Why Websites Still Rule

  app, mobile, mobile app, mobile trends, responsive, web, website      0 comments    Posted on April 24, 2013 by Nick Kessler

In 1999, the first website went live.  You can still see it here.  Fast-forward about two decades, and Wired magazine has declared "The Web Is Dead," stating "one of the most important shifts in the digital world has been the move from the wide-open Web to semiclosed platforms that use the Internet for transport but not the browser for display." The article asserts that internet-accessible apps will supersede the web - essentially, the website is obsolete!

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SexyButton – A Responsive, Universal, HTML Email Button

  coding, css, email, html, mobile, responsive      0 comments    Posted on April 10, 2013 by Darin

Running an email marketing campaign is something that virtually anyone in the advertising, design, or development industry has encountered at some point or another. Let's face it — email marketing is an extremely effective way of sending a message (whether that is a commercial, political, or other) to a large number of people. Just a couple of years ago, US firms alone spent over $1.5 billion on email marketing. However you slice it, it's a powerful marketing tool, so knowing the nuances and tricks to stash in your utility belt for a rainy day will make your campaigns all the more effective.

The tip I'm going to discuss today is how to create that element which is a part of any good marketer's email newsletter: the call-to-action button. Think of all of the newsletters and email blasts that you receive. I'll bet that there's a button of some sort in there. And chances are that said button is prompting you to do something — visit a website, purchase an item, slam your head against the keyboard, etc. That's the purpose of a call-to-action button, to direct your viewer to complete the action you'd like them to do. The best ones will persuade and even command the user to act without thinking. Kind of like The Force. 

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Nick’s First Developer How-To Workshop

  development, how-to, mobile, speaker, workshop      0 comments    Posted on February 14, 2013 by Nick

So I’ve been writing developer how-to guides on the Blueprint blog for a while now. On Tuesday, I instructed my first developer workshop called “How to Build a Mobile iOS App” at the Living Social Headquarters for DC Web Women. This two-hour workshop introduced attendees to key elements needed to build native iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch apps.

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Experimenting with Options for Responsive Wireframing

  mobile, process, responsive, web design      0 comments    Posted on January 29, 2013 by Erin

At Blueprint, we are actively working to revamp our processes to better accommodate our clients' needs for mobile-friendly and responsive web design solutions. It used to be effective to create one wireframe and design comp to show clients what a final, developed homepage would look like. But these days, that approach only goes so far toward helping us plan — and communicate to our clients — how a site layout and design will look and change when viewed on different devices.

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If we can make websites responsive, what about online advertising?

  mobile, online advertising, responsive, web design      0 comments    Posted on October 22, 2012 by Erin

At Blueprint, we design websites, landing pages, print materials, and online ads. With election season upon us, these days we're especially busy with the latter! For any given campaign, we typically design an ad at 300x250 pixels — a standard ad size. Once our client approves it, we resize it to any other required dimensions (commonly, 728x90 and 160x600, but sometimes also 300x50 and even smaller for display on mobile devices). This very manual process takes significant time and has left me wondering, if we can make websites responsive, is there a way we can make advertisements responsive? (for a description about responsive web design, see my earlier post, Blueprint Goes Responsive)

Unfortunately, the answer is not so fast. Some quick research confirmed my suspicions about some of the complications and gave me a sense of where the industry is in making it a common practice. I thought I'd share...

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Wrangling the Retina

  development, images, mobile, responsive, retina      0 comments    Posted on October 3, 2012 by Nick

So as you may know, we have began working with responsive sites. We have been working on making our site responsive whenever we find the free time to do so. Once we eventually finish, I want to write an article explaining the entire development process. In the mean time, I want to take a second to explain, demonstrate and bust a few myths about retina images and the future of images on the web.

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Blueprint Goes Responsive: Part 3

  design, mobile, process, responsive      0 comments    Posted on August 31, 2012 by Erin

Here at Blueprint, things are moving right along with our effort to make our blog and website responsive. In my last post, Blueprint Goes Responsive: Part 2, I talked about our wireframing phase. Since then, we've done a little bit of design to flesh out how the interface would look at our smallest breakpoint, 320px wide. We may or may not do some mock-ups for intermediary breakpoints (TBD once development proceeds).

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Project Management @ Blueprint

  agile, mobile, process, project management      0 comments    Posted on August 27, 2012 by Cameron

We recently hired another team member to help us out through the cycle. After getting through paperwork, setting up his computer, and accounts for email, we spent some time talking about Blueprint’s process and project management methods.

With the shifts underfoot in the web space (mobile, mobile, mobile), we're seeing that our processes and management needs to shift as well. With that in mind, I wanted to talk through Blueprint's process now and what it may look like in the future.

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3 Effective Uses Of Instagram Marketing

  instagram, marketing, media, mobile      0 comments    Posted on August 9, 2012 by Nick

In a world of forever changing social media trends, companies are taking advantage of opportunities to reach their customers in new ways. Instagram's growing population presents a lot of potential for social media branding and outreach.

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Rethinking Mobile Email

  email, email marketing, email templates, mobile, mobile trends, user interface      0 comments    Posted on August 6, 2012 by Amy

We're always on our mobile phones, and 30-40% of the time, that's where we're reading our email.  But reading email on a mobile device can be tough - tiny characters, blocked images, two column layout.  Here's some thoughts on how to adapt email for mobile devices.

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