Indianapolis Web Design | TBH Creative Blog

Web Design Case Study: Olympia Stone

2012-02-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for Olympia Stone last week, and it can be viewed at http://www.olympiastoneindy.com/.

TBH Creative was hired by Olympia Stone to make their outdated website more effective and attractive.

They had two primary project goals:

1. Allow easier in-house editing and additional pages/photos.
The new website uses our custom Content Management System which will allow them to add new pages, edit content and even add new photos to their galleries. There is no limit, and they are currently working on additional pages to add.

2. Show off all their great work with a gallery and photos.
We incorporated photos very prominently in their design as a full screen rotation. Large photos are a very popular current web design trend. In addition, we included galleries for major categories of their services (such as kitchens, bars, bathrooms). These galleries are linked in the navigation and right from the main page.

Olympia Stone's new homepage. View the site.

One of Olympia Stone's interior pages. View the site.

Before Redesign

Olympia Stone's homepage prior to the redesign. In addition to the outdated graphics and small photos, the coding was very poor and used tables making edits more difficult.

About Olympia Stone

Founded in 2002 by Matt Schuckman, Olympia Stone utilizes the most sophisticated machinery and processes available in the industry—Computer numerically controlled machinery (CNC)—to ensure perfect form and fit, the first time. Olympia Stone's staff of expert craftsmen, artists and professionals is here to help our clients take their design ideas and transform them into centerpieces of enticing beauty and timeless elegance that only real stone can provide.

Don't know where to start in creating a website for your business? Look no further! TBH Creative is located in Indianapolis, Indiana and specializes in web design, online strategy, and more! Contact us today for a web consultation.

Change is coming to YouTube Channels

2012-02-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

YouTube—the video-sharing giant that hosts everything from scholarly commentaries and "missing cat" commercials—is rolling out a new look and feel for its Channels. These updates are intended to make it easier for users to find and watch content.

Currently account owners can opt into the new Channels design. The new Channels format isn't mandatory. However, all Channels will automatically switch to the new design one month from today on March 7. If you own or operate a YouTube account, now is the perfect time to plan and make your transition to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

Among the changes are different sizes and placements of graphics on Channels. The most noticeable graphics-related change is that the new format no longer allows for a separate banner. When you adopt the new Channels format, you're allowed to select one of four templates to customize in a way that will help you best keep your viewers engaged and coming back.

The new Channels format also gives you many opportunities to optimize your YouTube account for better search engine results. This helpful blog post chronicles some of the things to look out for when you're updating your account. The tutorial includes step-by-step screen grabs with the instructions.

Would you like help updating your YouTube Channel's graphics for the new format? TBH Creative is a website design company in Indianapolis, Indiana. We create effective and advanced websites with a focus on user-friendly web design and strategic social media marketing.

Mobile Web Design Tips & Examples

2012-02-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

Mobile web browsing is on the rise. More people are using their smart phones to browse the Internet on the go, which is the reason why your website needs to have mobile compatibility too. Any smart phone can pull up almost every website, however, it could have the user constantly zooming in and out to find what they need. Mobile devices include phones and tablets.

This chart, provided by Device Magazine, shows the increasing mobile device web browser usage.

Some have even predicted that in less than 5 years, mobile browsing will be more popular than desktop browsing. Knowing how fast technology is moving, I don't doubt their predictions.

Below is my list of mobile web design do's and don'ts:

1. Screen Resolution

Screen resolution is important when making your website mobile device compatible. Uxbooth.com created this easy to read chart for the various mobile screen dimensions. You will probably need more than one mobile stylesheet for the website.

Mobile device screen resolutions provided by Uxbooth.com.

As Uxbooth.com noted, there are new devices that come into the market constantly. This list will change year to year.

2. Keep It Simple

You are more limited with space on mobile devices. Don't clutter up the screen with too many links or graphics. Make sure the interface is not confusing to the user. The simpler the better. If you don't have many links (or you want the photographs to be in the spotlight), you can focus on images. Subaru has a very nice example of this:

Subaru's mobile website.

If you have a lot of subcategories in your navigation, simplify them and only include the necessary links on the mobile site. This brings us into the next topic.

3. Options

Some users may want to view the full site on their phone. Maybe they can't find what they are looking for or they don't like the layout of the mobile site. Giving them the option to view the full site really helps usability. If the user has a tablet, it may be easier for them to navigate around the full site they're used to instead of using the mobile site. This link is usually towards the bottom of the website design.

4. Navigation & Links

Only include the necessary links and keep buttons simple. If you have a lot of navigation links, narrow it down or lay it out in a different format. For example, Walmart & Amazon have a lot of navigation and sub navigation on their full website. They simplified it as much as possible so the user would not get lost.

Walmart.com's mobile website.

Amazon's mobile website.

5. User Text Entry

Keep user text entry to a minimum. Make use of checkboxes and drop down menus when possible. The shorter the URL, the better. Remember, these users most likely do not have access to a traditional keyboard and mouse. Some tablet users attach keyboards, however, this is a very small percentage of users.

6. Pop-Ups

This is a definite no-no. On mobile devices, a user can get lost very easily if there are pop up windows and some will not work properly.

7. Flash

Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that Apple mobile devices cannot view Flash based animations or movement. It appears as an icon and big empty space. Many Flash movies can be recreated using HTML5 and Javascript to deliver the same effect while also working on your mobile view. If you can, simplify slideshows and only include one strong image instead of five. Images will drastically affect the website load time.

TBH Creative Client Examples

TBH Creative recommends to develop a mobile version of your website and can help you through the options and process. We recently completed a mobile design project for Wheaton World Wide Moving (under contract by Williams Randall Marketing). The mobile site design has easy to use navigation, minimized text, more spacing between links and buttons for fingers to easily click, and a simple, sleek design. If the full website was viewed on a mobile device, the user could easily get confused. See the difference:

Wheaton's homepage. View the site.

The mobile version of Wheaton Worldwide is coming soon.

Is your website ready for use on mobile devices? TBH Creative can help you keep up with technology, as well as mobile web design or the newest social media trends. We are an Indianapolis web design company and would be happy to discuss an online strategy for your business.

The Best (and Worst) Law Firm Website Designs

2012-01-27T10:28:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish what makes a website the "best" because much of it is subjective. Other aspects are more fair to judge such as usability, use of space, site architecture, and content. After searching the Internet for law firm websites, I quickly was able to find some that did all of the above well. Some of it may still be personal preference and even colors. Specifically for law firms and lawyers, a professional appearance is necessary.

Below, I have reviewed three of my favorite law firm websites as well as two of my least favorite.

Best Law Firm Websites

Burke Brown Attorneys' website is very attractive and easy to navigate. The interior pages could use a little work, but the homepage definitely gives you a good first impression. The color scheme is very simple and doesn't distract the user. The hint of orange splashed throughout the site helps to liven it up.

A screenshot of Burke Brown Attorneys' homepage. View the site.

Springhouse Solicitors' website is colorful and is easy to navigate. The green color is very inviting and not too overpowering. I also like the simplicity in their website. The user is not flooded with crowded drop-down menus as they hover over the navigation. In addition, each interior page is simple and informative.

A screenshot of Springhouse Solicitors' homepage. View the site.

The Law Offices of Stipe & Belote's website has a professional appearance. The colors help create a professional look. The Flash animation is almost a bit much, but it is not too overpowering. They definitely shouldn't add anything else animated on the website.

A screenshot of The Law Offices of Stipe & Belote's homepage. View the site.

Worst Law Firm Websites

Brent Buckman's website is very colorful, but not in a good way. I had no idea where to look first on this website. That blinding lime green paragraph? The scrolling title? The counter at the top? The highlighted paragraphs at the bottom? This website could use some professional help and clean up. I was shocked his website still looked like this after appearing on Season 5 of The Apprentice.

A screenshot of Brent Buckman's homepage. View the site.

Rachel A. Runnel's website is very interesting, to say the least. When I first opened up this website, I immediately thought I went to the wrong URL. It looks like the introduction to an online game. After looking in the top left corner, I realized I was at the correct URL (unfortunately). What a lion, tiger, and cheetah have to do with an attorney? The world may never know . .

A screenshot of Rachel A. Runnel's homepage. View the site.

TBH Creative Examples

Make sure your website gives a great first impression. Some users check websites before even going to the business' location. Website first impressions are very important. If you do not know how to create a website, your business is too important to try and guess. Hire a professional.

Hostetler & Kowalik PC Attorneys at Law by TBH Creative:

Hostetler & Kowalik PC's homepage. View the site.

Morrill & Associates PC by TBH Creative:

A screenshot of Morrill & Associates PC's homepage. View the site.

Do you think your law firm's website would make the "bad" list? TBH Creative specializes in professional web design and development for law firms and other professional services. Let us create a great first impression for your business! Contact us today.

Website Forms: Human or Computer? (CAPTCHAs)

2012-01-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

An example of a CAPTCHA from reCAPTCHA by Google.

CAPTCHAs have become very popular on the Internet lately. CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart. Good thing they shortened it, right? They make it harder for spammers and bots to get through.

Google has a CAPTCHA called reCAPTCHA. It helps to digitize books and newspapers, believe it or not (read more here). Google also determines if an IP address is solving too many CAPTCHAs in a short amount of time, then flags that IP address. ReCAPTCHA is free and accessible to blind users. Great work, Google!

An example of a motionCAPTCHA by Joss Crowcroft.

Joss Crowcroft posted an interesting article on how to create your own motionCAPTCHA.

MotionCAPTCHAs are really unique.

Thanks to the advancement of HTML5, users are able to draw shapes in a box instead of squinting and turning their heads to figure out the words. This technique would be difficult for someone who has the shakes, so I think the traditional word CAPTCHAs should be offered as another option for users.

Live CAPTCHA examples:

TBH Creative has included a few customized CAPTCHAs on Hickory Creek Health Care and CIRTA's websites:

Hickory Creek's CAPTCHA. View the site.

CIRTA's CAPTCHA for their petition. View the site.

There are also several CAPTCHA examples on Lanap Software's website:

One of Lanap Software's CAPTCHAs. View the site.

I noticed a few weeks ago, Facebook is now using CAPTCHAs. My thoughts? It's about time! Spammers and bots have been on Facebook since it began. This helps to reduce those viruses and other spam posts you have seen on the social network site.

I don't think the Internet will ever be 100% safe, but every day we are learning new ways to make it a little more safe and secure!

Does your site need a CAPTCHA present when a user submits a form? TBH Creative can help! We are located in Indianapolis, Indiana and specialize in all aspects of web design and graphic design.

Designing For Your Target Audience

2012-01-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

Designing for your target audience is one of the most important factors to be aware of as a web designer. If you don't know or understand the audience and how they behave, that is one of the first questions to ask and find the answer.

When I hear "target audience," I always think back to my high school English class. The teacher would constantly tell us about the importance of our target audience. We used it for speeches, debates and more. English was always one of those classes where I would think, "when will I ever use this in the real world?" Well, here you go. Web and graphic design have a lot of focus on target audience.

Web Designer Depot wrote a great article called "Designing for Your Target Audience". They outline several important steps to follow when designing.

Who are they?

What does your target audience do for a living? What do they like? How old are they?

It really helps to create several personas. Think about what kind of people will be viewing your design. Be creative, but also be realistic. Senior citizens have different likes than children. If you create a website with neutral colors, it will not be very appealing to children.

Some personas are very long and detailed, while other are short and to the point. You can find examples on several websites. Just Ask has a few example personas. Create the personas that will best define your target audience.

Example persona:

Billy is an 8 year old going to a local public elementary school. He likes playing soccer and basketball. He also loves spending time on the computer. Interactive games are his favorite part class. Each day, his teacher allows 30 minutes of computer time. Computer games are Billy's favorite way to learn. His favorite websites are very colorful and contain a lot of movement.

Do the research.

Research? You have to do research? Yes, but not the kind of research you did in high school and college. The easiest way to do this is by a survey. Once you have figured out your target audience, get a survey together. It can either be online or paper, casual or formal. Gather some questions to ask your target audience. For example, you could ask what makes them want to purchase something: a) packaging b) quality of product c) advertisements, etc. Surveys will help you understand what your target audience wants. Don't be afraid to leave open ended questions! You'd be surprised how many people actually take the time to leave useful comments.

What are you doing?

Dry erase markers and whiteboards are fun and easy for
sketching and brainstorming!

Now that you've completed your research, it's time to figure out exactly what you're trying to design for. What is the goal? Are you selling a product, service or both? For example, web designer portfolios usually try to sell services. They very rarely advertise strictly web design. They include other things in the same area, such as, graphic design, print design, web development, usability, search engine optimization, etc. If you only have one service or one product, that's fine, but try not to close your mind on all of the additional possibilities out there! This is a great time to go back and study your research: what do the customers want?

Design basics.

"Above the fold" has been a term used for several decades. It refers to newspaper prints, but we have started using this term in web design. Most important items need to be above the fold. Discuss what your business needs. Do you need a new logo? Print materials? Brochures? Product packaging?

Examples of design with a distinct target audience in mind:

PBS Kids' website focuses on children in preschool and elementary school for their target audience. Their website is very colorful and playful. There are plenty of interactive things children can do. There is also a secondary section at the bottom for "grownups" if the parents want to learn more about PBS Kids -- in this design, elements are toned down and colors are shifted to a more white and 'open' composition.

PBS Kids' homepage. View the site.

Hickory Creek Healthcare's website focuses on senior citizens and their caretakers. The neutral colors appeal to adults. Adults are most likely coming to the website for information on the nursing homes.

Hickory Creek Healthcare's homepage. View the site.

Thinking about updating your company's web design to appeal to the correct target audience? TBH Creative specializes in graphic design as well as other important parts of your marketing strategy (web design, logos and more). Whether you just need a makeover or need to start from scratch, we can help!

Web Design Case Study: Megan S. Ott Foundation

2012-01-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for the Megan S. Ott Foundation today, and it can be viewed at http://www.megansottfoundation.org.

TBH Creative worked with the Megan S. Ott Foundation over the past year to help them define their brand and build a new website. The purpose of the website is gain support through volunteers and donations for the Megan S. Ott Foundation and all the people they serve. The secondary goal is to raise awareness and brand recognition in the community.

TBH Creative is a proud sponsor of the Megan S. Ott Foundation. We strive to be active in the community and support various organizations; this project work was an in-kind donation to the organization, community, all the women and families helped, and the cause.

We created the logo and supporting collateral and all aspects of the website and hosting.

The Megan S. Ott Foundation's homepage. Visit the website.

An interior page from Megan S. Ott's website. Learn more about Megan and the organization.

Megan S. Ott Foundation Logo:

The Megan S. Ott Foundation logo was designed to be clean and professional, last over time, represent breast cancer, and be used in various sizes and collateral. The organization is about caring and the heart with breast cancer symbol embedded represents that.

Before Redesign:

Above is the Megan S. Ott Foundation's homepage before the redesign. The previous website was a great start, but the new website has more substance, photo galleries and information about events as well as a way to accept online donations.

About the Megan S. Ott Foundation

The Megan S. Ott Foundation is the remarkable vision of Megan Snyder Ott. Megan envisioned an organization that would provide immediate personalized financial support and "sunshine" to families in the Indianapolis metro community fighting the day-to-day battle of breast cancer.

Two Foundation volunteers are paired with each recipient to build personal, supportive relationships.

Interested in updating your website with a content management system? TBH Creative specializes in website strategy and web redesign for organizations and businesses. Content management systems allow you to maintain your website without having to call a web developer for changes. It serves as an affordable alternative for organizations that require significant, time-sensitive, and/or routine maintenance.

The Demise of Internet Explorer 6: Web Design Just Got Easier...For Now

2012-01-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

For web developers everywhere, Internet Explorer 6 has been a trouble maker for quite some time. The code may seem perfect and the website can look beautiful on Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera and even Internet Explorer 9, but look terrible on the 6th version of Internet Explorer without significant effort to fix. This week, Microsoft announced they will no longer be supporting or updating Internet Explorer 6.

Less than 1% of United States Internet users use IE6.

Microsoft's cake celebrating the demise of IE6.

PC World explains several reasons why you should abandon IE6 in their article "If You're Part of the IE6 One Percent, You're Doing It Wrong". The article points out that IE6 is over a decade old and was developed prior to all of the malware attacks that are all over the Internet today. This is a large security concern for those users. I'm surprised that the 1% of IE6 users have not picked up a virus on their computer yet. Microsoft also announced they will begin automatically updating Internet Explorer for users, similar to Firefox and Google Chrome which will be a nice feature to keep people updated moving forward.

Microsoft was even celebrating the demise of their 6th version of Internet Explorer. EWeek.com posted an article called "Microsoft Trumpets Internet Explorer 6's Impending Demise". They also made a cake for the celebration. Roger Capriotti, a member of Internet Explorer’s marketing team, stated Austria, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway's IE6 users have also dropped below 1%. According to StatCounter, in the United States 47% of users use Internet Explorer, 20% use Firefox, 18% use Google Chrome, 12% use Safari, 1% use Opera, and 2% use other browsers. Below is a graph breaking down the usage of Internet Explorer browser usage.

Source: W3Schools

As programming languages get more advanced, browsers will need to follow suit. Without IE6, most of the popular browsers are compatible with the newest features in web design. Like most technology, browsers will have to make updates often to keep up.

Humorously, Mashable wrote an article in January 2010 about IE 6 titled 5 More Reasons IE 6 must Die... obviously, its been a long time coming.

Are you a part of that 1% still using Internet Explorer 6?

It's okay. You just need to upgrade as soon as possible. For your computer's safety, you should upgrade to IE8 or IE9. There are also several other browsers to choose from out there: Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera (just to name a few).

TBH Creative is a web development company located in Indianapolis, Indiana. We keep up with web technology and design to best help you maximize your online marketing potential. Engage in a web consultation with TBH Creative and we'll help you figure out where to go next and explore your options.

Web Design Trends for 2012: One Page Layouts

2012-01-02T06:27:00.000-08:00

We are doing a series of 2012 web design trends, and our seventh and final prediction for web design trends in 2012 is one page layouts.

One page layouts are beautiful, if they're done right. When constructing a one page website, make sure you don't have too much information. One page layouts work best with small, minimalist websites. Less is more in this scenario. If you have a lot of content, you may want to consider a multi-page layout.

Skidpasset's website is a great example of a one page layout. I especially like how the navigation follows you throughout the site. It is important that the user doesn't lose the navigation.

Skidpasset's home page screen. Visit the site for the full experience.

Carter Digital's website also has a navigation that follows the user down the page. The following navigation, however, is different from the "home" screen navigation. Changing the navigation shows other designers you don't have to be stuck with the same navigation on the "interior" screens.

Carter Digital's home page screen. View the site for the full experience.

Volkswagen Beetle's website takes a long time to load, but it is definitely worth the wait. Let the scrolling begin!

Volkswagen Beetle's home page screen. View the site for the full experience.

I think it is extremely important that the navigation is accessible throughout the layout. If the user scrolls down to the bottom of the page and the navigation is missing, it confuses the user (even though all of the information is on the same page).

Do you want to check out more one page web designs?

One Page Love has endless pages of beautiful one page designs. I could probably spend hours on this site. They have a variety of lists, from most loved sites to sites that should be launching soon.

Our web design predictions for 2011 also included one-page layouts. It is a growing trend and will continue throughout 2012. See some of our examples there.

Do you want to add some of these new trends to your website? It is important to continually update your website and incorporate new trends -- your website is a 24/7 marketing tool for your business and communicates to visitors many times before they even make contact with you. Schedule a web consultation with TBH Creative. We specialize in web design and are committed to keeping up with the newest web design trends.

Web Design Trends for 2012: Social Media Integration

2011-12-29T08:35:00.000-08:00

We are doing a series of 2012 web design trends, and our sixth prediction for web design trends in 2012 is social media integration.

Social media is everywhere. It's on our computers, phones, televisions and even in our cars. Social media integration will not be going away any time soon (at least not in the next few years).

My favorite websites with social media integration are from local designers (located in central Indiana). When I began this blog topic, I knew exactly which three websites I would showcase:

Our website (TBH Creative) puts an emphasis on social media integration linked from the bottom of each page as well as the left sidebar on interior pages. We link to our client's social media pages as well under our portfolio. Custom social media icons that match your website design are an excellent option. They blend in well with the design and don't look like they were just thrown in there.

TBH Creative's home page. Visit the site for the full experience.

Kevin Thornbloom's website has very unique social media integration. You will need to visit the site to get the full experience. When you click on the buttons, it changes the title accordingly. Kevin uses kthornbloom as his username on every social media site, so it makes it very easy to use this technique!

Kevin Thornbloom's home page. Visit the site for the full experience.

The Basement's contact page is very entertaining. The social media birds hop around on the telephone wire as you're on the contact page. They also have custom social media icons, which makes the website flow together very well.

The Basement's home page. Visit the site for the full experience.

Social media integration is key in web development this year. Now, more than ever, people are spending more time on social media sites than any other site on the web. For example, four out of the seven tabs on my browser are social media sites. News stories, friend updates, funny pictures: you name it, you can probably find it on a social media site.

Is your website in need of social media integration? There's a team for that! TBH Creative specializes in social media and much more. In today's digital world, your Internet presence is more than just your website. A social media strategy could help you gain the competitive advantage.

Web Design Trends for 2012: Large High Quality Photograph Backgrounds

2011-12-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

We are doing a series of 2012 web design trends, and our fifth prediction for web design trends in 2012 is large high quality photograph backgrounds.

Large, high quality photograph backgrounds can add a lot to a company's website. It is important that they are high quality images. You do not want a large, pixelated background; it is not enjoyable for the user. Just a tip from graphic and web designers everywhere: never enlarge a photograph. Be sure to only size images down. If your picture is not large enough to use as a background for a webpage, then don't use it. Below are a few websites that use the large, high quality photograph technique for their backgrounds:

Smoking Takes Lives features a story of Mick Roberts (who's life was changed by smoking). This large photograph will help to grab the user and have them watch the video before accessing any other part of the website.

Smoking Takes Lives' homepage. Visit the site.

Simon & Comet's website features his motorsport photography. After translating the webpage to English, I noticed that he also is a web designer. He has a passion for motorsports. It is a great way to combine the two things he is passionate about.

Simon & Comet's homepage. Visit the site.

Poco People's homepage has a very nice "pop" of color. Your eyes are immediately drawn to Travis and Kelly (the owners) in the middle. Just a simple red scarf and red jacket are all they needed to attract the user.

Poco People's homepage. Visit the site.

Just remember, not every website will look great with a large photograph background. When in doubt, ask a web or graphic designer. A company that sells kitchen knives will probably lose customers if there is a very large butcher knife pictured on their homepage. What looks great to you might not look great to the user.

Interested in adding a large, high quality photograph background to your website? TBH Creative is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. We strive to make sure your website top-notch and up-to-date with design styles. Schedule a web consultation with us to see what we can do for your business.

Indianapolis Graphic Design Review: Super Bowl 2012 Host Committee Poster

2011-12-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl Host Committee 2012 Poster - Indianapolis

As some of you may know, the Super Bowl is being hosted in Indianapolis, Indiana this year. It is an honor for our city to be the home of such a large event! The city's plans are starting to come together now that the Super Bowl is only a few months away.

This week, an official poster was released. The Superbowl Host Committee's poster was created by Indiana artist Walter Knabe. An article by the Indianapolis Star states "His work is represented in galleries and museums around the world." After seeing the poster and reading the article, I was very curious and decided to find Knabe's portfolio website.

While browsing through his website, I noticed he specializes in fabric and wall covering design. Yes, fabric and wall covering. Not graphic design.

I was disappointed in the graphic design and originality of the poster. It seemed elementary. For examle, I found this file of identical Photoshop star brushes via Google in about two seconds. The ink splatter brushes could be found just as easily. The logo was already created and the other images could probably be found on Google Images. To be honest, any graphic designer in the industry could replicate this poster in about thirty minutes to an hour.

Just to clear things up, this poster was not done by the National Football League (NFL). It was created for the Super Bowl Host Committee. So, why couldn't Indianapolis do better? There are several graphic design firms in Indianapolis that would have loved the opportunity to make a poster for the Host Committee.

What do you think about this poster representing the Super Bowl Host Committee of Indianapolis? As you can tell, I am not a fan of the Host Committee's poster. Please leave comments; don't be a stranger! I am very interested in hearing other responses on this poster.

Is your brand in need a face lift? TBH Creative is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. We specialize in graphic design, web design, strategy and related marketing services. A professional designer and planned online strategy can increase your marketing results. We have experience with the portfolio to show for it. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.

Web Design Case Study: Franciscan Alliance Foundation

2011-12-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for the Franciscan Alliance Foundation today and it can be viewed at http://www.franciscanalliance.org/foundation/.

TBH Creative worked with the Franciscan Alliance Foundation this Fall to help with their new website. The purpose of the website is to serve a 'home' for all Franciscan Alliance Foundations and receive support through donations.
We proposed a clean design that was very similar to the new Franciscan Alliance brand and complimentary to the Ceommunity Benefits website graphics and arrangement. We build the HTML framework to work with their Content management system and including some custom JQuery for rotation of stories, main ideas, and pop up window for donations. The application work was completed by their IS department with our support for graphics and arrangement.

The Franciscan Alliance Foundation's homepage. View the site.


An interior page from the Franciscan Alliance Foundation's website. View the site.

About the Franciscan Alliance Foundation

The foundress, Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel, was drawn to the ideals of St. Francis of Assisi, who left a legacy of faith characterized by selfless giving and the spirit of love; he loved every person without measure or discrimination. The care and compassion of St. Francis was continued in this country when Mother Maria Theresia sent six Sisters from Olpe, Germany to Lafayette, Indiana in 1875 to begin a ministry of healthcare and education for the poor and neglected.

St. Francis continues to be a source of inspiration for Franciscan Alliance as they “Continue Christ’s ministry in [their] Franciscan tradition” by loving and caring for the "least" among us—the unloved, the poor, the uncared for, the person who has no health insurance, the person who is shunned by society today. The Franciscan Alliance turns no one away.

Interested in updating the look of your current website? TBH Creative specializes in website strategy and web redesign for organizations and businesses. Experts suggest a redesign be implemented every 2-4 years to keep up with the quickly changing Internet and technology. We can help make strategic and smart changes that will yield results.

Web Design Trends for 2012: Typography

2011-12-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

We are doing a series of 2012 web design trends, and our fourth prediction for web design trends in 2012 is typography.

Typography is probably my favorite trend in web design (if I had to choose just one). I could spend hours looking at beautiful typography on the Internet. There are several examples out there; Google gave me 31,200,000 results for "typography web design". I found it incredibly difficult to only pick three websites to showcase.

Polecat has a very playful theme for their website. The whimsical typography works well with the design.

Polecat's homepage. View the site.

Indubitablee has custom and beautiful typography on her website. While I was clicking around through her site, I noticed there are no "common" fonts to be found. She used unique fonts throughout her website and it all blends together perfectly!

Indubitablee's homepage. View the site.

Typography doesn't necessarily have to be fancy, custom fonts. Ben Lind's website is an example of very simple, elegant typography. He used a common san serif font and made it his own.

Ben Lind's homepage. View the site.

How can I include typography on my website?

Six Revisions posted a wonderful article called "A Basic Look at Typography in Web Design". They explain the different aspects of typography as well as common mistakes web designers make. One important thing is to make sure the typography "matches" your website theme. If you have a very professional theme with a whimsical font, it could confuse the user and/or your potential customers.

Interested in adding beautiful typography to your website? TBH Creative can help! We specialize in web design, graphic design, and much more! Contact us today to schedule a web consultation.

Web Design Case Study: Anne Reese Photography

2011-12-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for Anne Reese Photography today and it can be viewed at http://www.annereesephotos.com/.

TBH Creative worked with Anne Reese Photography this Fall to help with her new website.

Anne hired TBH Creative after consulting with another firm for 1 1/2 years and not seeing results. We were able to reuse the basic design ideas as a starting point. From there, we coded and paid special attention to browser compatiblity which was very important to Anne. We included some JQuery to re-scale photos based on screen size, allow for scrolling and pop up window for a larger view. We also developed a custom application to help her manage her photos into categories and random display. With her software, she can upload photos that will resize and arrange as she specifies into the front-end design.

Anne Reese Photography's homepage. View the site.

Here is an interior page from Anne Reese Photography's website. View the site.

About the Anne Reese Photography

After receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Photography from The Columbus College of Art & Design, Anne moved to New York to master the techniques used by the very best in the field. For a few years she assisted, prop styled, and retouched her way around New York City working for high-end photographers and food stylists. Ultimately, she realized that just taking a great photo would not be enough to set her apart from the rest of the food shooters.

Anne spent the next three years working full-time as the Digital Asset Manager and Photographer for The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York. Along the way, Anne was fortunate enough to have met and photographed some of the best chefs in the world. She took full advantage of her opportunities at the CIA and left New York with greater understanding and mastery of her two true passions-food and photography.

Web Design Case Study: Indy Connect

2011-12-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a website for Indy Connect today, and it can be viewed at http://www.indyconnect.org/.

TBH Creative worked with Indy Connect this December to help build their new website.

Phase 1 of this project was completed very quickly and included recoding for up-to-date markup (removing a lot of tables, image maps and OLD coding techniques that made maintenance very difficult) and applying with our Content Management System software for easy future changes and additions. In the old static version of their website, changes had to be made on every page of the website and all text titles were graphics. We added font replace technology to eliminate the need for so many graphics.

We did not make any major design changes during this integration, although we did expand the page to remove the outdated scrollbars that restricted the content previously. We also updated the site architecture in a few logical places and for future mini-sites. We will continue to work with Indy Connect over the next few months for additional upgrades of the website.

Indy Connect's homepage. View the site.

An interior page from Indy Connect's new website. View the site.

About Indy Connect

Indy Connect, Central Indiana's Transportation Initiative, is a partnership of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA), and IndyGo that is dedicated to providing Central Indiana residents with transportation options in support of the future development of our region.

Does your website need a redesign or fresh ideas for more interest? Schedule a web consultation and let TBH Creative propose a few ideas. We specialize in web design, content management systems, and more.

If you simply need an easier way to manage your content and make updates, allow us to do a simple Content Management System integration project like we did for Indy Connect.

Web Design Trends for 2012: Responsive Web Design/Fluid Grids

2011-12-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

We are doing a series of 2012 web design trends, and our third prediction for web design trends in 2012 is responsive web design/fluid grids.

Responsive web design and fluid grids are important in this mobile world. There are more tablets and smart phones in the hands of consumers (New Study Predicts that Mobile Web will Rule by 2015). Unlimited data packages have made smart phones even more appealing. As a business owner, it is very important to make sure your website is up to date and looks great on any platform.

Below are a few examples of responsive web design and fluid grids.

Touchtech has a beautiful website. When you look at the website from your mobile device, it automatically resizes and rearranges everything to fit your screen. You can get the same effect on a desktop or laptop computer by resizing the browser window to a smaller size.

Touchtech's homepage. Visit it here.

Touchtech's mobile site.

Owltastic also has a great view for use on mobile devices.

Owltastic's homepage. Visit it here.

Owltastic's mobile site.

How do I tell if my current website is mobile friendly?

If you open your website in a web browser, you can do a very simple test. Resize the browser window until it is significantly smaller in width. If the items do not move and there is a scroll bar at the bottom of your browser, your website is not fluid and possibly may require some adjustments for optimal mobile viewing.

Would you like to make your website friendly for all mobile devices? TBH Creative specializes in website design as well as website usability. We keep up with new technology and growing trends -- we will make sure you website looks great on any platform.

Don't forget iPads and tablets too. Approximately 240 million people own iPads as of this posting.

Web Design Trends for 2012: Design Below the Fold

2011-12-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

Our first prediction for web design trends in 2012 is design below the fold. We are doing a series of 2012 web design trends.

Designs below the fold, also known as large footers, are becoming a very common trend in web design. Footers are no longer a boring place at the bottom of a website. Just the copyright and a handful of links are not cutting it anymore. There are several ways to spruce up your footers: beautiful graphics, extra navigation (sometimes the entire sitemap), contact forms, videos, social media icons and more!

Below are a few examples of great footers.

Yodiv has a very simple, but beautiful, footer.

Yodiv's homepage. Visit their site.

Web Designer Depot has a very beautiful footer with stunning graphics that match the header design.

Web Designer Depot's homepage. Visit their site.

Orca Bay Seafoods, Inc. has a very organized and simple footer that blends very well with the rest of the website.

Orca Bay Seafoods, Inc.'s homepage. Visit their site.

Large footers should not be overpowering, but accent the rest of the website. Beautiful footers give the user something nice to look at once they get to the bottom of the page. Besides, who wants to look at just a boring copyright? You should still have the copyright in the footer, but don't be afraid to add even more content down there!

Here are a few big web design footers that TBH Creative applied for clients this past year:

CareerXroads - Emphasizing the social media and contact information.

Circle Tail -- Pulling out social media, email newsletter sign up, and address information.

Northpoint Pediatrics -- Adding/repeating important links, emphasis address and phone information, and adding some visual illustration appeal.

Looking for some more inspirational designs below the fold?

Vandelay design posted a fantastic list of 25 Impressive Blog Footers. Google (or any other search engine) is always a great resource if you're looking for some design inspiration.

Wondering how a redesigned 'big' footer would look on your website? TBH Creative is a website design company in Indianapolis, Indiana. We create effective and advanced websites with a focus on user-friendly web design and intuitive information architecture.

2012's best Web-focused conferences

2011-12-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

Training recommendations for learning the latest news and information about interactive design, online content strategy, and web development

C.R. Lawton once said, "Unless you try to do something beyond what you have mastered, you will never grow." Growth is easy to talk about as a goal, but it's much harder to actually make a priority to work toward as a goal when deadlines and other day-to-day demands occupy your thoughts. To make sure you make time for you next year, why not plan ahead and get your 2012 professional development scheduled now? To help get you started, here's a round-up—sorted by focus—of options to consider:

INTERACTIVE DESIGN

HOW Interactive Design Conference

What is it? From their website: "The HOW Interactive Design Conference is a not-to-be-missed event presented by HOW magazine in partnership with today’s leading digital design experts. This 2-1/2 day conference will provide you with the information you need to transfer your current skills into interactive design for the web, tablets and mobile devices. HOW Interactive Design Conference highlights the technology, design and inspiration you need to understand the changing role of the designer in digital media, whether you want to create websites and apps yourself, or whether you want to learn how to communicate more clearly with your development team and your clients."

When is it? Dates have not been announced, but last year's conference was in November.

What is the cost? 2012 prices are not online yet, but last year it cost $995 for an individual ($1095 after Sept 30).

Where is it held? 2012's location has not been announced yet.

ONLINE CONTENT STRATEGY

Confab

What is it? From their website: "As the leading conference of its kind, Confab plays a major role in driving the content strategy conversation forward.... Our extraordinarily successful debut in 2011 has already had an incredible impact on how people around the world are talking and thinking about content strategy. Confab attendees have posted recaps, held “redux” sessions, and shared success stories of career changes, new budgets, and increased influence in the workplace—all as a result of what they learned at Confab."

When is it? The three-day conference runs from Monday, May 14–Wednesday, May 16.

What is the cost? 2012 prices are as low as $950 and go as high as $1,600, depending on what you choose to attend..

Where is it held? The conference is being held in Minneapolis.

WEB DEVELOPMENT

An Event Apart

What is it? From their website: "An Event Apart is an intensely educational two-day conference for passionate practitioners of standards-based web design. If you care about code as well as content, usability as well as design, An Event Apart is the conference you’ve been waiting for. "

When is it? Currently there are four announced conferences in 2012: February 6–8, April 2–4, June 18–20, and July 9–11.

What is the cost? 2012 prices are as low as $449 and go as high as $1,240, depending on what you choose to attend.

Where is it held? 2012's announced locations include Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, and Austin.

We're always keeping up with the latest in web development. If you can't attend training next year, follow us on Twitter for trends, news, and other information about creating effective and enjoyable online experiences for your users.

Thinking about upgrading your website? We have a team with expertise in web design, graphic design, and much more!

Web Design Case Study: CareerXroads

2011-11-22T11:49:00.001-08:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for CareerXroads today and it can be viewed at http://www.careerxroads.com/.

TBH Creative was hired by CareerXroads to conduct a site audit. We went page by page and provided a detailed report of suggestions with priority for upgrades and fixes. The suggestions presented led to many upgrades on various pages throughout the website including a revised and more intuitive sitemap.

The most notable change was a home page and template redesign. We added more interactivity on the homepage with custom built content sliders using JQuery technology. The footer is also interactive on the homepage and each interior page to highlight their social media without taking up a significant amount of page real estate.

In the recoding process for the new design, we removed all Flash elements and replaced with JQuery for a better mobile experience.

Before redesign:

CareerXroads' homepage prior to redesign.

After redesign:

CareerXroads' homepage. Visit their site.

CareerXroads' Service page. Visit their site.

About CareerXroads

Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler are the personalities behind CareerXroads and the CareerXroads Colloquium. Mark and Gerry have worked for and with corporations of all sizes in career planning and placement, contract recruiting, executive search, recruitment advertising and human resource management. After years working on the front lines of recruiting, these two saw a new potential in the Internet and in 1994 came together to create CareerXroads.

TBH Creative worked closely with CareerXroads to develop a web solution that fit their needs and plans for future online growth. We divided the web project into phases and look forward to helping them more in the future. If you are looking for a web partner, choose TBH Creative for insightful ideas and recommendations. We offer web strategy/planning and web site audits if you don't know where to start or what you need. Allow us to give you an expert opinion and many options.

Web Design Trends for 2012: HTML5 & CSS3

2011-11-18T08:11:00.000-08:00

Our first prediction for web design trends in 2012 is HTML5 & CSS3. We are doing a series of 2012 web design trends.

HTML5

HTML5 is becoming more and more popular within web development. However, it is still in development, so it does not work in all browsers yet. I predict 2012 will bring many improvements and enhancements to what is available and supported.

Uses for HTML5
Currently, HTML 5 is mostly being used for videos, audio and animations. This is why several people are questioning if HTML5 will “kill” Flash. HTML5 is also great for placeholders, auto focusing and much more!

Examples
This is by far my favorite HTML5 website (as of right now). The Wilderness Downtown is an interactive website/music video for Arcade Fire’s song “We Used to Wait”. Users are asked to enter the address of childhood home. The site uses Google Maps and HTML5 to create a one of a kind personalized music video.

The Wilderness Downtown homepage uses HTML5. Visit the site.

There are several other great examples of HTML5 on the web. Agent 008 Ball uses HTML5’s canvas and allows users to play a game of Billiards.

Agent 008 Ball homepage uses HTML5. Visit the site.

Hungry for more HTML5 websites? HTML5 Gallery has several examples to look through!

CSS3

CSS3 has made styling much easier for web developers everywhere! CSS3 offers border-radius, embedded fonts, transparency, rotation, gradient backgrounds and more. Like HTML5, CSS3 is not compatible in all browsers just yet. For example, the radius corners do not work in IE, so corners are boxed.

The @font-face is probably my most favorite CSS3 style! Creativity is endless when it comes to fonts. You can use the Font Squirrel generator to create your own (or you can use the premade ones)! Mobilezr uses the @font-face CSS3 style with their website.

The Mobilezr homepage uses CSS3. Visit the site.

When will HTML5 & CSS3 be compatible with every browser?

HTML5 Readiness has a beautiful interactive graphic showing the progress with browser compatibility since 2008. Google Chrome is currently the only browser that is compatible with everything. When do you think every browser will be ready? One year? Two years?

Is your website in need of an upgrade to utilize some of this new technology? TBH Creative is a cutting-edge technology and creative web design company. We have a variety of website services to help with any of your web design and web coding needs. Contact us today for a web design consultation!

Web Design Trends for 2012

2011-11-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Seeing as 2011 is starting to come to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about what I see as being hot trends in web design for 2012. Last year, Shannon posted her predicted trends for 2011. There are several similarities between last year and this year’s predictions but some new ideas as well.

I also checked out CPR Enterprises and their predictions for 2012. Our ideas were aligned in several ways. As a web design, it is important to be aware of what great things are coming to the future of web design and development so this is an important topic.

Until the end of the year, I will be posting blogs on 2012 web design trend in my list. There will be plenty of examples (and design inspiration) with each post. We hope you enjoy reading about 2012 web design and encourage you to give us your feedback and samples too.

Here are the design trends I will be blogging about in the coming weeks:

1. HTML5/CSS3

This hits the top of my list! HTML5 and CSS3 are still in the development process. I am very impressed with what has come out of these coding advances so far!

2. Design Below the Fold

Lately I have been seeing a lot of beautiful graphics near the footer of websites. The graphics are either very colorful or blend into the background. The help anchor the website design, give balance on the page, and reiterate important links and information.

3. Responsive Web Design/Fluid Grids

Mobile compatibility is extremely important this year. There are more smart phones and tablets than in previous years and it is a steady growing change. Making sure your website looks great in any platform is becoming more and more important, and the options for coding for these platforms are also becoming easier to implement and test.

4. Typography

Typography makes things a little more interesting, right? Sometimes, standard fonts look okay for certain websites. Most of the time, however, a little typography can make any website stand out. There is a balance between using a creative font for highlights and an easy to read font for the main body of information.

5. Large High Quality Photograph Backgrounds

I have been noticing this on a lot of websites lately. Large photograph backgrounds definitely grab they user’s attention, but are they too distracting?

6. Social Media Integration

Social media definitely is not going away. More and more websites are making it easier for users to share the information on their Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc.

7. One Page Layouts

Single page web design with anchor tag navigation is still popular. These work bests on sites that do not have a lot of content.

Do you want to add some of these new trends to your website? Schedule a web consultation with TBH Creative. It is important to continually update your website and incorporate new trends -- your website is a 24/7 marketing tool for your business and communicates to visitors many times before they even make contact with you.

We specialize in web design, graphic design, and much more!

Extend your brand with a Google+ Page

2011-11-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Last week Google got a bit closer toward becoming a truly competitive social network channel for companies, nonprofits, organizations, brands, products, and other entities when it launched Google+ Pages, its answer to Facebook fan pages.

Creating pages is open to all brands now, and we've created our profile so that you can add TBH Creative to your web developers circle.

Though TBH Creative has a strategic outreach plan that includes this blog, Facebook, and Twitter, we're adding a Google+ presence, too. Google has influence and power, attracting over one billion unique visitors every month. Third party tools—like Hootsuite—already have recognized G+'s potential and many have launched useful services to help brands manage their circles, publish to their pages, and monitor usage. Joining Google+ makes sense for our goals, and by grabbing our page now while there is no brand verification we are going to be saved the hassle of dealing with a brand hijacking later on.

Google+ Pages isn't perfect, though. Currently, only one person can be connected to an account, though multiple admins is a feature that Google has announced is coming. In the meantime, as workarounds, you can create a generic e-mail account from which to create and manage a page or use a third-party application. For more caveats, consider reading the entry that tech guru and super user Robert Scoble posted to his blog.

There's nothing much to see on our TBH Creative Google+ Page just yet, but through our home on Google+ we plan to directly interact with clients and colleagues and share relevant web trend stories and other development-focused content.

Won't you join us? Create a page for your business and start connecting with your audience. If you're ready to dive in on your own, here's a helpful step-by-step guide with screen grabs. If you're looking for guidance, let TBH Creative help you set-up your account and refine your social media strategy to include effective use of Google+ Pages.

Web Design Graphics: Constructing An Effective Infographic

2011-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Infographics, or information graphics, have been all over the Internet lately.

Infographics can be effective on your website to add appeal, uniqueness, professionalism and overall interest.

What is an infographic, exactly? You've probably seen one before, but had no idea it was called an infographic. Below is an example from Daily Infographic:

An example infographic about coffee.

Read Write Enterprise wrote an article titled “6 Reasons Most Infographics Don’t Cut It.” This article can be extremely helpful when creating your first infographic.

The above infographic is a great example. They can be serious, or silly. Possibilities are endless, really. Be careful not to add too much information to the infographic. It is easy to make an infographic very cluttered and hard to read. Adding sources to your infographic is always a must. Users like to see where the statistics and information came from. The sources like to get credit for having their information on the infographic as well.

One of the most important parts of an infographic is, obviously, the graphics. If your artwork isn't that great, hire a graphic designer to do the job. Let's be honest, no one wants to look at an ugly infographic.

How can I advertise my business with an infographic?

Well, what does your business do? If you sell carpet and hardwood, maybe you could talk about the pros and cons of each. If you sell televisions, maybe you could give statistics about the number televisions in the average household. At the end of an infographic, you can always add a call to action to help direct users to your business.

Need a little inspiration?

There are several websites out there with large galleries of infographics to look through. Visual.ly is a very popular infographic gallery. Daily Infographic also has several to look through. As the name suggests, they post a new infographic every day!

Feel like enhancing your website with beautiful & contemporary graphic design? TBH Creative specializes in graphic design, as well as web design and web strategy. Custom graphics can make your business website unique and standout from the competition. Contact us today to schedule a website consultation!

A little thing that counts

2011-10-25T11:20:00.002-07:00

Making sure a favicon, or favorites icon, is associated with your website is an integral part of extending your brand online and improving usability.

But, what's a favicon? And, furthermore, where is it located?

A favicon is the petite 16 × 16 pixel image shown in browser navigation bars and in browser bookmarks. Look at the top of this browser, and you will see a teeny yellow "TBH" next the the URL for this blog entry. That's the favicon we have associated with this blog.

When you bookmark the TBH Creative blog, your browser will also use that graphic to help assist in visual identification of this website from all of the other saved pages, aiding and increasing usability.

Have more than one tab open in your browser? A favicon associated, if it exists, will also appear along with a truncated portion of the page title to help you distinguish between all of the pages open.

Why are favicons important?

Strategic web design plans often includes discussions about marketing goals (e.g., converting visitors to customers and sharing case studies), content needs (e.g., creating graphics, links, forms, and copy) and development steps (e.g., planning the site architecture and navigation and customizing a CMS solution).

While thinking about these big picture items, small details—like creating a favicon—are sometimes overlooked. Pay attention next time you browse a website that has misspellings, broken links, and error messages. When website developers and designers aren't at the top of their game or too busy, the attention they'll pay to the smallest details is often revealing. You can usually trust that the more important details—such as website load time and security certificates—are carefully taken care of and maintained for quality when the little things are done properly, too.

Using your wordmark or logo is often best choice for your favicon image. If you need ideas, this website with lots of samples from popular websites will help you get brainstorming for a solution. Once you're ready to go, read our "how-to" blog post that shares how to integrate a favicon into your website.

Do you need help making all of the small details on your website professional? If your website needs updating or if you are starting a website from scratch, let TBH Creative help you plan, design, and develop a website that will meet your strategic branding and marketing goals.

Blog Content Ideas: My Business Has A Blog. Now What?

2011-10-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Blog writer’s block is common. Learn how to conquer it!

I often catch myself thinking too hard about blog topics. They shouldn’t be that hard, right? My theory: If you’re spending over 15 minutes wondering what to write about, you’re thinking way too hard.

Here are a few tips for getting over writer’s block:

Who are you? What do you do?

Introducing yourself and your company seems like a no-brainer, but most companies skip this step. Why not tell the readers a little about the authors?

Stop Assuming

Sure, you know everything there is to know about marketing and the Internet (or whatever it is that you’re good at). Don’t assume everyone reading your blog knows the tips and tricks pros use for successful Internet marketing.

Plan Ahead

Or at least, try to plan ahead. Most companies have a set schedule of when blog posts are released. If you know you need to write one or two posts every week, start thinking about it now. Your current blog post could lead to another topic, and another topic, and so on.

Be Passionate About What You’re Writing About

If you’re really not interested in what you’re writing about, the readers can tell. It will also make the blog writing process take longer than it should.

Do you like Spongebob Squarepants? Find something interesting to pull from it, and write about it. Not all blog posts need to be 100% serious all of the time; that would make a dull blog. It is very important to make sure your readers want to read about it. If your audience is 60+ year old women, writing strictly about Spongebob will not grab their attention. However, writing about new Spongebob toys that will make great gifts for grandchildren on Christmas might.

If you need some specific post ideas, Compendium has a great list of 200 ideas for your company’s blog. Slingshot SEO also has some great blogging tips about getting out of writer’s block.

Google can also be your best friend when trying to think of blog topics. Look at other companies’ blogs. You can find inspiration everywhere.

Not sure how to start a blog for your company? TBH Creative can help incorporate a custom blog seamlessing into your website as well as strategy for successful business blogging, marketing and social media. Contact us to get started with blogging!

TBH Creative is an Indianapolis web design company. We blog for our business and can help you too. Pur our 10+ years of experience to work for you!

Brand Identity & Why It’s Important

2011-10-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Is your company in need of a branding makeover?

The business dictionary states that brand identity is “the visible elements of a brand (such as colors, design, logotype, name, symbol) that together identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers' mind.”

Let’s face it. The first thing customers are probably going to see is your logo. Your logo is the face of your company. You want it to look nice, and make sense . . . right?

There are several different items that contribute to identity; logos are not the only thing your company needs. Just Creative Design posted several examples:

A Logo
(The symbol of the entire identity & brand)
Stationery
(Letterhead + business card + envelopes, etc.)
Marketing Collateral
(Flyers, brochures, books, websites, etc.)
Products & Packaging (Products sold and the packaging in which they come in)
Apparel Design
(Tangible clothing items that are worn by employees)
Signage
(Interior & exterior design)
Messages & Actions (Messages conveyed via indirect or direct modes of communication)
Other Communication
(Audio, smell, touch, etc.)
Anything visual that represents the business

Brand New is also a great website that shows several company logo transformations. Each entry includes reasoning as to why the person submitting it thinks it is a good or bad change. If your company needs a branding makeover, be sure to consult a professional. People do not like change. When large brands have major branding makeovers, usually it doesn’t go over well with the public at first. After a few months, customers get used to the change.

Companies need to update their logos, websites, ect. every once in a while. It is not recommended to do it frequently; sometimes a change after 5-10 years is nice and refreshing.

After all, do you think Pepsi kept the same logo throughout the years? Definitely not.

Thinking about updating your company's branding? TBH Creative specializes in graphic design as well as other important parts of branding. Whether you just need a makeover or need to start from scratch, we can help!

Web Design Case Study: Imaging Office Systems

2011-10-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for Imaging Office Systems today and it can be viewed at http://www.imagingoffice.com/.

TBH Creative was hired by Imaging Office Systems this Spring to help with their new website and online strategy. The previous website was created in-house, and it was time to take things up a notch in terms of design, ease of maintenance and results.

Web Design
We proposed a fresh design. We brought in complimentary and bright colors to their brand for interest and appeal, as well as professional details throughout the graphics and style.
One primary goal of the new website was to communicate to visitors that they offered more services than typically thought of -- more than just scanning and document management. They also offer custom professional services and storage. We emphasized this throughout the website and with a clear navigation structure and calls to action.

Content Management System
Our services went beyond design with our easy to use Content Management System and custom module to manage resources. IOS is also just beginning in social media and is now participating in visit the newly designed website to see more. Some featured pages include Meet the Team, Locations and Directions, and Resources.

Imaging Office Systems' new homepage. Check it out!
We used JQuery technology for the screen rotation at the top and also the logo slider across the bottom.

Resources page

“After I sent a request to TBH Creative for pricing on a new company website, they were quick to respond and to understand what was driving the desire for a new site and what we wanted to accomplish. The presentation and proposal then addressed all of our requirements. Out of all the proposals we received for this project, TBH Creative's was the only one that made me confident that they understood what we wanted to do, had addressed how they would satisfy our requirements, had a process in place to control the project, and would be good to work with.

The site design process and the end product definitely lived up to our expectations; and TBH Creative were great to work with. The site is exactly what we needed and we have gotten a lot of very positive feedback from our customers and business partners. I have no doubt we made the right decision."

~ Angela Childs, Director, Professional Services

About Imaging Office Systems

Imaging Office Systems (IOS) was founded in 1972. They began building its expertise on document management systems that included tools such as moveable filing cabinets and offsite paper storage. These were low tech solutions by today’s standards, but they solved a very real need. It is now an industry that is significantly more high-tech including scanning, document management, storage and professional services.

Is Usability Testing Really Necessary?

2011-10-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Absolutely! Anything from websites to software programs need usability testing.

This usability blog posted several tools that are very helpful while usability testing. My personal favorite is starting out with pencil and paper (free!), and then creating more refined digital mockups for testing. In my opinion, you can never do too much usability testing.

You can approach usability testing however you want, really. You can use basic black and white, pencil and paper. You can use full color. Possibilities are endless. During your last round of usability testing, it should be on the final product. It’s always a good idea to test prior to a release to catch any bugs.

It is important to test as many people as you can in your target audience. Find your friends, neighbors, and even random strangers: ask them to help you out! Rewarding testers with food also helps to give you a good turnout. It is best to not test strictly with your family and close friends (they probably won’t give you the criticism you need). While usability testing, be sure to record pauses, how long it took the user to complete the task, ect.

It is best to find errors early in the development process. The longer you wait to do usability testing, the harder it will be to fix those errors. Here is an example of a website usability checklist. There are several to choose from out there. Checklists are very helpful. They help you to think of things you skipped over or never thought about.

Do you do usability testing for your websites or programs? Why or why not?

(PS: This is a trick question. You should ALWAYS do usability testing!)

Thinking about your next web development project? Let TBH Creative help to make sure your website is user friendly!

Amazon’s Newest Kindle Lineup

2011-10-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

Is Amazon Fire the biggest competitor for iPad?

This week, Amazon released the newest generation of Kindles. The traditional Kindle is $79. There are two brand new touch Kindles: $99 for the WiFi version and $149 for the 3G version. The Kindle Fire is only $199.

Kindle:

Kindle Touch:

Kindle Fire:

The Kindle Fire is the most talked about Kindle this week. It is the first full color Kindle for magazines, books, movies, web browsing, and more. It is very similar to the iPad, but not identical. The Kindle Fire is significantly smaller and cheaper than the iPad, which may make more users choose Kindle over iPad. Amazon has worked hard the past few years. They now have online movie streaming, music, ebooks, magazines, and more. Amazon has made it easy to literally have everything at your fingertips.

Amazon also has a great tool on every Kindle order page. You can compare every Kindle they are currently selling. This is a very user-friendly tool if you are indecisive about which Kindle to get. I have the last generation Kindle. I’m still not too sure how I feel about the new color and touch Kindles. I like the e-Ink versus a backlit screen. It is difficult for me to read for extended periods of time on a backlit screen. However, everyone is different! Most people do not like change. I remember just a few years ago, I stated I would NEVER get a touch screen cell phone. I currently have a Droid X. It’s funny how technology becomes less scary as years pass.

How do you feel about the new Kindle lineup? Competition for the iPad or just another e-reader?

Want to work with a company who is up-to-date on the latest technologies and devices? Hire TBH Creative for your website project. We'll design to make you look good.

Web Design Case Study: Resista-Temps, Inc.

2011-09-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for Resista-Temps, Inc. today, and it can be viewed at http://www.resista-temps.com/.

Resista-Temps came to TBH Creative with the need to add a new product line with equal emphasis to their existing temps products.

Our first step was to revisit the site organization and assist with the wording for the new pages while enhancing a few of the older pages. Once that was established, we redesigned the homepage and template elements including the banner and footer. We recoded all page elements for the newest and cleanest coding and also removed the Flash elements with JQuery code for a better mobile experience and easier future updates. The site architecture and new wording increased the site usability and was created to help the user find the information they need faster. The finished product was a cleaner, easier to navigate website that looked fresh, up-to-date and professional.

Resista-Temps' new homepage. Check out the new design!

An interior page from the Resista-Temps redesign.

Homepage Before Redesign:

The Resista-Temps homepage prior to the redesign. We kept the same brand with subtle enhancements and removed the outdated Flash technology with JQuery. The new focus was both Temps and Prothetics

About Resista-Temps

Resista-Temps provides a complete line of dental replacement products for every stage of the process. They are a custom dental laboratory that specializes in the diagnostics, design and fabrication of provisionals, implants, prosthetic restorations and crown and bridgework for dental professionals. Established in 1977, Resista-Temps, Inc. was the first – and still only – lab in the country to specialize in the fabrication of acrylic provisional crown and bridgework. They help dental professionals start with a solid diagnosis and high quality provisional providing long-term case management flexibility.

Learn more about what TBH Creative can do for your website. We specialize in several important aspects of web design, including best coding practices, content development, and site architecture. Schedule a consultation so we can start your web project today!

Five ways to take better website photos

2011-09-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

No photo budget? No problem. We have five easy-to-learn tricks to help make your pictures better.

Yesterday, in an attempt to start a conversation about their lenses, Nikon's social media team posted a status message to its Facebook page and created a controversy among its amateur and professional photographers followers. The post read:

"A photographer is only as good as the equipment he uses, and a good lens is essential to taking good pictures!"

I've been following the fallout with great interest. Good equipment in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing is definitely a plus. Not everyone has the luxury to spend money on an expensive camera and other equipment, but that doesn't mean they're not going to be able to take a good picture with the tools they do have.

One response to the controversy stood out as a key takeaway for anyone looking to improve their photos: "eye > lens."

If your web development project's art budget is limited, you can still snap good photography for use on your website, with the camera you already have, if you adhere to these guidelines when taking photos.

Trick #1: Composition, composition, composition.

Follow the rule of thirds. Picture a tic-tac-toe grid over your photo. The areas where the lines intersect are your key points. Try to align your image's most important details along the lines or at the intersections.

Trick #2: Simplify the scene.

If possible, try to make sure your background is not distracting. If your taking a photo at any event, ask guests to tuck their name tags into their pockets for the photo and put their glasses down on a table. Taking photos at a conference event? Remove the water bottles littering the tables and pile up shuffled papers neatly. The more steps that you can take to add less visual noise to the scene the better.

Trick #3: Take horizontal and vertical pictures. Take different angles.

One of the great things about shooting digital is that you can take a bunch of different angles and poses of each picture. Remember to do your photo editing on the computer. You can't tell exactly how good a photo is until you have it actually downloaded to your computer.

Having a landscape and portrait version of your photo gives your web design team more options for your website.

Trick #4: Cloudy days are your friend.

Forget the flash and shoot outside. A bright afternoon that's hidden by clouds is perfect for taking portraits. Avoid extra sunny days. Grey days will soften hard shadows.

Trick #5: Get ready for your close-up.

Photographing is no time to get shy. Come in close to your subject. By doing so, most times you'll end up with a more interesting result.

"The best photographer will take better photos from the worst camera than the worst amateur can take with the best camera."—Karen Nakamura, photo-ethnographer

Thinking about adding fresh imagery to your website? If you're planning a redesign, let TBH Creative help you work those new and improved photographs into your website.

Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich Update

2011-09-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

What does this mean for developers? More headaches now, less later? Maybe.

Google is set to release the latest Android update in October or November. This update has been named Ice Cream Sandwich. Wait. Hold on. Didn’t Android mobile devices just get the Gingerbread update this summer? Technology never slows down.
There are so many different Android devices out there. The Honeycomb update was tablet-only and the Gingerbread update was mobile-only. Ice Cream Sandwich will support both big and small screens. The same version will finally be able to run on different sizes. This means no more developing for two different Android devices! The Ice Cream Sandwich update will cause some headaches in the next few months as developers will have to switch their applications over to the new software development kit (or prevent people from buying them).

The SDK is not available yet, but Google has posted some articles on their blog to try to prevent future headaches for developers. This will help developers get a jump start on the Ice Cream Sandwich update. Here is one of the helpful sketches from Google regarding the newest update:

Even though the Ice Cream Sandwich update may be causing some headaches in the next few months, it is preventing future headaches. Technology will continue to grow. Android devices will continue to multiply. It is better to create a uniform SDK now than later on. Do you think this is a wise move for Google?

Does your website need to be made 'mobile' friendly? Contact TBH Creative to help today and don't lose business because your website isn't optimized. Ask about our services for QR Codes and landing pages too.

Web Design Case Study: Franciscan Alliance Community Benefits Report 2010

2011-09-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

Services Provided Include:

Web Design
HTML and CSS Build
Project Management

We launched a Community Benefits website for Franciscan Alliance today, and it can be viewed at http://www.franciscanalliance.org/CommunityBenefit/2010/

In 2008, the Franciscan Alliance came to TBH Creative with the need to display their community giving total through a website. The website serves as a report of annual community giving. We prepared the website in and 2009. For 2010, we wanted to add some new elements and stronger impact. Part of the enhancements were JQuery pie charts to add a little interactivity. We also redesigned the home page to emphasize and show off the amount they give to the community over years.
In 2010 they gave a total of $444,756,036.

Last Year's Website (2009):

CBISA's 2009 website homepage.

2010 Website:

CBISA's 2010 website homepage.

CBISA's 2010 website.

About Franciscan Alliance Community Benefit 2010

Franciscan Alliance has endeavored to stay true to its founding mission of caring for everyone who comes through our doors. As they have for over 130 years, Franciscan Alliance continues to look for opportunities to serve communities through the very best in medical care and service to the less fortunate among us.

The following report reflects their mission of, “Continuing Christ’s Ministry in our Franciscan Tradition.” Although it is not all inclusive of the many benefits provided, it does portray the significant benefits that reflect the organization’s commitment to healthcare and the communities they serve.

Does your website need a redesign or fresh ideas for more interest? Schedule a web consultation and let TBH Creative propose a few ideas. We specialize in web design and website development.

Why wireframing matters

2011-09-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Proper planning in web development includes wireframing

Architects wouldn't build a new house without a blueprint, and likewise web designers rely on wireframes to create websites. An essential, time-saving part of the web development process, detailed wireframes communicate the bigger goals of the website project, focusing specifically on information, interface, navigation, prioritization, and functionality. Through the wireframing process, web developers work with clients to plan and document the website project's objectives and requirements.

It requires knowledge of information architecture, user experience design, and user interface design to develop relevant and useful wireframes. During the planning process, web developers use wireframes to present clear mockups, removing the need for costly back-and-forth and making it possible to deliver precisely what clients want.

Thoughtful, rich wireframes reduce interactive project rework while increasing profits because they lead to greater understanding and allow for better feedback during brainstorming and planning. Wireframes, unlike fully flushed out designs, are easy to update because of their simple, straight-forward nature. Wireframes make it easier to iterate changes quickly, saving both time and money and they give web developers an opportunity to figure out which details might have been overlooked and what features had not been considered.

Thinking about your next web development project? Let TBH Creative help you plan by building wireframes for your website.

Adobe Edge: Is it the end of Flash?

2011-09-16T06:42:00.000-07:00

Animation on the web is easier than ever!

Adobe has always been on top of new emerging technology. HTML5 and CSS3 are still new programming languages. They are both currently under development. Not all browsers support every aspect of HTML5 and CSS3 yet.

Adobe Edge makes it easier for designers (and even non-designers) to create interactive websites without the use of Adobe Flash. Some professionals believe Edge will be the end of Flash. Personally, I do not think that is an accurate assumption. HTML5 makes animating items on the web a lot easier, but it does not do everything Flash can do. Flash is such a complex program; I believe it would be impossible to include everything in HTML5. Or is it?

Below is a screenshot of what the interface for Edge looks like:

For those of you who have created things in Flash, the interface looks similar doesn’t it? Adobe always does such a great job making the interfaces of their programs look similar. This makes it easier for developers to move from one program to another with very little training.

Here are some of the features of Adobe Edge (from Adobe):

intuitive user interface
visually author animated content
add motion to existing HTML content
import web graphics files
standards-based output
reliable content on desktops and devices

If you are more of a visual person, you can watch this video to get a better idea of some things you can do with Edge:

You can also download the most recent Adobe Edge Preview via Adobe.

As stated before, HTML5 and CSS3 are still in the development stage. This also means that Edge is still not 100% complete. Who knows how advanced it will become in the next year. Do you think Edge will be the end of Flash?

Ready to add some motion to your next project? Let TBH Creative do the job for you!

To use stock or not to use stock

2011-09-14T03:56:00.000-07:00

Should you use stock photography and illustration for web design projects when you're on a budget?

When your web design project has a tight budget, the line item associated with imagery can be the first one cut, or drastically trimmed. When chosen carefully, compelling illustration and photography paired with great copy are the key to successful content. If a man from Mars can't figure out what your website is about in five seconds, you're failing. Great, non-generic imagery can help you communicate your brand and goals faster, which is why it's important to invest in your website's imagery and choose it wisely.

Shannon shared tips before for how to enhance stock photography. It's a great guide if you've already made the decision to use stock imagery, but what if you aren't sure which way to go with your web design project? Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding whether to use stock:

How long will it take you to find the perfect image?

"90% of the time I opt for a more expensive stockhouse over iStockphoto," says Chicago-area art director Sharlene King. "It's the sloppiness of keyword loading. Time equals money."

Because users submit their own tags, inexpensive stock photography websites are notoriously awful when it comes to tagging. If you're looking for a straight-forward image, like a red ball, you should find relatively accurate results; however, if you search for something even slightly subjective, get ready to spend some time digging through ridiculous results.

"Average woman"

Why does a search for an "average woman" display
a lady posing with a huge gun?
(Screengrab courtesy of Sharlene King)

"Vegetarian food"

Why does a search for "vegetarian food" include a photo
of meat fondue? (Screengrab courtesy of Sharlene King)

How long will it take you to make a not-quite-right image work?

Ask yourself: If you made the budgetary decision to save money by paying for an inexpensive stock image but ended up spending a few hours in Photoshop to make it work, was it really worth the initial savings?

How many other people might be using this image?

Is the stock image you're thinking about using popular? If it's been downloaded many times, does the risk that other websites—including your competition—make a difference to you?

Is this a prominent image or a tiny spot?

Is the stock image front and center as a key communicator of your brand? How important is authenticity in your project?

Trying to figure out your imagery needs for a web design project? TBH Creative can help you translate your brand and understand how to convert your business goals into a website with photography and illustration that works. We specialize in web design that makes companies stand out among the competition. Whether you are starting from scratch, want a design "facelift" or are looking for a complete redesign, reach out. We're here to help.

Strategically Social: The British Monarchy & Flickr

2011-09-09T04:18:00.000-07:00

Launched in early 2004, Flickr is one of the earliest—and most successful—social networks. Focused on being the best destination online for simple sharing of videos and pictures, Flickr continues to grow its core services by integrating new features for its free and paid users. Some of the more popular features Flickr offers include easy-to-understand image licensing with Getty Images and user-friendly online editing tools available via Picnik.

Flickr users set-up accounts to share photos and network with other photographers, both professional and amateur. Photos are stored in high-resolution formats (uploads of images in size up to 20MB are allowed), and these images are rendered by Flickr on the fly and made available in a wide array of sizes for easy downloading and reuse. This functionality allows many Flickr users take advantage of the website to host images for reuse on their blogs.

Photosharing meets royalty

Some businesses, organizations, and public figures make use of Flickr as a marketing and public relations tool. The British Monarchy uses Flickr to expand its online reach. They regularly post photo updates to their photostream, sharing exclusive images of the Royal Family at work promoting their causes. Many of these pictures give a behind-the-scenes look at their charitable activities, providing additional positive publicity.

The British Monarchy also use their Flickr account to create sets specific to different events and other themes. Sets are Flickr's term for online photo albums. Sets can be clustered together to form what Flickr calls collections, allowing for greater organization possibilities. Sets can be embedded on other websites as slideshows, too. See below for an example of an embedded slideshow from the British Monarchy's Flickr account. It's their set of images called, "The Prince of Wales rides an electric bicycle at the START festival."

In addition to having your own stream of photos like the British Monarchy, some businesses use Flickr to create networking groups for certain themes. Flickr groups provide another interactive way for businesses to engage their core audiences by giving them a place to submit their own images. Small business owner Elsie Larsen, a vintage resale shop owner and dress designer, created the Flickr group "Project ReStyle" to promote upcycling. She encourages followers on her blog and other fans to submit their restyled fashions and projects, as inspired by her designs. Since "Project ReStyle" launched on Flickr at the beginning of 2011, over 1,500 participants have joined the group and submitted over 2,800 photos of their creations.

Not sure if social networking can help you meet your company or organization's goals? Does part of your business include sharing images with clients? Used strategically, Flickr can help you promote your business through powerful imagery. If you need assistance coming up with ideas, making policies and procedures, and creating guidelines, TBH Creative can help. We specialize in strategic social media solutions. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Enhance your website design with picture perfect backgrounds

2011-08-31T23:49:00.000-07:00

When it comes to designing modern-looking websites, one of the latest trends is to focus—literally—on the big picture. Tiled texture backgrounds, once a standard for website background imagery, are becoming rare as more and more designers incorporate relevant photography as part of their website interfaces. Faster download speeds and the flexibility provided by cascading style sheets have allowed this technique to thrive.

Here are some examples of sharply executed big picture backgrounds in action:

NASA

NASA goes the traditional route and uses a huge photo as a background for its
straight-forward, more traditional based design. Using an outer space image
for the the background extends their brand and adds more pop
to their layout than a simple color or texture.

WeTransfer

WeTransfer sets itself apart from the competition, like YouSendIt and SendSpace,
by giving its users a clean,easy-to-use interface on top of a single, full-screen
image-based advertisement.

Yahoo! Mail

Yahoo! Mail, like WeTransfer, uses the background area of its interface for logging into
its mail service to present attention-getting full screen advertisements.

Ford

Ford takes advantage of a big picture background image to show-off its line of cars
through an eye-catching poster-like presentation.

MIT

MIT displays captivating news photos as the canvas for their interface
directing its visitors to stories and information about the university.

HBO

HBO promotes it programming by making stills from the movies and shows
airing on its premium cable channel fullscreen big picture backgrounds.

Coach

Coach presents an attractive carousel of product imagery
as background images to promote their products.

SNEAK PREVIEW:
Laurel Hall

TBH Creative is in the process of launching a redesign for Laurel Hall
that integrates a fullscreen big picture motif. Laurel Hall's elegant new look
will go live online soon. Watch for our announcement.

Would your website benefit from a big picture redesign? TBH Creative specializes in web design that is timeless and contemporary. We are experts at creating visually appealing websites that work for everyone. Whether you are starting from scratch, want a design "facelift" or are looking for a complete redesign, we can help.

Improving your website's user experience for the color blind

2011-08-23T15:10:00.001-07:00

One in twelve kids have food allergies. One in twelve people worldwide live with either chronic hepatitis B or C. One in twelve fans drive drunk from the ballpark.
Though those statistics are worrisome, there is nothing you can do to improve the user experience of your website for these groups of people. However, for the one in twelve people in the U.S.—mostly men—who suffer from a form of color blindness, there is something you can do when developing your website. In addition to better serving your users, your efforts to make your website more user friendly will pay off in other ways. For example, accessible websites are more likely than inaccessible websites to be ranked well in search engines.
Designers do not need to limit their palette to take into consideration the needs of colorblind users. Follow these simple tips to improve accessibility and create a website can be usable by those who are color blind.

Watch how you combine colors.
Avoid combining red and green. This is especially important in navigational text (such as menus, heads, and subheads). High contrast pairings, like black and white, are ideal for these kinds of important, essential pieces of copy.
Avoid using color coding exclusively.
Relying only on colors for indicators in your design can mean big trouble. Incorporate other cues (underlining, symbols, bold, and more) to help make designations of change.
Test your page.
To quickly simulate readability and informally test to see if your website uses high contrasting colors, take a screen grab and convert it to grayscale to desaturate your image. The free, online utility called Colorblind Web Page Filter is another useful tool for analyzing the usability of your website. (Note: the Colorblind Web Page Filter destroys web fonts and some uses CSS in its simulations. Be prepared to view a jumbled-layout version of your website. This tool is good for color simulation, but it doesn't handle designs particularly well.)
Think about your copy.
If you have directional copy on your website, it's best not to use cues like, "Click on the green button" which may not appear to be green to all users.
Encourage feedback from your users.
Make sure you have a contact form on your website to collect ideas from your users. You can't fix accessibility problems if you aren't aware they exist.

Is your website accessible to all users? TBH Creative specializes in web design that takes into account all users. We are experts at creating visually appealing websites that work for everyone. Whether you are starting from scratch, want a design "facelift" or are looking for a complete redesign, we can help.

Why grid-based web designs are better

2011-08-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

The backbone of most visually appealing websites is a well-thought out grid system. A grid is best thought of as a plan for your website. It holds the designs together, outlines what its structure is, and provides a blueprint for where page elements can go.

Like well-planned neighborhoods with blocks that follow a logical layout, websites built around grid-based designs provide structures that keep content orderly and help users find what they're looking for when visiting. Grid-based designs incorporate the best aspects of predictability and clear navigation.

More and more developers favor grid-based designs because, after the initial preparatory math and planning, using them speeds up and simplifies production by enabling them to leverage the defined configurations.

A combination of common measurements and CSS makes designing websites using a grid-based design useful for rapid prototyping during the development workflow. Grid-based designs even facilitate easy adjustments once the website is live by providing flexibility that is useful for easily accommodating changing advertising and promotion needs.

Web designers can work wonders with even the most rigid grid-based design systems. Used creatively, grid-based designs provide a basis for uniformity and consistency. Web designers use grid-based designs to present website content in unique and exciting ways that leverage carefully considered padding and white space, among other elements, without creating cluttered, structureless websites.

Suspect a website was built using a grid-based design? Add the free Firefox plugin GridFox to your browser to take a sneak peek the structure behind its layout. It's like having Superman powers for web development nerds. It's our kind of x-ray vision.

Interested in building a website with a flexible grid-based design? TBH Creative specializes in web design that is contemporary, flexible, and attractive. We are experts at designing large amounts of information strategically and with visual appeal. Whether you are starting from scratch, want a design "facelift" or are looking for a complete redesign, we can help.

Web Design Case Study: Lindner Center for Research and Education at The Christ Hospital

2011-08-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Services Provided Include:

TBH Creative was hired via Ten Adams to work on the first website featuring clinical trials for The Christ Hospital's Lindner Center of Research. TBH Creative lead the website project from start to finish including a custom and high end design to attract other physicians and encourage participation in trials. We did the basic coding, applied our Content Management for easy maintenance, and developed a custom application to manage the clinical trials. In addition to the website work, TBH Creative created a custom blog and worked on the design and coding for their first email newsletter. The project has been well received by the hospital and physicians.

Take a look at the new website.

The Lindner Center's new homepage! Check it out.

An interior page from the Lindner Research website.

Client Remarks on the Project and TBH

"The overall experience with TBH Creative has been outstanding with complementary services such as crisp design, easy to navigate CMS and an amazingly talented and experienced team. The process was unique because there were solutions and opportunities regardless of any challenge. The development of the microsite was truly a team effort and the outcomes – superb."

- Holly Smith, Ten Adams Account Executive

"TBH Creative was wonderful to work with on the build of our microsite! They quickly organized our requests and needs into an easy-to-use reference tool for our clinical research. The project was completed in record time, and the design clearly represents our brand. I would definitely recommend them!"

- Emily Owens, Senior Marketing Consultant, The Christ Hospital

About The Lindner Research Center

The Lindner Research Center has participated in more than 1,200 clinical research trials (130 currently active trials) and has tested most of the new treatments in cardiovascular medicine over the past 25 years. These studies have included first-in-man as well as first-in-the-U.S. experiences with leading-edge technologies. All Lindner Research Center trials are approved through The Christ Hospital Institutional Review Board or an accredited national Institutional Review Board.

Does your company's website need a professional? TBH Creative specializes in web design and advanced application development. If you want a site like the Lindner Center, please contact us today. We gaurantee your satisfaction.

Web Design Case Study: Northpoint Pediatrics

2011-08-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Services Provided Include:

We launched a new website for Northpoint Pediatrics today and it can be viewed at http://www.northpointpeds.com/.

TBH Creative was responsible for interface and home page redesign around a pre-developed Content Management System, Expression Engine. TBH Creative worked with the application to upgrade the website performance and continues to assist with further additions and custom needs.

Northpoint Pediatrics' homepage. The home page features a rotation of events and news across the top, and a slider bar to highlight their physician videos as well as three areas of important topics above the fold.

One of Northpoint Pediatrics' interior pages. The upgraded interface is clean and simple. There were significant usability improvements in the navigation structure, active states, and use of white space as well as special attention on specific landing pages. We incorporated a 'big footer' that offers location information and quick links on every page.

It has been a pleasure working with TBH Creative. They have worked closely with us to give our website a fresh new look with increased functionality. TBH is detailed oriented, conscientious and an excellent listener and communicator. I highly recommend TBH as a trusted web strategist.
~ Linda Kortanek, Executive Director

About Northpoint Pediatrics

Northpoint Pediatrics' mission is to make a difference every day in the lives of children and their parents by giving quality healthcare and helpful advice. Celebrating 23 years of caring for kids, Northpoint Pediatrics has three convenient offices, all located in the northeast quadrant of Indianapolis, Indiana. The Northpoint team consists of nine pediatricians and a skilled team of nurse practitioners, nurses, front office assistants and patient account professionals.

Content management systems make it easy to edit your website (without having to contact a web designer). The TBH Creative content management system is always customized around your unique website design and can also be extended with additional functionality needed. See what content management systems are all about, and contact us to learn more about your options.

Strategically Social: Tumblr & The Atlantic

2011-07-27T04:17:00.000-07:00

If you're hunting for the latest Internet phenomenon, chances are good that you'll be directed to Tumblr. The free, easy-to-use microblogging and social networking hybrid website has been home to memes and more since 2007. Although its primary users are individuals, some businesses and organizations—like the editors of the news and analysis magazine the Atlantic—are doing a great job using Tumblr in creative ways to extend their brand and curate fresh and relevant content to their readership. Some other Tumblr pages run by publications whose editorial staffs are doing a good job editorially include the Reader, Vanity Fair, and New York Time's T Magazine.

Microblogging and editorial storytelling

Tumblr allows users to share multiple kinds of media (polls, photos, words, quotes, links, video, and more) on personal blogs. Tumblr blog homes can be customized using assorted pre-made—yet, modifiable—templates layout themes. Tumblr registration is quick and easy. To sign-up, users only have to provide three bits of information: their name, e-mail, and desired password.

Editorial staffs make up one niche pocket of Tumblr users who are utilizing the format to extend their storytelling and add more content to supplement what they're doing through blog entries and printed publications. The Atlantic's editors post original videos, teaser excerpts from their stories, photography, and more as stories break. As a monthly publication, Tumblr's instant click-to-publish format allows the editors to add reactions to stories as they happen. This week, for instance, they've been able to share assorted, relevant bits of content and links regarding the riots in London as they are created.

Does your marketing plan include reaching out to your clients on an informal, frequent basis? Are you working to build a community around your brand? Used strategically, Tumblr can support your existing efforts.

Some ideas for implementation:

If you have a landscaping company, use Tumblr to post photos of finished projects and how-to videos for sharing tips for maintaining professionally designed gardens.
If you have a catering business, use Tumblr to share sample menus and photos from events.
If you have an auto repair shop, use Tumblr to answer questions and run polls.

Looking for creative ways to use social media to help you meet your company or organization's marketing and branding goals? TBH Creative can help. We specialize in strategic social media solutions. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

The 411 on Google+ for businesses and organizations

2011-07-26T02:37:00.009-07:00

Though Facebook gets more traffic that Google now, that's not stopping the innovators at Google from trying to imagine up new services and products to bring back the users they lost and reclaim the title as most used website. One of Google's strategies is their latest foray into social networking—Google+. You probably noticed the companion component of the website—the Google+ button—appear as part of Google's search results at the start of June.

Google+ (aka g+) launched in late June for personal use. The social networking website is still in beta and remains invitation-only. In the past three short weeks, over 20 million users have activated their accounts. To better understand why this quick growth is so impressive, remember that it took Facebook and Twitter nearly three years to reach 20 million users.

G+ may have over 20 million users, but it is still not supporting businesses and organizations who want to make professional profiles. According to G+’s product manager Christian Oestlian:

“With so many qualified candidates expressing intense interest in business profiles, we’ve been thinking hard about how to handle this process. Your enthusiasm obligates us to do more to get businesses involved in Google+ in the right way, and we have to do it faster.

"As a result, we have refocused a few priorities and we expect to have an initial version of businesses profiles up and running for everyone in the next few months. There may be a tiny handful business profiles that will remain in the meantime solely for the purpose of testing how businesses interact with consumers.”

While Google's team works to create the best possible experience for its business and organization users, they encourage those eager to set-up at the social networking website to do so as a person. Until their consumer profiles feature officially goes live later this year, accounts created that do not tie to a personal account will be removed.

News about Google+ comes out frequently. Follow @tbhcreative on Twitter for links to news and information about how new technologies, trends, and services change the ways that users connect with businesses and organizations online.

Want to do more with social media? TBH Creative specializes in strategic social media solutions. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Three ways to convince people to take your online survey

2011-07-12T04:27:00.000-07:00

Creating online surveys has never been easier thanks to tools like SurveyMonkey, Zoomerang, and SurveyGizmo; however, getting potential new clients or existing customers to respond and provide helpful feedback takes strategic planning. Here are three simple things you can do when developing an online survey to ensure a better response rate:

Select the right audience.
Don't dump your entire database into a pool of potential survey respondents. Instead, figure out who you want information from and use that group as your base. If you're looking for feedback from potential new customers consider sending your web survey to those in your database who have made inquiries but no purchases. Don't forget to filter out e-mail addresses of those who have said they do not wish to be contacted. Supplement that base by asking your website visitors to answer the survey, too. A good place to post the survey might be the contact form page if that's where a lot of your new business queries originate.
Personalize your messaging.
Do you have the first names of your potential survey respondents? Perfect. Write your e-mail to begin "Dear Tatum" instead of "Dear Indianapolis Small Business Owner." This small extra step in the set-up of your online survey during the mail-merge process can result in a higher response rate.
Keep it clear, keep it short.
Respecting your potential survey respondents' time at the start by writing a direct, brief message. This consistency will act as an initial indicator that you will also respect their time when it comes to the actual survey. Be honest about how long the survey will take. Even if you have a longer survey, letting them know upfront will increase your response rate because you disclosed this at the start. Explain who you are and why you're doing the survey. Finish by sharing how the resulting data will benefit not only your company but also the respondents. This may mean providing an incentive, like a gift card or percentage off their next purchase. It may also be as making a donation to a charity on behalf of all who respond. Even the small token of appreciation can increase response rates.

Still struggling to get started on developing a web-based survey for your company or organization? If you need assistance TBH Creative can help. We specialize in strategic web consultion services. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Strategically Social: Starbucks & Instagram

2011-07-04T04:31:00.000-07:00

If you scan technology news headlines, it takes seconds to see that Google+ is the social network currently getting the most buzz. How businesses will use this new service as part of their online marketing strategy is still yet to be seen. On the other hand, Instagram—a free app for taking and sharing photos—is quietly making waves and steadily growing its user base. As of May 2011, over four million individuals and businesses downloaded and installed Instagram on their Apple iOS devices.

Social image sharing and coffee lovers unite

Instagram isn't just a photo taking and image manipulation app. Its genius is that while giving users those tools, Instagram's small but hardworking team of four developers also created a community for the app's users to share their pictures with each other as well as through other social networking websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Posterous. When describing it to friends, I tell them Instagram incorporates the followers/following model of Twitter and mixes it with the "art-up" your photos capabilities of Hipsamatic.

Most businesses use Instagram as a place share behind-the-scenes photos. Starbucks does this but they also encourage Instagram users to take photos of their Starbucks drinks and tag them with the #starbucks hashtag for others to see, creating a nearly 40,000 users strong branded group for coffee fans within the larger Instagram community. Staff from Starbucks' flagship location in Seattle is the primary source for the account's caffeinated imagery.

Does part of your business marketing plan include reaching out to your clients and giving them behind-the-scenes access to your day-to-day activities? Are you working to build a community around your brand and give your fans a way to share their love of your product? Used strategically, Instagram can support your existing efforts.

Some ideas for implementation:

If you have a restaurant, create a hashtag for users to add to their photo captions when they snap pictures of your food so other Instagram users know exactly where to go to get that delicious dish. Consider incentivizing participation by running a contest for best photos in exchange for a free appetizer or small discount.
If you have a product line, encourage users to show their purchase in use—whether it's a new hat, rug, or bumper sticker. Thank customers directly on their photos for their purchases.
If you run a hair salon, ask clients if you can take before and after photos to create a virtual portfolio to advertise your services to a wider audience for free in an authentic way.
If you operate a music venue, encourage concert attendees to take pictures of flyers promoting upcoming shows around town to build buzz.

Not sure if social networking can help you meet your company or organization's goals? If you need assistance coming up with ideas, making policies and procedures, and creating guidelines, TBH Creative can help. We specialize in strategic social media solutions. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Four Must-Haves for E-Newsletters

2011-06-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

Looking for ideas on how to stand-out in your customers' inboxes? Want to know how to make the most of your email marketing, increase your open rate and clicks, and lower unsubcribes?

Review our checklist of four must-haves for all e-newsletters to amplify your messaging and get a greater ROI.

Must-have #1:
Make your purpose clear

The reason you're sending the e-newsletter should be clear, starting in the subject line. Plan your content to focus on the key message you want to communicate.

Don't bury the reason for sending the e-newsletter. Hierarchy is important when choosing what to put where in your e-newsletter. Keep in mind what the users will see when they first open the e-mail. Make sure you grab them and convince them to keep scrolling.

Must-have #2:
Provide relevant information

Make sure the information you're sending is valuable to your audience. To stay focused with your content, it may not be possible for you to send a single, one-size fits all e-newsletter to your entire readership. In this case, take advantage of list segmentation and adjust your sending plan accordingly.

Brevity is your friend. Remember, the e-newsletter should serve only as a teaser to more information on your website. You don't need to tell them everything in the body of your message. Edit and thoughtfully curate what information you do provide.

When in doubt about including an item, ask yourself: Would I want to read this news or information? If the answer is no, re-evaluate the necessity for its inclusion. Less is more.

Must-have #3:
Design using an easy-to-scan—and read—format

Keep it simple. Use a thoughtful color palette that helps guide your readers through the publication. Your readers are busy. Make sure your design—no matter if the platform is a desktop browser or mobile—makes the content shine.

Develop a template and don't be afraid to incorporate white space as appropriate. Forget about including animated gifs and Flash. Don't embed video. Use only beautiful, relevant imagery so your message isn't mistaken for spam.

Must-have #4:
Be professional

There are no set standards for sending an e-newsletter, but these elements are key to every good e-newsletter:

View online link,
One-click opt-out/subscription change link, and
Clearly identified, recognizable sender e-mail.

Looking to start an e-newsletter or improve your current offering? TBH Creative can help. We specialize in strategic email marketing solutions. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Strategically Social: Kitchens.com & Pinterest

2011-06-20T02:10:00.000-07:00

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Most of the time when companies and organizations think about diving into social networking as part of their online marketing strategy, it's these three big names that often come up first.

"Strategically Social" is TBH Creative's new series of reoccurring social media case studies. We'll look at groups successfully implementing smart social technology strategies in unique ways. Though some ventures into social media fail—like Mashable being banned from using question-and-answer website Quora, we're going to highlight success stories.

Social bookmarking and dream kitchen designing

Pinterest is a relatively new social bookmarking website. When describing it to friends, I tell them Pinterest incorporates the best features from Tumblr and EverNote. Pinterest users set-up accounts to create virtual bulletin boards for different themes and follow other users "pins" to their personal bulletin boards. "Pins" are photo-based links to comments and information online. The "pins" archive by date-order. You can create boards for your "pins" based on preset classifications or new topics that you specify.

Most Pinterest account holders use the social bookmarking website as a place to log their dreams—whether it's to catalog recipes they want to cook someday or to archive ways they want to make improvements on their home. It's this latter, popular reason for using Pinterest that makes the website a perfect venue for social media outreach by Kitchens.com editors.

Kitchens.com is a Chicago-based online repository for inspiration and information about kitchen-design. Beyond simply helping connect contractors with home owners, Kitchens.com's website features videos, Q&A's, slideshows, product reviews, tutorials, and more to help educate their audience. After already successfully extending their brand through their Kitchenology blog and e-newsletter as well as through Facebook and Twitter, Kitchens.com's editors recently joined Pinterest to further extend their brand as resource for ideas and inspiration in kitchen design.

Kitchens.com editors use Pinterest boards to link to ideas on hot topics related to kitchen design, including color and organization. Kitchens.com not only shares content from their website but they "pin" content created by others, too. This smart strategy allows Kitchens.com to reinforce their position as an authority while also building a community among new audiences and strengthening ties with existing followers.
Does part of your business include making recommendations to clients? Used strategically, Pinterest can support your existing efforts to position yourself as an expert in your area and give you a way to share inspirational ideas.

Some examples:

If you're in public relations, create boards to pin your favorite marketing campaigns and event promotions.
If you're an interior designer, build boards to pin new kinds of furniture and space organization ideas.
If you're nutritionist, develop recipe boards to promote healthy eating.
If you're a landscape services provider, use boards to show gardening solutions.

Adding value to your website with video tutorials

2011-06-08T02:31:00.000-07:00

People connect to people. It's why simple instructional videos for everything from how to put your hair up in a messy bun to how to change a bicycle tire are so popular.

What's your expertise? Identify the areas where you are a pro and create video tutorials to drive traffic to your website and engage your audience. Well-done video tutorials strengthen personal connections by providing useful information and training. Unlike sales pitch videos, helpful video tutorials connect you and your company—as an authoritative, friendly mentor—to your clients and customers informally.

When planning videos and developing scripts, identify what topics are of the most interest to your audience. A good starting point for this brainstorming is to review your FAQ and consult customer service staff. Thorough preparations and attention to details pay off. Good advance planning will help you appear calm on camera. Keep the medium in mind, though, and plan each video to focus on one key lesson. To keep your audience's attention, try to limit each tutorial's run-time to between three to seven minutes, any longer and your video becomes more of a lecture than a quick guide.

The same rules for making a good news report apply for developing your video tutorial. Journalist Donna Davis gives her seven hints for using powerful storytelling in videos. For more advice read xTrain teacher Jeremy Vest's tips for making video tutorials.

Want to add video tutorials to your website? Need assistance getting started? TBH Creative specializes in strategic video solutions. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Google's +1 button: What you should know about the latest in social search

2011-06-07T04:01:00.000-07:00

Google's +1 button

Last Wednesday Google launched its version of Facebook "like" button. Called the +1 button, this new guide to help you self-curate richer, more relevant content based on recommendations from friends, family, and colleagues. The idea is that users will "+1" something as an instant, online endorsement if a link is worth checking out.

You may have already noticed these public stamps of approval peppering your Google search results. Some websites, including industry leader Mashable, have incorporated Google's +1 button onto its stories.

Connected to your personal Google profile, if you +1 a story on Mashable, this information that you gave the story your approval will appear next to the story's link in search results when your contacts look for it online. Watch Google's simple explanatory video below for an illustrated example of how this works.

Any web publisher can add the Google +1 button to their website. Still very new, the +1 button's importance in terms of SEO and ranking in Google search results is yet to be seen, but preference indicators as a part of social search is here to stay.

In the first announcement of this new feature, Google's Google’s David Byttow said:
“We’ll also start to look at +1’s as one of the many signals we use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, including social signals from other services. For +1′s, as with any new ranking signal, we’ll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality over time.”

Visit Google's customization page to get started adding the Google +1 virtual "thumbs up" tool to content on your website.

Need help setting up Google +1 or improving your SEO? TBH Creative specializes in strategic web development solutions. We can help you improve your website's search engine optimization so that your customers—new and old—find you first when they search for services and products online. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

How viral videos can help reinforce your brand

2011-05-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

Videos don't have to feature cute hugging cats or giggling babies in order to go viral. If you know your niche and your brand, you can make a clever video that will be popular with your audience.

For inspiration view these examples of recent, popular YouTube videos made by staff at universities for their niche audiences:

New alumni send-off
As a tribute to 2011's graduating class, Oberlin's President Marvin Krislov and other administrators playfully recreate Rebecca Black's video for her earworm "Friday."

Student recruitment tool
What's not to like about this feel good video? Purdue University's video about the "Compliment Guys" who shout out nice things to students passing by took off when it was posted to YouTube.

Online pep rally, part one
This Notre Dame anthem, created for a student-athlete awards banquet, was so well-received by alumni, students, and other members of the Fighting Irish family that its view count is over 300,000 and growing.

Online pep rally, part two
To bolster excitement for the basketball team, Indiana University fans Brice Fox and Daniel Weber express their school spirit with song and exciting archival game footage.

Nostalgic virtual tour
Combining stop-motion and colorful narration, the University of Chicago's Dean of the College John Boyer helps alumni revisit campus in this short, atmospheric video.

Do you need help making a viral video to drive traffic to your website? TBH Creative specializes in custom web development solutions and creative uses of social media. We can help you come up with a viral video concept that will reinforce your brand and complement your existing web strategy. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Improving the user experience with content strategy

2011-05-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

It's getting close to your launch deadline. Lorem ipsum placeholder text that filled out the wireframes and comps are the only content in your CMS. You don't have a copywriter, but you have a tentative plan to convert some old brochures' text to create web content.

We've all been there. Your new website is up and running, and now you're thinking about the content.

When working with tight turnarounds and small budgets, content can be treated as a last thought, especially if your design and development team doesn't have content strategy expertise. The web has different content needs than print projects. The words you use to tell your company's story online—and how they're presented—need regular review and strategic improvements. Content is often the hardest part of any website project.

In her book Content Strategy for the Web, expert Kristina Halvorson points out that "content is not a feature." When content revision and creation is treated as an afterthought in the web design puzzle, its execution can make or break your website's success. If your website's content isn't well thought-out, the users can always tell. Most people visit websites to get information. If your website makes it difficult for users to get what they need, they'll end up frustrated, or they may go elsewhere.

Here are two ways you can start to make content strategy a part of your website's creation, redesign process, or ongoing maintenance to ensure a better user experience and bigger ROI on your investment having an online presence:

Never stop auditing.
There is no such thing as postlaunch when it comes to content. Keep an inventory of what you post and analyze where there are gaps. Review regularly and revise as appropriate. Use management tools (an Excel spreadsheet is a good place to start) to keep track of your content. Don't forget to measure the success of your content in terms of its findability and impact on your business. Do people come to your website and leave right away? Create personas to understand your users' needs, motivations, concerns, and goals. Make sure your content addresses how your company's products and services will solve your users' problems.

Curation is key.
Unify your content management process and focus on the user experience. Figure out what you want to do and then pick your tool to help you do it. Define the purpose and value of the content you choose to share on your website. Make sure your content reflects the characteristics of your company's brand. Develop an editorial calendar and establish processes. Create standards, including a style guide with content specifications and workflow with archiving and updating plans.

Are your users finding what they need on your website? TBH Creative specializes in content strategy and web development. We can help you audit your website's content and help you implement a content strategy. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Best healthcare websites

2011-05-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

Not every hospital is the same, however, all hospitals and health care providers should have a professional online presence. First and foremost, an effective medical website should be easy to use and full of information. The organization and presentation of this information must be strategic and intuitive so patients and other visitors can find what they need quickly. In today's health care market, a high quality website is expected by the general public.

We have identified a few "must haves" for health care websites. An effective medical website should have:

Search Bar
Physician directory
Function Links ("How can we help you?")
Services and Specialties
Health Information

Below are more details for each 'must have' along with some of our favorite and best health care websites.

Must Haves

Search Bar
Search is important for websites with a database or wealth of information because it helps visitors navigate and find what they need quickly. Unless you want your visitor to wander through your pages and try to find what they are looking for, they can simply search for what they need. This is the easiest and fastest way for the viewer to receive information that they are looking for is a search bar.

FACT: 82% of visitors use keyword search bar function to find the information they need. (Source: Apollo Find)

Search bar is traditionally located in the top upper right of the website.
For intuitive design purposes, it is a good practice to place common items where the visitors expects them to be.

St. Vincent Health does a good job of this. The search is clear and not cluttered by many other element in this layout.

TIP: Be sure your website search and results work properly. You would be surprised by how many search results do not yield effective or even correct information. This can require some custom functionality but is extremely important to visitor satisfaction and usability for your website.
In addition to search, a site map outlining all pages of the website is a good practice and quick way to give visitors an overview of the website depth.

Physician Directory
Visitors and new patients want to see a photo of the doctor they will be seeing, they want to see the team, they want to see a list of credentials.

A directory of physicians should contain photos, what they specialize in, credentials and specialities, and their contact information. Depending on the size of your practice, coupling the directory with a physician search feature would be very effective (search by name, speciality, location, accepting patients, etc.).

Johnson Memorial Hospital has a nice physician search function and corresponding physician details pages.

Function Links ("How can we help you")
These types of links include "how to find us", "how to become a patient", "how to find your provider", "pay bills", "registration", etc. These links are important to have because they are more than likely the top reasons visitors have come to your website. These links are often separated out somehow in the design and important to be easy, clear, and on many pages of the website.

TIP: Designing these links in the utility navigation or a 'big' footer allows them placement on every page.

One of my favorite health care websites--it clearly asks the question 'what would you like to do today?' and offers actionable link options.
Notice the physician search feature is front and center.

Duke Medical website is a great example of simple and effective design. Nothing is over-the-top fancy,
but they arrangement and presentation is clear. The design is clean and professional.

Services and Specialties
From one hospital to another, many services are the same; however, every hospital excels in one area or another. They have unique physicians and/or awards to feature around each service, as well as an opportunity to show off their facility.

Community North has a fantastic maternity center and they emphasize that. They included verbiage such as "we set the next standard with the nation’s largest collection of single room maternity guest suites", they offer floors map along with many photos.

Health Information
A reputable medical facility or hospital will offer its visitors common health information. Unnecessary visits to the physician can be avoided by providing basic information on their website, as well as answering basic frequently asked questions. With so many health and medical websites on the Internet, visitors trust their hospital and the information it provides. Patients want their hospital to provide this information to them instead of sifting through the information from other sources.

There are third party services that hospitals can use to gather and present the health information, as well as keep it up-to-date without hassle. A couple to mention are A.D.A.M. Health Services and Rueters Health. A professional web company can help make the presentation of information appear seamless in your website.

Mayo Clinic has more health information that I have seen on other health care websites. They offer it in a very organized and strategic presentation with many options for the user to find what they need (alpha selection, category filter on left and top, as well as the general search). Note: Health Information is one of their primary main categories.

Great Health care Website Examples

IU Health

IU Health has it all, a search bar, pay your bill section, and a portal section to take you to specific locations.
Their navigation links are also set up simple enough for the user to not get lost.

Central DuPage Hospital

This website has a search bar and a find a doctor button clear and simple at the top of the page. They have a great navigation architecture and they have four helpful sections clearly designed across the bottom.

Franciscan St. Margaret Health

This website starts off strong with a "How can we help you?" section along with rotating screens emphasizing popular services and specialties. They also have a search bar and a functional link for pay my bill in the utility navigation.

UHS East

This website has a lot of the things that we are looking for: a search bar, how to find us, find a provider, get maps and directions, contact us, and pay your bills. Each of these must haves are placed strategically on the page to help them stand out. Strategically, their main navigation is divided and simplified into only four main sections.

You can see a few additional examples on blog by Adazing called 10 Best Hospital Website Design.

TBH Creative has experience with building effective health care and medical websites. We know what it takes and can help your facility prove results online. Complete our request a proposal form to start your website improvements today.

TBH Creative is a professional web design company in Indianapolis.

Helpful web design tips for type

2011-05-18T16:50:00.001-07:00

Typesetting plays an important role in all designs. Your fonts are a part of your branding and they communicate your company's goals and mission. What fonts you choose and how you handle them communicates volumes.

Web type guidelines

Use relative fonts
Having relative fonts on your website is most important rule for using type online. When a website uses relative fonts, the type will change accordingly if the user zooms in, enlarges the text, or has a preference size set for their browser. There are certain ways to make your font adjustable. The preferred way to change the font size is in the CSS. Don't use a <font> tag and change it in the HTML (as mentioned on W3C's website). CSS is not only a lot easier, but it also saves bandwidth which means better speed and performance for users.

Avoid putting text in graphics
Using graphics for text also influences zooming. When your type is pixelated as part of a graphic, the user has no ability to adjust it. When text is set in graphics, the words take up more bandwidth and slow page load times.

Don't set your type too small
Setting your type in 12- or 14-points is a good starting point for body copy. The only time when type set at a smaller point size is appropriate is for footers and other discretionary text blocks. PXtoEM has set up a calculator that can help switch from points or pixels to em.

Here are some before and after examples of how type looks at different zooming ranges.

Veerle's Blog 3.0

BEFORE:
The structure of this website is organized clearly,
but the body text could be a little bigger to add clarity.

AFTER:
Most of the fonts are relative. The top 3 sections of text
are graphics along with the word "Articles." Though these are graphics, they are typeset
large enough so that you can still read them.

Big Top

BEFORE:
The fonts are typeset at an aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-read large size.
This is a great example of a nicely sized base font.

AFTER:
The only text on this example is the navigation, but it isn't relative.
The four sections at the bottom of the site are images. The font size remained
the same when I zoomed in, the only thing that changed was the space around the text.

Method & Craft

BEFORE:
This site is a good example of thoughtfully sized body copy and headers.

AFTER:
Though the layout got a little jumbled when I zoomed in, all of the text on their website is relative.
The only text that isn't is their graphic for their logo, which is normal and acceptable.

Baltic International Bank

BEFORE:
This website has a great base font size, but the type
in their navigation is hard to read.

AFTER:
Most of their type is relative. Their navigation and "more" buttons remained the same size.

Make sure that your viewers can read what you're all about. Use relative font size to ensure your viewers' preferences change your websites font. TBH Creative can help you determine whether your website has relative fonts by conducting a free website consultation. If the answer is no, we can improve your website with a redesign.
Contact TBH Creative web design in Indianapolis today.

Effective call to action designs

2011-05-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

A call to action, also called a CTA, is an area on a webpage that prompts you to do something. Some times a call to action entices you to click a button or picture. In other cases it may make you want to fill out a form or contact a company representative for more information.

Ways to improve your call to action

Integrate white space
Strategic use of white space helps guide the users's eyes to your call to action. A cluttered website with many buttons and different sections often draws attention away from the call to action. White space, when used thoughtfully, can make your call to action stand out.

Make relevance is clear
When creating a call to action include a description of the promotion. Users need to know why they should act on your call to action.

Provide alternatives
The most common call to action buttons or forms are "Sign Up Now" or "Download Now," but it's useful to add more than one option. Campaign Monitor has a great example of having multiple options for the user.

Express urgency
When writing your call to action's copy, consider using terms that express urgency. Effective terms to use includ "now," "free," "donate," "subscribe," "call," "register," "buy," and "purchase."

Put it on multiple pages
If your call to action is so important, add it on multiple pages.

I selected some of my favorites to share with you. Have you seen an interesting call to action recently? Leave the URL in the comments with why you found it effective.

Examples

Mozilla Firefox

Remember the Milk

DailyMile

Yast

Basecamp

Campaign Monitor

Culture Code

Themes Kingdom

Blurb Creative

Mail Chimp

A call to action is an important component of any website. When done right, it can help your company make new sales. If you don't already have a CTA integrated as part of your website to help you reach a business goal, the TBH Creative team will work with you on a strategy to integrate an effective call to action on your website.

Contact TBH Creative web design in Indianapolis today to learn more. When you're ready to get started, you can fill out our call to action form at tbhcreative.com.

Google unveils new tools for tracking—and improving—website performance

2011-05-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month Google announced several exciting updates to Google Analytics to help you optimize your website. Optimized websites have better user experiences and reduce operating costs. Now, fast performing websites also do better in Google's search rankings.

Google Analytics new set of tools help you measure how you're doing. To get started and find out what landing pages are the slowest on your website by update your Google Analytics tracking code. All it takes is adding one line of code related to page load time to your existing tracking code.

It takes several hundred pageviews before you will have a true picture of your load times. If you have a smaller website, this may mean waiting a few days. The new Site Speed tool is available to all Google Analytics users.

To enable the new version of reporting, log into Analytics and click on the option labeled "New Version" (found in the top-right corner). By changing to the new version, you'll gain the ability to compare two sets of metrics, view multiple reports on the Overview page, and more.

Are you using analytics to improve your website's performance? TBH Creative specializes in website strategy. We can help you analyze your website's performance. We keep up with best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Learning to tweet: Advice for Twitter newbies

2011-05-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Last week at a small conference in Chicago, I was part of a panel discussion about tools and techniques for effectively using social media. The discussion covered tangible basics, including recommended tools for efficiency like CoTweet, TweetDeck, and HootSuite, but the panel also delved into actual how-to advice for those in attendance who were just starting to build their brands on Twitter. This aspect, it seemed, was the biggest challenge for the new users.

Different from blogging and using Facebook, the panel's moderator explained how to become an effective Twitter user by giving examples of tweets made during three different stages of learning how to tweet:

A newbie Twitter user:
OMG! This cinnamon raisin bagel is delicious.

A starting-to-get-the-hang-of-it Twitter user:
Check out this interesting story about bagels in the @NYTimes. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/nyregion/10routine.html

A pro Twitter user:
Whether it's from Einstein's or Panera, the cinnamon raisin is my favorite bagel. What's yours? #foodforthought

The key for the average user to finding success on Twitter is finding your voice and making sure to engage with others. Tweets have to be a balance of both broadcasting ideas and links with personal tidbits and interactions with other users.

The panel had other advice for new Twitter users. Here are some of their other tips:

When thinking of what to put up on Twitter, remember that it's basically smart, informal word of mouth. If you’re making a recommendation, explain why. If you only promote your goods and services, your account will become tiresome to followers. When you think about the users you most enjoy following, are their posts all ads, all the time? [no] Keep it simple and, whenever possible, keep it fun.
New users sometimes forget to source their leads. It's also important to always give credit. If you found a link because another curated it into their Twitter feed, acknowledge it by giving credit with a hat tip (HT) or via. Doing this helps build credibility and potential rapport with the person you cited.
To get a better hang of things, the first thing you should do is start following your peers. By reading what they post, as a member of their audience, you'll see first-hand which posts resonate with you and you can then use these ideas as models for finding your voice through your own Twitter account.

Are you thinking about using social media to promote your business? TBH Creative specializes in website strategy and social media planning. We can help you develop a social media strategy for your business. We keep up with social media trends and best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Your website staff page: Why showing faces is important and Beneficial.

2011-05-04T17:17:00.001-07:00

Are there REAL people working at your company?

When your potential clients stumble upon your business's website, one of the first things they do is look for examples of your work. But what happens when they look at your team page and only see names of your employees? Some "About Us" pages don't even have their employees listed, some have their names and some have their pictures. Along with their just names or pictures comes bios and all that jazz, but who wins in the fight between names and pictures? When it comes down to it, your clients feel more comfortable knowing that they are working with a REAL person. Having images along with names on your "About Us" page helps clients realize this, which in increases your conversion rate.

Think Vitamin, a blog created by Carsonified, has written a blog about this titled "Human Photos Double your Conversion Rate". In this blog, they have done an A/B study meaning they have compared the conversion rate between having an image of the actual person to contact versus an image of a phone. This test was from EmptyMind, a website created by Jason Thompson. The conversion rate almost doubled with the actual image of Jason against the icon of a phone. Another blog by KA+A titled quite blatantly, "Who Are these Guys? Why Team Photos are a Great Idea", has a great first paragraph:

"It amazes me that more organizations don’t show pictures of their team/staff/employees on their website. In a world where we’ve come to loath giant, faceless corporations, proving that there are living, breathing, caring, people behind your organization would be a good thing. A great thing."

This is completely true. I have some examples listed below and to come up with them was a little difficult.

Why is showing your team's faces so beneficial?
It allows people to emotionally invest in a relationship with your business if they can actually see who they are talking to/working with. To me, it's almost like when you call your cable company and you have to go through a bunch of recorded questions until you actually talk to a human being. Having a picture and bio on your about page will create a sense of "Hey, they're a person just like me". Using images of people in other sections of your website also helps in making your business more personable.

One great example: If you have a blog, in the author section, post their image along with their name. This way, people who read it can see who actually wrote such an informative blog post. These tactics help build a great relationship with your clients.

Great Examples

Lateral

This is a great example to actually check out. Their faces follow your mouse around the page. When I took the screen shot, I had my mouse hovering over the About Us tab.

Ten Adams

Each team member has a large, professional (yet casual and happy) gray scale photo.

Boost Media

First Person

This layout is great for large teams and to utilize the space on the page.

Play Group

This team page is fun and shows their personality and culture.

Booreiland

In addition to the small head shots on the right, the main photo rotates through photos of the team.

MetaSource

This is a strong example of using an author's picture on a blog post.

HelloWallet

Very clean layout with bio information and photos stacked.

Carsonified

This realistic art/illustration is a nice alternative to the typical photo. It still shows who the person is but adds character to the website and follows the style/brand.

RJE Business Interiors
TBH Creative is in the process of a redesign for RJE Business Interior's About Staff page. We presented a couple options.

In general, we chose to use first names on the first page to compliment the introduction text and casual tone throughout the website. We wanted to make sure the visitor knew the faces were clickable for 'more', so the hover state is clearly marked with an orange border in either option.


Option 1.	Option 2.

Sample full bio page.

Smashing Magazine

TBH Creative is in process of adding photos to their staff page right now too -- based on all this information, we know it will help. We'll report back later on increase in stats and conversions.

Please send us your About, Staff, Team or bio pages or favorites that you have seen! Just comment to this post with your link, and we'll add a second post for the best submissions. We welcome any cool ideas also.

Let your clients know that your people are really people and not robots. :) TBH Creative can help you decide the best way to achieve this by brainstorming a website redesign for your "About" page and other web strategies to increase your conversion rate.

Contact TBH Creative web design in Indianapolis today.

Tips for Running a Facebook Contest

2011-05-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

With over 500 million users, Facebook offers invaluable opportunities for companies to engage with their potential and loyal customers through pages. Though more than 70% of small businesses use Facebook (a 20% increase over last year), most still struggle to find different ways to take advantage of their social media presence beyond reinforcing branding and providing customer service. The first action step toward many companies take toward reaching their social media goals is to build their fan base. Have you ever considered running a contest to spark growth in "likes" for your business on Facebook? If you're considering running a promotion but don't know about the social media website's complex rules, review these key takeaways before you get started. Businesses caught running contests that do not follow Facebook's rules risk losing their entire page.

Businesses no longer have to get their contests approved by Facebook or spend $10,000 in Facebook ads to run one; however, companies must disclose explicitly that Facebook is not involved with the contest for liability reasons.
The only action you can ask of contest entrants on Facebook is for them to become a fan/"like" your company's page. You can't ask them to comment. You can't ask them to upload photos. You can't ask them to provide their contact info. You can ask nothing of them except being a fan/"liking" your page in order to view contest details.
You may not pick a fan at random from your list of people who "liked" your business's page. You have to use a third party app to collect names/contact information and run the whole contest off Facebook. You can only use Facebook to promote your contest.
You may not contact winners using Facebook. That's right! No messaging. No chat. No posting to your wall or their wall to let them know.

Related reading: Social Media Examiner blogger Mari Smith offers more tips, including a comprehensive review of apps for running successful Facebook promotions.

Are you thinking about running a promotion to attract new fans and enhance your social media presence with existing customers? TBH Creative specializes in website strategy and social media planning. We can help you develop a social media strategy for your business. We keep up with social media trends and best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

3 ways to develop a mobile website

2011-04-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

With the use of smart phones growing in the world, businesses need to start having a mobile website. I previously wrote a blog about why a mobile website is necessary for your business. In that blog I discussed usability, links, design and screen size as well as why it is important to build a mobile based site.

For this blog I'm going to talk about the 3 different types of development for mobile websites:

Mobile application vs mobile website (a redirected website or a multi-platform compatible website).
The difference between an application and a website is that an mobile application that run on mobile phones, usually connecting to the Internet and making it easier to search that application.
A mobile websites is basically the same as a normal website, except it is designed differently according to screen size.

Mobile Application

Applications have their pros and cons. They are extremely useful in certain situations. Take for instance The Weather Channel App. I have it on my iPhone, whenever I open it up to look at the weather it determines my location and updates me on the weather that is coming in the next 36 hours. I don't need to go through the Internet, type in the web URL of a local weather station, load the site and then type my location in, and THEN get my weather. I just had to open up an application.

Their biggest pro of mobile apps is that they are super convenient.

There are a few cons to consider as well. One con is that each application must be downloaded -- which takes time and space on your phone. And then comes the different mobile platforms and app stores that you can buy/download these apps from. For websites that need customers to check in or buy things from their site, an application is a beneficial tool to invest in for your business.

Mobile Website

Right off the bat, you know that a major pro to a mobile website is that you don't have to download it, all you need is the Internet to view it. From Ten Digital Trends 2011, there is an section at the bottom called "The Year of the Mobile Website". They talk about how mobile websites are going to be more feature-rich through HTML5 and media queries. A mobile website could almost match the functionality of an application with these perks. For example here is the weather channel mobile website and mobile app.

Mobile Website

Mobile Application

The mobile website takes you right to a search feature, the weather channel knows that it's customers come to search their weather so they put that on the home page of their mobile site. The application automatically brings up my location because I programmed it in already, but basically gives the same information that the mobile website would give if I type in my area code.

Mobile Website

The con to creating a mobile website is time and money. This is where the mobile website splits into different categories:

mobile version of the site or
a multi-platform compatible site.

Both require extra time/money, but creating a whole different version of would be more time essentially equaling more money.

Mobile Version of the Site
What would happen is when your site is viewed on a phone, the website will recognize that it is being viewed on a phone and will redirect to a separate and uniquely programmed and designed version of the site. This version will have the dimensions of the screen and will provide the appropriate content that is needed.

Take for example Dictionary.com: what does it need on it's mobile website? What are the bare minimums? Well the search feature of course and then a reference and a thesaurus tab, since those are the other sections you can search under and most frequent usage by visitors. Also popular, it offers a button to download the dictionary.com app, and it has the word of the day.

Mobile Version

Multi-Platform Compatible Site
This means that your website is built to recognize what platform it is on meaning: if it's a computer or phone, and what the screen dimensions are. Instead of redirecting to a different version of the site, it will adjust it's content to match what the user really needs to use depending on the platform and screen size. This way you wouldn't have to have an entire separate version of the web, you would just have to have extra coding that would recognize and change the way your website looks.

Robotornot is a great example of this. If you change the size of the screen when you view it on a computer, you can watch it adjust it's design to format what size the screen is.

Website viewed from a computer

Mobile Website (Multi-Platform)

Summary

To wrap things up, the number one thing to remember when deciding which development path to take for your mobile site is: what do you want your customers to go to first? What is the main purpose of your site? Are you just letting people check in to your business (such as an airport) or offer a shopping cart for product purchase or are letting them search for information that they need? If your answer is yes to any of those questions, we recommend an application custom developed for your website.

Otherwise, pick out the top pages you want visitors to see (or think they will be looking for on their phones) and have those showing on your mobile-version website. Out of convenience, we would recommend developing a multi-platform compatible site. In the end, it creates less code which will help your loading time and will take up less server space.

At TBH Creative, we believe that mobile web design is the becoming essential to your online marketing plan and Internet success. While your customers are on the go and need information about your business, they will search for it through their phones. This is why it's important to have a mobile website.

Contact TBH Creative web design in Indianapolis today. We keep up with web technology like mobile web design and can help your business make its mark (and keep up too).

HootSuite's down? Try one of these five social media management alternatives

2011-04-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

HootSuite uses their blog to keep users up-to-date when their service is down.

What do the social media teams who work at Papa Johns, the Los Angeles Times, and Facebook have in common? Like me, they rely on HootSuite, a popular client, to help schedule their microblogging and monitor brand-related chatter. When the helpful browser-based tool went down last week because Amazon Web Services' cloud crashed, many were left wondering which HootSuite alternatives for managing professional social media needs are worth considering—either as a long term replacement or back-up during outages.

Popular alternatives include:

Tweetdeck
Pros: Works for Macs and Windows users; simple navigation; robust features set
Cons: You have to install it
Seesmic
Pros: Fast; works in every browser; lots of useful features
Cons: User interface doesn't use screen space as efficiently as other tools
Twitterrific
Pros: The latest version includes username auto-completion, easy spam reporting, and an advanced settings page that allows you to choose to not to see @ mentions from strangers
Cons: Mac only; to add multiple accounts or remove ads from your timeline, you'll have to pay
Brizzly
Pros: Allows multiple accounts; easy monitor searches; built in "muting"
Cons: Steeper learning curve than the other tools
Twitter For Mac (formally Tweetie)
Pros: You can use it to manage multiple accounts
Cons: Mac only; once only for iPhone and iPad Touch, the latest release includes a desktop version

Do you have a back-up plan for your day-to-day social media management needs? TBH Creative specializes in website strategy and social media planning. We can help you develop a social media strategy for your business. We keep up with social media trends and best practices so that we can help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Interesting and Useful CSS Tricks for 2011

2011-04-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Staying current with new website technology, coding tricks or hacks, and changing techniques is part job as professional web designers. One example is Cascading Style Sheets or CSS which has continued to grow and expand throughout the years.

In the past, CSS was used for basics page styling such as to change color of text, create colored borders, style different fonts, change the background, etc. Nowadays, with CSS3, you could basically style the moon... okay not literally. But truth be told, you can style almost anything on your web page and do things with CSS that you would only have dreamed of doing a couple of years ago.

A few examples of CSS advancements tricks in 2011 are listed below:

Rotation

Eric Meyer created some examples of the different ways that you can rotate images using CSS. These rotations include transforming the origin. The image remains the same height and width because the image is being transformed from only one origin in the image.

This working example is the best way to view how this occurs. The six different rotations have a dot in on the image marking the origin.

3D Hologram

This is a new trick that I just stumbled upon today: a 3D hologram box. This only works with a webkit browser and has only been tested on the iPhone. The creator, Hakim, was inspired by a french video by Geoffrey with Firefox that created a holographic effect on an image -- while viewing the webpage on a mobile phone, the image changes perspective depending on what way you tilt the phone.

This was taken from my iPhone to give you an idea.

Creating a Pattern

Patterns are often used in backgrounds of websites or to possibly outline a call to action area, but these are usually created by using images. Images are okay to use, but having a CSS alternative is a great way to creating less loading time for your website. Lea Verou has created some aesthetically pleasing CSS patterns.

Love the Tablecloth pattern, don't you?

Drop-Shadows

Like patterns, drop-shadows have been created by using images (until recently) and are an intrical part of your webpage aestethic. Now, CSS also allows you to create drop-shadows without images and even control the color, distance and opacity. The perspective can also be altered as well as different types of drop-shadows.

See Nicolas Gallagher's example of different CSS drop-shadows. Using CSS for elements that would normally require extra coding and images saves overall loading time of your webpage while still offering visual appeal and attention to detail.

These are some pretty great looking shadows considering no images are being used!

Gradients

Gradients also tie in with the loading time, because most gradients are created with Photoshop and then turned into an image. Similar to the above tricks, a gradient created with CSS will have less of a loading time than a repeating background image -- allowing potential customers view your website faster.

Web Designer Wall has created some code and image examples of gradient background and then gradients used for navigation.

Summary

CSS is a more useful tool than it was 5 years ago; heck even 2 years ago. Can you imagine where it would be in the next couple of years? I'm sure we will find out soon enough, and TBH Creative will work hard to always learn the newest tricks.

At TBH Creative, we develop 'table-less' HTML markup that makes full use of cascading style sheets (CSS) capabilities. We can evaluate what CSS coding tricks are best for your website.

Contact TBH Creative web design in Indianapolis today. We keep up with web technology and design to best help you maximize your online marketing potential.

Web Design Case Study: Fort Harrison Reuse Authority

2011-04-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

TBH Creative has been working with Fort Harrison Reuse Authority since 2006. For the past four months, we have been redesigning and developing 'sister' websites to represent the history of FHRA and tell the story of Lawrence Village. We are pleased to announce the launch today.

In addition to a new design and code, the project included reorganized site architecture and taxonomy. The new website offers a softer feel to match the Lawrence Village Brand. The information tells a story and shows the personality of Executive Director, Kris Butler who says, "I am very proud of this effort and hope you all think it’s more useful and comprehensive."

Visit the new Fort Harrison Reuse Authority website

Visit the new Lawrence Village at the Fort website (Live. Work. Play)

The FHRA logo was tweaked to compliment the new look and feel.


Before	After

Does your website need a make-over?
TBH Creative specializes in website strategy and web redesign for organizations and businesses. Online marketing in today's market is more important and powerful than ever before. Hire us to help improve and define your new website.

The Internet changes constantly — in terms of design trends, technology, and standards. You simply cannot afford to not make changes. Experts say a redesign should be implemented every 2-4 years just to keep up.