hi. | hello. | howdy. | hey.

Use these postcards to leave a simple note for a colleague or mail a personal greeting to a friend. We recently created this simple, whimsical postcard series. If you haven’t already received yours, let us know.

Home Page before:

The previous home page included no information about NYCFotoworks offerings that appeared above-the-fold, which required the user to immediately scroll.

Home Page after:

The new design features a streamlined navigation requiring few clicks, a rotating image that includes information about the various offerings from NYCFotoworks, as well as readily available information regarding portfolio reviews, workshops and juried shows. Additionally, we incorporated testimonials from review attendees that refresh on reload as well as a video from the reviewers.

Portfolio Review & Packages before:

Previous information for the portfolio review process spanned several pages and required downloads of each of the available packages as well as the list of past reviewers. 

Portfolio Review & Packages after:

In the redesign, benefits are readily available for both stylists and photographers with an easy to locate apply link and form. Additionally, past reviews are listed on the page within an easy scroll function.

Packages are easily accessible without leaving the current page.

About Page before:

The previous about page provided little information and did not capture the personality of the organization and its founders.

About Page after:

The redesigned page includes more information about the organization, an overview of their offerings and a video of one of the partners discussing the portfolio review and its benefits.

visit the redesigned site

Because these artists are not necessarily part of social media arena, The Grand Assembly is a way to connect, and make known this community.

The exhibition, held at Gallery 307, features the work of 14 artists over 60 years in age, in the form of painting, mixed media, collage and book arts, amongst other mediums. The interactive exhibit focuses on the interpretation of “[blank] is my currency”. The audience is also asked, as they explored the exhibit to fill out a postcard expressing “[blank] is my currency” either figuratively or literally, through word(s), drawings or images. As a participant, your postcard becomes part of the exhibit and replaces an artwork reproduction. This reproduction of the artist’s work becomes your takeaway. In addition this hopefully inspires you to consider what is important to you.

What is your currency? Me? I listed friends.

The show is is running March 13–30, 2012 at Gallery 307, 307 7th avenue, suite 1401 between 27th/28th streets.

client Roberta C Kendall

client Mansion Pictures

client Robin Spruill

client Steeplechase Arts & Productions

client Samantha Gore

Consider your audience
A successful user experience is the key reason prospects and clients visit and return to your site. Your firm’s brand value is affected by that user experience, so don’t be afraid to ask your clients for their input.  Through successful client interaction, you are building credibility and online relevance. One bad experience and you could lose those users forever.

Establish measurable goals
Establish short-term and long-term goals for your firm’s initial launch and future refreshes. It may be necessary to focus on specific areas of the site as part of a phased approach. Invest in tracking and analytics, and have someone on point to measure qualitative details and suggest refinements as necessary.

Invest in search engine optimization
Your SEO strategy should be developed and incorporated early in the process (prior to the sitemap, content development and design). Your SEO strategist, copywriters and designers should be part of a collaborative team involved in all stages of the planning and creative process.

Establish a process for content creation and delivery
Content will go through many rounds of edits and in many cases will be late! Determine a process for copy development and set reasonable goals and schedules to ensure relevant, new content for your audience.

Consider current and future design needs
After sitemap and wireframe approval, your firm should be provided with at least three design concepts that work within its digital strategy and brand guidelines. Determine graphic standards for the site and who will be on point for designing future graphic elements, performing image searches and designing necessary new pages as needs arise.

Develop a realistic timeline
Stay on target. Establish six-month, 12-month and 18-month goals and have a team in place that is focused on meeting these goals. Rush changes and emergencies will inevitably happen, but a clear schedule and measurable goals will ensure your team doesn’t lose sight of the big picture.

Originally published in the New York Legal Marketing Association’s e-newsletter, NYLMA News.

Some of the most successful companies have unearthed treasure troves of material – video demonstrations, published articles, fact sheets, recorded lectures, etc.– and they have begun publishing such material on their websites so clients and constituents can benefit from the guidance it provides.

Our previous site was a brochure site, providing static content and a visual portfolio. Our goal: develop a site that provides meaningful, relevant and up-to-date content. We also want to give our audience more insight into how we collaborate with our clients to achieve results.

Here’s what we’ve made available to our audience:

• A project-highlights section complete with project stories describing issues faced and how we collaborated with our clients to resolve them.
• A “what’s new” section complete with insights, articles and what we’re up to – industry events attended, observations and lessons learned. We invite you to participate and comment! We’d like to discuss matters relevant to our clients and prospects, so please let us know what’s on your mind.
• A leadership page that gives a little insight into the firm’s personality – how we got where we are today, and why we love what we do.

 
Site Features:
1. Easy to navigate.
2. A trove of useful tools, resources and ideas for creative studios, including videos of Emily’s speaking engagements.
3. A “my tweets” feature on the home page in which Emily offers words of wisdom on a regular basis via twitter.
4. Information graphics that illustrate the services Emily provides.
5. Expanded resources and articles.
6. A content management system for easy updating by Emily and her team.
7. A branded email campaign for her communications with clients and prospects.

Our website was particularly challenging because our target clients and audience are highly creative and web-savvy. A tough audience to please. Once the site was launched, however, we received immediate and consistent praise for its visual strategy and clarity of navigation and information hierarchy. Additionally, knox design strategy was extremely detail-focused and highly attentive to bringing the project in on time and within budget.
—Emily Cohen

visit emilycohen.com