James Paden - Xemion Web Design Blog

9Advantages & Disadvantages of Niche Design Firms

I spent two years as the tech lead for a company focused on live auctions and it was a great experience to deal exclusively with one market and build so many interlinked connections. I’ve frequently considered opening up a design company focused only on a particular industry (but haven’t done so yet). Rather than give you my opinions, I’d thought I’d survey some of the experts in the field. Enjoy!
Continue Reading Advantages & Disadvantages of Niche Design Firms »

4Extra Revenue Source #1: Conversion Optimization

This is the first in what I hope to be a regular series focusing on additional revenue sources for design firms. I’m a huge believer in A/B testing, multivariate testing and conversion optimization. Essentially, the art and science of improving the effectiveness of a website - whether the end goal be a purchase, sales lead or simply increased page views.

Just recently, we added an arrow to the signup form on Handbag Planet and increased conversion over 50%. I also added an arrow on a client’s e-commerce site and increased conversion over 10%. This is just an example of what one small element can do.

Benefit #1: Numbers-Based Sell

One of the big benefits of conversion optimization is that it’s completely numbers based. It’s an easy sell to clients and once you have proven success with a few clients, it gets even easier. We’ve all run into those clients and potential clients who don’t understand why design is truly important. You won’t have that problem with conversion optimization. Continue Reading Extra Revenue Source #1: Conversion Optimization »

2Defining this Blog: Web Design Business Help & Advice

Now that I’ve mostly completed my blog redesign, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into my goals for this blog (with a little help from Bryan Veloso too).

I want the blog to be a useful resource for designers and I’m really tired of the “1001 best resources for blank” regurgitation. The blog also needs to fit into the rest of the site and the directory.

To that end, I’ll be focusing solely on meeting the unique needs of web design firms and freelancers from a business perspective, not a “design tips” perspective. My future posts will address client relations, management, outsourcing, marketing and more. I will also do frequent interviews with and profiles of leading design firms. If you have any suggestions or requests, please leave a comment.

Two posts I’m working on right now include E-mail Marketing for Web Designers and Advantages & Disadvantages of Niche Design Firms. If this sounds interesting to you, please be sure to subscribe!

1Most Important Thing I Would Tell A Design Student

Most Important Thing I Would Tell A Design Student

0How to Find and Keep a Great Designer

How to Find and Keep a Great Designer

06 Killer Smarty Features You Need to Know

Smarty is by far my favorite PHP template engine. I’ll debate the pros and cons of using a template engine in another post, but I wanted to share some of the Smarty features that I didn’t know existed until I dug through the manual.

1. {cycle}

{cycle} is definitely my favorite Smarty command. You pass it a string of comma-separated values and it cycles through them. I mostly use this, as the manual demonstrates, for zebra striping tables or comments or any sort of list.

{section name=rows loop=$data}
<tr bgcolor="{cycle values="#eeeeee,#d0d0d0"}">
   <td>{$data[rows]}</td>
</tr>
{/section}

Continue Reading 6 Killer Smarty Features You Need to Know »

0Blog Action Day 2008 Donation Contest for Web Designers

Blog Action Day 2008 Donation Contest for Web Designers

7New Blog Design

The urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living. - Harry Bertoia

I’ve been working on an upgrade to the web design company directory and this design was intended to launch with the upgrade, but it’s been taking too long to complete the development and the blog was really hurting in the previous design. So for now, this design will only be on the blog and I’ll get the directory upgraded as soon as I can.

The design was created by the extremely talented Evan Agee of Agee Design. Evan was an employee of mine at Auction Floor, Inc. (which we both left last summer) and I’m extremely happy to have collaborated with him on this design. I really look forward to having it up on the directory as well.

It’s not a 100% complete yet, but I’ve got some client work I’ve got to get done this weekend. The sidebar in particular needs a little focus. That said, what do you think so far? What’s good? What needs work?

1Doug Karr Expectations

Honest Expectations Bring Customer Satisfaction

310 Tips for Choosing the Right Design Company – Part 1

Last week, I wrote a post titled Top 7 Reasons Why It’s Better to Hire a Large Design Company Than a Freelance Designer or Small Design Firm in response to a great post from Calvin Cox of StyleApple on Top 7 Reasons Why It’s Better to Hire a Freelance Designer or Small Design Firm Than a Large Design Company. Both posts generated some fiery debate.

The point of our posts was not that a large company or a freelancer is better or worse because of their size, but that there are some advantages and disadvantages that generally come with size. I think we both wrote our posts focusing on the average large design company or small design company. We were not trying to stay that this is what ALL large or small design firms are like.

The real key is the quality of the company and people who work there, not the size. With that in mind, Calvin and I have co-written this post with 10 little tips, 5 from each of us, on ways to select a great design company. Continue Reading 10 Tips for Choosing the Right Design Company – Part 1 »

2TechCrunch Redesign Review

TechCrunch launched a new design today. As one the of the few blogs I actually read every day, I’m extremely glad to see this new design. The old design was too cluttered, slow-to-load and too bright.

The new design is a pleasant change to a much more minimalist look with a clean interface. The navigation is more logical and well-placed. The site’s HTML isn’t valid, but I don’t really care. Continue Reading TechCrunch Redesign Review »