Diving Into Drupal

As Drupal becomes a more integral part of our work at Eye Byte, we are working to expose more of our team members to it.  To that end, I recently attended a two-day Drupal workshop in D.C taught by Cindy McCourt, author of “Drupal, The Guide to Planning and Building Websites”. The workshop gave me hands-on experience with building a basic Drupal site.

As a designer, my focus has been on the visual aspects and user experience design of building a website. But to have a successful and stable site, you need a strong and structured build to display those gorgeous designs. This workshop was the perfect starting point. I am now able to think about site design differently, even as I create visual and UX mocks, to ensure a smooth and well-transitioned site.

Here are some best practices that are worth sharing:

1. When making the wireframe of a site, do not forget to think about the modules you will need and the page elements, that way you have less editing to do later on. Learn more here
2. Before building something from scratch, look at Drupal modules. Chances are there is something similar to what you are looking for, or it already exists.
3. There are blogs all over the Internet talking about Drupal. Don’t underestimate them, they may have the answers to your questions. Check out idcminnovations for example.

Once the class ended I found online tutorials, blog posts and much more to help further my Drupal knowledge. Like they say, “practice makes perfect.” For me, the first step of practicing was getting out there. Once I was there, it was easy to ask questions, participate in the training discussion and continue to use the tools provided.

If you are interested in learning more about the Drupal Training I attended or want to attend one, visit this site and take the dive into Drupal! Even a small splash makes big ripples.

Change, The Beaver State, & Drupal 8

DrupalCon PDX 2013 Attendees. Do you have this kind of community supporting your framework? Extra points if you can spot Dan!

So, now that I am safely back into the Eye Byte mountain stronghold here in Jackson Hole, and compiling my notes from the information overload which was DrupalCon PDX, I thought I would share a few things with our community regarding the much debated Drupal 8!

Drupal 8, Development sneak preview. Testing out UX features for D8, to (hopefully) be released later this year.

We were lucky enought to get several run downs of new/revamped features in Drupal 8 (D8), and even help solve some issues for it in Fridays Code Sprints. See Eye Byte’s own Dan Rogers (me) caught in the act of Drupal 8 usability testing, I did more than just drink coffee and hover, I swear. Drupal 8 is bringing a lot of great functionality to core, with things like Views, WYSIWYG editor (CKEditor), and lots, lots more making the jump from being add on modules, to being included with the base, or core, install of Drupal. The big news for front end designers, and themers, is the TWIG Initiative, which will speed up, as well as modernize and standardize the current, somewhat drupal specific, templating process. It was touch and go if TWIG would make it into this release, but tons of community support for this initiative throughout the week, including on sprint day, has ensured its adoption into D8. The announcement that TWIG made it into core was met by an erruption of cheers by the entire Drupal community. Kind of like the “shot heard round the world” if you will.

So, for the average end user, or client thinking of utilizing Drupal 8 for an upcoming site build, what does this mean? Well probably a couple things, depending on if you currently have a Drupal Site, or are considering a major build. A couple things to consider:

• Code freeze for D8 is July 1 2013. Essentially, this means that major code is in for this version by then, and the focus shifts to minor revisions and “bug fixing,” to ensure that what we have at this point works, and works well. At this point, Beta releases will begin to flow out to developers, to begin planning for/testing upgrades/etc. Also during this time, the upgrade path for sites currently on D7 will become a little more clear.
• If you currently have a D7 site, what does this mean? Will I need to upgrade right away? In a nutshell, no. In fact, it would be our recommendation not to do this immediately, but rather wait until upgrade paths/etc have had a little while to get sussed out. D7 will most definitely have an active lifespan for existing sites for quite a while, and your site probably has a custom theme that will need TWIG conversion, and lots of other stuff that may not be apparent on first glance.
• If I am thinking of building a site in Drupal right now, should I wait and build it in D8? The most common answer to this question will be no. The reasons being that D8 will not even be released as a stable version until late this year. After that, it will still take quite a bit of time for all the modules currently available in D7 to be ported over to D8. Essentially, most people around DrupalCon don’t predict that the first couple Enterprise level sites will launch on D8 until mid next year, not to mention that these first few sites will be taking on a lot of development challenges in order to even launch that fast. That being said, there are a few exceptions. Mainly, if you are perhaps a smaller organization, planning to launch a relatively “simple” site in Drupal, around the beginning of next year, it may make sense to launch directly in D8. Feel free to contact us if you want to explore this further, or to take a look at your case in particular.

Still have questions, or want more specifics? Give us a call, we are happy to geek out on this stuff with you!

When In Rome…

We all know the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, but what does that actually mean? Eat fresh and delicious food? Drink wine with lunch AND dinner? Take an afternoon siesta? Have your cappuccinos standing up?  The answer of course is yes!

Isn’t it true that in order to “do as the Romans do” you need to understand the Romans? Naturally when you travel to a different country you want to see all the touristy spots and eat at the local restaurants but Rome is slightly different.

Every inch of Rome is rooted in history, and a fascinating history at that. Understanding how the ancient Romans lived can be seen in thousands of buildings, sculptures and paintings citywide. The ancient elements are woven in with the new and modern to make this city unlike anything I have ever seen before. Let’s let the pictures do the talking now:

And if those didn’t make your day, this sure will!

If you don’t use a #hashtag, are you really at a tech conference?

So, bit of a confession here, In my day to day personal life, I’m not a huge twitter user. Sure, like most designers/developers I’ll get on there from time to time, as it is sort of a necessary evil in the tech/design world, but i would in no way classify myself as an active twitter user. Maybe its the slower pace of Jackson Hole Wyoming, where the term “blue bird” is common in describing both animals and ski conditions, but never in reference to a social media platform, that has made me less reliant or active on this particular platform, or maybe I just never gave it a fighting chance against my platform of choice, Facebook.

One or two times a year however, this outlook changes quite drastically. What could make a man such as myself turn to the dark side? two words, Technology conferences. I first had this realization at SXSW a few years ago, where the power of the hashtag convinced me to start following things on the blue bird highway a little more closely. In essence, everything not on the official schedule was on twitter. In many cases the meetups, people and events I found on here to be more interesting than the events themselves. As @ZenDoodles just mentioned to me in the lobby here at DrupalCon, “The Hallway Track is a valid track.” In a world with the power to record every event going on, the trick resides in making connections, rather than watching a lecture. And for that, the hashtag seems to be pretty key in making connections in the sometimes dodgy, and always fast paced environment of technology conferences…

See you in the hallway!

Breaking into Graphic Design

There’s plenty of advice out there about getting a graphic design job.  People I know freely offered up advice and I stumbled upon other guidance while browsing the Internet.  Some of it was good, some, not so good.  I soon realized the most important part of this process is keeping an open mind.

Three years into my fine arts degree, while interning with a fashion designer, I knew I was interested in graphic design.  I was producing cards, nametags, posters, flyers, and emails, as well as organizing and creating marketing materials for events.  I would go home at night and still be working on copy.  Still, it took graduating and job-hopping for two years to grasp just how much I missed the experience of producing designs.

Putting myself out there was the most difficult and rewarding part of job-hopping.  The people I met and the relationships I built were the first steps in the right direction.  Through a former employer, I was introduced to Eye Byte Solutions and was inspired at first sight!  Armed with a limited portfolio, but boundless hunger for experience, I jumped at the chance to develop my skills through another internship.

10 things I’ve learned from my experience so far:

1)   Put yourself out there!  I was actually a little surprised at how willing people are to help; however, you have to make the decision to take that first step.

2)   Ask questions.  Asking questions helps you learn, and also helps others learn about you.

3)   Fearing failure won’t get you anywhere—learning from failure will.

4)   Practice might not make perfect, but it does make you learn your programs really well.

5)   Know your audience…and remember them throughout the project.

6)   Always have a second or third set of eyes look over your work.

7)   Learn to listen well.

8)   Take sketch equipment everywhere you go—you never know when inspiration (or a potential client) will come along.

9)   No one knows everything, and it can be easy to lose sight of the basics.  Keep an open mind because good feedback can come from unexpected places.

10) Stay positive!  Sometimes life may seem overwhelming, but the more you focus on the positive things in life, the more the positive things in life will focus on you.

Taking Beautiful Lengths

Nine…that’s how many ponytails it takes to make one wig. For years, organizations like Locks of Love and Beautiful Lengths have been making real hair wigs for those worldwide that are fighting cancer. Their desire to restore a sense of self-confidence, beauty and normalcy to cancer patients is reflected in every person who has made a donation to their cause. Six years ago I donated 12 inches of my hair to Locks of Love. This time, I was unsure which organization I would donate to.  I’ll be honest; it wasn’t that easy to decide. How do you pick between two great organizations serving the same purpose?

I guess for me it was the little things and the smart creative choices Beautiful Lengths has made that swayed me. Everyone has their own reasons for donating but I think its fair to say that there is always one in common: They want to make a difference in a cancer patient’s life.

In 2006, Pantene and Beautiful Lengths partnered with the American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer. They developed a solid visual campaign to foster awareness. It began with the Beautiful Lengths ribbon logo.  The lavender and pink strands wrap into a recognizable “ribbon” shape to represent breast cancer awareness and the Pantene Beautiful Lengths product collection

The Pantene Beautiful Lengths website carries the look. It is clean, user-friendly, and informative. Crucial information about specific donation requirements is available in only a few clicks.

Of course the website, logo, and product design are all elements that make this program successful but it really comes down to how they evoke their mission. They have come up with a smart and effective way to do just that. In a short video, illustration, typography, and color come together to tell their story and remind us how important it is to spread the word about cancer awareness. Watching this I felt as if they were speaking directly to me and empowering me to make a difference. It was immediately after watching it that I decided to give my hair to Beautiful Lengths and the fight against cancer.

Everyday women are making a difference. Since 2006 Beautiful Lengths has donated 24,000 free real-hair wigs to the American Cancer Society, which is over 400,000 ponytails.

In 2012, Pantene and Beautiful Lengths hosted the first ever National Donate Your Hair Day on April 27. Here is your chance to be part of the fight! A little can go a long way.

April 27, 2013 National Donate Your Hair Day.  Keep an eye on their blog for upcoming information! 

Design Ranch 2013: Come and Make It!

What is it?

Imagine a world in which designers, developers, writers, and directors come together to MAKE STUFF WITHOUT COMPUTERS!!! This video pretty much sums it all up. Why it’s important, what it’s all about.

Feeling the love

The Austin chapter of AIGA is a rich and tight knit community of designers, directors, writers, and developers. Combine this with the best and brightest of other AIGA chapters throughout the country, set them down in an awe-inspiring Texas hill country girls’ camp-ranch built in 1928, let them run free, and you will get nothing short of magic.

The setting is key. Snuggled up next to a serene wide stretch of the Guadalupe River are a set of solid stone and cedar structures built by German rock mason Ferdinand Rehbeger. These buildings are just endlessly intriguing. One chilly evening (in the dance hall, yes, live music and two stepping each night!) I walked up to admire a particularly impressive fireplace hearth, only to notice several huge sparkling geodes embedded into the design. See? Magic.

Design Ranch provided a completely natural way for “campers” to interact and learn from one another. No cell phone coverage or wifi out there folks, they are not kidding! The workshops and workshop leaders were 100% hands on (no lectures, lots of ink, dirt, and paper). The rigor of the workshop schedule was perfectly-tempered to provide plenty of opportunities to speak with leaders and other attendees, and be rejuvenated by our fresh surroundings. Between workshops, campers had unlimited access to the river via canoe, kayak, stand up paddle board, paddle boat, or just plain chilly swimming!

We toasted ourselves around a giant fire pit as we made lofty late night plans to meet up before sunrise and take canoes out on the misty river. And despite our late night discussions of hand lettering techniques, deadline nightmares, and shared design heroes, we dragged ourselves out of bed the next morning to keep our promises. Silently bonding with fellow campers on the glassy water was totally worth beating the reveille bugle call. (Yes, yes, all too real, perfectly in tune, every morning!)

That brings me to breakfast. Which brings me to the food. Let’s just say they know their audience (designers=foodies). I don’t know how they did it, but each meal outdid the last.

Every aspect of the event had value for folks in our profession. Each directional sign and printed card was reflective of the conference brand, custom-quality made, well placed, effective. Each workshop proved relevant yet surprising. (We tried everything from hand stitched lettering to axe sharpening). The best was our access to one another. I think every attendee left with at least 30 new friends and something new to try. Our computer-induced tightness and burnt-out spots were healed by getting our hands dirty alongside respected peers and allowing our eyes to relax and take in open outdoor spaces.

Take aways from workshops and conversations

1. Go outside!
2. It’s important to use your hands to make things every once in a while, even if the computer is where you spend most of your time.
3. No medium is off limits. Some workshops included sewing over type and images into thick paper, screen printing over magazine images, making sculptures from random bits, painting in layers of acrylic, etc.
4. Touch the type. Always. Every piece of type deserves your attention. Cultivate and/or revive a love of it. Be bold with type, it is a powerful force in any design.
5. Try out some hand lettering. You’d be surprised, it can work for conservative clients too.
6. If you are passionate about something, geek out on it as much as possible! Let it infuse meaning into your life and your work.
7. Reach out and connect with your peers. They have the answers you seek, and can turn you on to opportunities you never knew were there.
8. Allow yourself to explore new media or a different approach even if you have to just jump into it because time is limited or you don’t know how it’s going to come out. You can’t always perfect your technique ahead of time, sometimes you have to let something be born.

It was by far one of the best run events I’ve ever attended (#1 best thing: attendees/leaders). On a personal note, for the first time in my career I feel a true sense of belonging within the design community.Only 728 days to go till the next Ranch. Maybe I’ll hand stitch a calendar to count it down.

Winter Wonderlands

Have you ever had a bad case of wanderlust? I have, which is why several months ago I booked a spontaneous vacation to Europe to visit two friends I had made while on exchange in Australia.

When I first told my friends and family of my plans, their reactions were as expected, some of the most popular responses were:
“Are you crazy?”
“Norway in the winter?” and my personal favorite,
“You know it’s going to be freezing, right?”

Of course, I knew it was going to be cold. I’d be traveling close to the Arctic Circle and my plans would have me outside a lot. Having grown up in Maryland, I thought I knew cold, but I was so wrong.  I didn’t realize I would be walking outside all day sightseeing in 1-degree weather. I can confidently say now that I know what cold is.

So why did I choose to visit these places in the dead of winter rather than in the nicer months like most people? It comes down to transformation. I love how winter months can completely change the look and feel of a country and its landscape, and wanted the chance to see that first hand. I had no idea what to expect and looking back now, these two countries could not have been more different.

The Netherlands is flat, small and covered with bikes. Don’t believe me about the bikes? Look at this.

A perk of visiting with locals was experiencing the typical Dutch lifestyle, biking everywhere (in the snow and cold) and having the typical breakfast of Hagelslag on bread (bread, butter and chocolate sprinkles).

In Amsterdam, the buildings are skinny and tall, each one with a style distinct from the next with narrow canals breaking up the city. They typically are a neutral color but the owners usually add a pop of color on the window shutters to add character to their home. Even houseboats on the canal incorporate color to brighten the city.

Everywhere we went there were cheese sellers, flower stands, and clothing markets. usually taking up entire sidewalks. It seemed like every day was a festival, full of color, flowers, singing, food and let’s not forget ice-skating.

Now Norway is a little different. It is mountainous, vast and covered with sculptures. There are extremely curvy roads that work their way through and up the mountainsides. Public transportation is crucial but also expensive. Each building, especially in the major cities, is ornate, colorful and massive.

 Instead of rows of homes nestled in the city center, there are thousands of houses clustered together on steep inclines along the mountains and hills. You may not have a large backyard but you have a breathtaking view at all times!

In continuing to live like the locals, my mornings consisted of a typical Norwegian breakfast, which is comprised of bread or hard crackers with butter, cheese, and strawberry jelly on top.  As we drove around the country, I noticed it is decorated with thousands of fjords and sculptures. Vigeland Sculpture Park and three mermaids in Drøbak are popular stops. Compared to Oslo, Drøbak is a very quant and quiet town.  Aside from having its own marina and aquarium, Drøbak sits on the Oslofjord and everyday you can see ferries and boats making their way in and out of the country.

Differences aside, these two countries house friendly people, breathtaking sights, charm, mystery, and are definitely worth the trip!

So which one did I like better? I can’t really say because I loved each one for different reasons. However, I can say that each country wears winter quite well and I hope to visit again.

Measure effectiveness, and respond to your audience

Welcome back to Part III in our multi-part series about ongoing care and maintenance!

Part III: Measure effectiveness, and respond to your audience

What I thought my audience wanted turned out to be slightly different from what the numbers told me.

So, you’ve put in some work making your online presence just the way you want it. You should be all set right? But wait! Though we may think we have things set up perfectly, user data may just tell us differently. There are many key things that you should be doing in order to keep your website working for you, but today, we are going to limit it down to two specific ones: Measuring effectiveness, and Respond to your audience.

Measure effectiveness

Because it’s not enough to just “Have a website,” successful sites convert visits to interactions.

Traditionally, there have been several ways to measure effectiveness of a business, but one bottom line measure: Sales. By sales, I don’t just mean selling a physical product, it could just as easily mean selling an idea, or more simply, an outlook on life. The web tends to blur lines sometimes when it comes to motivation. Let’s just assume that by creating a website in the first place, you feel that you have something people should be able see, access, and interact with. If you hit the mark, and your customers successfully interact with your site in the way that you imagined, you have, effectively, made a sale.

So, at this point, you may be saying to yourself “Awesome, I just made a sale!” As well you should, congratulations, by the way. However, what you should also be saying to yourself, is “How many times did I NOT make a sale?” The pro’s in internet marketing and ad sales refer to these as conversions. Consider the following explanation from Google AdWords:

A conversion occurs when a click on your ad leads directly to a behavior that’s valuable to you, such as a purchase, newsletter sign-up, lead, view of a certain page, or download. Conversion Tracking measures events like these that happen on your website.

So, now that we are all on the same page, how should you go about getting started? Here are some ideas:

• Install, and check out Google Analytics.
• Get on the 5 Step Program.
• Grade your website. Use online tools, like The Web Wizard, to help see how effective your site is.

“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” – C. S. Lewis

Respond to your audience

You gotta give the people what they want!

People are creatures of habit. Each our audience has habits. The questions you should be asking are:

• What are the audience’s habits?
• How do those habits mesh with your website?
• Where are they getting their news?
• How are they accessing information? Desktop? Mobile? Both?

You get the picture. Responding to your audience not only involves tracker data of users that interact with your site, but also of trends that potential users are following. This kind of research can be time consuming, but also extremely rewarding, if you can get ahead of the curve.

Here are a few ideas to point you in the right direction:

• Use social media to drive traffic to your site. Depending on who your audience is, target specific platforms appropriately.
• Make sure your website is mobile friendly. If not, you are probably missing a great number of your target audience. You can find some good ways to do so here.
• Conduct a user experience test. Listen carefully to what comes out of it, it’s solid gold! You can find sites that offer on-demand testing, like usertesting.com.

“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.” – Auguste Rodin

This concludes our three part series about ongoing care and maintenance, thanks for tuning in!

Advice on stretching those website dollars

Are you working for a great organization with a limited website budget? Maybe your non-profit’s board has allotted a small sum but dreams of a fancy custom website, or maybe you have a little money for a project that needs to start now, but more resources will be coming your way later.

Here are some tips from the folks you’d be approaching with these types of projects.

1. Go local, and go visit. Although every design firm should treat your cold-call style email with ample joy and respect, there’s nothing like a real live human body walking into the design studio to get things going. Check out a firm who shares your zip code, and use your feet to get there. Many places would welcome a visit if you give them a quick heads up. You can see their space and meet the cast of characters, they can be charmed by your sheer goodness. You’re more likely to see eye to eye if you are, in actuality, eye to eye. Having a local partner will make scheduling easier and meetings cheaper.
2. Expect “yes!” But also expect a reality check. During the proposal process, you should expect any firm worth it’s salt to be completely honest about what is actually possible on your budget. You should also expect that this same firm will be excited to create a win-win solution, even if it’s scaled down from your original hopes. It’s about balance, and it should be a positive experience. Don’t settle for “No. Nope. Not possible.” and “Uhhhh, that’d be no, again.” But also be wary of a group that doesn’t ask questions and doles out assurances that “the sky’s the limit” and “we’ll work all that out later.” You may need to dig deeper and make sure the limitations of your budget, timeline, and/or the breadth of your scope, are being heard.
3. Think about the A-La-Carte Taco as part of the El Gordo Special. Firms will often suggest a phase one, phase two approach (and phase three sometimes!), with more functionality coming onboard as more resources become available. This works if you have a sense of where you’re going and what you want to accomplish with your online presence over time. It’s a great tactic for groups who have energetic players who will be on board for the long term, and for those who know their audiences well. They key here is planning. If you put the strategic thinking in now, you really can have it all one day. It might hurt to hold off on some amazing feature you’ve dreamt up, but think of it this way: even if you do the build a few taco plates at a time, if you’ve saved room for desert, you’ll be rewarded with a big fat fried ice-cream sundae (a feat of human ingenuity).
4. Stakeholders are your friends, right? Flip flopping on important decisions winds up being big money and time gobbler for many well-intentioned groups. If your chosen design firm doesn’t have a set method for getting and incorporating informed feedback, sit down and create one for or with them. If they do have one, review it and make sure it is going to work for your group. Make sure to include key players in early planning. This would include ANYONE who may have the power to make your project go “poof” down the line.

Hope this helps out there. We’d love to hear your own successes and challenges, so drop us a line, or better yet, stop by one of our studios in Baltimore, Austin, or Jackson.