A favicon.ico is an image file that is displayed next to your page title on a browsers ‘page tab’. It helps visitors identify your website more easily if they have more than one tab open. The name is shorthand for ‘Favourite Icon’ or ‘Favorite Icon’ if you are from the colonies ;o)

This is a hark-back to when the favicon.ico was only used in browser bookmarks or ‘favourites’.

All modern browsers (yes, even Internet Exploder) also place the favicon in the address bar next to your web address and this not only looks much more professional but also adds to a visitors peace of mind that they are in the right place, on the right website and haven’t wandered off onto the adjacent tab and are buying the product from the wrong company…

As a professional design company no website is launched without a favicon – mainly for the reasons above but there are a few others you may not have considered.

1. Error logs: There are a few files that a browser will look for on every page load and favicon.ico is one of them. If you don’t have one then it will generate a line in your error log for every page that is displayed. Whilst this will not harm anything it does make your error logs bloated and harder to spot other errors within the mass of error lines.

2. Browsers default favicon: If you don’t have a favicon in place then your browser is going to use the default icon from it’s own library. The trouble is that many webmasters don’t bother to install them and your page tab, bookmark and URL all look the same.

3. Software default favicon: If you are using blogging or forum software and don’t drop your own favicon on the server then they will use theirs. Not great as it will be  giveaway to your competitors and visitors of what system you are using. It will also confuse a visitor and probably not harmonise with your design.

The biggest secret is how incredibly easy it is now to create a fantastic looking favicon, no need for professional software, just go to: http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/ and you can have your own in a few minutes.

Seven seconds. That’s the length of time a potential customer will take to form an impression of your website home page as part of their evaluation behaviour. From that they don’t decide whether they will use your business – but they will decide whether they won’t. If you have a price driven proposition, it’s arguable that design doesn’t matter (although accessibility does) but for any other type of business, especially those offering an intangible service, it’s the only means of separating your business from the competition.

Stock images are amazing. Having access to many images for a design project can make the difference between a great looking website and an also-ran.

However there are times when you shouldn’t use a stock image or at the very least purchase exclusive rights to it.

Why you ask? Apple have recently announced their new operating system and very nice it looks too. They have also purchased an exclusive right to the image but not soon enough it seems as the image has already been used for a French milk drink.

For a company as image conscious as Apple this is a bit amateurish. The folks over at reddit.com have done some investigation and determined the name of the photographer and that the Lion lives in a zoo… Personally we were interested to see how carefully the Lion’s mane was cut out!

The Lesson here is that if the image is important enough then get exclusivity on stock images or better still hire a photographer and get your own pictures.

Original reddit.com thread
http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/i9g6r/is_that_the_lion_of_the_next_mac_os/

Be A Drummer (Book 1 with CD)

After doing the website and branding we were asked to help design Stick-At-It’s new drum teaching book. It was enormous fun to work on as the book incorporates lots of graphics that were created to promote the website. It was exciting to see how well the characters and graphics translated from web to print. Check out their website here: http://stick-at-it.com/

Amazon

The book is now available on amazon.com;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Be-Drummer-Book-1-CD/dp/0956762875

“Kids will have great fun learning the drums with ‘Be a Drummer Book.1′ and at the same time gain a basic understanding of music theory, develop hand eye co-ordination and get to grips with timekeeping and listening skills with our play along songs! Practicing the drums shouldn’t be a chore, so have fun from lesson one.”

Be A Drummer Book 2

We will starting the second book in this series (Be A Drummer Book 2) next week.

Book Launch – City Music, Truro

Sam and I went along to the book launch at City Music in Truro with Tim Senior owner of Stick-At-it.com – one of the staff took our picture, I’m on the left, Tim is in the middle and Sam is on the right.

We have just launched Ian Stringer’s new website for the newest independent gym in Cornwall. They are located at Newham and have a modern and spacious double unit arranged over 2 floors. All the equipment is new as are the enthusiastic and qualified staff.

There is plenty of parking and the instructors offer group and personal classes including; spinning, boxercise and circuits.

Ian came to us with an existing brand and he already had a successful personal training business (that we did the website for many years ago!). He wanted a high impact website that would promote his new business venture.

The gym was opened at Christmas and already has a thriving membership. Visit the website and see what is on offer. See you there! http://www.stringersgym.com