It's nearly a year to the day since we (Esther and I) both received redundancy letters from our previous employer. Not great timing but over Christmas 2009 we did have time to think and we decided to go into business for ourselves.
Somewhere during this period GeekyCreative was decided upon, and though it wouldn't be later in the year before we were set up and running, 2010 saw the start of a remarkable journey.
To be honest I don't think that it would be as hard as it has, if we'd have known how tough it is physically, mentally, emotionally and of course financially then maybe we might have chosen a different course. However, we wouldn't have know how rewarding it is either - there's nothing like positive feedback and a cheque from a happy customer.
Running your own business is great, as hard as it is, the positive aspects far outweigh the negative. Now, nearly a year on from one of the biggest decisions that we've ever made, we can look back at how far we've come in just 12 months.
We released our first ever iPhone App which we covered in a previous post here. This has been quickly followed by a second App for Malvern Theatres this time; and early 2010 will see us release Apps 3 & 4 as well as produce applications for Blackberry, Android and Windows SmartPhone. Watch this space for more info on what seems to be an ever growing part of our business.
We've had the privilege to work with some great clients this year. Newline Computing asked us to integrate their website with their software delivery process and we learnt a lot from them as we combined online and offline development for the first time.
We released websites for www.sdwenergyassessments.com, www.theultimatenightout.co.uk and www.beautylistics.com early on in the year - great clients who found us early on and helped massively when we needed it most.
Social media played it's part as well, Twitter delivered a huge surprise in September when we answered a Tweet looking for an iPhone developer - a few DM messages, emails and phone calls later and we landed Shropshire Council as a client. To say that we were pleased is an understatement. Maybe we shouldn't have been surprised, early in the year we were found online by www.collaboratus.co.uk and produced our first ever WordPress theme for theme and helped shape some briefs for further projects.
Luckily, we've also been remembered by old contacts who have been generous with their faith in us. Because of this we can now include The Herbert Gallery, The Royal Shakespeare Company and My Property Advert as valued clients.
We've grown in 2010, the late nights, steep learning curves and immense pressure have been rewarded with inclusion into the local business community and acceptance amongst our peers. We're looking forward now to 2011 and we hope way beyond. Our plan is simple, keep doing what we are doing. We want to carry on working for the clients that we have and hopefully find some more as well.
We already have some great projects in the pipeline for 2011. As well as the Apps that we mentioned there's a huge social music site to look forward to, an ecommerce site about to launch and a property site with a twist. Some old clients are having some updates and we have a charity website to build for an amazing good cause. All this and we're barely a year in - which brings us up to the present. This time last year we had some bad news, now things are looking a lot more positive. Thanks to all those that have been there for us this year. Merry Christmas everyone, we hope that 2011 sees you happy and prosperous.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
How to give your ideas to the ideas people!
Over the years we've worked on all sorts of projects for all sorts of people. And it's fair to say that we've seen the full spectrum when it comes to client briefs. At one end there is the classic "I'll know what I want when I see it!" and at the other end of the spectrum several sides of A4 referencing everything you can think of plus the kitchen sink.
For designers both approaches are problematic. Too little or too much information and designers end up guessing what the client wants. If there is no natural starting point then the first design is always a marker - more than likely in whatever style the designer sees fit. They may reference competitors or use your logo as a guide - but usually the look and feel will flow from some subliminal influence and may or may not be what you are looking for.
Too much information and the designer will need to filter out what they think is surplus to requirements. During the creative process your designer will need to drop any ideas they do not fit.
You can see the problems... too little information and your designer may well reference something you do not like. Too much information and they may leave out something that you feel strongly about.
But where is the middle ground?
In our opinion a creative brief is best produced in partnership with a designer. Talk to them before you write anything down. Talk to them about what you want to achieve from the project before you start to talk about how it is going to look and feel.
A good designer will want to know what you want from the finished article. And, during this process you should start to realise which parts of the design are the most important. Maybe the overall goal is to get people to register on your website - therefore prominence will need to be given to any text/images that highlight this.
If your design needs to appeal to a certain audience then it may well influence how it should look. Telling your designer as much information about your target audience will help them pick a style and a color pallet.
Knowing how the finished design is going to be used is also a big thing... website designs do not usually transfer well to the printed media and visa-versa.
So, to start with consider writing a sentence about each of the points below before you go any further.
1. What is the overall goal of the project?
2. Who are the primary (and if necessary, secondary) target audience?
3. Where is the finished design going to be used?
Discuss these with your designer and then you'll be in a stronger position to talk about the creative elements next.
Now for the fluffy bits!
Now you and your designer have a solid understanding of what you want to achieve how do you go about getting your likes and dislikes over to him or her?
The important thing here is to keep your likes and dislikes in context to the project. A good start is to look at competitors material and gather samples of anything that catches your eye.
Try not to overload your designer... you are paying them to come up with ideas and you should trust that they are able to do this. Just a handful, no more than five or six visual references are all that you should need. Don't just email them though, sit down and go through them. Be clear exactly what it is that you like about your samples and they will be a lot more useful to your design team. It's often best to organise your samples in terms of colour, font and style. If you like a particular colour in a sample but nothing else then be quite clear about that and you will help your designer greatly.
It's also useful to include things that you don't like when showing samples. If you really don't like something and you can explain why then that is often just as a good a prompt as something that you do like.
Feedback
When looking at proofs don't be scared to say that you don't like something but do have a good reason why. Saying "I just don't like it!" is not going to help anyone. Trust your instincts and say what you feel. A good designer can convert your words into visual changes that need to happen.
We think it is best to look at your proofs as soon as you get them, but, don't respond straight away. If possible sleep on them and look again in the morning. You will often find that your opinion changes.
It is also important to look at your proofs in the context of the brief. Get your samples out again and make sure that you have a proof that includes everything that you asked for. Often we have been asked why we have included elements in our designs that have been quite clearly included in the samples - this happens and second thoughts are okay. If you want to change anything at this stage think carefully... start again by discussing with your designer what it is you want the change to achieve. You will find that they will have positive ideas of their own and the process will be much more rewarding.
Designers rely on your input and should be able to listen to you and give you feedback. Find a designer that you get along with and can talk to will reap rewards during the creative process.
For designers both approaches are problematic. Too little or too much information and designers end up guessing what the client wants. If there is no natural starting point then the first design is always a marker - more than likely in whatever style the designer sees fit. They may reference competitors or use your logo as a guide - but usually the look and feel will flow from some subliminal influence and may or may not be what you are looking for.
Too much information and the designer will need to filter out what they think is surplus to requirements. During the creative process your designer will need to drop any ideas they do not fit.
You can see the problems... too little information and your designer may well reference something you do not like. Too much information and they may leave out something that you feel strongly about.
But where is the middle ground?
In our opinion a creative brief is best produced in partnership with a designer. Talk to them before you write anything down. Talk to them about what you want to achieve from the project before you start to talk about how it is going to look and feel.
A good designer will want to know what you want from the finished article. And, during this process you should start to realise which parts of the design are the most important. Maybe the overall goal is to get people to register on your website - therefore prominence will need to be given to any text/images that highlight this.
If your design needs to appeal to a certain audience then it may well influence how it should look. Telling your designer as much information about your target audience will help them pick a style and a color pallet.
Knowing how the finished design is going to be used is also a big thing... website designs do not usually transfer well to the printed media and visa-versa.
So, to start with consider writing a sentence about each of the points below before you go any further.
1. What is the overall goal of the project?
2. Who are the primary (and if necessary, secondary) target audience?
3. Where is the finished design going to be used?
Discuss these with your designer and then you'll be in a stronger position to talk about the creative elements next.
Now for the fluffy bits!
Now you and your designer have a solid understanding of what you want to achieve how do you go about getting your likes and dislikes over to him or her?
The important thing here is to keep your likes and dislikes in context to the project. A good start is to look at competitors material and gather samples of anything that catches your eye.
Try not to overload your designer... you are paying them to come up with ideas and you should trust that they are able to do this. Just a handful, no more than five or six visual references are all that you should need. Don't just email them though, sit down and go through them. Be clear exactly what it is that you like about your samples and they will be a lot more useful to your design team. It's often best to organise your samples in terms of colour, font and style. If you like a particular colour in a sample but nothing else then be quite clear about that and you will help your designer greatly.
It's also useful to include things that you don't like when showing samples. If you really don't like something and you can explain why then that is often just as a good a prompt as something that you do like.
Feedback
When looking at proofs don't be scared to say that you don't like something but do have a good reason why. Saying "I just don't like it!" is not going to help anyone. Trust your instincts and say what you feel. A good designer can convert your words into visual changes that need to happen.
We think it is best to look at your proofs as soon as you get them, but, don't respond straight away. If possible sleep on them and look again in the morning. You will often find that your opinion changes.
It is also important to look at your proofs in the context of the brief. Get your samples out again and make sure that you have a proof that includes everything that you asked for. Often we have been asked why we have included elements in our designs that have been quite clearly included in the samples - this happens and second thoughts are okay. If you want to change anything at this stage think carefully... start again by discussing with your designer what it is you want the change to achieve. You will find that they will have positive ideas of their own and the process will be much more rewarding.
Designers rely on your input and should be able to listen to you and give you feedback. Find a designer that you get along with and can talk to will reap rewards during the creative process.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
An API - is it worth it?
Firstly, lets clear up what we mean by an API or Application Programming Interface to use the proper name.
An API is a set of methods designed and developed for third parties to interact with an application. It contains documented methods and usually takes the format of GET or POST HTTP calls which result in HTTP responses.
An API sits between a user and the application... it protects the application as no security information such as database connections, table names and field names are revealed. It is simplified process where a user asks for a bit of information and by return they are sent that information.
Twitter has an API and so does Google, Facebook and Flickr... but these are BIG companies. Why would you need one? Well not everyone does. Until recently here at GeekyCreative we had used API's but never written one. Then a client asked us to integrate their website with a custom built telephone system. The telephones play recorded messages specific to the users request and this all needed to tie into a website that was built by another developer. So.... we have a situation where two developments need to talk to each other - this is exactly the situation where an API is useful.
GeekyCreative were initially asked to consult on the issue and after talking to the parties concerned it was decided that we would be best placed to write an API.
Now, we could have written a set of scripts that we specific to the telephone system currently in place, but, we looked forward at scalability and decided that there were two many potential problems with this rigid approach. For example, an upgrade to the telephone system could mean an update to the API. The same could be true if the website where updated. If you wanted to integrate someone new then you would often need new scripts to accommodate them.
However an API sits between the two, so as long as the database structure remains the same and the inherent functionality is not changed then the API is always current.
Let's face it... if you change your database structure post development then there must be a very good reason for this and therefore you would need to revisit your API anyway. Having a layer of code between third parties and your application means that you can be more flexible and yet still maintain control - changes to API code files will not directly affect your website. How users call the API and deal with the responses is up to them. So an API removes some development burden as well. By dictating how the information needs to be requested, what information is available and how that information is returned means that as a client you have very strict control.
With an API you also have a quick and easy way for new suppliers to use you application or website - should other users want the information they can look over the documentation and make their own API calls. Which brings us to the most important part of an API, the documentation.
For
our first API we built a little microsite which documented all of the methods, variables and responses. It also contained an AJAX test area where users could construct a call and test the response on screen. This sped up the development time no end and will remain in place for future use. We wish that we could give you the link but at the moment this is a closed development and we must keep it so.
The screens
hots show the level of detail that we went into and we are pleased to say that the system is now live and working well for www.debraballhomes.co.uk - check out the site and if you find time phone up to hear an audio description of a property. The description you will hear is generated by an API.
An API is a set of methods designed and developed for third parties to interact with an application. It contains documented methods and usually takes the format of GET or POST HTTP calls which result in HTTP responses.
An API sits between a user and the application... it protects the application as no security information such as database connections, table names and field names are revealed. It is simplified process where a user asks for a bit of information and by return they are sent that information.
Twitter has an API and so does Google, Facebook and Flickr... but these are BIG companies. Why would you need one? Well not everyone does. Until recently here at GeekyCreative we had used API's but never written one. Then a client asked us to integrate their website with a custom built telephone system. The telephones play recorded messages specific to the users request and this all needed to tie into a website that was built by another developer. So.... we have a situation where two developments need to talk to each other - this is exactly the situation where an API is useful.
GeekyCreative were initially asked to consult on the issue and after talking to the parties concerned it was decided that we would be best placed to write an API.
Now, we could have written a set of scripts that we specific to the telephone system currently in place, but, we looked forward at scalability and decided that there were two many potential problems with this rigid approach. For example, an upgrade to the telephone system could mean an update to the API. The same could be true if the website where updated. If you wanted to integrate someone new then you would often need new scripts to accommodate them.
However an API sits between the two, so as long as the database structure remains the same and the inherent functionality is not changed then the API is always current.
Let's face it... if you change your database structure post development then there must be a very good reason for this and therefore you would need to revisit your API anyway. Having a layer of code between third parties and your application means that you can be more flexible and yet still maintain control - changes to API code files will not directly affect your website. How users call the API and deal with the responses is up to them. So an API removes some development burden as well. By dictating how the information needs to be requested, what information is available and how that information is returned means that as a client you have very strict control.
With an API you also have a quick and easy way for new suppliers to use you application or website - should other users want the information they can look over the documentation and make their own API calls. Which brings us to the most important part of an API, the documentation.
For
our first API we built a little microsite which documented all of the methods, variables and responses. It also contained an AJAX test area where users could construct a call and test the response on screen. This sped up the development time no end and will remain in place for future use. We wish that we could give you the link but at the moment this is a closed development and we must keep it so.The screens
hots show the level of detail that we went into and we are pleased to say that the system is now live and working well for www.debraballhomes.co.uk - check out the site and if you find time phone up to hear an audio description of a property. The description you will hear is generated by an API.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Me, myself and iPhone
Very recentl
y we launched our first iPhone App from the GeekyCreative studio and very please about it we are to.
Commissioned by www.wolvescivc.co.uk to help promote the events and the numerous venues that come under their banner we completed an App that has been well received by it's users.
Now, for weeks before launching we had been telling everyman and his dog that we could develop Apps for iPhone and yet we didn't seem to be getting much interest at all. Then, we launch and steadily the buzz and chatter begins to intensify.
We're not complaining... For this we are more than pleased, but, it did lead us to ponder how this whole marketing thing works. As marketeers ourselves we had a plan, we would promote our new service on our Blog, Twitter, eNewsletter, Website, Facebook and in person at networking meetings.
We would try our hardest to get the word out and demo what we could do at every opportunity. We spent weeks actively doing this and nothing... then, within days of our App being approved and available on the iTunes store (here) we start getting lots of attention. After a little debating the penny dropped, it's something we tell our clients all the time that made the difference. Seeing is believing, the best way to help people understand what it is that you can do is to show them. Once people could see and interact with an example of our new service that started talking about it and thinking about how they might benefit from it.
In the past we would have though that this would 'give too much away' but nowadays we feel that the Internet is so competitive that we need to show as much as we can in order to impress.
If you want help getting your products and services online, or you want your current website to have more impact then please get in touch, we'd love to come and show you what we can do.
y we launched our first iPhone App from the GeekyCreative studio and very please about it we are to.Commissioned by www.wolvescivc.co.uk to help promote the events and the numerous venues that come under their banner we completed an App that has been well received by it's users.
Now, for weeks before launching we had been telling everyman and his dog that we could develop Apps for iPhone and yet we didn't seem to be getting much interest at all. Then, we launch and steadily the buzz and chatter begins to intensify.
We're not complaining... For this we are more than pleased, but, it did lead us to ponder how this whole marketing thing works. As marketeers ourselves we had a plan, we would promote our new service on our Blog, Twitter, eNewsletter, Website, Facebook and in person at networking meetings.
We would try our hardest to get the word out and demo what we could do at every opportunity. We spent weeks actively doing this and nothing... then, within days of our App being approved and available on the iTunes store (here) we start getting lots of attention. After a little debating the penny dropped, it's something we tell our clients all the time that made the difference. Seeing is believing, the best way to help people understand what it is that you can do is to show them. Once people could see and interact with an example of our new service that started talking about it and thinking about how they might benefit from it.
We had to 
keep the App under wraps until it was ready and though we provided plenty of screens shots like the ones the accompany this post, we realised that the actual App was the best marketing tool that we could possibly have. With this in mind we are arranging online demos of all our other services... some will be interactive and some will be video based but all of them will give more insight into our products and services.
keep the App under wraps until it was ready and though we provided plenty of screens shots like the ones the accompany this post, we realised that the actual App was the best marketing tool that we could possibly have. With this in mind we are arranging online demos of all our other services... some will be interactive and some will be video based but all of them will give more insight into our products and services.In the past we would have though that this would 'give too much away' but nowadays we feel that the Internet is so competitive that we need to show as much as we can in order to impress.
If you want help getting your products and services online, or you want your current website to have more impact then please get in touch, we'd love to come and show you what we can do.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Top 5 Serach Engine Myths
1. SEO techniques are changing too fast: Small agencies cannot keep pace!
While search engine technology is indeed always changing the underlying principles remain the same. Create an interesting and dynamic website, with a well designed structure and consistent navigation and you are well on the way. A little time and effort to get the basics right will go a long way. GeekyCreative websites are developed in with search engines in mind and therefore ready to be used in conjunction with SEO campaigns.
2. Submitting a website is time consuming, it seems to take forever and therefore is expensive!
While you can manually submit *ALL* the pages on your website, chances are that by submitting the main pages once, to the correct search engines, the other pages will be picked up quickly. This saves time and therefore money, here at GeekyCreative we know just which directories and search engines to target.
3. SEO is risky, one false move and you could end up blacklisted forever.
GeekyCreative only practice the so called 'white hat' techniques of SEO. We never advocate trying to trick a search engine. A properly structured and honest campaign carries no risk whatsoever.
4. Keyword and META is all I need to achieve good rankings.
While this used to be the case - things have moved on. The content and structure of your website is now far more important then keywords and meta description tags. Here at GeekyCreative we invest time and effort at the start of a project to ensure that we get the basics of SEO there in your website.
5. SEO is quick and your site will rise rapidly.
SEO takes time and patience. But, if done properly the rewards are well worth the wait. A successfull SEO strategy will see a substantial return on investment. To make sure your SEO is performing as expected we work with our clients to develop a monthly review process to monitor performance.
If you have a website and you need our help with your SEO campaign then please contact graham@geekycreative.com for more information and free advice.
While search engine technology is indeed always changing the underlying principles remain the same. Create an interesting and dynamic website, with a well designed structure and consistent navigation and you are well on the way. A little time and effort to get the basics right will go a long way. GeekyCreative websites are developed in with search engines in mind and therefore ready to be used in conjunction with SEO campaigns.
2. Submitting a website is time consuming, it seems to take forever and therefore is expensive!
While you can manually submit *ALL* the pages on your website, chances are that by submitting the main pages once, to the correct search engines, the other pages will be picked up quickly. This saves time and therefore money, here at GeekyCreative we know just which directories and search engines to target.
3. SEO is risky, one false move and you could end up blacklisted forever.
GeekyCreative only practice the so called 'white hat' techniques of SEO. We never advocate trying to trick a search engine. A properly structured and honest campaign carries no risk whatsoever.
4. Keyword and META is all I need to achieve good rankings.
While this used to be the case - things have moved on. The content and structure of your website is now far more important then keywords and meta description tags. Here at GeekyCreative we invest time and effort at the start of a project to ensure that we get the basics of SEO there in your website.
5. SEO is quick and your site will rise rapidly.
SEO takes time and patience. But, if done properly the rewards are well worth the wait. A successfull SEO strategy will see a substantial return on investment. To make sure your SEO is performing as expected we work with our clients to develop a monthly review process to monitor performance.
If you have a website and you need our help with your SEO campaign then please contact graham@geekycreative.com for more information and free advice.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Top 5(ish) tips for creative designers
Often as developers we have to solve problems and often without the luxury of time to try out a solution before we dive headlong into implementing it into a project.
Here at GeekyCreative we have come to realise that we can rely on a core set of skills to produce the framework for a development which then gives us more time to look at the bespoke functionality of a project.
Our recent post covered our must have tools for web developers... little applications, libraries and plugins that make a big difference in terms of our development workflow.
Now we turn our attention to creative thinking, just how do our designers produce something unique when time is short and the pressure on. Here are there top tools and tips for increasing your creative design output.
Sketch pad and pencil
Probably the most obvious thing to say, but we still see designers go straight for the Mac when designing for a client. A pencil and paper helps us 'play' with our ideas, park them until later when we can review them before committing too much time and deciding they just don't work. Plus you never know when inspiration will strike - you might not have the trusty laptop handy and then you should be able to trust your drawing skills to capture what's in your head.
Adobe CS
Simply the most awesome image manipulation and design suite going. If you can afford this then it is a must. Every designer on Earth will know of and probably used one of the packages in this collection.
Desktop scanner
For scanning in your sketches and importing into Photoshop or Illustrator so that you can really bring your ideas to life. If your studio doesn't boast a scanner then you should seriously think about investing.
A good stock photo website
As creative people we often look for 'that' image first and then let the colour scheme, fonts and layout follow on from that one picture that says it all. You can't always find what you want on stock sites but you'll get a mood and style pretty close. You can then hang a design around this and if the client doesn't like the picture - show them a million more they can chose from.
Magazine subscriptions
We think it's important to stay current. Subscribe to industry magazines like Create Review or the brilliant Computer Arts. Online magazines such as Blanket are also a great source of inspiration and trend analysis. Your clients will see the stuff in these pages too, so should try and get their first in order to make a good impression.
Music
Anything and everything... turn it up. Turn it down. In the car, on headphones, the studio stereo - everywhere. Somehow music helps our designers tick. If it's the radio we flick between ClassicFM and 6music depending on our mood. From CD and iTunes it can be anything from the ABBA to Zeppelin.
Unfortunately you cannot be taught how to be a good designer, there is a little bit of natural talent needed that you cannot learn... but you can organise your time better and learn where and how you get your inspiration. Each designer is different so you should spend time learning what works for you. For us, the tips above are essential to keeping the ideas flowing.
Here at GeekyCreative we have come to realise that we can rely on a core set of skills to produce the framework for a development which then gives us more time to look at the bespoke functionality of a project.
Our recent post covered our must have tools for web developers... little applications, libraries and plugins that make a big difference in terms of our development workflow.
Now we turn our attention to creative thinking, just how do our designers produce something unique when time is short and the pressure on. Here are there top tools and tips for increasing your creative design output.
Sketch pad and pencil
Probably the most obvious thing to say, but we still see designers go straight for the Mac when designing for a client. A pencil and paper helps us 'play' with our ideas, park them until later when we can review them before committing too much time and deciding they just don't work. Plus you never know when inspiration will strike - you might not have the trusty laptop handy and then you should be able to trust your drawing skills to capture what's in your head.
Adobe CS
Simply the most awesome image manipulation and design suite going. If you can afford this then it is a must. Every designer on Earth will know of and probably used one of the packages in this collection.
Desktop scanner
For scanning in your sketches and importing into Photoshop or Illustrator so that you can really bring your ideas to life. If your studio doesn't boast a scanner then you should seriously think about investing.
A good stock photo website
As creative people we often look for 'that' image first and then let the colour scheme, fonts and layout follow on from that one picture that says it all. You can't always find what you want on stock sites but you'll get a mood and style pretty close. You can then hang a design around this and if the client doesn't like the picture - show them a million more they can chose from.
Magazine subscriptions
We think it's important to stay current. Subscribe to industry magazines like Create Review or the brilliant Computer Arts. Online magazines such as Blanket are also a great source of inspiration and trend analysis. Your clients will see the stuff in these pages too, so should try and get their first in order to make a good impression.
Music
Anything and everything... turn it up. Turn it down. In the car, on headphones, the studio stereo - everywhere. Somehow music helps our designers tick. If it's the radio we flick between ClassicFM and 6music depending on our mood. From CD and iTunes it can be anything from the ABBA to Zeppelin.
Unfortunately you cannot be taught how to be a good designer, there is a little bit of natural talent needed that you cannot learn... but you can organise your time better and learn where and how you get your inspiration. Each designer is different so you should spend time learning what works for you. For us, the tips above are essential to keeping the ideas flowing.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Top 5(ish) Geeky tools for a web developer
Lists of useful items seems to be a long running trend on blog posts and here at GeekyCreative we thought it was about time that we threw our two penneth in.
So, we compiled a list of out top 5(ish) FREE tools for all you Geeky web developers out there. Hopefully our next blog will we the top 5(ish) Creative tools for budding designers.
Without an further to do and in no particular order:
jQuery (http://jquery.com/)
They say - jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions for rapid web development. jQuery is designed to change the way that you write JavaScript.
We say - Wow. There isn't much that you can't do with jQuery... animation, AJAX, client side validation, advanced CSS... the list goes on. Quite simply we love it.
Web Developer Toolbar (http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/)
They say - The Web Developer extension adds a menu and a toolbar to the browser with various web developer tools. It is designed for Firefox, Flock and Seamonkey, and will run on any platform that these browsers support including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
We say - Here at GeekyCreative we run this extension in Firefox and find it simply unbelievable! Nothing comes close to matching the functionality here. Highlight image paths, outline CSS elements, advanced source view, window resizing and much much more. An old tool but one of our most valuable.
Firebug (http://getfirebug.com/)
They say -
Keepass (http://keepass.info/)
They say - KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database.
We say - If you have half as many usernames and passwords as us then you need Keepass. We would be in a right mess without it.
Visual Studio Express (http://www.microsoft.com/express/)
They say - Microsoft Visual Studio Express and SQL Server Express are free tools that empower you to quickly get started learning and building Web, Windows, and Database applications.
We say - This one might be a touch controversial, but here at GeekyCreative we are C# .net developers and too date we have found nothing better than Visual Studio for putting together .net websites.
Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/analytics/index.html)
They say - Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you're more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.
We say - Web site tracking doesn't get better than this. Stunning functionality that, if you combine with AdWords, keeps track of ALL the activity to and from your website. This tool has so much functionality we are still getting to grips with some of the features despite having it installed in over 100 developments.
And there you have it... our top 5(ish) tools for Geeky website developers. We could of added more and I am sure you people out there will disagree with some of our choices, but, it's only our opinion. We use these tools every day and simply could not see ourselves doing this job without them.
So, we compiled a list of out top 5(ish) FREE tools for all you Geeky web developers out there. Hopefully our next blog will we the top 5(ish) Creative tools for budding designers.
Without an further to do and in no particular order:
jQuery (http://jquery.com/)
They say - jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions for rapid web development. jQuery is designed to change the way that you write JavaScript.
We say - Wow. There isn't much that you can't do with jQuery... animation, AJAX, client side validation, advanced CSS... the list goes on. Quite simply we love it.
Web Developer Toolbar (http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/)
They say - The Web Developer extension adds a menu and a toolbar to the browser with various web developer tools. It is designed for Firefox, Flock and Seamonkey, and will run on any platform that these browsers support including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
We say - Here at GeekyCreative we run this extension in Firefox and find it simply unbelievable! Nothing comes close to matching the functionality here. Highlight image paths, outline CSS elements, advanced source view, window resizing and much much more. An old tool but one of our most valuable.
Firebug (http://getfirebug.com/)
They say -
- Inspect HTML and modify style and layout in real-time
- Use the most advanced JavaScript debugger available for any browser
- Accurately analyze network usage and performance
- Extend Firebug and add features to make Firebug even more powerful
- Get the information you need to get it done with Firebug.
Keepass (http://keepass.info/)
They say - KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database.
We say - If you have half as many usernames and passwords as us then you need Keepass. We would be in a right mess without it.
Visual Studio Express (http://www.microsoft.com/express/)
They say - Microsoft Visual Studio Express and SQL Server Express are free tools that empower you to quickly get started learning and building Web, Windows, and Database applications.
We say - This one might be a touch controversial, but here at GeekyCreative we are C# .net developers and too date we have found nothing better than Visual Studio for putting together .net websites.
Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/analytics/index.html)
They say - Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you're more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.
We say - Web site tracking doesn't get better than this. Stunning functionality that, if you combine with AdWords, keeps track of ALL the activity to and from your website. This tool has so much functionality we are still getting to grips with some of the features despite having it installed in over 100 developments.
And there you have it... our top 5(ish) tools for Geeky website developers. We could of added more and I am sure you people out there will disagree with some of our choices, but, it's only our opinion. We use these tools every day and simply could not see ourselves doing this job without them.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Daydream believer!
Here at GeekyCreative we can't wait for the FIFA World Cup 2010... passionate football fans and vocal England supporters we thought we'd help spread the dream with these special England World Cup desktop backgrounds.
We have our wall chart up, iPhone App downloaded and a fridge full of World Cup branded goodies.
The marketeers really do go into overdrive once every 4yrs with everything from chocolate to televisions being sold on the back of the football fever that is gripping the nation. This is something really special and hopefully Rooney and co. can bring back the Jules Rimet and we can all go out and buy England shirts with two gold stars above the famous Three Lions.
What are Englands chances? It seems that all the pundits have us finishing high, top four at least which means a semi-final for the uninitiated. Here at GeekyCreative we think it's possible, but then we like to dream the impossible dream, so maybe we're biased.
Whatever your head says... indulge your heart and add an England desktop background to your Pc or Mac. It'll help you countdown the minutes until kick off...
 |  |
| 1280 x 768 | 1024 x 768 |
 |  |
| 1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 |
 |  |
| iPhone | iPad |
We still believe and we hope that you do to... just download the size you want and fly the flag for England! Feel free to pass it on...
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Time for Plan B...
Here at GeekyCreative we take a lot of trouble to plan our developments before we start to build them... we actually covered the process in a recent post which you can read here.
However, sometimes, something happens that means we have to adept our development to fit an unexpected request.
Just recently, we were asked to change a particular piece of functionality within just a few days of it going live. Our client had signed off our brief, been through our wire frames and beta tested their development. However, within days of launching it became apparent that we had all missed something... something which sounded very complex and therefore possibly expensive.
After looking at the new requirements and a few days solid development work we were pleased to be able to release a new 'improved' website for our client.
Today they paid the invoice including the little bit extra for the changes. With their remittance slip was a nice email to say that they were very pleased with the adaptations we had made and that it had given them confidence to 'grow' their website with us.
Looking back at what we changed and how quickly we did it, we noticed that the very way we develop our web sites gives us a greater degree of flexibility when changing and adapting them if needed.
All of our developments look very different and they ALL have unique functionality within them somewhere, some are more distinct developments than others, but they are all built on the same core .NET technologies. C# code, lashings of jQuery for better UI's and robust MySQL databases are our stock tools and to be honest we don't often go beyond these.
Yes, we do lots of API integration and often include XML within our framework but we stick close to our core skills and keep ourselves free to think about providing our clients with the best possible website to fit their needs.
So if you have an existing website that you would like to expand OR you want to develop a new website that is scalable to meet your changing business needs; please contact us, well take your website from A to B and beyond.
However, sometimes, something happens that means we have to adept our development to fit an unexpected request.
Just recently, we were asked to change a particular piece of functionality within just a few days of it going live. Our client had signed off our brief, been through our wire frames and beta tested their development. However, within days of launching it became apparent that we had all missed something... something which sounded very complex and therefore possibly expensive.
After looking at the new requirements and a few days solid development work we were pleased to be able to release a new 'improved' website for our client.
Today they paid the invoice including the little bit extra for the changes. With their remittance slip was a nice email to say that they were very pleased with the adaptations we had made and that it had given them confidence to 'grow' their website with us.
Looking back at what we changed and how quickly we did it, we noticed that the very way we develop our web sites gives us a greater degree of flexibility when changing and adapting them if needed.
All of our developments look very different and they ALL have unique functionality within them somewhere, some are more distinct developments than others, but they are all built on the same core .NET technologies. C# code, lashings of jQuery for better UI's and robust MySQL databases are our stock tools and to be honest we don't often go beyond these.
Yes, we do lots of API integration and often include XML within our framework but we stick close to our core skills and keep ourselves free to think about providing our clients with the best possible website to fit their needs.
So if you have an existing website that you would like to expand OR you want to develop a new website that is scalable to meet your changing business needs; please contact us, well take your website from A to B and beyond.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Spoilt for choice
Here at GeekyCreative we followed the recent General Election campaigns very closely. It fascinated us how the different parties went about trying to woo the voters. We also noticed the huge amount of chatter across the social networking sites as people played along like a pantomime audience, booing as Gordon Brown made 'that gaffe', applauding David Cameron and cheering as Nick Clegg dragged the Lib Dems into the spotlight for the first time in decades.
As voters we really were spoilt for political choice, and it seems that the share of the voting would back this up. But what was more interesting for us was the amount of information available this time around. There were online polls, iPhone polls, TV polls and newspaper polls just about everywhere. Each of the parties had their manifestos available as PDFs, printed copies, online HTML, iPhone Apps and smart phone downloads. There were TV clips, YouTube clips, PodCasts and iPlayer catch ups available; as well a live debate both on terrestrial TV and digital channels.
The last 6 weeks highlighted to us here at GeekyCreative that the real choice we had as voters was the huge amount and variation of information available. As a business that specialises in making other companies marketing messages consistent we have long been championing the use of social media as a marketing tool. We have also been trying to show businesses how they can make their message appear consistently in lots of different formats with very little effort.
As a business you might not have the budget of the Tories to splash posters on billboards up and down the country, or you might not have a company spin doctor to pressure the media like Labour. But we bet that you have a great product or service that you really want to shout about!
That's where we come in, we help you give your potential customers the choice. Whatever your industry we are sure that we can help find a way to get you more from your marketing. Whether that is building a website, SEO on an existing development, setting up Twitter, developing an iPhone App, creating Google Adwords or designing adverts for press and print - we have the tools and the experience to make a difference.
Choose us and we'll get more people to choose you! Vote GeekyCreative for a prosperous future.
sales@geekycreative.com
As voters we really were spoilt for political choice, and it seems that the share of the voting would back this up. But what was more interesting for us was the amount of information available this time around. There were online polls, iPhone polls, TV polls and newspaper polls just about everywhere. Each of the parties had their manifestos available as PDFs, printed copies, online HTML, iPhone Apps and smart phone downloads. There were TV clips, YouTube clips, PodCasts and iPlayer catch ups available; as well a live debate both on terrestrial TV and digital channels.
The last 6 weeks highlighted to us here at GeekyCreative that the real choice we had as voters was the huge amount and variation of information available. As a business that specialises in making other companies marketing messages consistent we have long been championing the use of social media as a marketing tool. We have also been trying to show businesses how they can make their message appear consistently in lots of different formats with very little effort.
As a business you might not have the budget of the Tories to splash posters on billboards up and down the country, or you might not have a company spin doctor to pressure the media like Labour. But we bet that you have a great product or service that you really want to shout about!
That's where we come in, we help you give your potential customers the choice. Whatever your industry we are sure that we can help find a way to get you more from your marketing. Whether that is building a website, SEO on an existing development, setting up Twitter, developing an iPhone App, creating Google Adwords or designing adverts for press and print - we have the tools and the experience to make a difference.
Choose us and we'll get more people to choose you! Vote GeekyCreative for a prosperous future.
sales@geekycreative.com
Friday, April 30, 2010
First steps
Today is the end of our first months trading and we would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of the people who have helped us get off the ground. It's been tough but now we feel as if we have done the hardest part - we've taken the first step.
We've achieved a lot this month, our first 100% designed and developed website went live. Thank you to Beautylistics for choosing us to get them online, this is their first steps into cyberspace and they've told us that they are delighted with the results. Anyone in Birmingham and in need of some serious stress relief should pop down to Beautylistics at LA Fitness, right in the heart of Birmingham City Centre and ask for Jacqueline. You can choose from a whole range of therapeutic services to help ease away life's stresses and strains. After the month that we've had I think we could do with some time on her treatment table.
We have also completed our second development for Bar Sport, a Cannock based sports themed bar that shows ALL the live sport you can think of... it's in beta testing at the moment but initial feedback is good and we hope to post live links to that soon.
Not to be outdone, the creative side of the studio has designed and produced a 16 page charity newsletter for Promise Dreams. We were honoured to get the opportunity to work with such a worthwhile cause and we hope that we can do more for them in the future to help them help seriously ill children fulfil their dreams. As soon as we get final sign off we'll post the PDFs online as another example of our work.
Also well underway are developments for Ireland based Elbow Room, thanks to Sarah for the leg up and for being our first overseas client. A website is in the pipeline for Midlands based DIY estate agents Debra Ball Homes - this is such a new concept that we are really pushing new ground with our development skills but, we love a challenge. Keep checking back on this one as we think that Debra has a great idea and as the housing market begins to rise again I am sure more and more people will start looking to sell their homes themselves and save £1,000s. We hope that this is all LIVE early next month and when it is we'll be shouting from the roof tops.
What's next, well, an iPhone App, a new commerce website and some SEO work for existing clients. Also, our own website. We have genuinely been so busy we have neglected to build our own development, but not too worry, we'll be online again very soon and we hope that we'll have even more good news.
Thanks again to ALL that have helped and contacted us with messages of support... there's still a lot for us to do. We believe that GeekyCreative has a lot to offer business in and around the West Midlands and beyond. We hope that our experience and expertise, coupled with our enthusiasm and work ethic will prove a success.
If you need help starting your own business or boosting your existing company profile then please get in touch with us at sales@geekycreative.com.
We've achieved a lot this month, our first 100% designed and developed website went live. Thank you to Beautylistics for choosing us to get them online, this is their first steps into cyberspace and they've told us that they are delighted with the results. Anyone in Birmingham and in need of some serious stress relief should pop down to Beautylistics at LA Fitness, right in the heart of Birmingham City Centre and ask for Jacqueline. You can choose from a whole range of therapeutic services to help ease away life's stresses and strains. After the month that we've had I think we could do with some time on her treatment table.
We have also completed our second development for Bar Sport, a Cannock based sports themed bar that shows ALL the live sport you can think of... it's in beta testing at the moment but initial feedback is good and we hope to post live links to that soon.
Not to be outdone, the creative side of the studio has designed and produced a 16 page charity newsletter for Promise Dreams. We were honoured to get the opportunity to work with such a worthwhile cause and we hope that we can do more for them in the future to help them help seriously ill children fulfil their dreams. As soon as we get final sign off we'll post the PDFs online as another example of our work.
Also well underway are developments for Ireland based Elbow Room, thanks to Sarah for the leg up and for being our first overseas client. A website is in the pipeline for Midlands based DIY estate agents Debra Ball Homes - this is such a new concept that we are really pushing new ground with our development skills but, we love a challenge. Keep checking back on this one as we think that Debra has a great idea and as the housing market begins to rise again I am sure more and more people will start looking to sell their homes themselves and save £1,000s. We hope that this is all LIVE early next month and when it is we'll be shouting from the roof tops.
What's next, well, an iPhone App, a new commerce website and some SEO work for existing clients. Also, our own website. We have genuinely been so busy we have neglected to build our own development, but not too worry, we'll be online again very soon and we hope that we'll have even more good news.
Thanks again to ALL that have helped and contacted us with messages of support... there's still a lot for us to do. We believe that GeekyCreative has a lot to offer business in and around the West Midlands and beyond. We hope that our experience and expertise, coupled with our enthusiasm and work ethic will prove a success.
If you need help starting your own business or boosting your existing company profile then please get in touch with us at sales@geekycreative.com.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Devils in the detail!
If there's one thing our designers and developers disagree on it's planning.
We all agree that every project needs some form of planning, even if it's simply scoping out costs so that you can ensure you make a profit. At the very least you should also make sure you have a good idea of what your client wants; to avoid any disagreements later when you do the big reveal. I mean you don't want your TAH-DAH moment to go all ERR-UHM do you?
If our developers had their way they would plan everything down to the last XHTML div and it's CSS style attribute. If our designers had their way they would grab the brief and and fire up Photoshop.
So who is right? Here at GeekyCreative we appreciate both approaches and therefore we try and feel our way through a project with our designers, developers and clients all involved. Some clients understand the technical side of a web development and some are more interested in the brand and style, for the latter; making it work is often the development teams responsibility and therefore they don't care 'how' you do it. Just that you do it!
To bridge the gap and make sure our designers and developers can work together, we do one bit of planning as soon as we receive an order. We make a very simple wire frame, or rather, we make two wire frames. Our designers will sketch out a wire frame layout, deciding roughly on the sizing and positioning of the branding, the number of columns and placement of navigation etc. They will work closely with a developer who will then take the sketch and produce a working wire frame from the brief, to do this we use MS Sketchflow. Once our developer is happy the wire frame goes back to the design desk and a full blown Photoshop visual is produced ready for the client.
We then sit down with the client and show them the visual and the wire frames at the same time. Clients can then see colours, sizing, positions and scale alongside a click able wire frame that demonstrates user journey and functionality.
This early plannin
g allows our designers to 'place' their ideas inside an agreed framework, freeing them up to concentrate on smaller details, the things that make a visual difference. It also allows our developers to build a site quicker, there's no open ended functionality or going back to the client for clarification on what links go where. This allows our developers to concentrate on the intricies of their code and ensuring that the UI is the best that it can be.
Thus proving that for both developers and designers a little planning can go a long way. The Devil really is in the detail and a web development project can be a devil to get right if you don't have your creative designer and your geeky developer working towards the same goal.
Here at GeekyCreative we've been building websites this way for over 10 years... and we think we're not bad at it.
For more information please contact sales@geekycreative.com
We all agree that every project needs some form of planning, even if it's simply scoping out costs so that you can ensure you make a profit. At the very least you should also make sure you have a good idea of what your client wants; to avoid any disagreements later when you do the big reveal. I mean you don't want your TAH-DAH moment to go all ERR-UHM do you?
If our developers had their way they would plan everything down to the last XHTML div and it's CSS style attribute. If our designers had their way they would grab the brief and and fire up Photoshop.
So who is right? Here at GeekyCreative we appreciate both approaches and therefore we try and feel our way through a project with our designers, developers and clients all involved. Some clients understand the technical side of a web development and some are more interested in the brand and style, for the latter; making it work is often the development teams responsibility and therefore they don't care 'how' you do it. Just that you do it!
To bridge the gap and make sure our designers and developers can work together, we do one bit of planning as soon as we receive an order. We make a very simple wire frame, or rather, we make two wire frames. Our designers will sketch out a wire frame layout, deciding roughly on the sizing and positioning of the branding, the number of columns and placement of navigation etc. They will work closely with a developer who will then take the sketch and produce a working wire frame from the brief, to do this we use MS Sketchflow. Once our developer is happy the wire frame goes back to the design desk and a full blown Photoshop visual is produced ready for the client.We then sit down with the client and show them the visual and the wire frames at the same time. Clients can then see colours, sizing, positions and scale alongside a click able wire frame that demonstrates user journey and functionality.
This early plannin
g allows our designers to 'place' their ideas inside an agreed framework, freeing them up to concentrate on smaller details, the things that make a visual difference. It also allows our developers to build a site quicker, there's no open ended functionality or going back to the client for clarification on what links go where. This allows our developers to concentrate on the intricies of their code and ensuring that the UI is the best that it can be.Thus proving that for both developers and designers a little planning can go a long way. The Devil really is in the detail and a web development project can be a devil to get right if you don't have your creative designer and your geeky developer working towards the same goal.
Here at GeekyCreative we've been building websites this way for over 10 years... and we think we're not bad at it.
For more information please contact sales@geekycreative.com
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Is Apple rotten?
The web has fizzed with debate on Apples new clause for iPhone SDK developers. Apple want to limit App developers to a select few programming languages, mainly C, C++ and Objective-C. With the iPad about to be released and new multi-App functionality on the iPhone is Apple spoiling the party?
Here at GeekyCreative we initially wondered what all the fuss was about, our first iPhone App development project is well under way and we've adopted the native Objective-C language to write it in. We were pondering - What is every ones problem?
Well not all agencies and developers are as flexible as us, maybe they have other development strands that use inherited code from 'other' languages. Legacy code can be costly and tricky to turn into a new language or platform. Maybe there are other developers simply not willing to learn a new language. More likely there are a lot of people with Apps already developed that are now wondering what will happen to their non-compliant Apps when the time comes to release upgrades, sell on, re-launch etc.
Apple already limits iPhone App development to Mac Osx 10.5.6 and above - meaning that you need Snow Leopard and a Mac with Pentium chips in it. This meant we had to upgrade our hardware and our Osx before we could even get the SDK installed. Now, two weeks later, the terms and conditions have changed... Apples not endeared themselves to us over the last few weeks we can tell you.
However, one look at the shiny shiny iPhone tells us all we need to know. People are fascinated by Apples user interface and the iPhone is here to stay. Our clients want Apps and we, well, we want to build them. The iPhone is a geeks, geekiest dream.
But, and there is a but, there are other companies out there whose technology is as cool as Apples and yet more open... APIs from Twitter, Google, Flikr, Yahoo and Facebook regularly make it into our developments. The jQuery library and Yahoo.UI have saved us from many a late night of coding... and they are all platform and language independent. As developers we love 'openness', mainly because it gives us a chance to take, add, amend and delete to our hearts content. We can explore some very powerful functionality through APIs and libraries.
However, the iPhone is not an API or a library, it is something like an operating system + API + library and we don't really blame Apple for locking down developers to languages that they are comfortable letting them use in their (Apples) environment. And what an environment it is... as developers we are happy enough to explore what IS on offer from Apple at the moment... the chance to build something for a product that is truly amazing. To do that we're prepared to learn a thing or two along the way. The books on Objective-C are already well thumbed and the coffee already nearly all gone.
We're sure that the debate will rage on and the purists maybe right, we don't know. All we can say is that we have never shied away from learning new skills and we plan on releasing our first iPhone App soon... with launch expected early May it will mean we have developed and written projects in VbScript, C#, ActionScript, PHP, ColdFusion, HTML, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, SQL, CSS and so on. Proving, we're more interested in the solution than the path we have to take to get there.
After all, the iPhone is Apples product, and if you want to build an App for it - buy a book and a lot of coffee; and, like us, prepare to learn.
Here at GeekyCreative we initially wondered what all the fuss was about, our first iPhone App development project is well under way and we've adopted the native Objective-C language to write it in. We were pondering - What is every ones problem?
Well not all agencies and developers are as flexible as us, maybe they have other development strands that use inherited code from 'other' languages. Legacy code can be costly and tricky to turn into a new language or platform. Maybe there are other developers simply not willing to learn a new language. More likely there are a lot of people with Apps already developed that are now wondering what will happen to their non-compliant Apps when the time comes to release upgrades, sell on, re-launch etc.
Apple already limits iPhone App development to Mac Osx 10.5.6 and above - meaning that you need Snow Leopard and a Mac with Pentium chips in it. This meant we had to upgrade our hardware and our Osx before we could even get the SDK installed. Now, two weeks later, the terms and conditions have changed... Apples not endeared themselves to us over the last few weeks we can tell you.
However, one look at the shiny shiny iPhone tells us all we need to know. People are fascinated by Apples user interface and the iPhone is here to stay. Our clients want Apps and we, well, we want to build them. The iPhone is a geeks, geekiest dream.
But, and there is a but, there are other companies out there whose technology is as cool as Apples and yet more open... APIs from Twitter, Google, Flikr, Yahoo and Facebook regularly make it into our developments. The jQuery library and Yahoo.UI have saved us from many a late night of coding... and they are all platform and language independent. As developers we love 'openness', mainly because it gives us a chance to take, add, amend and delete to our hearts content. We can explore some very powerful functionality through APIs and libraries.
However, the iPhone is not an API or a library, it is something like an operating system + API + library and we don't really blame Apple for locking down developers to languages that they are comfortable letting them use in their (Apples) environment. And what an environment it is... as developers we are happy enough to explore what IS on offer from Apple at the moment... the chance to build something for a product that is truly amazing. To do that we're prepared to learn a thing or two along the way. The books on Objective-C are already well thumbed and the coffee already nearly all gone.
We're sure that the debate will rage on and the purists maybe right, we don't know. All we can say is that we have never shied away from learning new skills and we plan on releasing our first iPhone App soon... with launch expected early May it will mean we have developed and written projects in VbScript, C#, ActionScript, PHP, ColdFusion, HTML, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, SQL, CSS and so on. Proving, we're more interested in the solution than the path we have to take to get there.
After all, the iPhone is Apples product, and if you want to build an App for it - buy a book and a lot of coffee; and, like us, prepare to learn.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Perfect 10!
We're not perfect! Yes, that's right... a web development studio that is happy to admit that they don't know it all. How can we know it all? The web is millions of pages wide by millions of pages high by millions of pages deep - and it is ever expanding and changing. To cope with the demand, technologies behind the Internet are also constantly changing.
So if we're not perfect why should you use us? Well, that's easy. You should use is because we want to be perfect. Our studio is constantly updating and evolving it's work processes, new languages are adopted, innovative processes implemented; on what seems like a weekly basis.
We work hard to find out what our clients want and then find a solution to fit. This often means that as clients demand more from their websites we give more. From humble HTML beginnings we can now produce bespoke website solutions using VbScript, C#, AJAX, JavaScript, PHP, XML, XLST, SQL, ActionScript and XHTML among others. We lever functionality from powerful online applications such as Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Flickr, YouTube, Blogger and Facebook. We take a web development wish list and we bend over backwards to make it happen.
So if you want your Tweets on your homepage, or your own YouTube channel in your website then we'll get stuck into the relevant API and make it happen. Maybe you want interactive Google Maps on your contact us page? Or you want to blend your Blog into your homepage? Well contact us at emediates - we don't know it all; but the first step to improving your knowledge is admitting you have something to learn.
So if we're not perfect why should you use us? Well, that's easy. You should use is because we want to be perfect. Our studio is constantly updating and evolving it's work processes, new languages are adopted, innovative processes implemented; on what seems like a weekly basis.
We work hard to find out what our clients want and then find a solution to fit. This often means that as clients demand more from their websites we give more. From humble HTML beginnings we can now produce bespoke website solutions using VbScript, C#, AJAX, JavaScript, PHP, XML, XLST, SQL, ActionScript and XHTML among others. We lever functionality from powerful online applications such as Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Flickr, YouTube, Blogger and Facebook. We take a web development wish list and we bend over backwards to make it happen.
So if you want your Tweets on your homepage, or your own YouTube channel in your website then we'll get stuck into the relevant API and make it happen. Maybe you want interactive Google Maps on your contact us page? Or you want to blend your Blog into your homepage? Well contact us at emediates - we don't know it all; but the first step to improving your knowledge is admitting you have something to learn.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Browser? I just click the Internet...
Did you know that there is more than one way to view the internet?The uninitiated will think that browser choice begins and ends with Microsoft™ Internet Explorer - is that big blue 'e' on your desktop the only way for you to see the net?
There is more choice than you think. In fact there are numerous browsers now available with each laying claim to be the best. Comparisons and evaluations of different web browsers is a rather big theme on the Internet and we will not go into it in detail here. Needless to say that there are more options appearing almost daily.
This choice is now even more obvious as Microsoft™ have been forced to offer users alternatives to their browser Internet Explorer. New version of Windows™ will not have IE installed as default but will allow users to pick from a list of browsers when the first configure their PC.
We believe that it is your own experience and feel of the browser that matters the most. Each person is unique and able to decide which web browser fits his or her needs the best. We think that most people would appreciate a faster, safer and more versatile web tool which can handle the ever increasing complexity and demands of Internet communication.
Of the big five browsers, Microsoft™ Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox™, Safari™, Opera™ and Google Chrome™... Chrome appears to be the fastest browser for Windows. Firefox is much faster than Internet Explorer and Firefox could be a better choice when it comes to standards, support, features and safety. But, Firefox is still not as speedy as Chrome or Opera, which both offer top-notch standards support and features. Chrome and Opera, like Firefox, can claim to be the safest web browsers.
Greater choice for users means a harder time for developers like us. Each of the browsers behave slightly differently. At GeekyCreative we take this issue very seriously and aim to have our clients websites looking right for over 80% of web users. So, whether your favourite is Firefox or Chrome, Opera or Safari, or Internet Explorer, chances are your clients might be using something different.
If you want your clients to see your website in it's best possible light - then contact us a free browser check today.
Monday, March 22, 2010
A day in the life... of a web developer!
Thought it was about time we wrote a blog about something personal... after not a lot of thought we decided to pick on our New Media Director Graham Cartwright and task him to record a typical day for him here at GeekyCreative.
6:30am Alarm goes off and before I am able to come round the kids are awake and bouncing on the bed.
7:30am Kids are dressed and fed and ready for school. I turn on the laptop, check my emails and catch up on Twitter. First coffee of the day while I browse a few sites and generally potter around.
8:30am Emails sent and Tweets replied to it's time to walk the eldest to school. The return walk is valuable time to think and re-adjust my planning for the day. I juggle a few things in my head as I take in the fresh air. I grab another coffee on the way to my desk.
9:00am Back in front of the screen and it's time to fire up 6music and zip through any amends from the previous day. Doing them now means I can keep a project moving with the right momentum.
10:06am Coffee.
10:30am First conference call of the week, This ones an update on a HUGE social networking development that we have on the go. Client seems happy enough, pushing for completion which is encouraging.
11:30am Conference call finished, time for a cofeee while I type up my notes up for an email response. I feel as if I haven't got time but I know that I need to stay on top of the paperwork on a development of this size.
12.00noon Need to spend an hour or two designing some new page layouts for new client pitch. I tend not to spend too much time on designs in pitches as clients like to change them once we get the go ahead and a full brief. However, I do like to give a little bit of creative input at the pitch stage to help balance all the technical stuff in the proposal. I sketch first on pen and paper and then transfer to a sketchy illustrator template to send to client... I've got a colour pallet down and some typefaces at this point so client has a good idea of what's in store. I'll work up the designs in Photoshop if we get the order.
12:26am Coffee.
2:00pm Ploughing through some amends to our bespoke C# admin section that allows clients a lot of control over their websites. I've added in some jQuery code which allows clients to re-order items such as news articles and products.
2:01pm Coffee.
4:00pm Taking a break from all that code with a spot of research and development on the new iPhone SDK. Looking into what's possible for a long standing client. Fair bit of reading involved and nearly an hour on Google.
4:54pm Coffee.
5:30pm Home time for some, but I'm setting up some back ups to run on a new development machine. Don't want to lose all that new code, let alone the new Access and MySQL databases that are running on there. I use Tortoise SVN and some free software from BackUp4All.
5:31pm Coffee.
6:04pm About time I got something to eat. Haven't had any lunch today and drunk far too much coffee (again) but up-to-date with all my scheduled tasks. There's no excuse when working from home but sometimes I get too distracted to eat. Anyway dinner smells nice, time to leave work behind for a bit and grab some family time.
8:00pm Kids in bed, time to crack on with GeekyCreatives new website. Needs to be ready for our official re-launch next week. Need to nail this Google Blogger API and then get the Twitter API on multiple pages. More Visual Studio and C# for me tonight.
10:30pm Shattered and starting to get all coded out... going to see whats on BCC iPlayer and then call it a night. Zip through some Tweets, replying to some SEO and API questions before finally thinking enough is enough. Toodlepip.
6:30am Alarm goes off and before I am able to come round the kids are awake and bouncing on the bed.
7:30am Kids are dressed and fed and ready for school. I turn on the laptop, check my emails and catch up on Twitter. First coffee of the day while I browse a few sites and generally potter around.
8:30am Emails sent and Tweets replied to it's time to walk the eldest to school. The return walk is valuable time to think and re-adjust my planning for the day. I juggle a few things in my head as I take in the fresh air. I grab another coffee on the way to my desk.
9:00am Back in front of the screen and it's time to fire up 6music and zip through any amends from the previous day. Doing them now means I can keep a project moving with the right momentum.
10:06am Coffee.
10:30am First conference call of the week, This ones an update on a HUGE social networking development that we have on the go. Client seems happy enough, pushing for completion which is encouraging.
11:30am Conference call finished, time for a cofeee while I type up my notes up for an email response. I feel as if I haven't got time but I know that I need to stay on top of the paperwork on a development of this size.
12.00noon Need to spend an hour or two designing some new page layouts for new client pitch. I tend not to spend too much time on designs in pitches as clients like to change them once we get the go ahead and a full brief. However, I do like to give a little bit of creative input at the pitch stage to help balance all the technical stuff in the proposal. I sketch first on pen and paper and then transfer to a sketchy illustrator template to send to client... I've got a colour pallet down and some typefaces at this point so client has a good idea of what's in store. I'll work up the designs in Photoshop if we get the order.
12:26am Coffee.
2:00pm Ploughing through some amends to our bespoke C# admin section that allows clients a lot of control over their websites. I've added in some jQuery code which allows clients to re-order items such as news articles and products.
2:01pm Coffee.
4:00pm Taking a break from all that code with a spot of research and development on the new iPhone SDK. Looking into what's possible for a long standing client. Fair bit of reading involved and nearly an hour on Google.
4:54pm Coffee.
5:30pm Home time for some, but I'm setting up some back ups to run on a new development machine. Don't want to lose all that new code, let alone the new Access and MySQL databases that are running on there. I use Tortoise SVN and some free software from BackUp4All.
5:31pm Coffee.
6:04pm About time I got something to eat. Haven't had any lunch today and drunk far too much coffee (again) but up-to-date with all my scheduled tasks. There's no excuse when working from home but sometimes I get too distracted to eat. Anyway dinner smells nice, time to leave work behind for a bit and grab some family time.
8:00pm Kids in bed, time to crack on with GeekyCreatives new website. Needs to be ready for our official re-launch next week. Need to nail this Google Blogger API and then get the Twitter API on multiple pages. More Visual Studio and C# for me tonight.
10:30pm Shattered and starting to get all coded out... going to see whats on BCC iPlayer and then call it a night. Zip through some Tweets, replying to some SEO and API questions before finally thinking enough is enough. Toodlepip.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tweet stuff...
It seems that everyone is at it.... Tweeting that is.
www.Twitter.com is *the* latest social web phenomenon and here at GeekyCreative we are being asked the usual questions about integration and 'can I show my Tweets on my website?'
Well 10mins research is all it took to find an answer, and it's the kind of answer we like here at GeekyCreative especially when it comes to API's and Web 2.0 application integration. The answer is... Yes.
Yes you can get your Twitter feed on your website, want to know how?
Well... it involves some coding but for us geeks is very easy to implement.
Email us at info@geekycreative.com or subscribe to this Blog as we'll be explaining how in the next few days and maybe even giving away the C# code for displaying your Twitter public timeline on your website.
Even better follow us on http://twitter.com/geekycreative for more Twitter goodies and updates.
We'll be looking at Facebook next and the fact that you can set up your Blog to automatically update your status on over 60 social networking websites. Take advantage of this low cost and easy way to market your business and improve your SEO... follow us!
www.Twitter.com is *the* latest social web phenomenon and here at GeekyCreative we are being asked the usual questions about integration and 'can I show my Tweets on my website?'
Well 10mins research is all it took to find an answer, and it's the kind of answer we like here at GeekyCreative especially when it comes to API's and Web 2.0 application integration. The answer is... Yes.
Yes you can get your Twitter feed on your website, want to know how?
Well... it involves some coding but for us geeks is very easy to implement.
Email us at info@geekycreative.com or subscribe to this Blog as we'll be explaining how in the next few days and maybe even giving away the C# code for displaying your Twitter public timeline on your website.
Even better follow us on http://twitter.com/geekycreative for more Twitter goodies and updates.
We'll be looking at Facebook next and the fact that you can set up your Blog to automatically update your status on over 60 social networking websites. Take advantage of this low cost and easy way to market your business and improve your SEO... follow us!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Social Networking for Lazy People
What with Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, MySpace etc; Social Networking can suddenly start to drain your valuable time and resources.
If you are constantly loggin in and out, cutting and pasting for hours on end just to get one update across all your online accounts then don't worry, help is now at hand.
Here at GeekyCreative we've found a lazy way to network online. That doesn't mean that we're taking shortcuts when it comes to engaging with others in our networks in fact just the opposite.
We've developed a way to share general updates across multiple networks in one push of a button... for example this blog post will re-appear as a Tweet, LinkedIn status update and Facebook microblog without us doing any cutting or pasting while trying to stay logged into several sites at once.
How do we do it? Well we don't want to give away any secrets for free but rest assured this is a sure fire way for you to improve your Social Networking and increase your SEO for very little investment.
We literally have 50+ Social Network sites that we can use to achieve maximum coverage for those all important product and service updates.
Contact info@geekycreative.com to find out more.
If you are constantly loggin in and out, cutting and pasting for hours on end just to get one update across all your online accounts then don't worry, help is now at hand.
Here at GeekyCreative we've found a lazy way to network online. That doesn't mean that we're taking shortcuts when it comes to engaging with others in our networks in fact just the opposite.
We've developed a way to share general updates across multiple networks in one push of a button... for example this blog post will re-appear as a Tweet, LinkedIn status update and Facebook microblog without us doing any cutting or pasting while trying to stay logged into several sites at once.
How do we do it? Well we don't want to give away any secrets for free but rest assured this is a sure fire way for you to improve your Social Networking and increase your SEO for very little investment.
We literally have 50+ Social Network sites that we can use to achieve maximum coverage for those all important product and service updates.
Contact info@geekycreative.com to find out more.
Monday, February 22, 2010
If you don't ask...
GeekyCreative have developed a bespoke online polling solution that lets you ask your audience questions online, record responses and allows you to view the data in a variety of formats
.
It’s unobtrusive format allows you to blend the functionality directly into your site OR take advantage of off site hosting using discreet and flexible jQuery pop-ups. With our off site hosting you still get all the control and flexibility you would expect without the need to do any server configuration on your own website – ideal if you’re not technically savvy.
For those that do know their way around SQL databases and IIS settings, our tools can easily be added to an existing website with the minimum of fuss, meaning you can protect your brand and offer a seamless user experience without writing reams of code.
You choose the que
stions that you want to ask. Setting up a new poll is easy and intuitive. You can add, amend, re-order and delete your questions. You can choose from several different questions types – controlling how questions and possible answers are displayed. Currently you can display choices as dropdown lists, radio buttons, check boxes or ratings tables. There are also free form text options and comments fields available within the admin tools.
Once you have created your poll, you can see the number of responses, turn it on/off at anytime; and, as soon as you are ready you can collate all of the info into easy to use formats such as HTML, PDF and CSV.
With HML responses you can embed the content into your website for users to view at anytime. The PDF format allows you to attached the outcome to emails and other links. CSV files can be opened in Excel and other spreadsheet applications – meaning you can blend your data into an existing workflow if required.
Incorporating Googles powerful ‘Chart’ API you can even choose the type of chart to output your data as – currently we support, vertical and horizontal bar charts as well as 2D and 3D pie charts. Pretty soon we hope to add, line chart, scatter graphs and ‘interactive’ charts to our burgeoning set of functions.
Our design and development team can also customise our polling library for you – so if you want to include something not yet in the toolbox let us know and we can extend the functionality too meet your requirements.
For a demo or more information please contact info@geekycreative.com
.
It’s unobtrusive format allows you to blend the functionality directly into your site OR take advantage of off site hosting using discreet and flexible jQuery pop-ups. With our off site hosting you still get all the control and flexibility you would expect without the need to do any server configuration on your own website – ideal if you’re not technically savvy.
For those that do know their way around SQL databases and IIS settings, our tools can easily be added to an existing website with the minimum of fuss, meaning you can protect your brand and offer a seamless user experience without writing reams of code.
You choose the que
stions that you want to ask. Setting up a new poll is easy and intuitive. You can add, amend, re-order and delete your questions. You can choose from several different questions types – controlling how questions and possible answers are displayed. Currently you can display choices as dropdown lists, radio buttons, check boxes or ratings tables. There are also free form text options and comments fields available within the admin tools.
Once you have created your poll, you can see the number of responses, turn it on/off at anytime; and, as soon as you are ready you can collate all of the info into easy to use formats such as HTML, PDF and CSV.
With HML responses you can embed the content into your website for users to view at anytime. The PDF format allows you to attached the outcome to emails and other links. CSV files can be opened in Excel and other spreadsheet applications – meaning you can blend your data into an existing workflow if required.
Incorporating Googles powerful ‘Chart’ API you can even choose the type of chart to output your data as – currently we support, vertical and horizontal bar charts as well as 2D and 3D pie charts. Pretty soon we hope to add, line chart, scatter graphs and ‘interactive’ charts to our burgeoning set of functions.
Our design and development team can also customise our polling library for you – so if you want to include something not yet in the toolbox let us know and we can extend the functionality too meet your requirements.
For a demo or more information please contact info@geekycreative.com
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Don't always act on impulse
How many times have you made that spur of the moment purchase only to be left feeling disappointed, deflated and well, out of pocket?
You remember those bargain shoes, the last 'amazing' jacket on the sale rack... you do don't you ... I bet you also remember the feelings of disappointment and annoyance when they turned out to not fit you, not suit you and left a whacking great hole in your wallet.
If only you had taken more time to consider your purchase.
The same goes for building your website.
It may well be the 'exciting bit' but if you don't take the time think about your needs, what fits your requirements and the kind of site that would suit you and your business- the adrenalin rush will quickly pass.
Your website will be left in a crumpled heap on the virtual shelf, as you realise what you actually need for your business is something more or less sparkly, that would have fitted better into your way of working. If only it had been built slightly differently.
So ... REMEMBER ...
Before you go about ordering the snazziest, craziest website ever because its new, exciting and you want one now! Please think about the following:
- Consider carefully what kind of image you want to portray through your site (efficient, exclusive, good value, formal, casual etc.)
- Consider what you want to be able to do through the site ( show images, shop, news etc)
- Consider how much and what you want to administer the site ( add pages, images, edit and delete pages etc )
- What are your expectations for the final site?
- COMMUNICATE all of the above to your web designer before the start of the project
- Remember YOUR role in developing a website (providing images and copy, testing, answering developer queries)
Follow these pointers and everybody will be happy with your sensible purchase: you, the developer, your customers and of course your bank balance.
Your investment of time and money will reap the rewards of a well planned, considered, attractive and functional website.
Thinking of investing in a website? Why not talk through your needs with GeekyCreative?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Geeky Tweets
New Year, New Start, New Business
Given the line of work we are in we do have a few tricks up our sleeves for getting noticed. But to be honest we want our work to do the talking and will be offering good quality, fairly priced services to help you to get your own business off the ground… hopefully you’ll be so impressed that you’ll be recommending us to your own contacts J
With over 15 years experience in the design, 10 years experience in web design and development and 10 years in marketing, we are well placed to offer you advice and services from everything from a new logo and brand development, to designing and building your new website, to what to do next to create the right buzz for your business.
Our new website www.geekycreative.com will be coming soon and will outline all of our services in more detail. However, if you need to know more now, email us at info@geekycreative.com
Monday, February 1, 2010
Lovely Logos
Here at GeekyCreative, we love logos.
Bright, bold, subtle, wordy, ambiguous, simple, overstated, understated - we find them fascinating!
Not just because we design and create them - but because we see their value aesthetically and as a means of communicating information about a particular company or organisation.
From a straight forward 'this is what we do' kind of logo to something more abstract our creative logo designs will help you to make your mark.
For more information visit www.geekycreative.com
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