Some logo design professionals believe in asking clients certain questions before taking up a project. Others, however, accept projects blindly. This results in several problems that can include poor payment, bad client, and boring work.

We think that the best way to avoid these problems is by asking clients important questions, before finally accepting the project. This will help you to evaluate whether the logo designing project is worth your hard work and effort. To make matters easier, we will highlight some questions that you should ask your potential client.

Even if you are associated with website designing, you can ask these questions. However, do not forget to modify them accordingly.

Questions related to the organization

1.  What is the name of your company?

2.  What products or services your company offers?

3.  What is the USP (Unique Selling Point) of your company?

4.  When did you start your company?

5.  Is it a start-up or a medium-sized company? Is it a large-scale corporation (you can judge size of a company by its revenue or employee number)?

6.  What are the positive and negative aspects of your company?

7.  Where do you want to see your company in 5/10/15 years?

8.  What was the main purpose/motivation behind founding the company?

9.  Who is your primary competitor?

10.  How your company solves problems of your target audience?

Branding

11.  If you are asked to describe your company in a single word, what would be your answer?

12.  If your customers are requested to describe your organization in a word, what would be their answer?

13.  Do you possess any logo currently?

14.  (If answer to the above question is yes) Would you like to retain any elements from your current logo?

15.  Why do you want to modify or redesign your logo?

16.  When did you introduce your current logo?

17.  Can tell us about the mission statement of your organization?

18.  Do you want to include any slogan or tag line in your logo?

19.  How do you want to create brand image of your company?

20.  What is the most distinguishing element of your logo?

21.  Why did you opt for this particular color or icon in your logo?

Design specifications

22.  Do you want to use any particular color scheme in the logo? Can you state the reasons?

23.  Do you want to use your logo in any particular medium?

24.  Do you want to include any particular elements in the logo?

25.  According to your opinion, what is the definition of a good logo?

26.  Can you state your preferences, regarding icon and typography?

27.  Do you have any restrictions, regarding development of the logo?

28.  Can you give us some examples of logos that you love and those you hate?

29.  Can you tell us what the primary purpose of a logo design is?

30.  What are the particular occasions when you would like to use this logo?

Target clients

31.  Who consists of your target audience?

32.  Who opts for your products/services the most?

33.  Do you want to modify or expand your current target audience?

34.  Can you tell us about your primary types of advertising?

35.  Are you targeting any specific gender?

36.  Can you tell us about the average income of your target client?

37.  How do most of your clients come across your company?

38.  In which area do your maximum clients reside?

Timing and budget

39.  What is your budget for this logo design project?

40.  What is your deadline?

41.  How many rough concepts you would like to receive?

42. Why did you choose our company for this project?

43.  What is most critical for you-speed, quality, or price?

44.  Apart from this logo design, do you require any other services?

45.  Are you planning any special event where you want to launch this logo?

Additional queries that can bring in extra money

46.  Do you require help regarding any other project?

47.  Are you aware of any person who wants innovative logo designs?

Asking these questions will clear your doubts regarding the project and enhance quality of your work. Furthermore, it will allow you to maintain a good relationship with your clients.

Have you ever considered animal habits as your source of inspiration? It could be a good idea because each animal can teach us different lessons. Adopting certain habits and instincts of animals can help one to improve his/her productivity and work quality.

In this article, we will discuss typical habits of certain animals. Furthermore, we will explain how adopting these qualities can help you to enhance quality of your work.

Lion

Lions love challenges. They are brave, powerful, and willing to hunt down every animal in the jungle. Likewise, a web design professional should be interested in taking up challenging projects. He/she should be brave because it will help him/her to come up with innovative ideas.

Lions are highly competitive and desire to remain ahead in the race. Similar to them, people associated with the website design industry should also try to stay ahead of their competitors.

Tiger

Tigers prefer a solitary lifestyle and look forward to challenging situations. Faster than lions, tigers can smoothly leap 10 meters or even more. While hunting an animal, tigers prefer to implement a strategic plan.

Tigers can inspire you to take up projects that are interesting and challenging. Similar to tigers, you should opt for regular breaks to create innovative designs. Additionally, to complete a project within a deadline, you can follow a strategic plan. This will help you to meet the deadline in a hassle-free manner.

Giraffe

As compared to other animals, giraffes possess several advantages. They are tall and can reach out to trees, thus consuming more nutrients. Another interesting fact is that giraffes can survive by sleeping 4.5-4.6 hours on average per 24 hours.

Similar to giraffes, website designers should grab more projects and enjoy the advantages. They must observe projects from another perspective and deal with them in a new way. To complete crucial projects, designers should learn to survive by sleeping 4-5 hours at night.

Turtle

Turtles possess the special ability to hide from predators. They do so by retreating into their shells and hiding in water. Turtles can adapt themselves with any environment quickly.

Similar to turtles, designers should possess the ability to retreat into themselves for creative thought. Furthermore, they should adjust with any situation within a short time.

Whale

A unique fact about the whale is that it never sleeps consciously. Otherwise, it will drown. For this reason, a part of its brain always keeps working for keeping it afloat.

Similar to whales, a designer’s creative juices should always flow. Web designers should stay alert in any situation and quickly select sources that can inspire them. In brief, as a designer, you should stay conscious in any situation.

Dolphin

Cute and lovable, dolphins are intelligent as well. Possessing a complex brain, they have the ability to hear things from a far distance. Dolphins are highly social and love interacting with people. They also love communicating via various mediums that can include whistles and clicks.

Similar to dolphins, a designer should listen to client requirements carefully. Furthermore, they must interact with clients to form a long-term relationship. This in turn, will help one to acquire repeat clients.

Camel

Camels are known for their strength and resilience. They can survive extreme temperatures and lack of water.

Adopting habits of camels would mean surviving long hours of work. Additionally, it would also mean adapting oneself to tough situations.

Cheetah

As one of the fastest animals in the world, a cheetah can run at a speed of 70-75 miles every hour. However, in-between running, a cheetah needs to rest. Similar to the cheetah, a designer should grab and complete a project fast. Additionally, they should not overwork, because this may lead to burn out.

Owl

Owls have powerful camouflaging abilities. Their hunting strategy usually includes an element of surprise. Similar to owls, designers should incorporate a surprise element in their design. Furthermore, they should try to adjust with any situation.

Opt for these powerful animal habits to improve quality of your designs.

Online shopping comes with various benefits. You can compare products from comforts of your home, pick out the one that suits your preferences, and budget. Sensing the growing popularity of online shopping, many people have started creating ecommerce websites.

Unfortunately, most are unaware of the fact that for smooth user experience, paying attention to ecommerce web design is critical. Imagine the shock and frustration when a customer completes the registration process, finds the checkout link, and realizes that the product is out of stock. Chances are high that he/she will not return to the site. To ensure that your e-commerce solutions offer a rewarding experience to your users, read on.

1. Opt for a Short Registration Form

We understand that registration form consists of an important aspect of online shop. However, as a website designer, you should understand psychology of the customer as well. All customers look forward to buy items, rather than filling up lengthy forms. A lengthy registration form, therefore, can irritate them.

The best way to minimize irritation of clients is by incorporating a short registration form in the website design. Ask only for basic information.

2. Inform them about Availability/Non-Availability of a Product

People hate it when they complete the necessary procedures, later realizing that the chosen product is out of stock. For this reason, if a product is currently unavailable, inform about it to the customers as early as possible.

3. Allow Clients to make Changes Easily

Your site should offer clients flexible shopping. This means that if they put an unwanted item in their basket by mistake, you should allow them to change it without any hassle. For best results, add a ‘remove’ link beside every product added to the cart. This will allow customers to implement modifications easily.

4. Offer Real-Time Support

As compared to directing users to FAQ pages, offering them real-time support will add greater value to your site. This strategy will solve problems and queries of customers promptly. Remember that if customers do not receive assistance, while facing problems during online shopping, they will simply cancel their order.

5. Do not Disable the ‘Back’ Button

Many visitors prefer hitting the ‘back’ button when they want to move on from the page they are currently viewing. Disabling this button can create confusion and frustration. To ensure that users do not face any problem, never disable the back button.

6. Allow Users to Check their Baskets

Before clicking the ‘order’ button, allow customers to view their basket. This will convince them that they have placed right items in the basket, and thus offer peace of mind. For best results, incorporate pictures, product specification, along with item titles in the cart. This will help visitors to scan the necessary information quickly.

7. Offer Progress Indicator

Progress indicator allows customers to understand the stage where they are currently. This in turn, will make them feel that they can control the shopping process. Furthermore, it offers assurance to them, since they can directly observe the various stages of online shopping.

8. Simplify the Checkout Interface

Consider the fact that during the checkout process, your customers are concentrating on buying the product. Implementing browser controls at such a stage would disrupt their activity.
To remain on the safe side, opt for a simple checkout interface. Avoid unnecessary elements, such as latest products, discount coupons, and product category links.

9. Avoid Disrupting the Checkout Process at any Cost

If you want to offer valuable information to a customer, who is currently at the checkout stage, consider two options. Opt for a floating window to provide them with necessary information. Alternatively, use a pop-up window.

Never encourage a client to leave the checkout page, no matter what the reason is. Doing so can distract them. Additionally, they may lose track of where they are currently, and finally, fail to complete the order.

10. Highlight Your Delivery Time

To assure customers about delivery of the product, inform them about the expected time. This will allow them to prepare themselves, accordingly. For example, if you highlight the expected delivery date in your site, they can make sure that someone stays at home on the particular day.

11. Communicate with Them

Once the users have placed the order, express your gratitude. Sending them a ‘thank you’ note will definitely impress them.  Additionally, inform them about the next step-i.e. you will send them a confirmation mail soon. This will clear up the confusions and provide them with assurance.

12. Do not forget to send the Mail Actually

Finally, send a confirmation mail stating the necessary details and expected date of delivery. This will ensure users that they have ordered correctly. In case of any mistake, allow them to change the order.

Consider these strategies for developing a user-friendly website design.

Visual vocabulary consists of design elements that play a crucial role in creating brand identity of your company. These elements are secondary ones (logo being the primary element) and consist of graphic design, colors, font, and the paper type.

After you have incorporated all the elements in the visual vocabulary, checking their consistency is critical. This is because a consistent visual vocabulary will create a professional image of the company, making it (the image) even stronger. Furthermore, it will help people to recall corporate identity design of your company more easily.

Here are few ways you can develop a consistent visual vocabulary.

Incorporate Similar Images throughout your Promotional Materials

With the help of this strategy, your company can create a powerful impression on the target audience. We discuss this point in details.

• Use the logo design of your company in all the business documents and marketing materials. You can also consider repeating your contact information, line art, tagline, and any decorative styles throughout the products and advertisements.

• Let us assume that you own a web design company and use interesting images for highlighting your business. Stick to images. Do not use clip-art suddenly because it would disrupt image of your company.

• Maintain consistency by placing graphic and logo designs in similar areas of marketing materials. If you have incorporated the logo in upper section of your business card design, do not place it in lower section of the brochures.

Choose Coordinated Fonts

Select few coordinated fonts and use them repeatedly in the marketing materials.

• Logo Font- This is the font you should use in your logos. It should be unique and interesting.

• Secondary Font- Fonts used in taglines, graphics, quotes, and headlines are known as secondary fonts.

• Tertiary Font- You can opt for tertiary font, when secondary font is unavailable. You may use it for mid-length information, such as contact details.

• Serif text Font- This is perfect for printed documents, especially lengthy ones.

• Sans-Serif Font- This font is ideal for designing a website or creating shorter printed materials.

• Website Font- This font refers to the one you can use for creating a website.

Depending on your business requirement and preferences of target audience, you can use some or all these fonts to create consistent visual vocabulary.

Opt for the Same Color Scheme

Using similar color palette is critical. This will help your audience to identify your company more easily. Here are few tips.

• If your logo consists of one or two colors, including them in the main color palette of your company can be a great idea. Avoid using excessive number of colors. Remember that this strategy can create a disjointed image of your brand identity.

• If you want to extend the basic color scheme, using shades of existing colors can be a great idea. For example, if you use light green in your logo, you can select dark green for extending the color palette.

• Using complementary shades of the main color can be a simple way to extend your color palette. For more information, refer to the color wheel.

• As stated earlier, color consistency is important. If you use bright colors in logos, do not use suddenly dull colors in brochure designs.

Pick out Coordinated Papers

Using high-quality paper for marketing your products is critical. Read on to know more.

• As stated earlier, consistency between various elements of visual vocabulary is critical. The same rule applies for paper quality as well. If you are using thick paper for brochure designs, for example, choose the same paper for creating letterheads.

• Make sure that type of the paper complements purposes of the business. If you have a website design company, choose textured paper. On the other hand, smooth and white paper is perfect for those who offer technical or medical services.

We highlighted few tips that will help you to create a consistent visual vocabulary. Additionally, you need to ensure that the writing style that you use for brochures and advertisements is consistent as well. Paying attention the marketing timing is critical as well.

Let us assume that you send readers newsletter on a particular date and time of the month. In such a situation, you should always try to send it at the same date and time every month. This will fulfill your clients’ expectations and create a positive impression.

A website can have different audiences. These can include curious visitors, past and prospective customers, and referral partners. Every audience has different requirements and may look for unique things in a site. To create an all-rounded web design, paying attention to needs of various audiences is critical.

You can achieve this by balancing crucial elements of a site. These elements can include content, graphic design, Flash animation, navigation style, coding, and call-to-action statements, etc. Ensuring that these elements complement each other will help you to develop a site that fulfills requirement of various audiences.

1.  Do not opt for an Extreme Strategy

Many website designers believe that implementing excessive elements can spice up a site. In fact, too many elements can make a site complicated. This in turn, can interfere with the desire of a visitor to find an element quickly. For this reason, using selective elements is critical.

We agree that this is a good strategy to simplify the site. However, this does not mean that you should stick to a single element. We discuss more about this topic in the next point.

2.  Avoid Over-emphasizing Requirements of a Particular Audience

If you use a single element and focus on requirements of a particular audience, others may feel deprived. Let us assume that you own a website design company. If you emphasize on including web design samples and avoid incorporating any useful information, it may satisfy your past clients (since they are already aware of your services). However, such a strategy can deprive prospective clients and people who have reached your site via search engines. Since they will not get any information about your company, they will not feel compelled to opt for your services.

In this particular scenario, the ideal strategy would be to include both design samples and relevant information.

3.  Questions you should ask

We discussed the importance of creating a site that considers requirements of various audiences. Now, the question arises, how you can balance these elements?

The best way to maintain a refined balance between different elements is by asking yourself certain questions. Honest answers to these questions will help you to understand how you should balance these elements. We highlight these questions.

• How are people finding your site?

This is the most critical question. Find out how people are coming across your site. Did they find your site via search engines? Did someone refer your site? Did they come to know about you at networking events? Finding out the source through which people came to know about you can offer you information about psychology of the visitors and their different requirements.

• What is their aim?

Every visitor has a different requirement. A past client may want to know whether you can take up a new project. Potential clients may want to acquire information about you. Curious visitors may simply explore your site.

Understanding aims of different audiences is critical. It will help you to create a site that gives equal importance to all audiences.

• What is the goal of your site?

For best results, considering goals of your site is also important. A site may want to attract new clients or acquire the topmost rank in search engines. Alternatively, you may want to connect with people. Understanding aims of your site will help you to fulfill your business goals.

• Is anything contrary in your site?

While designing a website, ensure that you do not put in contradictory elements by mistake. Remember that if contradictory elements exist in your site, it may confuse your visitors. For this reason, make sure that all the elements complement each other.

Considering these 4 questions will allow you to create a site that pays attention to requirement of various audiences.

Dear Readers,

On the eve of Christmas, here’s wishing all of you a ~ Merry Christmas ~ from WebGuru India!!

Shipping is the most critical aspect of an ecommerce website design. Surprisingly, many people do not pay attention to this aspect of web design. The result is that customers feel frustrated due to lack of good information. Sometimes, they feel irritated because they manage to find the shipping policy section after an extensive search. As a result, they move on to other sites and this affects the revenue.

Incorporating a strict shipping policy in website design of your site is critical. It will help people to understand the rules that you follow for shipping products to customers. Furthermore, this will encourage clients to trust you. A strict shipping policy offers people peace of mind, because they know that the shipping policy will safeguard their products in any situation.

Simply stating shipping policy, of course, is not enough. To build a long-term relationship with your clients, adhering to these policies is critical. If you want to know how you can improve shipping section of your site, read on.

1.  Offer Detailed Information

Many customers complain that they do not find relevant information in ecommerce sites. The best way to deal with this situation is to offer visitors detailed information about different shipping options, costs, and approximate delivery time. To create a strong impression, try to stick to the due date.

2.  Opt for Radio Buttons

Use radio buttons to display shipping information before your visitors. This is because radio buttons guide the user’s eye to various options, thus encouraging him/her to select the right option.

A drop-down list, on the other hand, emphasizes on current selection. Using such a list can make users think that you are forcing them to choose a particular option.

3.  Free Shipping

Many online marketers insist on offering free shipping to grab attention of customers. This is a good technique because it encourages people to buy items from an ecommerce site. However, if you misuse the free shipping option, it can have a drastic impact on the relation that you share with your customers.

Examples of misuse of free shipping option can include canceling it suddenly or charging customers with hidden costs.

4.  Do not Delay Shipping

Once you receive an order, pack the product and ship it immediately. Do not invest 4-5 days for shipping. Rather, try to ship it on the same day you acquire the order. Remember that if you want to earn trust of customers, ship it as soon as possible.

5.  Stay in Touch with Customers

As the owner of an ecommerce site, you should stay in touch with clients regularly. Offer them peace of mind by updating them about the status of their products consistently. Whenever you receive any order, send an email to the concerned person immediately. State that you have received the order.

Contacting the customer, after you have shipped the item, is also critical. If you any face any problem, inform him/her as well. This is particularly important when an item is back-ordered. This will convince clients that you care about them and thus, create a positive impression.

We discussed some crucial shipping practices an ecommerce site should follow. Apart from creating a good impression, these techniques will help you to reduce complaints as well. This in turn, will allow you to acquire repeat customers. Remember that clients always prefer to buy items from a site that respects their preferences and safeguards their products.

The simplest way of attracting attention of web visitors is by offering good information. These days, people do not have the time to read huge content. They simply scan the information. Naturally, they expect the content to be simple, unique, and relevant. We offer few important tips that will help you to improve your web content writing skills.

1. Do not use redundant sentences

Using redundant sentences diminishes value of an article. Furthermore, it can irritate users and drive them away. Example of a redundant sentence can include “He was accused of offering a false misstatement”. In this sentence, the words ‘false’ and ‘misstatement’ convey similar meaning. The right sentence would be “He was accused of offering a misstatement”’.

2.  Respect your readers

While writing an article, address your readers directly. Offer them valuable information and solve their problems. Convince them through your content that they are important to you.

For example, do not use sentences such as “Opt for this website design technique to enhance the look of a site”. Rather say “Opt for this website design technique to enhance the look of your site’. Remember that using the word ‘your’ sounds better.

3.  Avoid commanding

This point is a continuation of the previous point – respecting your readers. While writing an article, do not command. Rather, suggest things. For example, instead of writing “buy this tool”, state “you can consider this tool”.

The latter sentence offers suggestion in a gentle manner and respects choice of the readers. Remember that everyone has self-pride and your articles should not hurt it in any way.

4.  Use words, rather than vague phrases

As stated earlier, people do not have the time to read meaningless sentences. Likewise, they do not prefer vague phrases. If you can explain something by using a word, rather than a vague phrase, go for it. For example, do not write “it was an unfortunate incident that caused the delay”. Rather, say “accident caused the delay”.

5.  Make your articles memorable

To leave a strong impression on readers, try to make your articles memorable. Popular techniques can include sharing a personal experience, using a popular quote, or teasing readers with an interesting question.

6.  Add an element of mystery in your posts

One of the major purposes of an article is to retain interest of readers. If you incorporate all information in the initial part of the content, people may not feel compelled to read rest of it.

To avoid such a situation, make your readers guess about information stated in final part of the article. Ask a question, make them think – use any technique to retain their interest in the article.

7.  Take help of humor

Humor can make your posts different from millions of others available in the Internet. Besides, humorous articles are fun to read. However, you should not use humor for the sake of it. Rather, add humor naturally, wherever possible. We bet that people will like you for making their day lighter!

8.  Use analogy

Explaining complicated topics is not easy. Readers may fail to understand what you are trying to say and feel bored. To simplify matters, you can use an analogy. Example of an analogy can include “Street light is similar to a star. Both offer light at night and located overhead”.

9.  Write about familiar topics

To earn trust of your readers, write about familiar topics. This will allow you to offer authentic information. In case you are aiming to write about unfamiliar topics, try out the suggestions first-hand. Alternatively, get in touch with a person who has good knowledge about this particular niche.

If you offer a suggestion, without knowing anything about it, it may backfire. This in turn, can affect your credibility as a writer.

10.  Read, read, read

Reading web articles, books, and magazines is important. It will help you to observe writing styles of others and accordingly, improve your own skills. Additionally, it will help you to update your knowledge base.

Finally, do not forget to edit your articles. For best results, evaluate them from a neutral point of view. If a sentence does not sound good, rephrase it. Remember that self-criticism will help you to polish your skills and earn reputation as a good writer.
If you are looking for writing suggestions and tips, get in touch with any reputed content writing India company.

In our earlier post, we discussed the importance of professional networking. In this post, we offer you useful tips that will help you to strengthen your relationship with other designers and developers. Here are few suggestions that you can consider.
 
1. Simplify the process of contacting you

The main purpose of networking is staying in regular touch with each other. For this reason, you should make it easier for others to get in touch with you. If you have created a profile in any professional networking site, clearly mentioning your contact number, address, and email ID is important.

2. Take advantage of mutual benefits

A networking relationship works well when both parties enjoy some advantages. Mutual benefit encourages both parties to stay in touch with each other and maintain a strong relationship. It also opens up interesting opportunities and allows people to collaborate with each other. Therefore, if you come across situations that offer mutual benefits, do not hesitate to utilize it.

3. Exhibit a practical attitude

A relationship flourishes when two people show a genuine interest in each other. The same rule applies for professional networking. For enjoying the advantages of networking, you should exhibit a practical attitude. Do not wait for others to offer you a job or project. Rather, take an active role in the discussions. Talk with people, express your opinions. If you attend any seminar, show an interest in works of other designers.

4. Figure out your goals

Before you start networking, figure out your goals. This will help you to pick out the right person and modify your networking strategies accordingly.

Let us assume that you are a fresh graduate who wants an entry-level job in a reputed web design company. Since you are already aware of your goal, it is easier for you to connect with people associated with design companies. This saves time and energy, because you develop relationship with the right person.

5. Do not be selfish

While networking with others, do not look for your benefit in every situation. If someone faces a problematic situation, offer as much help as possible. Networking for the sake of your benefits always will create a negative impression about you.

6. Do not let networking affect your productivity

Networking is important. However, it should not affect your productivity. Set aside a fixed period (say 30 minutes) everyday for connecting with people. Avoid checking social networking sites and your emails every five minutes.

7. Do not reject invitation from a person with a different background

Networking with people related to your industry is beneficial. As a website designer, connecting with other designers is always beneficial. However, you can also connect with people from a different background.  It will help you to learn about other industries and receive a fresh perspective about your creations.

Happy networking!