Category: Design

How come internet advertising is based on click-thrus? Seriously. I don’t understand it. For 100 years, advertising has been totally (well, kind of) passive: the ad sits in the magazine, hoping you will look at it, and after seeing similar ads a number of times, you will consider purchasing the product contained therein. Right? So how come online advertising is so obsessed with click-thru rates? I don’t have to throw a rock at a billboard every time I see it, so the advertisers know I saw that ad. So why do I have to click a banner in order for that ad to be considered effective?

If I’m driving down the highway (again) and I see an ad for the Container Store, the advertisers don’t expect to me to all of a sudden immediately take the next exit and head toward the nearest Container Store, do they? So why do they expect that if I’m reading news or checking out designsites or shopping for music online, I’ll be willing to immediately stop what I’m doing, click the flashing banner at the top of the page, and totally redirect my activities, just because I saw a banner? That’s ridiculous. One rule of advertising is that the best you can hope for is that the consumer will think of you strongly enough when they next need/want a product that fits the description of yours, not that they’ll go out and buy in droves the second they first see your ad. That simply isn’t going to happen, offline or on, bigger ads or smaller ones:

Web sites have been looking for ways to become more attractive to advertisers, who have been disappointed with response rates to Internet banner ads.

The bulked-up Web ads will take up much more space on a Web page than current banner ads, which typically run across a narrow section at the top of a page — 234-by-60 pixels for a half banner or 468-by-40 pixels for a full banner.

The larger units include a square pop up that is 250-by-250 pixels and a so-called “skyscraper unit” that measures 120-by-600 pixels. Larger ads will also allow marketers to make their online message more creative and more interactive.

Link via SVN.

So in a move of shameless self promotion, I’m mentioning here that Deeperhue is officially under redesign. So far, it’s just a splash page, but check it out if you’re interested in what the new look is. Not terribly ground-breaking or anything, but nice, I feel.

I’m a little bewildered by this. I just got an email today from the designer of IHT.com… asking me what I thought of it, and if I thought there were any changes that needed to be made:

I am the designer behind iht.com and I have been surfing around trying to read user comments and criticisms about the site. I am still working on it and trying to make some useful improvements.

Anyway I noticed that you were using the site some(and even referenced some articles to it). Are you still using the site? And if not was there anything which could have been done to have made it better, or anything odd, bothersome, etc.?

Is that awesome or what? I mean, come on. How many internet news sites actually give a rat’s ass what their users/critics think? I really hope this site is a sign of the ‘new internet’ that I keep hearing about… and that it stays around for a long, long time.

Holy fucking shit. Contagent.com went live. Check it out and love what you see. Because you will. Flash 5 required, but it’s well worth the wait (if you’re on a modem, at least). By far, the best use of Flash I’ve ever seen. Probably.

Design is my Lady. Photography? My mistress on the side. The little lady is my life, my bread and butter. Morning sunshine, right side of the bed. My mistress is just a release, when my lady starts nagging cuz I spend too much time with my scratch n’ sniff Britney Spears poster.

Because I could never give up my Lady Design (we’re business partners, too), I share my Mistress Photography with the world. She will be available in late March for your personal use. It’s OK. We have an agreement. So if you like what you see, grab screenshots of her sweet ass, and get back to me for more updates.

Uh… okay, Eddie.. whatever. 🙂

Photonica has redesigned.

Anyone remember this post about the Pentium 4s being slower than P3s? Well, offline, Tai and I had a little conversation about making a t-shirt that said ‘MHZ, SHMHZ’ on the front, with alternate.org on the back… Well… I found a website that will do that for us.. They take t-shirt ideas from designers, for designers, and if people want your shirt, they’ll print ’em for you, and even sell ’em (they make the money, but whatever).. So if you see ours up there, vote for it, so you can have it.

I know you’re a little frightened by all the changes going on around here, but for the love of god, DON’T CLICK ANYTHING. The top nav really doesn’t work yet, and the survey is old, but at long last, the new design is up. This isn’t a well-read weblog, or even a well-written one, so I’m not worried about launching incomplete code. But if your grubby little hands need to try something out, click on the new ‘hide’ function on the left… Jax helped out on that shit, and it’ll only get better.

For every vote the pink design gets, the blue design gets three. So you voiced your opinion, and blammo, you get what you want. The blue design (hence referred to as ‘v3’) is pretty much coded and ready to go. A few more tweaks, and it’ll be live by Monday morning.

And on an unrelated note, I would just like to re-proclaim my love for IFC. I wouldn’t even consider paying for digital cable if I didn’t get it. I just saw a great movie entitled Hi-Life. Rent it the next time you’re in an independent movie rental shop (read: NOT Blockbuster). The best line: ‘Ho ho ho, you fuck.’ Ha. I can’t get enought of that shit.

I just picked up my Apple Pro optical mouse (for whatever reason) and saw that in the front curve on the bottom, right above the logo and just inside the rubber ring are the words: ‘Designed by Apple in California.’ This confuses the hell out of me. Was it put there in order to lead people away from the idea that someone ELSE designed it? And why is it specific to California? I’m just so confused… I wonder if someone knows any hardware designers over there and can ask them?