You’ve read the previous post about the many reasons why businesses should stay away from spec work when selecting a designer, but now you wonder exactly how to find the right designer for your project.
It’s simple. Look at their portfolios to get a good idea of the style and type of work they have done and if it fits your project. Ask for references of customer or past employers to give you a good idea of their work ethic. Meet with the designer and discuss your project. Once you get a feel for their work and personality, you will be able to choose the right designer for your assignment.
There are many links and resources that cover this topic in detail. I have chosen to write this article with the business/client in mind. However, if you are a designer or you simply want to find out more about NO!SPEC, visit their site.

Edrian Thomidis is the owner of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

Why shouldn’t you have a contest or a bid with samples to get your logo or website done?

Designers are very well aware that speculative design work (spec work) is bad for the industry, but businesses tend to think this is a win-win for the client. However, this is only on the surface. There are many compelling reasons why businesses should stay away from spec work when selecting a designer. Here are some of those reasons:

The first phase of any successful project is information gathering, which includes market research. This phase can usually take several hours and it is where the client’s objectives and goals are confirmed. A thorough understanding of audience, tone, message, branding among many others are documented and discussed. By asking for spec work you are asking designers to jump right into the design without understanding the business problem or using the right strategy. If you are looking for the best designer, you look at their portfolio to have a good idea of past work experience and style.

Many times designers that consider working on Spec Work are new and inexperienced designers. They offer up Spec Work as a way to get in the door and get some experience. If you don’t mind having a designer learn on the job on what might be a very important marketing/design project, this might be a good fit. However, just remember that by following this practice you are promoting free labor and you hinder the designer’s ability to earn a proper salary.

You might find professional and established designers that may agree to create some spec work, but beware… those ‘free’ hours are not really ‘free’.  That free time has to be made up somewhere, which usually means you will pay more over the life of the project.

It’s as simple as “You get what you pay for”. In the world of web design it takes anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to come up with a decent design. You run a huge risk of winding up with poorly executed designs that don’t adequately represent your business and your message by having a number of designers that are usually under pressure to communicate an effective professional piece for free by spending about 2 hours on average. A professional will develop designs with strategy based on solid market research reflecting years of training and experience in the field.

When you are looking for a designer, designers are also evaluating you. Asking for spec work is a huge red flag for designers. It usually sends the message that the client isn’t putting a lot of thought or time into selecting a valuable designer. Professional and experienced designers also know that these projects take much longer and cause more headaches. As a result, the quotes might be higher.

I have recently noticed an increase in request for Spec Work, which prompted me to write this post.

What is Spec Work?
“Spec” is short for speculative work and it refers to any creative work done by a designer and submitted to a prospective client/employer in hopes to secure the work for a reasonable fee, but it is done without an agreement for payment. This usually requires the designer to work free of charge, and often with overinflated promise to secure the project, future employment or as it is often the case a hyped up prize such as “recognition” or “good for your portfolio”. In an effort to promote professional, ethical business practices within the industry I wanted to write a post that tells businesses why Spec Work is not a good idea and how it harms the industry.
The Typical Scenario…
As a small or medium business in this economy you understand the need to market your business, but you have a small budget. As you look for a solution, you find out that you can post your project on the Internet and hundreds of designers will bid on your project for a little more than a few pennies. Or you decide to support the local economy and perhaps another small business such as yours that might be struggling in this economy and decide to have local design studios bid on the project. You also request samples of the work to be created with the bid response so you can decide which one you like best. It sounds like a smart business decision and one that could maximize your budget, right? After all, all the design samples are unpaid and only the designer whose mock-up is chosen will get the project.

Next Post: Why is Spec Work Not Such a Great Idea For Business, Graphic Designers and Website Designers…

Edrian Thomidis is the President of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Graphic and Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

Technology is still moving fast and websites as business tools will continue to be significant. In 2010 everyone realized that social networking was essential and in 2011 sharing content with social networks will become more important as people read and then share with their networks. More websites will look for integration of marketing activities such as emails, websites and social networks to ensure success. A traditional website will not be enough in 2011 as more users are accessing the web from their mobile devices. This will affect small business websites and e-commerce sites as well.

So what do you need to do, to keep up with the trends of 2011 if you are a small business and already have a website?

You need to do a website marketing health check. — This includes:

Image and Brand:

It is difficult for a small business to know all the latest marketing and design strategies and trends. Typically for a small business, having a website is a major accomplishment, but maintaining it is not always easy. That’s why your small business website probably hasn’t been updated in a few years.  What was the greatest rage, such as animated images, background music, blinking text, and glitter text in the 90’s or Flash websites in the early 2000’s is now considered out of date and unprofessional.

In the case of a website created in Flash, your site is invisible to most mobile devices and to search engines (there’s a trick to the search engines, but most small business websites don’t optimize their flash website for search engines). Even smart phones that support Flash don’t support it reliably. For 2011 there are newer technologies to add bells and whistles to a website like HTML5, Javascript, CSS3 and AJAX.

Statistics:

Looking at your website statistics to see how many visitors you had per month over 2010. This will give you an indication if your traffic improved or decreased throughout the year. What are your most visited pages? What are your top exit pages? What is the average length of a user’s visit? Although these data does not measure quality traffic or traffic that resulted in customers or sales, it does give you an indication of how your site is doing overall. If there are pages with low traffic or no traffic at all, 2011 may be the time to remove unwanted content and offer fresh new content for your users.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization:

If you did any SEO in 2010, maybe it is time to revisit those efforts, since search engines are constantly changing. If you have not yet optimized your site for search engines do not delay. Most users find websites by clicking on the top organic search results of major search engines such as Google, yahoo and Bing. Make sure for 2011 that your business can be found on the major search engines under specific keywords and local search.

Flexibility:

Is your website mobile friendly? How does your website look on an iPhone? Is the font bigger than it should be and is it pushing the layout around? Do the graphics display properly? If not, it may be worthwhile to consider offering a mobile version of your site.

Social Networking:

Can users share the content on your site on their social network easily? Do you have a Fan Page? Do you have a blog? Do you Tweet? Social Networking continues to grow at a rapid pace and businesses continue to take advantage of these marketing tools to promote and strengthen their brand. The trend last year was collection of ‘likes’, this year the trend is quality and interaction of those ‘likes’. If your business has stayed away from social networking, 2011 is the time to get social!

Relevant:

Go over your content on your website and make sure all addresses, phones, emails, hours, pricing are up to date. Check all the links to make sure they work. Are your services, promotions, and client’s testimonials still relevant? There’s nothing more discouraging for a user than finding out-dated information. Making sure your content is always relevant improves your user’s experience when visiting your site.

Partnership:

If you are looking for a new website or you want to redesign your old one it will be worthwhile to invest the time in developing a relationship with a professional established firm. It may seem valuable to go for the dirt-cheap or free option (or worse yet – do it yourself), but realize that the company you decide to work with will develop your brand and image to the outside world and will work closely with you to develop a strategy and a plan for creating and maintaining your site. How much is your company’s reputation worth and what does it mean to your business?

A well run website development company will work with you to design a website that is easy to navigate and is functional and relevant for the next few years. They should understand your business and your marketing goals and not just pick colors and graphics.

There are great web design ideas that a small business should consider for 2011. It is time to update your website (or create one if you don’t have one) and put your best image forward for 2011. As always, Tenengo Design can help you with your website, search engine optimization and social strategy implementation. We would love to partner with you to help your business big or small. We also offer a Small Business Website Design Package. Contact Us Today!

I was recently designing the business card for a small business and the question of ‘what is your title?’ generated a number of possible scenarios, and I wanted to write about it on this blog.

Most small business owners wear many hats and have the challenge of presenting their business as successful and established while doing so in a truthful and professional manner. The idea of using a title such as VP or a lesser title to give the appearance of being part of a larger organization would potentially put the owner in a compromising position when someone asks who is the CEO? which could hurt the business and owner’s credibility.

Something else to consider is what entity the business is, to make sure the right terminology is used. For example, the title of Owner should not be used for an LLC. The proper title is Managing Member/CEO/President. Some might recommend that a small business owner has the flexibility to be creative and use a title such as ‘El Jefe’, ‘Jack of all Trades’, ‘Head Honcho’ or something quirky. Yes, a small business owner can do anything, and might get many comments and attention, but it will be the wrong attention. The overall message… It’s unprofessional.

For legal purposes, it is necessary to show that you represent the company and not yourself as an individual, so the proper title is necessary. President, CEO, Managing Member, Managing Partner are all acceptable… especially for contracts, but stay away from the title of Owner.

Edrian Thomidis is the President of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Graphic and Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

I recently created a logo for the Angel Forum of Florida, a not-for-profit organization based in Jupiter, Florida that facilitates interaction between individual investors and local entrepreneurs through member networking and monthly meetings and presentations.

About Their Logo:

The selected logo design was a combination of a typographic logo and a mark (the wing) shown in a clean and crisp manner. The colors of blue, green and gold represent the financial and professional segment of the market they are targeting. The font is clear and legible and in lower case presenting the forum as a professional yet slightly informal organization. The words ‘of Florida’ in gray were added at the bottom to identify the location of the forum while maintaining legibility and the visual impact of the main logo components.

The mark of the wing is a visual identifier that sets the logo and organization apart. It is in green to symbolize the possible wealth available to entrepreneurs from interacting with investors. The upward visual movement (same as a financial chart) of the wing also reinforces these theme.

Edrian Thomidis is the President of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Graphic and Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Contact Tenengo for more information.

There are many tools out there to optimize your WordPress blog for mobile phones. The WPtouch automatically transforms your WordPress blog into an iPhone application-style theme, complete with ajax loading articles and effects, when viewed from an iPhone, iPod touch, Android, Opera Mini, Palm Pre, Samsung touch and BlackBerry Storm/Torch mobile devices.

I wanted to make sure my readers could easily access the blog with a mobile phone, so I decided to give WPtouch a try. The plug-in installation was rather simple and the instructions for the settings were easy to follow. I tested it on my iPhone and it worked perfectly! I even created a homepage icon with Tenengo’s logo. The WPtouch deserves the 4.5 star rating on the WordPress plugin directory.

TIP: If your company has a blog,  include mobile into your blog and website marketing strategy. Take some time and invest in the creation of a small but efficient mobile website to ensure that platform is covered in your marketing. Mobile has become a vital part of the marketing mix for major brands, but e-Commerce on mobile is not quite there yet. Begin testing and learn how this growing advertising opportunity can fit into your marketing plans.

Edrian Thomidis is the owner of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. In addition to website design, she works on blog set-up and design for local and nation-wide business. Contact Tenengo for more information.

I have had a blog for over 2 years now where I post about my illustrations and participate in Illustration Friday. It has been a rewarding experience as it has allowed me to be part of the blogging community and more specifically the children’s market blogging community.

However, most people know that in addition to my illustrations I also work on graphic design and website design projects. I have posted about some of these projects on my illustration blog, but somehow it just never seemed to go together. These are two separate industries, and just as my illustration and graphic design websites are separate, I thought the blogs should be separate. That’s what I would recommend to a client that is trying to have a clear identity and brand. So I thought I would follow my own advice.

I used blogger for my illustration blog, but I wanted to customize this blog and make the look and feel more consistent with this site. So I have installed WordPress on my site and customized a generic template to fit the look and feel of my site. I’ve also installed a number of plug-ins, but more on that later! The same professional design – That’s what proper branding is all about… a consistent image and message all throughout your materials … online and off line.

I will cover many topics on this blog, but mostly about Graphic Design, Web Design, Blogging,  Search Engine Optimization, and working locally in West Palm Beach. I may still refer to my work in the children’s illustratons industry every now and then.

Please stay tuned for some future posts about blogs and why it is important to have one and which platform may be better for your site as well as my personal take on the plug ins I installed on this blog.

In the mean time, I hope you subscribe to this content and come back often.