Hello Designers

Conversion tips for our Ecommerce Clients

Lisa Gainor — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:46:06 +0000

More often than not these days we are asked to consult and design e-commerce sites for our clients. These are either existing clients with sale conversion issues, like a lengthy or confusing checkout process, or first timers to the online retail arena, who want to take their brick-and-mortar store online. Here are some tips and tricks to consider before the design stage which will ultimately lead to more sales…the ultimate goal of any online retail store.

Add a “wishlist” or “send to a friend” function for the visitor who needs more information/validation before they purchase. This will also help boost word-of-mouth advertising for your products.
Discount brands will argue with me on this one, but you don’t need to be the cheapest online, you need to have the best product online. Customers don’t buy bad products twice. Build customer loyalty through exciting products. If you wouldn’t buy your products, who would??
Display your SSL certificate to assure customers that your site is secure and their personal information will not be shared. SSL encrypts your credit card information into a visitor specific code that cannot be hacked. It is essential for any site asking for personal information.
Clearly state your Privacy Policy and Refund Policies during the checkout process.
Create a step-by-step process on your checkout page and consolidate as many form fields as possible. Use a check box for your shipping and duplicate billing address. The less steps, the quicker you are to a sale!

For these an many more tips for converting digital shopping carts to sales, check out the article by Julie Rains, Senior Writer of Wise Bread.

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OK Go wild!

Lisa Gainor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:43:44 +0000

This is the coolest thing I have seen in a long long time. It may even be cooler than OK Go’s first video, maybe. Thank you to my brother for sharing with me!
I am going to share it with my two step-boys tonight who are going to love it. Right up any inventor-to-be’s alley.

OKGo 'This Too Shall Pass' youtube video

Directed by James Frost, OK Go and Syyn Labs. Produced by Shirley Moyers. The official video for the recorded version of “This Too Shall Pass” off of the album “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky”. The video was filmed in a two story warehouse, in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. The “machine” was designed and built by the band, along with members of Synn Labs over the course of several months. Image courtesy of: OK Go

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I will, I will, I will update more often!

Lisa Gainor — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:16:00 +0000

I am lacking in my time management skills this month. Exciting client work with Redbox, everything from iphone ads to email blasts is tying me up. We are also working on a bilingual online newspaper, how cool is that! AIGA’s 2010 sponsorship push and with our first annual Design Week in May times are crazy! (yes, there is going to be a full week in May dedicated to DESIGN!)

Emerging Typographic Allstars

So, I apologize, please forgive me. But, enough about me, let’s talk about TYPEFORCE : The Annual Chicago Show of Emerging Typographic Allstars event this Friday at the Co-Prosperity Sphere. It is an amazing collage of up and coming designers with a panache for typography. Beautiful work, a perfectly design event catalog to take with you. Here are the dets:

Co-Prosperity Sphere

3219 S Morgan St in Bridgeport

Opening: Friday, February 26, 2010 7pm

Runs through: March 14, 2010

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Pantone color guide for the brides to be!

hellodesigners — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:04:23 +0000

How absolutely fantastic is this….Pantone has a swatch book for bridesmaids. No more peachy coral and sea foam mint green dresses. Instead wear PMS 305 or PMS 290. Yes please!

Pantone colors for Bridesmaids

I found these gems on Style Me Pretty.

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Lisa judged the Illinois Park and Recreation Association Show this week

hellodesigners — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:19:01 +0000

Lisa was asked to participate in the judging of two categories, Integrated Marketing Photography and Website Content Design, for the IAPD/IPRA Soaring to New Heights Conference held in Chicago this year. The conference features over 200 educational sessions and over 300 showcased exhibitors. Over 4,500 elected and appointed Illinois Park and Recreation professionals attend.

Almost all of the projects were successfully launched on a shoe-string budget with solid press and marketing efforts woven throughout. Overall there was a feeling of community and family in each of the park district’s projects which warms your heart in these winter months!

Congratulations to all who participated!

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Top 3 fashionable must-do’s of 2010

Lisa Gainor — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:00:55 +0000

Sea of Shoes

Lately I have been obsessed with fashion: fashion movies, fashion blogs, fashionable clothes (which hurts the wallet, but hey, what can a girl do?) Here are my top 3:

Valentino The Last Emperor. This is a must see for anyone interested in fabulous evening wear, and never mind the great dynamic between 70+ year old Valentino and his partner of 50 years, Giancarlo.

Style Rookie: Tavi is a 13 year old girl, living in Chicago’s suburbs, who has been invited to almost all of Fashion Week’s runway shows to report on her fashion blog and in her rookie style. With an average of 130 comments on each of her blog postings, it’s no wonder she is the blogger of the moment. The best part?…designers are asking her to help style and create their look.

Sea of Shoes: ANOTHER teenager fashion blogger! I love it. Remember during the dot.com boom when business-folk were up in arms about 26 year old creative directors telling them what to do to make money? Imagine how the fashion industry feels now. Take that Anna Wintor!

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Women entrepreneurs, business writing and business travel all wrapped into one!

hellodesigners — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:45:00 +0000

Had a fantastic meeting today with Tiffany Meyers, Crescendo Apparel and A Virtual Certainty. Three women entrepreneurs who are making business happen! Tiffany is a freelance writer with a wealth of information and finesse in her writing style. She wrote this article about the designer, industrial designer Dario Antonioni, who is behind one of our favorite stores Flight001. Though we don’t like flying, shopping for modern and innovative travel products suits us just fine. They had a huge selection of music that is desperately hard to find any where else especially since Tower Records closed up shop.

Check out more of Tiffany’s work here. Enjoy!
images from flight001.com

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Happy New Year and a BIG thank you!

Lisa Gainor — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:24:41 +0000

Hello Designers wants to give a big warm hug to everyone who helped make our first year in business a BIG sucess. We have a lot of exciting new developments right around the corner, but we are still keeping it on the DL until we are ready to share. (I am so bad at secrets, I’ll give you a hint: product lines and partnerships, but don’t tell anyone I told you:)

What a better way to introduce the new year with Pantone’s 2010 color of the year, drumroll please… Turquoise (PMS 15-5519)! “In many cultures, Turquoise is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky.” It reminds me of my Mexican honeymoon last May. Now, present day, in Chicago it’s a balmy 16 degrees. A girl can dream, right?

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Yes, I know it’s an article from 2006, but it’s still relevant to lifestyle branding!

Lisa Gainor — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:16:37 +0000

I stumbled across STEP Inside Design magazine online today (thank you to Google Alerts!) and read an article by Jonathan Ford about ‘The Rise of the Lifestyle Brand’ which is extremely relevant to me because of an upcoming business venture I am working on with a good friend. I can’t spill the beans yet, but take a look at what Jonathan has to say about Puma, Adidas and other lifestyle brands.

Forward-thinking brands will continue to develop creative ideas and solutions that will allow people to exchange (interact with each other) and express (explore and share creative opportunities). They will exploit emerging technologies and social networking software to design new products and innovative experiences to responsibly involve and include the consumer. They will also enter contextualized partnerships with other brands that share similar brand values and foster seamless and well-integrated marketing campaigns in nonobtrusive consumer spaces. They will be there when we need them in whatever form we need them.

The really clever ones will make it a strategic priority to add a little joy into their consumer’s lives. So, think like a child, act like an adult now, not a lifetime too late.

Jonathan Ford is designer and co-founder of Pearlfisher, a future-focused design consultancy in London and New York.

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Creative gift giving and inspiration!

hellodesigners — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:20:35 +0000

Firebelly's Holiday Pop-Up Show

Yes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, time for some fantastic local inspiration! Our friend, Firebelly Design, is hosting a Holiday Pop-Up Shop in their studios to benefit Reason to Give. December 4, 5-10pm.

Featured Artists include: Art School Girl, The Post Family, Essimar, Jill Bliss, Owly Shadow Puppets, Anne Benjamin , Goodnight TV, Delicious Design League, Plural Design, Max & Chloe Vintage, Rick Valicenti, Sighn , Elaine Fong, and many more. I am so excited to see Elaine Fong’s work…!

Also this weekend in Chicago is the One of a Kind Show, which we love to go to to see the different types of media, and delightful concept driven artwork which is spread throughout the typical jewelry and other smaller gift items. This show knocks off half of my shopping list for sure.

And lucky you…here is a link to get a complimentary ticket. Just entire the promotional code: ECPDESIGNER

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