Instagram
[fts_instagram instagram_id=256737344 super_gallery=yes image_size=100px icon_size=50px space_between_photos=1px hide_date_likes_comments=yes center_container=yes image_stack_animation=yes type=user]
Twitter
[fts_twitter twitter_name=elliance]
Drew discusses the lessons learned from our latest responsive web design project which we did for Carnegie Mellon University magazine.
Posted in: responsive web design magazines
Leave a comment
About a year ago, I took the plunge in to grid-based web layouts. For a long time, I felt that grids were too restricting for creative design and limited your choices and direction for development. Oh how wrong I was. The use of the grids is quickly becoming a standard for rapid template generation. Designers are going back to their print shop roots and finding that the same paradigms can be incredibly useful in the responsive web design world. Before you drink the Kool-Aid, let’s go over a few pros and cons of using grids and how we can overcome them. “Grids are great!” Grids are great for a large websites with tons of content, much like an .edu site. It allows developers and designers to setup a series or rules for where content should go, and leave little to no surprises when building out new pages. Grids and responsive design go hand in hand, allowing the developers to write … Continue reading
If you read our blog, read articles like this, or have a ton of mobile traffic coming to your site, you already know that making your website responsive is a good idea. In my last post, I even went through some of the other benefits of responsive design for your site. But what you might not know is that by making your responsive website, you’re also making your process agile. At least when it comes to the development of your online presence. By standard definition, being agile means you have the ability to move easily and quickly. Putting that in perspective of your business, company, or web project means the same thing. And doesn’t that sound great — working on a project that is quick and easy? I know what you’re thinking — how does making your site responsive make your business move quickly? Or easily? After all, making that site responsive probably wasn’t either of those things. But once you … Continue reading
Posted in: responsive web design
Recently, we launched a landing page for Bryant University. This site asked the question “Why Bryant University?” and was completed in a tight two week turn around. Seemed like a walk in the park. It was anything but that. Thanks to our amazing design team and our thoughtful and motivated clients, Why Bryant sparks your imagination with its amazing colors, brilliant visual effects and playful interactivity. What started out as a simple website was transformed into a story that can only be experienced firsthand. What we’ve learned As a front end developer at Elliance, it’s my job it take the ideas and visions of the design team and the client, and give life to a static mock-up. This project presented several new challenges for me, some solved more easily than others. 1. What to do with all these scripts When building this site, we wanted to create an interactive experience that keeps the user engaged from start to finish. The problem … Continue reading
If you’re familiar with responsive web design (RWD), you know that one of its goals is to make your website easier to use on different devices. And if you don’t know what RWD is, I’m sure you still want your website to look good on all devices. More and more people are using mobile devices everyday, so it’s important your message is reaching them. What isn’t always apparent, though, is that RWD about more than making your site pretty on phones. It’s about working on any device that your customer may use, including assistive technology devices. It’s also about getting your content to your customers quickly and without delay. The great thing is, you can achieve these benefits by making your site responsive. Even better, you can achieve all of this without doing a major redesign. 1. A Solid Foundation As a first step in becoming responsive, you should begin with a solid foundation. Using a fluid grid is a … Continue reading
Posted in: responsive web design
When you search on Google, your results include data that is part of their Knowledge Graph – Google’s name for the way information is displayed beyond the normal search results. As part of the knowledge graph, Google lets you link your website search listings to your Google+ account using microdata. I used www.elliance.com as a case study to show how using microdata on a website can help produce richer search results. I’m sure you’re wondering, “What is microdata”? Well, it’s a way to make information on your website more available to the search engine providers. In essence, using microdata is a way of putting your data in a language that search engines understand. It allows you to explain data about your organization or company that’s available on the website — such as Organization, Address, People, and Events. Microdata adds more information to your HTML code, which makes it easier for search engine crawlers to understand what that data is for. … Continue reading
This is part 1 of my 3 part blog post about the best solution to your .edu website. Please stay tuned for the following posts. Now that nearly a quarter of web traffic is coming from mobile devices*, we’ve come to a crossroads over the best solution to a large webpage such as an .edu site. Should we build a mobile app with a sister desktop website? Or does a responsive/adaptive website make more sense? All modern solutions, at the end of the day, will get the job done for you. The question is, what is, hands-down, the best solution for your school? The first thing you need to do is forget the buzzwords and focus on your users. Do they do a lot of browsing on their devices? What is their age group? What are they looking to accomplish on your site? Your analytics should give you a lot of this information. (And if you don’t have analytics, that’s … Continue reading
Posted in: mobile app, responsive web design
In my last blog post, I discussed the three types of CMS systems: Proprietary CMS systems, Commercial CMS systems and Open-source CMS systems. Which begs the question, which type of CMS system should a higher education institution purchase? The answer depends on your size, need for flexibility, in-house teams, budgets and risk-management. While there is no single answer to this question, some guidelines might help think through this delicate choice. I am breaking my guidelines on the size of college. Tiny Colleges and Universities (less than 1,000 students) I would classify any school with marketing budgets less than $200,000 as a tiny college/university. Specialty Schools that offer few niche degrees fall into this category. Typically tiny schools don’t really have Web/IT teams and have a single person who updates the website and helps marketing out with most of its projects. For tiny schools, it makes sense to establish a relationship with a boutique agency which offers a Proprietary CMS system … Continue reading
Posted in: Higher Education Web Development
Higher education clients often ask us for guidance on content management system (CMS). They are wondering if they should work with a web development company that offers a proprietary CMS system, a commercial CMS system, or an open-source CMS system. In this blog post, I’ll define the three types of systems: Proprietary CMS Systems These are developed, maintained and supported by boutique shops such as BarkleyREI, Whitewhale and others. Typically, clients will inherit them as part of the web site development project, will pay an annual licensing fee, and turn to them for customization and version upgrades. You can’t really find talent in the open market to enhance these systems and you typically don’t have access to the source code for making any changes to the system. For better or for worse, you are essentially locked into that relationship with the boutique. Commercial CMS Systems These systems are developed, maintained and supported by companies solely focused on the CMS systems. … Continue reading
It’s not a typo. The last few years have been marked by repetitive, breathless cries from the web design community: “Should designers know how to develop?” Making a website is different than making a printed item. Designers – the myth goes – trace their collective lineage back to print design. But websites are coded, and if you’re going to produce code, well, that’s a developer’s job. There’s a gulf between the two aspects of website creation, if not between the aptitudes required to perform those aspects, and the greatest minds of our industry apparently grind away hour after hour arguing that web designers – definitionally – must know code. Now, I don’t have a problem with this assertion, and I’ve seen collaboration go more smoothly as a result of designers’ code-savviness. But I can’t stop thinking about how obtuse it seems for my profession not to be equally curious (or demanding, if you want to match tone) about whether developers should … Continue reading