Dreamkatcha Design

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Graphic Design vs. Web Design: What's The Difference?

Graphic designers and web designers share certain qualities, both being artistic and creative and possessing technical skills as well. Since they are both designers, their goal is to create designs which deliver the designed purpose. They can certainly complement each other when creating a website for a client, although a graphics designer does not need to know about code.

Ideas turned into Visually Appealing Designs

Graphic artists prepare the sketches with a computer or by hand to provide some kind of vision for the design they have in mind. Their goal is to present the ideas they have and turn them into visually appealing designs. They make use of the shapes, colours and photography with their print – and layout techniques, having tremendous fun working on newspapers, posters, invitations, menus, brochures, magazines as well as other publications.

They are able to design amazing logos for businesses too. Speaking of colour, this is where a graphic-designer differs from the designing of a website. Graphic artists have consistency with colour choices but those who design websites know that different monitors offer images with different resolutions.

Website Planning and Design

Web designers working on web design, on the other hand, are not as artistic, designing websites and therefore needing to possess an engineering side as well. Web development certainly includes some graphic-design, as the website is made up of a visual medium.

Web builders have to make sure the website is dynamic so that that visitors to the site do not just click off from sheer boredom and frustration. Designing a web site will include graphic design as well as among others, copywriting, SEO, link-building, navigation, HTML coding, flash animation, pay-per-click advertising and Javascript.

The first page, the home page, will need links to the other web pages; it may have animated graphics and background sounds. The images will need to be good as clients gain a perception of your company based on how well the site has been planned and put together.

You want Clients to Place Orders and Buy

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The Benefits of Quality Web Design

Websites have become a necessity in every successful business. Customers need a platform where they can access all the company’s information without the need of calling the customer care desk. Website designs, however, play a significant role in determining the amount of time a visitor spends on the website and the action likely to be taken, either subscription or purchase. There are various benefits of creating a quality web design.

Company Identification

Having a quality website design gives potential clients the impression of a quality brand which is aware of its objectives. A well-designed website is a reflection of how a company can arrange its operation in order towards customer satisfaction. The web design for your business including the logo, slogan, social media buttons and contact pages should be well designed for more comfortable communication and definition of the company’s objective towards the fulfilment of clients’ needs.

Extended Visit Time

As you design your company’s website, you need a well-crafted website which will be fun for clients to spend time on. A site with a dull appearance is likely to have only a few visitors who go past the first past, as opposed to one which offers an attractive and simplified interface. Potential clients will most likely browse through many sites before settling on the best. You need to give clients a reason to stay the longest on your site and take action by providing a simple-to-navigate site. With this kind of a site, clients are likely to bookmark your website for a future date to take action.

Useful Content

A website design needs an interface which offers simplified and useful information to the clients. You do not need a website with long articles which are likely to overwhelm the visitors with information, but short and precise useful information which solves the visitors’ questions within the shortest possible time.

Room for Expansion

As a business owner, you need to communicate with your website designer and discuss plans for expansion of your site. Some of these details help the website designer to leave some room which will help you add more services or content to your website without affecting its functionality. Unless when changing the interface of the entire site, visitors should not notice when you make minor changes, which may affect their familiarity with the website.

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The Different Types of Logo Design

When it comes to logo design services, we come across a range of different types. The term logo, which is an abbreviation for logotype, designates a symbol that represents a company. Despite the fact that they might seem very trivial in nature, these are arguably one of the most powerful marketing tools. As a matter of fact, some logos are so well made that they can even become more famous than the brand they belong to. One of the best examples is Apple, as its symbol, the bitten apple, is one of the first things to come to peoples’ minds when they think about the company. But what are the different types of logos, and why do they vary from one firm to another?

Symbol or pictorial mark

This type of logo design is one of the most popular in our modern era. It is just a picture or symbol that is meant to characterise the company as much as possible. Some good specimens are Apple’s mark as well as Twitter’s bird and Nike’s Swoosh. These are some of the biggest companies in the world and their logos have one thing in common: they are ridiculously simple. When beginners are creating an emblem, they more often than not fall into the trap of opting for overly complex designs. The reason why such huge corporations opt for simplicity is that they are easier to remember, and this is the main point of a logo.

Wordmarks

This is also a relatively widespread concept nowadays. It simply involves turning the company’s name into a logo. This is done by using specific fonts, colors and typographic features. The most popular one in that regard is seen many times a day by billions of people: Google’s. The logo is simply the corporation’s name written with a minimalist font and each letter having a different primary color. This approach is to be used for companies that have a concise and catchy name. The technique might seem simple at first sight, but it is way more difficult than one might expect. The reason is that simple details, such as the font and the color, can easily make or break the emblem. Google, for example, has changed its logo several times over the last decades. However, the typography and color were the only aspects that were altered and yet it made a huge difference.

Lettermarks

There is not much that can be said here. It is basically the same principle as for Wordmarks except that this one is used by companies having long names. Therefore, they choose to rather use the name’s initials to make a logo. Some examples that perfectly apply the concept are HBO and IBM.

Mascot logos

This type of logo design is becoming more scarce by the day, but it is totally worth mentioning. This is when companies choose a mascot as their logo. It gives them more flexibility in their marketing campaigns as the characters can be adapted to suit different events and periods of the year. The logos that illustrate this better are those of KFC and Mr. Clean. If well done, they can be as powerful as any type of emblem.

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The Power of Bespoke Imagery and Original Photography

How to ditch the stock images and go for bespoke imagery instead

Imagine you are about to give your website a new look. You may have coded your website from scratch or used a CMS like WordPress. You might have considered suitable images, but where from? Do you go for your own images or subscribe to a stock image source? Though stock images are fine for a quick fix, some of your eagle eyed customers could tell the difference between stock imagery and bespoke imagery.

Take a tip from us: go for bespoke imagery.

Stock imagery is the “Eat Boring Sandwich” option. Continuing with the theme of McCann Erickson’s advertising campaign for Subway, bespoke imagery is the “Rotisserie Chicken Sandwich” option. It’s the bee’s knees, the dog’s ‘you know what’; the Southwest Chipotle sauce which makes your website stand out from the competition.

There are two ways of adding original photography to your website. Firstly, you might be a whizz with the camera yourself. If so, you could put your cameras to good use – whether the latest DSLR or a 35mm Leica IIIG rangefinder. How you use your equipment, as well as having high quality photographic kit, matters.

For indoor shots, you could invest in studio equipment and suitable lighting, but the initial capital is only worth it, if you have a photographic studio yourself. If you only need limited access to a studio, look into hiring a photographic studio and compare hourly rates in your locality.

Or you could hire a professional photographer, especially if you are too busy to take your own pictures. We at Dreamkatcha can also do image manipulation and retouching services, to add the finishing touches to your image. Whatever project you are undertaking – in web or print forms – we can offer a touch of class worthy of the greats.

One more thing…

Don’t be afraid of using your company’s premises for your images. The use of bespoke imagery would add more value to your projects than a stock photo. Especially when the same male and female group has been seen on websites from Bracknell to Bangalore.

Dreamkatcha, 30 August 2017.

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/importance-website-usability/

The importance of website usability

Website usability is the focus on the ease of use of a website. This can include the presentation of concise and relevant information to the subject of the website. The strategic placement of items in appropriate areas within the website is considered too. Perhaps whether the website is suitable for all ages and gender should also be considered.

In terms of incorporating a website in a business direction, website usability is very important. Good website usability creates a good impression for visitors that may be potential clients. It is an important strategy to make the website easy to navigate; enabling visitors to quickly find what they are searching for. Without this feature, visitors will simply move onto another relevant website offering what they want. Therefore a potential client is lost. Therefore, when designing your website, although it should incorporate your personal ideas and inspiration in terms of the artistic aspect of the website, the visitors’ needs should take priority. Website usability focused on visitors could mean potential clients for the business and in turn the success of your online business.

The key components to website usability are to have a clear and simple navigation system, it must consist of clear, simple and relevant content and good branding of the business which operates as advertisement for the business. You must remember that each member of the public that is viewing your site may have never visited it before and will not know what lies behind each heading, subfolder or menu item. Each link needs to be informative and descriptive, whether this is done by text, images, or simply the designated area that it is positioned. This will enable the viewer to make an informed guess as to what lies beyond the link that they are about to explore. Using a back button, or breadcrumbs on the page will also enable the user to conveniently return to the parent folder or section without having to start from the homepage again, equalling a good user experience.

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/graphic-design-trends/

Five Trends in Graphic Design to be aware of in 2017

Websites are constantly evolving to keep up with changes in technology and the way in which websites are viewed from. With so much change going on at the moment within the Digital industry, DreamKatcha have produced a useful graphic design infographic which examines some of the top trending tactics used by web and graphic designers as we head into 2017.

Additional Graphic Design Trends

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Introducing the BBC Reith Typeface

New BBC Reith typeface to give the British Broadcasting Corporation a unique identity, whilst saving money on licensing costs

By the end of this year, the Gill Sans typeface will be a thing of the past for the British Broadcasting Corporation. In place of Gill Sans and other typefaces, all typography for the BBC’s main graphics will use the BBC Reith font family. The BBC Reith font family comprises of ten sans-serif typefaces and eight serif typefaces, including italic versions. There are four weights available: light, medium, bold, and extra bold.

Where BBC Reith is not supported, Helvetica Regular and Bold are their recommended alternatives. The font family is named after the BBC’s first Director General, Lord John Reith.

A unified identity as well as economy

In Colin Burns’ recent blog post, he stated how the reasons are twofold. Firstly, to create a uniform style that is suitable for television and digital projects. The second reason was economy. To use Helvetica and other proprietary typefaces, we have to pay licensing fees to font foundries for public use.

If the BBC wanted to use Helvetica Bold, they would have to pay Linotype. To buy the full Helvetica font family, it would set you back £1,020 including VAT at 20%. With BBC Reith, a bespoke font family, bye bye licensing issues. Also a better deal for licence fee payers.

BBC Sport first off the blocks

First to try the new font family will be BBC Sport. The typeface in its four different weights will come into its own for displaying sports results, on-screen captions, and league tables. In the last week, it was given its first airing on Football Focus and Final Score. On the 19 August, BBC’s athletics coverage will follow suit. By September, the PDC Darts Championship and cycling events will be seeing the BBC Reith typeface.

The sans-serif version of BBC Reith is inspired by Humanist typefaces like Frutiger, Futura, and Eras Medium, with a hint of Grotesk leanings. BBC Reith Serif’s looks owe a debt to Georgia and slab typefaces like Rockwell.

Dreamkatcha, 17 August 2017.

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/designer-record-producer-back/

Designer to Record Producer ..and back again!

After gaining notoriety in Ibiza as a trusted and effective designer for the nightclub and nightlife industry, I was asked by a collection of club promoters to help them launch this start up Business..BOHO NIGHTCLUB. We were tasked with not only creating the logo for this nightclub, but the entire branding campaign. This included Corporate identity, Poster design, brochures, newsletters, flyer design, party invites and not least a website design that would wow everyone that visited. As you can imagine this was a huge ask, but Dreamkatcha stepped up to the challenge, as this is the kind of project that we LOVE! Usually entrusted to large design agencies, this whole project was trusted to just one person…ME! After extensive meetings and creative sessions with the promoters we came up with this logo design. It was eye catching, graceful and had a bohemian feel to it, which reflected the business plan in place for this soon to be launched nightclub in the heart of Ibiza’s busiest district SAN ANTONIO.

I had been working with Martina on many design projects over the years, starting in Ibiza and then moving on to London and even Shanghai, China. She then decided that she wanted to start her own DJ agency, naturally she asked me to initially design her a logo that would represent her business. The logo needed to be bold, modern and encompass the feel for music, and also the Far East – this is where she was going to begin working her magic. The DJ and the headphones were representing the music theme for the logo, and the orange circle was a note to the land of the rising sun. Once the logo was created we then went on to designing Martina a website where she could conduct her business. On top of this we also host her website and manage her email services for her.

Linekers Bars are world famous. With bars all over the Mediterranean and UK, they are a magnet for party goes and celebrities. Having heard about Dreamkatcha through other promoters in the nightclub and music industry, thay called for a meeting with us to discuss us taking on all their design projects. Starting with the Linekers Ibiza website, we were then asked to redesign many of their other bar’s sites. We created new websites for Zante, Alcudia, Benalmadena, Paphos and worked on a few of the others. We were then asked to create logos for various products and also to design monthly flyers, posters and promotions. We worked so much with the Ibiza Linekers bar that we were regularly travelling between the UK and Ibiza in the summer months. We also created animated sequences for their competitions and continue to work with them on various other projects including the hosting of all their websites.

BoHo Nightclub had already seen some of the work that Dreamkatcha was responsible for in London, UK and all over Ibiza. So naturally they wanted to meet with us and discuss this new super club that was to open the following summer. Little did we realise that they wanted us to design ALL of their media, including logo design, flyers, posters, invites and of course the all important website. After many meetings to discuss how all of the media was going to work and see just what was going to be needed, Dreamkatcha began to brainstorm ideas. before long we had agreed on an overall theme and design, that would be rolled out across the brand to wow and impress future crowds. The project was a big ask, but also very enjoyable for us, and we are still waiting for the next colossal project to land on our desk again!

El Divino had heard of Dreamlkatcha (or Dreamcatcher Studios at the time) from other promoters in the Nightclub Industry. After designing many websites for various nightclubs in London, Sydney, New York and Ibiza, they knew that we were going to capable to bringing their website into the 21st Century, and boy did we! After flying me out to Ibiza and meeting with their head promoter, I went back to UK to create one of the most challenging websites I had ever made. This was an opportunity to really let me knew animation skill shine. Creating an intro that for its time was mind blowing. No one had seen anything like it, and some old friends at Defected records were also on hand to let me use a new track that they had signed. Together with this intro to the site, the track became super famous around Ibiza and filtered back to London and may other countries. People were emailing me day and night asking what the track was. I had never had so much web traffic before in my life – within a week I had to move the website to its own dedicated server just to deal with the traffic – people want ing to see what this new website was about that everyone was talking about! As you can imagine I was then in high demand for many other Nightclub website designs, and I found myself being flown back and forth from London to Ibiza every fortnight for nearly 3 years! Each page of the site had it’s own theme and music to match, and was a very interactive and entertaining website. Probably one of my all time favourites..or maybe that because of the situations I ended up in whilst working on all of these websites! :0)

I met DJ Stonebridge in Ibiza whilst designing the El Divino website. He asked me if I would design him a website that would stand out from the crown and be totally different to anything anyone had seen before. The design included a range of strange shapes that would twist and turn around the website, something that had never been seen before, as Flash was still quite new and nobody had really understood how to make the most of this new software…but I certainly was learning it fast! The project was done via email only as DJ Stonebridge was in Europe for the moth that the project was underway.

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Microsoft Paint Ditched from Windows 10 Update

Microsoft Paint to be discontinued from next Windows update

After 32 years, Microsoft Paint is set to disappear from future Windows installations. The next update will see MS Paint replaced by Paint 3D. It has appeared on Windows since the very first version of the operating system, which was back in 1985.

Microsoft Paint was originally a version of ZSoft’s PC Paintbrush, published in November 1985. It only had 1 bit graphics, which was great if you had a black and white printer. Therefore, various shades of grey were denoted by their stippling effects. It is hard to imagine how limited PC Paintbrush was alongside equivalents on 8-bit machines like the Atari 800 (with The Designer’s Pencil) and the Commodore 64 (with KoalaPad).

This was consistent with hardware limitations at the time. State of the art in 1985 was the 80286 processor; the Apple Macintosh was in full swing, with Pagemaker the DTP package of choice. The average PC, in CGA mode could only show four colours from a sixteen colour palette: black, white, cyan, and magenta were popular.

At first, Microsoft Paint only supported its own file format. Come Windows 3.1, BMP was the default format. This was followed by compatibility for JPG, GIF, TIF, and PNG formats. This materialised in 1998 when Windows ‘98, and the need to support internet file formats came to the fore.

Due to its limitations, when compared with the Adobe Creative Suite programs and other professional packages, it became a popular program for pixel art. It inspired pixel artist Jim’ll Paint It to create – for free – satirical images with Microsoft Paint. If you look at his work, it leaves our background image (which we have done in MS Paint for old times’ sake) standing in the dust. His patience is astounding.

Will we miss Microsoft Paint? As a worthwhile package for messing about with, yes. Well, it has been nice knowing you and who knows, its replacement could have a cult following.

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The Importance of Sound Stationery Design

Why stationery design is too important to compromise

If a picture paints a thousand words, there’s every chance its choice of typeface could make or break the business. In other words, skimping on your stationery design could project the wrong kind of image. If you remember our previous blog post on the Oscar nomination slips, you may well know already.

Most importantly, stationery design should be consistent with your company’s corporate identity. Take for example, Lufthansa: they have used the Helvetica typeface more or less since its creation. Not only for its aeroplanes but also its timetables and website. The clean glyphs and tails are associated with modernity, which has made for a timeless look. For the last six decades.

Though the age of paperless office is getting closer, always allow for customers who need a paper copy. For tax return records, invoices and receipts should be easy to read. Again, with your company’s corporate identity. Even with smartphones and tablets, there is always space for hard copy business cards. Don’t forget compliments slips.

Stationery design the Dreamkatcha way

We at Dreamkatcha believe sound stationery design speaks volumes about your company’s image. You can either send us your company logo, or let us create a sparkling design which best reflect your business’ corporate identity. We have worked on designs for sole traders, limited companies, and more besides.

We are the last company on Earth to use Comic Sans for a funeral directors’ bespoke stationery package. Nor would we use dull colours for a day nursery. We are able to think outside the box whilst remaining faithful to your needs. On the 30 January 2014, we thought exactly the same way, and still do today. Here’s a video clip from that very first blog post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNQmVRyiNxs

Dreamkatcha, 13 July 2017.

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Know Your Image File Formats: JPG

Dreamkatcha looks at JPG file formats

There’s a great website called Fileinfo.com. It is a one-stop reference point for common and not-so-common file extensions. Every file format from JPG to TIF and D64 (the last named format being the Commodore 64’s disk file format on the slow 1541 disk drive). Inspired by this website is our look at the file formats you come across. For the first article in this series, we look at the JPG file format.

The first version of the JPG file formats was released on the 18 September 1992. Back then, we were dabbling with Amiga 1200s; some of us at school used BBC Master System and Acorn Archimedes computers. At home, Commodore 64s, ZX Spectrums, and Amstrad CPCs were popular with younger children (whose elder siblings bought Amigas and Atari STs).

JPG or JPEG?

The most common file extension is .JPG rather than .JPEG, though they represent the same file formats. The three (or four) character file extension is an acronym of Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is the most common image file format used on countless websites. It supports a resolution up to 24 bits, but has one limitation: its lossiness.

When a file format is lossy, the resolution degrades if an image is expanded beyond its original size. For example, an image measuring 640 x 480 pixels, expanded to 1280 x 960 pixels will have fuzzy image quality. Expanded up to 2560 x 1920, your image would look like something from Pages From Ceefax (albeit with 16.7 million colours and similarly chunky pixels). With a JPG image, anti-aliasing is necessary for smooth lifelike images.

It is by far the most popular image file format, used on many smartphones, digital cameras, and websites. JPG came of age in the late 1990s, when the file format’s light footprint was seen on countless websites. Still to this day, it is Top Dog.

Dreamkatcha, 20 June 2017.

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Iconic Logo Designs Through The Ages

Dreamkatcha’s pick of the most iconic logo designs

A great logo needs to be instantly recognisable, must work well in black and white as well as colour, and stick to one typeface. Some of the greatest logo designs have been in use for well over fifty years, give or take minor changes. Some have been revived, due to the power of their previous logos.

In this post, we look at some of the most iconic logos.

1. BMW

The BMW logo is one of the most iconic logo designs due to its modernist design. Its basic design has had subtle changes since its first airing in 1927. These changes have included typography and bevel effects. It is based on the Rapp Motorenwerke logo and the Bavarian flag. Not aeroplane propellers; this myth has been perpetuated since a 1929 article in a motoring magazine.

2. Volkswagen

Sticking with cars, the Volkswagen logo comes a close second to the BMW one for recognition. The present logo has seen subtle changes since its earliest incarnation in 1938. The ‘V’ stands atop a ‘W’ inside a circle. Previous versions of the logo have seen a turreted circular border and a stylised swastika.

3. The Cooperative

Before the late 1960s, the Co-op and its constituent shops had a variety of logos. The beehive was a constant feature. In 1968, the clover leaf logo was launched, leading to a standardised look across the UK’s shops, combined with the Helvetica and Futura typefaces. The original logo served the Co-op well into 1992 when the clover leaf logo was changed to a more rounded design. In 2016, the logo was revived with the Avenir family its typeface of choice.

4. British Rail

In 1965, the Design Research Unit and Margaret Calvert worked on what remains the most iconic form of transport branding. The double arrows of the British Rail logo. With a new bespoke typeface (Rail Alphabet) and clean design, the BR corporate look has stood the test of time. So much so that BR’s double arrows are synonymous with train travel well after privatisation, and used in National Rail publicity.

Dreamkatcha, 14 June 2017.

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/20-reasons-need-website/

20 reasons why you need a website 

Reason #1 – It’s an online brochure

Why spend you hard earned money on printed brochures wen many of them will simply end up on a shelf, or worse, in the bin. Your website can serve as an online brochure where potential clients can view your product or services at any time. Moreover, you can update this brochure i  an instant, with no reprinting and distribution costs.

Reason #2 – Larger market share

Over 2.5 billion people surf the web every day. 80-90% of these individuals have used the web for a business transaction or contact. Having a website will neatly place you into this ever growing market.

Reason #3 – Business value

Having a live, well designed website can open up some very important doors, such as receiving a business loan or grant from the bank, or install confidence on a potential client or business partner.

Reason #4 – Influence

A website with a good user interface and user experience can convince a web surfer to stop on your page and buy what you are selling

 Reason #5 – Show off your service or product

With a well designed website you can showcase your products and services to look desirable and encourage viewers to make that critical transaction or contact

 Reason #6 – Rejuvenate your business goals

When creating your website you will be able to re-grasp what the essence of your company or organisation is and refocus your business goals.

 Reason #7 – The future of retail

A website can match and even out perform a traditional high street store, being able to sell to any location on the planet with no extra overheads.

 Reason #8 – 24/7

Your company website will be online and ready to trade every minute of ever day, with nobody needed to open and close your business doors.

 Reason #9 – Communication with customers

Using your site as a blog or newsfeed you can update oyur loyal customers on the newest offers, products, promotions, events, photos, or any other content.

 Reason #10 – Marketing

With ever ore plugins and platforms being created you can corner your market with the latest technology and use the internet to its full potential using low cost techniques.

 Reason #11 – Customer support

Customer service can be handled online in an instant by simply providing a ticketing system, feedback form or even just a frequently asked questions page.

 Reason #12 – [email protected]

Having a personalised email is essential in this day and age. It shows that you have spent the time and effort to make your customers experience as simple to remember as possible

 Reason #13 – Press releases

Press releases can be sent out to a vast number of people in the click of a button. All you need is a simple opt in system and you can reach out to hundreds or may be even thousands of clients with your frequent updates.

Reason #14 – Sole trader

Having a well designed website can run your business for you. You could be a large company or a one-an-band, it doesn’t matter. Your website can handle multiple transactions per minute without any labour costs.

 Reason #15 – It’s a personal thing

Your website can be as diverse and niche as you want and it will still get found. A simple google search will place your product or service under the eyes of your target markets and audience.

Reason# 16 – Connect with other website owners

Having your own website and maintaining it yourself automatically classes you as a webmaster…cool huh! But what’s more impressive is you can reach out to other webmasters and reach mutual benefit from swapping information and even linking to each other, bringing in even more traffic.

Reason #17 – Your online backup

You can always use your website to fall back on during a meeting or discussion. Perhaps an article you have written or a product description that is freely available to back you up after a meeting or conversation.

Reason #18 – Be your own boss

You can start a business all by yourself and yet with a well designed website you can give the impression you are a multi faceted corporation. This impressive boost can make all the difference in today marketplace.

Reason #19 – Free time for other interests

With your website working 24/7 for you online, this can allow you to focus your energy and time on other parts of the business that need attention, or even some much eared time with your family and friends.

Reason #20 – Instant credibility

Having a well designed website, including a great user interface and user experience, you can instantly install faith and reassurance with your online markets. If your website can portray good service and an unbeatable product then you pretty much have the control ovr your competition.

So… do you need a website?

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/brutalist-web-design/

What is Brutalist Web Design All About?

How Brutalist web design challenges the norms of conventional web design

If you remember our Ten Web Design and Development Fails blog post, our last paragraph mentioned Ling Valentine’s Ling’s Car Hire website. We said how it had broken many web design rules, yet worked very well. In another source, we found how the Ling’s Car Hire website exemplified Brutalist Web Design par excellence. In Motherboard’s review of the website, Ling said on usability:

“The “secret” of web design/good UX, is to be human. And truthful and honest, and not force it and stop manipulating people. It really helps if you address your demographic, for example choose emotional music from the correct era… and add a bit of humour. But people know when things are honest, they can feel it.”

Mr Valentine places human contact and resonance above swish design. He is not too snobbish about clean backgrounds and the right gradients. Just a case of what he thinks works best. If he fancies plonking a kitten on a certain page, that’s his prerogative.

Brutalist web design breaks the established norms of contemporary website design, user interfaces, and responsive web design. In one way, it could be a more human approach to web design. On the other hand, it could be an ironic euphemism or catch all term to justify bad design.

Perhaps there is a good case for brutalist web design. Is Punk Web Design a more appropriate term? Maybe so, given how the user interface of some sites are reminiscent of punk fanzines like Sniffin’ Glue. It also gives us a nostalgic feel for the era of Geocities websites and rotating ‘e’ icons for sending emails.

Over the last year, brutalist web design has made the design magazines and newspapers due to its break from the established order. We are unsure: we favour slickly produced websites that are easy on the eye and quick to load. Whether your desired design is brutalist, high gloss, or steampunk, we at Dreamkatcha will do our utmost to build a website that best reflects your business.

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/graphic-standards-cant-stop-classics/

Graphic Standards: You Can't Stop The Classics

How the old graphic standards are making a comeback

Sometimes, the greatest designs are the simplest yet most effective. This is especially true with the Design Research Unit’s graphics for British Rail in 1966. Most of their design language is still in use, though diluted by the rail franchisee’s corporate images. In the last two years, The Cooperative have revived their 1968 clover leaf logo, with a modern twist (using the Avenir typeface family instead of Helvetica). In the US of A, there is a publisher who has committed to print the old graphic standards, in hardback book form.

Known as Graphic Standards, the publishers have decided to reprint (for collectors and design geeks like us at Dreamkatcha) the design manuals of key US government departments. Lately, they have began a Kickstarter scheme to fund the publication of the Environmental Protection Agency design manual. At this time of writing, they have raised $134,694 (£103,938.58) with 18 days to go to reach their $150,000 target. The project has at this moment 1,569 backers.

Graphic Standards also have for sale reprints of the New York Subway design manual from 1970. In hardback bound form, this will set you back $54.95 (or £42.41, with shipping costs and taxes for purchasers outside the USA). The American Bicentennial Standards Manual is yours for $45.00 (or equivalent plus P&P on these shores), whereas the design manual for NASA is a wallet-busting $79.00.

It is clear why the 1970s graphic standards are winning over designers and typography geeks. Firstly, there is some nostalgia to the older designs. Secondly, there were – and remain – accessible to this day. Which is why The Cooperative have revived the clover leaf logo. This is why, apart from subtle changes, the NatWest logo is the same as it was nearly fifty years ago. Thirdly, many of the 1970s designs – especially the use of sans-serif typefaces – not only look the part in 2017. They transfer well to digital media forms.

Dreamkatcha, 08 May 2017.

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/hsbc-redesign-bank-cards/

HSBC Plans to Redesign Its Bank Cards

New unified design proposed for HSBC’s bank cards across its 30 countries

HSBC could be onto something with their latest announcement. The multinational retail banking giant are going to redesign their bank cards. Across the thirty countries it serves, the Hong Kong based bank aim to standardise the graphic design of its ATM, credit, and debit cards. Its main aim is consistency, a must if you have a global brand like Apple or McDonalds.

HSBC’s 30 countries will benefit from their new look. They will be based on the lion which sits at the entrance of HSBCs headquarters in Hong Kong. Created by Hong Kong-based design consultancy, Shift, the lion forms the centrepiece of its future ATM, credit, and debit cards. Each colour represents the kind of card that is issued to the customer. A red lion on a matt silver background, for example, is used for debit cards.

Shift’s aim is to “cut through the complexity” of its retail banking products. The company has also designed digital equivalents for Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. By the end of this year, HSBC’s new look cards will have been issued to new customers and existing customers, whose cards will expire this year.

>Other facts about HSBC’s new cards:

The first recipients of the new look cards are holders of Premier Mastercard and VISA Platinum credit cards;

From June 2017, existing customers with VISA Debit cards will get the new design;

In July 2017, holders of VISA Gold and Classic credit cards will follow suit;

Stephen Stitt, the customer name on the card design is shared with HSBC’s two lions, which are seen at the entrance of their Shanghai headquarters;

The two lion statues, Stephen and Stitt, were cast in bronze by Henry Poole in 1921. They are named after chief managers Alexander Stephen and Gordon Stitt.

Dreamkatcha, 28 April 2017.

New Post has been published on https://dreamkatcha.com/typography-stuck-suitable-typefaces/

Typography: Stuck for Suitable Typefaces?

How to choose suitable typography for web and print based projects

Image by Frazer (via Shutterstock).

It takes a bit of nous to choose a different typeface to the first one you see. By default, we set our standard body text to Times New Roman, Calibri or (gulp!) Comic Sans MS. After a bit of soul searching, you find there’s a world of typographical options on your computer or cloud computing account: Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Verdana, and so on. Sometimes you can never have enough typefaces. For typography options, you might need to look elsewhere.

On the internet, there are oodles of typography sources. Not only websites advertising free fonts, but also those of type foundries. Plus you’ve also got Google Fonts, which offers a wealth of open source typography options.

If you’re looking for free typefaces…

There may be some limitations. Some typefaces may be licensed for non-commercial use, which is fine for coursework, though not corporate brochures. In some cases, you might see ‘pirated’ versions of paid-for typefaces. Any typography could be suitable for web projects; with desktop publishing software, the transition from web fonts to print could be fussy and lost in translation.

If you’re on a strict budget and looking for a free typeface, go to the Google Fonts website. As well as being able to download each font family onto your PC, embedding Google Fonts into web based projects are straightforward.

If quality matters…

Go to the websites of well known font foundries such as ITC Linotype. MyFonts.com has a wide variety of paid-for typefaces. Depending on whether you download one typeface or the entire font family, you can use them on any project. The typeface is yours for keeps. For commercial projects, this by far is the best option. Moreover, they will work well on print projects as well as online.

If you wish to follow the trends…

Typography addicts should go to Typewolf. This website has several Top 10s of typographical leanings. It also features alternative typefaces to, for example, Helvetica, Arial, and Gotham. It is well worth a read for catching up on the latest font fashions.