We want our designs to be current and on track with the rest of the design industry trends. Of course we also have to consider future trends, web design is poised to start making a big impact as companies and businesses shift their presence and their marketing online.

The thinking part: using our brains!

The initial phase of a web design project focuses in on varying design research methods. Our number one priority is to make sure that we are following a user centered design process. We want to get to know your clients, the end users of your new website, your target market if you will. We want to get inside their heads and figure out what will speak to your users, and then we will design to support that message.

Branding Strategy: building an identity

Another important product that results from the research and design methods that we follow is determining your brand or your identity. If you or your company does not have a strongly defined brand, or an identity that is currently represented by your graphics and logos, as web designers we can create one for you. A successful website should help you launch your online presence in general. Having a clear branding strategy is one of the keys to success.

The fun stuff: color palettes & mood boards

Okay, at this point in the design process your web designers have used their brains, they understand the design research, they know who you or your company are speaking to and what your users will respond to. It is time to do the next phase of research and determine how best to graphically speak to your audience.

We create mood boards, visual collages from all the information that has been gathered. We put together color palettes that we think your audience and users will respond to.

In the Interactive Design program at Capilano University we use several awesome resources online when brainstorming for color palettes.

Check out Adobe’s site Kuler

Another great spot to satisfy your inner art nerd is this color palette generator at DeGraeve

Online color palette generator: design geek heaven

Here in Vancouver the 2010 Olympics are a part of everything these days, so I have to mention some interesting affects that I think the games are having on our local Vancouver design industry. As I was surfing the net the other day looking for color palette resources I found this inspiring online forum encouraging designers to interact and upload to a collection of color palettes inspired by the 2010 Winter Olympics Colour Lovers, Olympic love

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics inspire designers all over

Another window into the design process is this video.

It walks you through the design process behind creating the 2010 Winter Olympics graphics and brand. Everything that I have laid out in this post happened on that project, and I have to say that I think they did a fantastic job.

The graphics keep up with many of the design trends that we are seeing online so far in 2010. A blend of organic images, hand drawn illustrations and retro graphics. They speak to the Canadian audience, balancing our love of nature and our outdoor lifestyle with our beautiful cities. The graphics stand out on all of the websites, the print materials the buildings and the flags, the athletes outfits even.

It seems as though the design process was thorough, the design research methods were successful, and the chosen color palette suits Vancouver perfectly.

But as a Vancouver Web Design Student and a new media enthusiast I am now hitting the streets to take in the sites right along side everyone else.

The second installation that I want to feature in my Robot Salmon 2010 Interactive Media commentary, is the digital wall that Switch Interactive created.

Technology advances, Switch Interactive walks us through an amazing experience (an Ian Smith photo)

The ” Digital Gateway” is one of the world’s longest interactive walls. You can find it downtown, beside the recently facelifted skating rink at Robson Square.

The animated presentations on the wall are randomly created by the spectators, or as us web designers would call them, “the users”. The motion from the crowd triggers sensors that detect how many people are nearby and how fast they are walking.

The Digital Gateway was created by Vancouver’s very own Switch Interactive. They are a small, independent studio that won the $600,000 contract to create the digital wall. The government deemed this interactive project worthy and lucky for us funded one of our local firms. Switch Interactive also did some interesting work for the BC Pavilion – but I will save that for another posting!

Catherine Winckler, partner and creative director of Switch describes the project “We looked at it as a new way for architecture, as well as a new opportunity to do things with walls that will relate to people. We can tailor the wall, it can be easily programmed within 24 hours to have a completely different ambience… we can change the mood, we can change the stories.”

Apparently this type of technology could even one day in the near future be applied to your umbrella so that you could display different images and information as you walked and have strangers interact with you unknowingly as they passed you on the street… could you imagine how amazing that would be? I could talk for ever about the user experience of that product!!!! I would be thrilled to never see a black, gloomy umbrella again!

There are already You tube videos up of the wall, I am sure they are inspiring Interactive Designers around the globe – the possibilities for this technology seem endless and I am sure we will witness an influx of interactive art and advertising over the next decade that will put Tom Cruise and Minority Report to shame.

read more about this in this Vancouver Sun article

Check out the info on other Code Live events and installations around Vancouver

If seeing all of this amazing Interactive Design and Interactive Media has got you thinking that you would love to get involved in this field of work check out my program at Capilano University Interactive Design

Let's not all rush to buy an iPad just yet...

If you have ever been in the market for a new tech gadget you know that you have to find the fine balance between getting that new toy that you just can’t live without and not getting ripped off for being a keener… so let’s not all rush the applestore at once now…

You're definitely getting your money from your Internet service provider...

If you have a shiny new Apple computer, high speed Internet service, Internet radio, Internet T.V. and unlimited access to as many computer geek forums and online realities, why would you ever stray?

Who needs sunshine?

There are so many options at your finger tips these days. So many ways to stay informed with the Internet, that you probably won’t even notice how pasty you are getting. You don’t need the outdoors and fresh air! You have Google Earth and totally reliable online weather reports…

It is best to remember to speak english not design....

Sometimes you have to wrench yourself away from your laptop screen and venture out to a local coffee shop to do some web design work. As you order your first cup of Jo remember that you are out in the world and that baristas don’t speak photoshop.

SEO experts are rather focused on the prize..... too focused?

We are in the midst of an SEO challenge in the Interactive Design program up at Capilano University. We would like to think that some of us are becoming SEO experts and SEO specialists. We happily dole out SEO tips to each other and any one else that will listen these days. I hope that no one is taking their SEO services to this extreme though…

Social media rehab, it will be all the rage in Hollywood soon you just watch

It’s official, there’s definitely a take over in my life from all of the various forms of social media, social networks, and our online social society in general. But I think I can still speak english, in statements that are longer than 150 characters…

Your social network is always there for you

Well, what can I say? Robot Salmon is rather keen in the land of Twitter, we follow an awful lot of people and try and keep up with all of the cool stuff that is happening in our social network. I hope we don’t fall this far down the rabbit hole, as I am sure Twitter was never meant to send anyone to rehab… although I do worry about Duder some days.

Watch a Student Experience on Robot Salmon’s You Tube Channel

Interested in what else the Robot Salmon crew and the rest of the other web design students do up in the mountains at Capilano University check it out here!
>> interactivedesignlab.com

Thinking about hiring a new web designer or developer but want to take a test drive first?

Consider yourself a mentor looking for a new apprentice?

Here is your chance to do all of those things.

Help students at one of Vancouver’s best web design schools learn the trade and advance their careers.

To see some of the great work we do check out the Interactive Design Lab.

From March 8th to May 14th (6 weeks) students from Capilano University’s well regarded Interactive Design Program are available for practicums. This is an unpaid position where companies are expected to help the grads learn and develop their skills.
http://www.capilanou.ca/programs/interactive-design/contact.html
For more information contact Cathy Cole or Brent Calvert at:
Tel: 604.984.1727
E-mail: info@id.capilanou.ca

Thank you for your interest!

Tayber Voyer
p.s. I’m one of the students (pick me!!!).

The site was in dire need of a new design and Max Stockholder, Tayber Voyer, Kristof Lenart and Brennan Baker took on the challenge.

Here is what the site looked like before:

Presentation House Old Website

There were some huge usability issues, links didn’t work, there were no calls to action and the branding was weak.

The team worked hard to come up with a new branding strategy and create a compelling user experience. The site was built using Wordpress, a popular blogging engine that is known for being easy to use. Staff are now able to update the site themselves and they are extremely happy.

Here is a screen shot of the new site:

New Presentation House website

Check out the site here:Presentation House Theatre

Trying To Learn On Your Own Is Hard

The first thing you should do if you are interested in learning web design, is ask yourself the following questions:

Do I like to sit alone for long periods of time at my desk not talking to anyone, except to swear at the computer?

Do I enjoy being frustrated for hours on end until I finally swallow my pride and ask for help, only to realize the a single character of misplaced code was the the culprit of my misfortune?

Do I take pride in my ability to consume super human amounts of caffeine and pizza?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you may have the makings of a web designer / web developer in you.

All jokes aside it is important to realize anyone can write code and anyone can use photoshop. The quality that the best designers and developers have is a love of what they do. If sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time scares you, this isn’t the job for you.

If I haven’t dissuaded you yet then the next step is to decide whether you think you can learn this on your own, or whether you want to study at a web design school.

I spent a lot of time looking for web design schools in Vancouver and I found Capilano University had a great program. Which is why I moved from Edmonton to study at the Capilano Interactive Web Design School. Vancouver is a wonderful city full of opportunity and North Vancouver is as rainy and depressing as any other place on the lower mainland. For more information about web design schools in Vancouver check out No Code Nicole’s post on choosing a school.

If you want to learn this crazy stuff on your own, prepare for frustration and joy all wrapped up in a retina bleeding journey through the valley of broken tags (code speak, you’ll pick it up soon, I promise).

Next Post we’ll get started on the basics of code.

Watch a Student Experience on Robot Salmon’s You Tube Channel

Interested in what else the Robot Salmon crew and the rest of the other web design students do up in the mountains at Capilano University check it out here!
>> interactivedesignlab.com

Video by No Code Nicole

Here is the link to the Personas Video on You Tube

Figuring it all out

Have you had any recent thoughts about learning web design? It seems like the profession everyone is trying their hand at these days. As an almost graduate of an interactive web design program I have a few ideas that may help you map out a plan of action.

After ten years out and about in the work force, I decided that I wanted to change careers but I knew that  I was not one of those people that could “teach themselves” web design. I had a huge list of questions and tons of things to consider.

I spent some time surfing around the web, reading posts from graduates of local Vancouver web design schools. I wanted to find a program that was going to offer a broad introduction to the industry since I wasn’t bringing a whole lot of industry experience to the table. I knew straight out of the gate I wasn’t going to be a web developer per say, but as someone with management experience, an organization fanatic, and art enthusiast I was motivated to learn.

After a bunch of research, time spent talking to a few random people, attending a couple of information sessions, checking out campuses, and a lot of long thought sessions on life in general, I made the decision to start the Interactive Design program at Capilano University (it was Capilano College then, but we have moved up in the world since!)

Some of the most important considerations on my list were:

Class size – I wanted a program with classes on the smaller size to ensure that the teachers would have enough time to offer individual help as well as ensure that it would be an interactive teaching environment.

Variety – having courses that covered a broad range of subjects touching on everything from development, design principles and information architecture, to dabbling in audio and rich media editing and project management.

Practicum – School is great, but if your experiences aren’t tied to real life situations you end up with a huge hurdle to jump over when you are ready to enter the industry. I knew that a practicum opportunity was a must for me.

Price – education is important, but breaking the bank never makes sense.

Learning user experience based design – these days it seems that almost anyone can sit down and build a basic website, but do they consider the user? Do they understand the concept of usability? Do they even know that these topics play a huge factor in our web design education?

After reading my list you probably have a few things of your own that you could add. There are a few other schools in Vancouver that offer programs in web design and development.

Vancouver Film School offers a program but they fell off of my list because they don’t offer a practicum.

The Art Institute offers a program complete with a downtown campus and  state of the art Mac labs, but their program is jammed into one epic year instead of 2, and the cost seems to be through the roof.

BCIT also has a campus downtown, but yet again their program costs seem high, and the school seems focused on the development aspects rather than design which didn’t really work for me.

There are several other programs that you can find in Vancouver but they didn’t really make it onto my list. I found a home for myself at Capilano University, the instructors are all industry professionals, the classes are small, it is a 2 year program including a practicum and the range of topics covered are broad. It is a bit of a treck out to the North Vancouver Campus but being up in the North Shore Mountains makes it all worth it.

There are tons of things to consider when looking for a program to join, hopefully you pick right, become a killer designer or developer and help turn the Internet into a better, cooler and fancier place.

If you want to see for yourself how the Capilano University teachers and crew hooked the Robot Salmon team and the rest of the web design students up in the North Shore Mountains browse on to Interactive Design