Weekly Blog Roundup - Friday 2nd August 2013

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Digital Matters Blog
blog.act ivat e me dia.com /po st/57150323766/week
ly- blo g- ro undup- f riday- 2nd- august- 2013
T he Impact of Simple Design http//speckyboy.com
/2013/07/24/simple- design/ This article takes a
look at the simple design approach and why this
approach is so successful. It does this by
looking at examples of simply designed web and
mobile apps and not so simply designed ones. The
conclusion from this is that well designed web
and mobile apps push their interface on the
marketing front whereas others who do not place
emphasis on design do not. At the end of the day
simple design is so successful as it provides a
clear path to the end goal for the user, whereas
not so simply designed apps can cause confusion
and very quickly lead to the user abandoning the
process all together. Brand Awareness Helps
Establish the Identity of a Business http//www.b
usiness2community.com/infographics/brand-
awareness- helps- establish- the- identity- of-
a- business- 0563712 This article focuses on
brand awareness and how this is essential for a
companys success. An infographic is used listing
the top five most influential brands of 2013 and
gives an overview of the overall concept of their
marketing efforts. These top five companies were
Apple, Google, IBM, McDonalds and Coca
Cola. Mobile marketers must reach f or the
stars http//econsultancy.com/uk/blog/63065-
mobile- marketers- must- reach- for- the-
stars This article focuses on mobile marketing
and a new approach that is being taken within
this area. This new approach to advertising on
mobile devices gives the user the choice over
whether and how they view an advert. Whereas
traditional mobile advertising is very intrusive
to the user and the content they are viewing this
new approach eliminates this and the resentment
for the brand that will naturally occur through
such an overpowering approach. The results for
this approach are positive and research showed
that 98 of users who viewed an advert in this
way could recall the name of the brand
advertised. Furthermore 23 were more likely to
recall the brand message. The more marketers
respect this desire to be in control of advert
consumption the greater and more memorable the
users experience of that brand will be. 5 New
Trends in Web Design Layouts
http//creativeoverflow.net/5- new- trends- in-
web- design- layouts/
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This article discusses 5 of the latest trends in
web design layouts. This are as follow
minimalism, very detailed illustrations,
typography, circles and photographs as
backgrounds. Minimalism The impact of simple
design is undeniable. Minimalistic sites do not
date the way other sites do, they always look
professional and the message of the website is
the main focus without the viewer getting
distracted by irrelevant material. Very det
ailed illust rat ions Not particularly a new
trend but its growing in significance. Many
websites are turning to illustrations to create a
mood that evokes nostalgia and a sense of well
being. Often these illustrations are humorous
with charming details. This makes the website
feel friendly and accessible. This is trend that
can clearly be seen in the new Activate Media
website! Typography Again this is not something
new and has been used for years to create a
certain mood on a page. As the internet is still
mostly a hub of text, giant text in a bold type
will stand out, grabbing the attention of the
user as something they should take notice of. In
addition to this bold typography can have a big
impact on the smallest of devices, something
which is very important in todays multichannel
environment. Circles The use of circles is
another trend that can be seen in web design
today. Perhaps the reasoning for this is due to
the rise in popularity of the accessing the web
through mobile and tablet devices, the circle
standing out as something the user can interact
with i.e pressing it as a button. Put in even
simpler terms circles stand out on a square laid
out page with lines of text and rectangular
images. Phot ographs as backgrounds Thanks to
the speed at which images can be loaded on a web
page these days, web designers are responding to
this by making use of them as backgrounds. This
creates an impact in several ways. When visiting
a website a big image is attention grabbing and
instantly gives the visitor an image to associate
with the company. Selecting this image therefore
is an important decision. The use of an image
also creates a unique impression, which allows a
company to establish itself almost immediately.
Finally the use of a photograph as a background
links the website to something real and
tangible. How Global Brands Fail On
Facebook http//www.ukmarketingnetwork.co.uk/prof
iles/blogs/how- global- brands- fail- on-
facebook Rather than looking at big brands who
are successful in their social media strategies,
this article looks at some of the flaws that
could damage a brand and some of the big brands
that have made these flaws. According to
Econsultancy Sony is one of these brands that
should not take pride in its Facebook presence.
Despite having almost 4 million fans on Facebook,
providing a great opportunity to engage with
thousands of users, Sony is completely wasting
its time. The issue here is with the tone of
voice and language used by the brand, something
which Ive looked at when researching branding
consistency in the past. Although content is
posted on a daily basis the quality of this
content is poor. The company relies almost
entirely on self- promotion, closely focused on
its own products and the messages are rather dull
and anything but creative. Its no surprise
therefore that the engagement rates are
significantly lower than other brands on the same
level as Sony. One final issue with Sonys
presence on Facebook is that the images they post
are poor quality, low resolution images, which
for Sony who are supposedly selling high quality
electronics is not an impression they should be
giving. Design and Navigation Key to Better
Websites http//thedigitalconnection.net/design-
and- navigation- key- to- better- websites/ This
article discusses web and how websites should be
easy to look at and browse through, therefore
its essential
to find a balance between the two elements of
design and navigation. It begins by stating web
design is like the
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• design of a t- shirt, it is made for the sole
  purpose of wearing but people who purchase it can
  be swayed by the design of it. One person may
  find a certain design attractive whilst another
  person may not. In terms of web design, a website
  needs to be designed in such a way that appeals
  to the certain segment of society you want it to.
  You should be yourself in the shoes of your
  visitor to know whether or not the design of your
  website is effective or not.
• Moving on to navigation, before you can manage
  your navigation you should first have a good idea
  of what the purpose of the website is. Your
  website and its navigation should reflect the
  main target your aiming for. Anything unnecessary
  or irrelevant to the purpose of your site should
  not be included, this will only ruin the
  navigational experience. By keeping things simple
  youll end up with a site thats message is not
  lost or confused by irrelevant material. The
  article then goes on to say that you should
  remove anything that does not have a purpose on
  your page as much as possible. This is a trend
  which can be seen at the moment in web design in
  the form of authentic design.
• Fat Fingers A Look Into Responsive Navigation
  Trends
• http//designwoop.com/2013/07/responsive-
  navigation- trends
• This article focuses on responsive navigation
  which is a hugely important element in a
  multichannel environment. Without a responsive
  navigation system users often end up being taken
  to the wrong page due to the clumsy fat fingered
  iPhone stabbing that a non- responsive
  navigation system causes. How this responsive
  navigation is designed depends on the siz e of
  the menu and the hierarchy of the different
  elements. The article then goes on to look at
  different ways responsive websites are presenting
  their menu structures.
• The first of these is the condensed navigation.
  This approach is more suited for smaller and
  simpler menus, only showing a few menu links.
• The second responsive navigation site is the
  drop down toggle. This is something which I
  have noticed Activate Media use on the new
  website when accessing it from my iPhone. This
  again is a style used to display simple but also
  more complex menu structures. This responsive
  navigation system is ideal for presenting a
  multi- level menu of smaller screens. In addition
  to this it also saves valuable screen space when
  the menu is not in use.
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