March, 2009 archive
The real crisis? We stopped being wise
Mar
24
2009
Barry Schwartz gives a remarkable talk that puts today’s economic crises in stark relief and gives a unique insight into the reasons how it happened.
Compulsive viewing for anyone running a business. Just plain interesting for anyone trying to make sense of what’s going wrong in the world.
Tags: Barry Schwartz
Posted in marketing | Comments
Gordon Brown’s internet marketing machine
Mar
23
2009
Gordon Brown and the labour marketing machine have embraced the web in an effort to reach and engage with a wider audience.
“We’re listening.”
Taking notes from established business marketing techniques, they have a photo gallery on flickr, videos on YouTube, some particularly dull posts on Twitter and neglected facebook account.
Unfortunately, one of the primary strengths of the internet and social networking, is the interaction with your audience - a fact that seems to have been overlooked.
You can’t even send an email.
On 10 Downing Street’s contact page there is the following, succinct, explanation in plain English:
“Email Number 10 - We have decided at this time that it is important to take another look at the Email Number 10 service to ensure that it meets the same high standards as the other content and communication measures that the website delivers. Unfortunately, this means that we will be unable to replace the service as quickly as we had hoped, but we aim to have it up and running as soon as possible. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.”
Even the smallest sites we’ve built for a couple of hundred quid have email. How come the Goverenment can’t manage it?
Ah, that will be because they need to “ensure that it meets the same high standards as the other content and communication measures that the website delivers.”
Accessibility Standards
This Government has also brought in legislation that all commercial websites should comply with standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
Number 10 has an Accessibility page which covers all the correct guidelines they should be following - but they aren’t.
1. Number 10 says: it complies with W3C 1.0 Transitional Guidelines. This standard is low and 10 years out of date, and still it fails on 5 points.
2. Number 10 says: it complies with WAI AA. Again, a lower standard than Triple A and still it fails on numerous points.
3. Number 10 says: “all images on this site are accompanied by a brief alternative text which describes the image or its function as appropriate.” Some, maybe 40% have.
4. Number 10 says: you can increase text size and tells you how to do it. Unfortunately, that’s quite out of date and doesn’t apply to 75% of visitors.
5. Access Keys are one of the most basic forms of accessibility you can give a site, so people with mobility problems can navigate without a mouse - this site doesn’t have them.
No wonder this Government isn’t enforcing the legislation they introduced to make websites accessible for all.
Most of Northstar’s websites comply with all of the above standards, not just the home pages, but every page. If we didn’t, we certainly wouldn’t post an Acccessibility page and lie about what we were doing.
Tags: email, gordon brown, internet marketing
Posted in marketing, seo | Comments
German Coast Guard
Mar
19
2009
Other videos you might like:
- VW Bomber - Volkswagen denied this controversial viral
- Dynamite surfing - Saatchi & Saatchi’s viral for Quicksilver
Physiotherapist logo design
Mar
17
2009
The Spine Courses approached Northstar to provide a logo, and website domain registration and hosting.
Steven Young, a Consultant Physiotherapist who specializes in spinal disorders, runs a series of courses throughout the UK for senior, clinical specialist and extended scope physiotherapists.
The first objective was create a company name which had an available domain - something more easy on the eye than The Spine Courses.
From a shortlist of eight names, logos and domains - Spine UK was chosen.
The font is Myriad Pro - clean, modern and approachable (the same font that Apple use). The colour is #2A9509 - fresh and medical, without being clinical and cold.
The trick was to re-draw the p with an extended descender to represent the brain and spinal cord.
Most people won’t see that, but it’s a subtlety that’s there to reward those for those who look hard enough. For everyone else, it’s just a professional looking logo. The sort of logo you would expect from a company you could trust.
Tags: logo design
Posted in marketing | Comments
VW bomber - Viral video
Mar
16
2009
Volkswagen became the focus of worldwide attention within days of the release this viral video.
The video shows a middle eastern man jumping into a car, and pulling up outside a busy restaurant before blowing himself up - leaving the car intact. Then the slogan, “Polo: small but tough”, appears.
Volkswagen said it was outraged by the spoof advert, which became the fifth most talked about item on internet weblogs.
The production values, to me look enormous. There is now way this wasn’t condoned and paid for by someone with substantial resources.
Still, it’s a great commercial. The likes we don’t see on TV these days.
“Volkswagen UK and its agencies strenuously deny that they have any involvement in the creation of a viral advertisement.”
Tags: viral advertising, viral marketing, vw
Posted in movies | Comments
Sunday 6am
Mar
15
2009
Had an overnight stay in Sandsend, a few miles north of Whitby.
The Porthole is a joy. A self contained apartment where you can lie on the bed and view the sea between your feet.
This was the view from the balcony at 6am:
Near the horizon you can see a fishing boat leaving port, and the abbey ruins made famous by the novel: Count Dracula.
Tags: sandsend, the porthole, whitby
Posted in personal | Comments
Humorous tee shirts for geeks
Mar
02
2009
Geeks. Nerds. Egg heads.
These are just a few aspersions cast upon sad programmers who wrestle through the night with slippery code, to create the stuff we use everyday; such as Facebook, Google and Firefox.
However, now that a chosen few are appearing on the cover of Time magazine, driving Ferrari’s and have enough loose change to buy a small country, such as Belgium – geeks are becoming the new cool.
But there are some things that money can’t buy - such as a sense of humour.
Happy Webbies is a shop selling tee shirts with hip cartoon caricatures of some of the most brilliant minds on the web and their most memorable, rib tickling lines.
It’s a geek thing LOL.
“My other browser is a Camino” John Hicks
“You obviously can’t draw, let me show you” Veerle Pieters
“You’re all a bunch of users” Jacob Nielsen
“Your CSS may be bulletproof, but your style still sucks” Dan Cederholm
You can buy your 100% cotton tee, with a design of your choice from Happy Webbies for only $20 - and if you think that is too steep you can download a desktop wallpaper for free.