The Basics of Web Design: Part 1

Good Afternoon friends! Welcome to The Creative Cabana's first look into digital communication and web design. I've labeled this topic under "Graphic Design" because there's a lot of graphic material that goes into creating a website: photos, multimedia pieces, logos, illustrations, etc. The good news is the web design is a process, so don't expect to get everything done in one day, but that's also a draw of web design. Because it is a process it does take time to really develop a good attention grabbing site. When I first created my online portfolio back in Spring of 2012, it took me a whole week to get it the way I wanted (and that was on an accelerated schedule). When you can go at your own pace, creating a website can be a lot of fun, but does take tons of effort and creativity to really make it effective. Before I get too far into this project with you, I want to make it clear right now that I am not by any means a Professional Web Designer. I'm a self-learner, who takes the opportunity to use the internet and reading materials to advance my own skills at my own pace. The website I created is by no means "award-winning", but it has the basic foundation and tools needed to display the content I wanted to share. If you can read this post, then you'll be able to learn the skills to begin starting your own site.

So let's begin with the basics first: what is the purpose of your website? Is this a personal site, a professional portfolio, business promotion, etc? Finding out exactly what you want to show on your website is essential to maintain accurate content and drive the most traffic to your site. Once you have figured out a good purpose to your website, the next thing you should consider is a concept known as "branding". Branding is often associated with businesses and organizations, but I think it's a good ideal for individuals too. The illustration below shows the many factors that go into branding and I think these are excellent ideas to consider when developing your online presence.

If you're a business then stick to the terms they've used in this image; if you're creating a personal page then you have some translating to do. Instead of products, YOU are the product- think about what you are trying to market to online visitors: skills, services, special talents, etc. Then when you get to the stage where you actually design your page you can create your template around those ideas. While at the branding stage you should also consider giving yourself a good logo. This is a small symbol or illustration that really describe your specialty. It's also an excellent way to show off those creative and artistic skills that you have. I'll talk about simple logo design a little later on, but at least start brainstorming on something you think would help your name stand out. 

It's also not a bad idea to start brainstorming about what content you display on your site. Knowing ahead of time what you want others to see gives you extra time to prepare those special features and make any adjustments to the media format such as photos, video, slideshows, etc. Multimedia content plays a big role on websites whether they're for business or personal use, so be sure to do a lot of careful planning when choosing your items for digital display. We'll come back to content preparation in an upcoming post, but again keep these things in mind to save yourself a lot of time and hassle. 

Starting in the beginning of the Web Design process can be daunting, so take a break here to get your thoughts organized and start brainstorming for your branding, content, and logo creations. It takes time, but going a good smooth pace will ensure that you've put a lot of planning and effort into your website. In the next part of our Web Design adventure, we'll take a look at options for your domain for the website (that is, where do you want to host your site?) and I'll walk you through some basic template designs for your pages as well. I'll do my best to have that post all set for you as soon as possible, but in the meantime here are some good websites that can help you with your path to Web Design heaven:

Web Design for Dummies: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/web-design-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

About.com Web Design: http://webdesign.about.com/

Stay tuned for more great tips on building the perfect website and unleashing your wild creative side! Enjoy the rest of your day and as always stay creative!

*Images used in this post were collected from results on Google Images. I do not own these pictures and I hereby give full credit to their respective artists. No Copyright Infringement Intended. 

Creative Mastermind for Week 2/24: Mood Media

Greetings and Happy Monday everyone! Ok, Monday may not be the happiest day of the week for most people, but none the less I hope you're having a good one. As we are starting to near the end of February, there's only one thing that is usually on people's minds: SPRING. Here in Ohio, we got a lovely sneak peek of it for a portion of the weekend, but now old man winter has come back and sadly, he demands we wait at least a few more weeks before the warmth can come back to stay. During this brief heat wave, I noticed a lot that people's attitudes changed for this amount of time. Personally, I think the warmer weather puts people in a better mood and makes them feel better. Sure, it's ok to be a fan of snow and cold- but this season has just really been overkill for much of the U.S. Anyway, as I said people's attitudes seemed to change and with that comes a change in creativity.

Over the weekend, I noticed things like people exercising with their mp3 devices, sitting outside, and even rolling the windows down in their cars to blast some music. Please note, the high was about 56 degrees and for Ohio this is a BIG deal after dealing with weeks of below zero temps. I did notice something different though. I work at a retail store in a local mall and we play music in the store. Lately it's been just contemporary hit music, but I noticed that this time it's more upbeat, feel-good, and happy music. Music playing in stores in not a new concept, but the idea of mixing it up based on relevance or mood is a whole new ball park. This is why I have selected the company Mood Media as this week's creative mastermind!

First, I have to be honest and say that I have never heard of this company until last week when I was watching episodes of Undercover Boss. Thinking that Mood Media was a broadcast company like Clear Channel or CBS, I clicked on this episode out of curiosity. I then discovered that Mood Media is actually a digital media company which supplies audio and visual services to retailers and businesses. While on my break at work I happened to notice that music which plays at my store is from the company Muzak, which is now acquired by Mood Media. Muzak, by the way, is the company that provided those soft tunes elevator tunes you've probably heard in fancy hotels or large commercial buildings. I was so inspired to see that a company "literally" lives up to its name in terms of keeping the music in line with the mood. 

Now if you're thinking, "there's nothing creative about playing random music in a store", Think again! After

studying broadcasting in college, and having my own radio show I can tell you that formatting is everything when it comes to incorporating music into everyday lifestyles. Mood Media does a great job in keeping each client's music preferences in line with their store's environment. For example, you won't hear Lady Gaga playing in a kid's clothing store, but you might hear One Direction or Carly Rae Jepsen. Music in the stores tends to gravitate towards a certain age group that is parallel to the store's customer range. It's up to services like Mood Media to see that the tracks played are attractive to the group of customers the store reaches out to.

Over the years I've read many articles about how music influences consumers while shopping, especially around the holidays. Yes, there's a reason why stores play Christmas music in late October. Studies have shown that by playing the Christmas music, people are more inclined to purchase holiday items at that moment, thereby spending more money. Mood Media really dedicates the time to make sure the content played for clients is a fresh variety that appeals to customers. That's where the creativity comes in, but it's a lot of work to keep a good collection of music that is "hip" and "fresh". For example, my store tends to play a little bit of everything and attracts to ages 18-50. Yesterday for example I was hearing songs like "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, and then they played "22" by Taylor Swift. It's a very broad range in terms of selection and Mood Media seems to do a great job of keeping that balance so that the music is appropriate and upbeat.

What I feel is so creative about Mood Media that earns them the title of Creative Mastermind, is their ability to create the atmosphere in which shoppers feel (pardon the pun) "in the mood" to make purchases. Music has such an influence on our brains that I don't think science quite fully understands yet. Music can create persuasion which can turn into action and I think it's really clever how a company can take that concept to help others boost profits. Now, I'm not trying to put the fear of shopping into your mind or trick you into spending more money because a song tells you to. Why do people listen to music anyway? To feel good! That's what retailers are doing for their shoppers. Mood Media observes the trends in music and can adjust accordingly to give consumers the best shopping experience possible at their favorite store. 

Spicing up the music and audio for the perfect shopping experience allows for Mood Media to make the Creative Mastermind list! If you have an idea for a Creative Mastermind, share your suggestions either by leaving a comment on this post OR share it with The Creative Cabana on Facebook & Twitter. Be sure to LIKE and FOLLOW those pages if you haven't done so already! This week I'll be walking you through the steps of creating your own website! This is perfect for anyone looking to build an online portfolio or wanting to build a website for your small business so don't miss out. So long for now friends and have a great rest of your day!

*I do not own the companies Mood Media or Muzak. All rights pertaining to each company belong to their respective owners and were used only for discussion and praise in this post. I also do not own any songs or rights related to: Michael Jackson, One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lady Gaga, or Taylor Swift. All artists and songs mentioned were used as examples only. I also do not own Clear Channel, CBS, or the TV Show "Undercover Boss". Images used in this post were taken from search results on Google Images. All credit for respective photographers and content owners is given here and with no intention of collection of profits from used information or pictures. No Copyright Infringement Intended. 

This is what happens when you go virtual MIA...

Hello everyone! I hope these last few weeks has been treating you much better than it has me. It's been so difficult to maintain my posting priorities on here between working, and other life issues. I'm slowly starting to get back in the gear of bringing you only the best in creative projects right here at The Creative Cabana. I'm pretty much failing at my New Year's Resolution of being organized. I bought a really cool and nice planner to help keep me on track with this blog and other professional creative projects I plan to work and guess what? IT'S BLANK! Yep, because I haven't actually had a chance to really sit down and map out what to do for the next few weeks. Oh sure, I have tons of ideas it's just getting all of those thoughts into a organized system is the trick!

The good news though is that yes, I have a Creative Mastermind picked out for this week (post to come later) and I also have an upcoming post to share with you revolved around the concepts of Web and Graphic Design.

If you've visited my "Connect with Me" page, you might've noticed one of the links is my online portfolio, which I keep as a virtual way to display my previous work examples. I think the site is in need of a upgrade and re-design, so I thought it'd be cool to walk with you through the creative levels of digital design. I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I can give you a good insight into creating a simple, but fun website for your personal and/or professional needs. So be sure to watch for that post!

As I write this post, I'm coming to you from my local county garage getting some new tires and brakes fixed, so once my car is free from the car hospital, I'll be able to get you this week's Creative Mastermind post up. Hang tight friends and thank you so much for your patience! Until later, Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Creative Mastermind for Week 2/17: Instagram

Good morning everyone! Hope you're all having a good day so far and enjoying the warm-up FINALLY! Here in Ohio after weeks of snow, slush, and ice we are getting a nice warm-up today despite having a few thunderstorms in the area. Regardless, rain or shine it is my duty to give you another good blast of creativity. I originally had this post uploaded yesterday and for some odd reason it never showed up, in addition my previous post about being "MIA" published with the wrong date. All technology and organizational issues aside, I do have this week's Creative Mastermind all ready for you!

I've been wanting to do talk about this particular "concept" for awhile since I started The Creative Cabana back in August, but really couldn't decide on the right time to mention this idea. For this week's Creative Mastermind, I'm choosing Instagram to highlight on their ability to give the public a user-free access to creating unique photographs. So let's start with Instagram's founders: 

Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom are credited as the founders of this popular social media app and since it's launch in late 2010, Instagram has grown in popularity and use. I think what makes Instagram so popular is that it gives you the ability to turn your mobile pictures into easy artistic examples of a moment in time. Lets face it, anyone can take a picture but given the skills and right amount of creativity this simple app can give your pictures more expression and detail without all of the fancy photoshopping. 

With all of the insane weather that has been striking the US over the last few weeks, I've been seeing a lot of pictures through Instagram to describe the conditions and any unusual sights that people come across in their daily travels. To me, Instagram not only shares your unique photo abilities but it's also kind of a news concept. Much like Facebook or Twitter where people can instantly share events and updates, Instagrams gives us a "visual" update of that event. Some one you know has a baby, posts the news on Facebook and Twitter, then uploads a picture on Instagram. You may hear about the traffic accident on the freeway, but actually see pictures of it from another driver online (but don't text and drive, always be safe!). Well you get the drift. There's more to Instagram than just sharing your own personal photos, you're also share news in a way. Yesterday, I went to a local Steak 'n Shake restaurant and tried a new menu item known as the Pizza Steakburger. I took a picture of it with Instagram and shared it with my friends, so now they know about this new product (which by the way, was delicious!). If you'd like to see the picture then follow me on Instagram, just click here.

So what is it about Instagram that makes it so... creative? Well, I don't think it's so much the app which makes the pictures creative, but rather the app enhances YOUR perception of creativity. Instagram gives you the tools to help jazz up your photos, but it doesn't do the work for you. You select the filters, lighting, cropping, etc. The user and the app go hand-in-hand to create an enhanced image. I think it's important to understand that unlike other programs where the technology does everything for you, it's equally important that the photographer make the picture as unique as possible before pressing the snap button. I love the photos on Instagram which display examples of space, perspective, color, and clarity. These concepts you can practice on any camera, but combining these areas with the special effects of Instagram makes pictures more vibrant and surprising. Instagram is great for capturing those "spur of the moment" events that you otherwise might not have your digital camera with you, making this app even more newsworthy. 

So there you have it! Our Creative Mastermind of the Week is Instagram! Be sure to visit my Instagram account to see what amazing photos I capture throughout the months. You can find the link on the "Connect with Me" page and while you're there be sure to follow The Creative Cabana on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter as well so you can stay up-to-date on all things creative! Next post I'll be discussing the process of Web and Graphic Design using my own portfolio site. Spring is in the air, and with the new season coming thus begins the spring cleaning and updating of the digital world, so be sure to watch that post next. Until next, enjoy the rest of your day and stay creative! 

*I do not own Instagram or any of it's affliated developers. Instagram is the sole property of it's respective owners and developers. Images used in this post were collected from Google Image search results and used in this post for visual representation and not for profit use. I also do not own Steak 'n Shake or any of its menu products. No Copyright Infringement Intended.