogue. Even if current trends go out of fashion, vintage design will continue to remain in popularity, helping you to remain relevant even after years. Certainly, this is one of the better ways to grab people’s attention. How to find inspiration in retro design? To find inspiration in retro and vintage graphic design, notice how they are always about shapes and illustrations. Circles, squares, rectangles and cubes were all very popularly used back then. Geometrical shapes help elicit psychological responses than non-symmetrical shapes. People did not have much money for printing back then. Full color printing was very expensive and thus, many designers chose dual-toned illustrations. These not only provided color but also saved money. You can create a contemporary design in a dual toned manner, which unconsciously will remind viewers of a distant past. Pay attention to typography and borders too. There were always borders in the past, and types were very simple. Bring some noise and layers to your pictures. Layering and texturing helps to create a vintage feel to your contemporary website. Lastly, you can use badges too, to evoke memories of a distant past. Underlying message As you can see, memories play a very important role in people’s emotions and the way they behave. In fact, memories are everything that fuels our thoughts and emotions. It makes sense to use vintage and retro design techniques to evoke pleasant memories of the past. This helps in evoking nostalgia, which is a very strong emotion. This helps in attracting older groups. Authenticity is another aspect of retro and vintage graphic design. This appeals to modern hipsters who like all things original. Moving on to younger generations, a lot of youngsters like old things because it sets them apart from their own generation. They find retro design cool. Another important fact to note is that retro design is inherently different from what is available today. Most importantly it is timeless. Find inspiration in retro and vintage graphic deigns by noticing shapes and illustrations. Move on to dual-tone coloring techniques and pay attention to vintage typography and borders. Find inspiration in layers and textures. All this will help when your business makes use of vintage graphic design in a smart way, without com[promising on fluidity and responsiveness of your website.

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Why Well Designed Icons Are Important?

November 2, 2016

With more and more mobile applications being released every day, it is becoming increasingly important to pay attention to the design of icons. All icons are not made the same and if an app icon is not pleasant enough, it may not get the kind of attention it needs on the App Store or on the Play Store. A good app icon is simple, minimalist and yet fresh in design. Good app icons are easy to recognize and people can easily ascertain what a particular application might be all about, just by looking at the icon. With a growing focus on branding, icons also need to be consistent with the overall branding of a company or product. This way, it is easier for people to associate an app with its larger company. Whether you release an app as a standalone product or as one of the many branding tools, you need to be consistent with your approach and your icon needs to be very well designed. In this article, let us take a look at why so much focus needs to be given to something so tiny, so miniscule. The short answer is that it is really important to remain in people’s memories. The longer answer is given below. To be recognizable Icons need to be easily recognizable. They should be aligned with your branding and they should also be something simple and minimalist. If icons are vague and if they do not utilize good color schemes, then they do not stay in people’s memories for long. Get an icon that is simple, fresh and minimalist. This helps people to recognize it quickly. To be pleasing An icon needs to be visually attractive. It cannot provide any information other than a letter and probably the colour scheme or shape. For this reason alone, ensure that the final icon is as aesthetically pleasing as possible. To not distract If an icon is too complex, people may not remember it or they may not be able to register it in their minds. An icon needs to be simple, fresh and easily recollected. For this purpose, it should not distract viewers with unnecessary textures, shapes and colors. To be consistent An icon should always be consistent with its larger branding strategy. The website, the logo of the company, and other branding materials should be consistent with the shape and color of the app icon. This helps to retain consistency and predictability of the icon. If consistency is not maintained it won’t be easy to recollect it. Building great app icons The more companies are moving towards enterprise mobility, the more app development is taking place at a breakneck pace. However, most people do not value the importance of how an icon looks. An app’s icon should be simple and consistent with the branding of the organization. People should be able to easily recollect and recognize it, and it should not distract people with unnecessary details. If these points are kept in mind while designing, there will always be consistency and recall value.

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Should You Study Art Professionally to Become a Great Designer?

April 11, 2016

If we discuss design, we immediately realize that it is inextricably linked to art. It can be safely said that modern design is a combination of science and art. Modern design combines computer science, laws of basic sciences and art to create objects and ideas that surpass previous creations. With this in mind, a number of people often wonder if they should study art professionally in order to become a designer. Should you study art academically? To answer this question, one needs to find out what kind of designer one wants to be. If one wants to be an instrument designer, art may help but it is more important to have a clear background in general sciences, such as mathematics or physics. However, if we are talking about product design or package design, the lines blur a bit and we may have to consider the importance of art. If we are discussing web design, the importance of art is even more evident. in short, if we are discussing design in terms of what can be viewed for pleasure or information processing, or for consumption (with the idea that it must also look good), then art is definitely very important. However, is it important for you to study art academically? The two kinds of artists and what we can learn from them An artist will tell you that there are two kinds of artists: those who take art so seriously (the ones who study it academically), that they stop having fun. This kind of art nerds will probably never create something like Picasso did. They probably will be great theorists and academics. The other kind of artist is the one who self-learns, experiments and simply engages himself or herself in the process of creating something, beautiful or ugly. This kind of person is the real artist and one can easily argue that professional training is not required. When it comes to web designing or product design, art can be studied in terms of various periods. This helps to understand the design process from a linear perspective. Also, it introduces the designer to various art movements, great artists and the way they played with colors, textures, and lines. This is quite important but can be self-learned. Thus, if one has set out to become a web designer or a product designer, it is important to study art but not professionally. He or she can pick up any of the resources available and acquaint themselves with various art movements, periods and the artists themselves. Indeed, it can be summarized that while it is important to know the various art movements, art periods and the great artists, it is not necessary to study art professionally or academically to become a great designer. It is important to tell impressionism from surrealism but it is not necessary to know how to play with the brushes or with clay. Going ahead and reading a few books on art should suffice to add to your existing design skills.

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Indus Net Technologies’(INT.) T-Shirt Design Contest, 2015

September 16, 2015

Want to win 5000/- cash right away? Well! You need to be a little creative to facilitate such an opportunity. Indus Net Technologies(INT.) is looking for the best design to grace its company’s T-Shirt. It could be from any of you. So what are you waiting for? Get your pencils sharpened, fire up your imagination and send your sketches to us! We’re excited to see what you’ll come up with! Here’s your chance to show us your creative talent, so don’t miss any bit of it. However, making a design you envisioned come to life on T-shirt requires certain guidelines and attention to details. So your first step is to check the following pointers before you pen down your thoughts –  The T-Shirt must enfold the ‘Indus Net Technologies(INT.)’ Logo and the ‘I Love Technology’    Logo.Click Here to Download Logo  There shall be no texts or visuals apart from the aforementioned logo of the company  It should be a collared corporate T-shirt. Download T-Shirt Template  Both the ‘Indus Net technologies(INT.)’ Logo and the ‘I Love Technology’ Logo contain 3 individual colours respectively. Participants need to exploit these specific colours while designing the T-shirt  All designs must be submitted in .jpeg and .psd/ai format by email only  All design submissions must be within 10 MB  All entry emails should have the subject line – ‘INT T-shirt Designing Contest’  The judging  criteria is based on creativity and originality  Submissions will be accepted from 17th September, 2015 till 30th September, 2015  Participants can submit more than one designs  The name of the winner shall be declared by the second week of October, 2015  No additional materials including videos, samples, etc. will be accepted with your submission  All entries should be accompanied with the participants’ full name, residential address and telephone number  Email us the T-shirt design at: mkt@indusnet.co.in For more information contact us : mkt@indusnet.co.in  Click here and take a look at the contest’s Terms & Conditions. Are you ready to enter the competition? After all, your designs deserve quality exposure.

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5 Design Festivals You Can’t Miss in 2015

September 2, 2015

There are a number of reasons why people attend design festivals. One is to meet and network with people and another is to find inspiration. Another reason why designers go to design festivals even if it is not related to their area of design is to learn from other forms of design. For example, if you are a web designer, you might wonder why you should go and visit a conference or festival dedicated to product design. However, there lies the paradox. Seemingly unrelated areas of design are quite inter-related. Every design area focuses on usability, color combinations, aesthetic appeal, innovation and inspiration. If you are a web designer, you will know that these are the most important elements of a good website. Similarly, if you are an animation professional, you will find it important to visit a web design festival because you will know what it is like to build websites and how design is important in that area. There is a lot to learn and find inspiration from not to forget making important contacts. These lead us to believe that every design professional, whether a website designer or a conceptual artist, should visit design festivals to learn, find inspiration and meet people. Of course, along the way, one also gets to visit new cities and countries, which can enrich our experiences. In this article, let us take a look at five design festivals which will take place after a few months, so that you have enough time to plan and go. Galway International Arts Festival, Dublin, Ireland – 13-26 July, 2015 Galway International Arts Festival is a centre for visual art, discussion, music and performance. It was one of Ireland’s premier festivals and people from all over Europe visited it to meet artists, musicians, designers from around the world. All of them gathered and walked through the winding cobbled streets of Galway. Galway itself is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city and you could have probably met your next business partner, if you looked around. Dublin Animation Film Festival (DAFF), Dublin, Ireland, October 16th and 17th, 2015 This is another Irish design festival but dedicated to showcasing animated films. All kinds of animation movies are showcased and this helps other designers to understand the art and technology behind it. In a way, this will help you to get away from the crowd and enjoy what it truly stands for: creative animation, art and fun. Dublin is an interesting city and is the capital of Ireland. You will surely be able to make some important contacts and exchange business cards, if you are looking at it from a networking perspective. London Design Festival 2015, 19-27 September, United Kingdom If we are talking about design festivals, there is nothing more important than the London Design Festival. It is an annual event and has been construed to promote London as the design capital of the world. Naturally, some of the biggest names in all areas of design would be present. This will be a great place to meet the international creative community and get yourself acquainted with them. Seattle Design Festival, September 2015, Seattle, the United States of America The Seattle Design Festival takes place in the grunge capital of the U.S. It strives to bring together communities of various areas of design and exchange information and ideas during tours, at workshops, gatherings and talks. There will also be movie screenings and you will be able to interact with a number of people who will be interested in your area of work. Seattle is a charming American city that is known for its start-up culture. You are bound to meet interesting people in this interesting city. Florence Design Week, 27-31 May 2015, Florence, Italy The Florence Design Week  was an International design festival that aimed at focusing on creative cities, this year. This had helped people to understood the problems of urban spaces and how nature can be brought back to our cities. This was also of interest to people who were into constructing cities and buildings. It combined creativity, business and innovation with tradition and nature. Florence needs no introduction and is one of the most importance cities of culture in the world. If you are unable to travel If you are unable to or could not attend any of these design festivals, try to attend design festivals closer to your location. It is sometimes not required to travel too far to come across some of the rarest talents in the world. If you can afford to, these 5 design festivals listed above are great events to attend to.

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Which Should You Prioritize? Design or Content?

July 31, 2015

Social media accounts, belonging to companies, have given rise to a whole new phenomenon in which companies try to design their social media pages in sync with their brands. Most companies still have not begun to make use of this important branding strategy. Social profiles of companies are, usually, the first point of contact for customers and clients. If your social profile is designed well and is attractive enough, people will spend more time on it and read through what you have shared. It is becoming increasingly important to get custom Twitter backgrounds and Facebook pages. While more people discuss designing social profiles, the focus on content seems to be falling back. It is important to focus on content as well as that is as important as design, when it comes to social profiles. Companies often ask if they need to focus more on design or content when it comes to launching their social profiles. In this article, we would evaluate the importance of both content and design, in order to understand which one is better and on which you need to spend more money. Why focus on design? Design has always been one of the primary focus areas of branding. Whether it is the color scheme or formatting or typography, design has begun to take precedence over other aspects of IT and branding. This is a good sign, as psychological research shows that people often judge a website based on its design. Similarly, it need not be an extrapolation of facts, if we assume that people will judge your social profile based on its design. Likewise, many companies have begun to invest in customization of their social profiles. Facebook pages and Twitter accounts can already be customized to suit your branding strategies. What remains important is the way we make use of these various design tools to reflect our core marketing philosophies. At the end of the day, our social profiles need to resemble our main websites and branding strategies, if not an exact replica of the main website. You can probably speak to design specialists and branding professionals to get your social profiles customized to suit your core branding strategies. Steve Jobs famously said “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” His argument was quite clear and it worked for Apple. IT is all about how things work. Your social profile has to work. It has to fulfill its functions and be the face of your company to an online audience. On the other hand, Paul Rand stated that “Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated”. Paul Rand brings the importance of content to the foreground. In the next section, let us take a look at the importance of content. Why focus on content? Content always needs to be the primary focus of any social marketing initiative. If you do not have valuable content that people can use, your social profile is simply not worthy enough for people to visit time and again. Moreover, social profiles are not used only for customer relationship management or crisis management. They are increasingly being used to share information, educate and inform customers & clients. It is also a great way to attract prospects and convert them into customers. Whether you share a blog post on Twitter or an entire photo album on Facebook, depicting your recent event, social profiles are an important platform to build your content strategy. Content, on the other hand, is crucial for ensuring that you remain relevant in an ever-changing world. If your content evolves along with the world, you will remain relevant and useful to your audience. This is one of the reasons why people tell you that content is more important than design. You can probably have the best-designed social profiles out there. However, if your content is not up to the mark, people will simply stop visiting your profile. When Howard Gardner said “I believe that the brain has evolved over millions of years to be responsive to different kinds of content in the world. Language content, musical content, spatial content, numerical content, etc”, he couldn’t have been closer to truth. There are far too many kinds of content and all these different types of content need to be available on your social media profiles. The only way it can be made possible is by ensuring that you have a consistent content marketing strategy, which focuses not just on  textual content but also on images, numerical data and other forms of media. All these are important to ensure that there is a cohesion within the content marketing strategy. Content or design? This is a rather difficult question to answer. One cannot replace the other and it would be foolhardy to say that content is more important than design. It is equally foolhardy to say that design is more important than content. Any social marketing venture we undertake needs to involve focus areas of both content and design. In fact, professionals know that content and design are inseparable & you need to try to intertwine both of them as much as possible. When you have your design and content strategies in place, it will become a more holistic way of approaching things & that is what will help you achieve success. Content marketing invariably includes design as well and when it comes to social profiles, both content and design go hand in hand. If you are confused about which one to focus on, you need to really stop where you are and decide to focus on both. One cannot avoid either the design aspect of social profiles or the importance of actual content. Both the factors go hand in hand and help you

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