Site launch
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- 16 Responses
- aaronbimpson
Just launched our new site, bringing our hosting/design divisions together for first time... it's always been 2 seperate sites.
We know of a few bugs already and will be tweaking over the coming weeks, so any comments welcome.
Ta
- foobaz0
I like it. Clean and well presented. Well done.
Only thing...I don't understand the arrows and close [x] boxes within sections...they don't do anything for me but make me feel like they should...maybe just not implemented yet?
- lambsy0
make the pictures clickable, not just the 'read more' boxes.
- agreed—the same goes for the links under the picsjaylarson
- absolutely.********
- I agree. Will change this.aaronbimpson
- ukit0
Does "find your perfect domain" need to be on every page? It's pretty distracting. If you do, fix the typo - "seperate" isn't a word:)
Another little detail I noticed - the colors in your header are inconsistent. the background color of the center of the header is slightly lighter than the background of the left and right sides. Also the background of the logo image is a little different too.
- acescence0
embedding ICC profiles is only necessary for color-critical applications. here it's just adding to the filesize of all the images for no real advantage, and is possibly the cause of the header logo color mismatch, along with an incorrect color workflow.
- aaronbimpson0
Thanks guys, hold my hands up to any typos - we rushed it up on fri. Also, thanks for the tech info, will sort this out first thing monday.
ukit - no, I suppose the domains search doesn't need to be on every page, but something does... this has just been repeated in order to get the site up, but it's certainly something we'll be changing. Had a few comments in this regard.
Foobaz - the x button will be accompanied with left/right arrows to scroll through more articles and the 'x' will reset them. We haven't finished the JS to scroll through, so removed the arrows until next week, but left the 'x' to balance the grid/design. Naughty, but it's only for a few days.
- fowleryo0
i'm kinda confused why you brought the two sites together?
- airey0
i like it.
- Continuity0
Along the same lines as what ukit pointed out, I think you need to take a step back as a company and really figure out what your brand is - along with your speicalisation.
'Switch Media is an award-winning digital, creative and technical agency specialising in web design, ecommerce, print design and hosting with offices in Liverpool, London and Dublin.'
This statement from your folio main page is too broad. Web design, e-commerce, print design and hosting are four widely different services.
In other words, you're coming off as a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none, which isn't necessarily what clients are looking for. My experience has been they're looking for proper specialisation; which is why many clients will have an ATL/BTL agency, a digital one and a third hosting provider.
Ergo, you should identify what you truly want to be. A creative agency? A digital agency? A hosting provider? Once that's identified, you can then go on to say something like, 'Oh, and by the way, we also do x,y and z.'
One last niggle: you say you're an award-winning shop, but I don't see a page anywhere that details this, except in passing on the About Us page; for any shop that does creative, talking about specifics - as far as awards go, and why you won them (eg: what was the strategy, creative and net results of the award-winning projects) - is pretty mission-critical.
- aaronbimpson0
Cheers for taking the time with your comments.
While I understand where you're coming from - the new web site isn't really a mission statement, or product of a brainstorming session about where we want to take the company - it's representative of the company as it stands.
Each of the areas we cover (hosting included) make up a large proportion of our turnover and as such we've had to make sufficient room on the site for this.
The reason we've merged the sites is it's been a bit of a pain to manage 2 sites/brands when in reality these areas do make up the one company, with crossover departments and the like. It's not 2 separate companies/entities - and having 2 separate sites which appear to imply this is the case has been confusing to clients before.
Whilst you're right about it being unusual for larger hosting companies to offer design, I'm not sure I agree that web design, ecommerce and offline creative are widely different services. Indeed a vast proportion of agencies I know of offer all three.
Take your own personal portfolio for example. Your work ranges from web design, ecommerce and iPhone apps to branding, cd-artwork and stationery design. To offer all of these services, you must believe there's *some* synergy and this is how you've positioned yourself as a sole trader (presumably), whereas we employ 25 people covering a range of areas.
Overall, the copy does need more thought and I think we need to explain the divide between hosting and design within the company - I.e. separate teams etc. Definitely something to think about over the coming week.
Thanks all.
- utopian0
I want to like it, but I feel that it is too busy, much to much going on...
"Less is more" - Fouty
- ********0
Information overload. Not sure why it matters to merge the two divisions.
- Continuity0
Hi Aaron,
Just a few things I'd like to clear up based on your comments:
'While I understand where you're coming from - the new web site isn't really a mission statement, or product of a brainstorming session about where we want to take the company - it's representative of the company as it stands.'
Fair enough. I just have a habit of evangelising web presences as being part of the greater whole of a brand statement, whether it's a campaign, platform, banner or otherwise (in the same way offline advertising is).
'I'm not sure I agree that web design, ecommerce and offline creative are widely different services.'
They are, in that all three require inherently differtent skill sets on both the strategic and creative level. An old-school strategic planner, for example, whose speciality is OOH and TVCs will probably feel rather uncomfortable strategising for the web, and would be facing something of a learning curve to feel at home doing that job. That's on a micro level. The same principle extends itself on a macro level.
As an example, until I came along, all digital handled at a particular agency I worked for some years ago was dealt with by the ATL teams. The results ... well, the results would make anyone cry. Especially Jakob Nielsen. The reason for this is that these teams had no experience in the interactive field, and applied the same strategic and creative logic that they would to, say, a poster or packaging.
At the end of the day, though, an agency's offer is only as strong as its weakest element, and if yours has stacked all of its teams with the best in their respective fields, then you're in good shape.
'Take your own personal portfolio for example. Your work ranges from web design, ecommerce and iPhone apps to branding, cd-artwork and stationery design. To offer all of these services, you must believe there's *some* synergy and this is how you've positioned yourself as a sole trader (presumably)'
This is where I have to say you're wrong.
I am very clear throughout my site that my speciality is digital (the title of the site and my wordmark on each page). My inclusion off offline work is simply to show where I come from, and to show that I have an understanding of other media, and of offline design/art direction.
That said, the vast majority of the work in my folio - including the unpublished pieces I included - are digital. And that is to show where my speciality lies.
Lastly, I'm not a sole trader or freelancer; I'm just some bloke looking for a job, and that's clearly articulated on my contact page, under Additional Information:
'I am currently looking for a full-time permanent art director or creative director role with a dynamic, progressive and innovative integrated (ATL, BTL and TTL) agency, or specialised digital creative agency.'
In any case, I didn't comment on your site to spark a debate, or to attack your agency or your work. It was simply done in the spirit of offering - as one professional to another - insights on what I saw, highlighting what I felt might be potential weaknesses in the presentation and offering possible solutions to same. I'm sorry you felt the need to defend yourself or your agency, that certainly wasn't my intention.
- ETM0
Quick CSS note, add :focus {outline: 0;} to your global styles to get rid of the outline on linked images when you click them (your nav etc)..
- aaronbimpson0
Continuity... apologies if I seemed to come across defensive, totally not my intention. I meant it when I said I understood where you were coming from (generally), but wanted to clarify a few points.
When I said I don't think web design, ecommerce and creative are widely different services, I meant within the scope of an agency. Point taken about your own stuff, I just quickly scanned over the work without reading properly.
Thanks again though.
Cheers ETM for the tip, I'll pass it on tomorrow.
- acrossthesea0
"When I said I don't think web design, ecommerce and creative are widely different services, I meant within the scope of an agency."
I agree with you here, as most interactive agencies offer all of those things. The main difference that throws me off on your site, is how much the hosting is promoted. The "search for your domain name" thing feels very cheap to me and I wouldn't take you seriously as a place that offered great design. Just my 2 cents.
- forcetwelve0
looks good - one thing i noticed - the rounded corners on the right hand side of the buttons are missing.