Double Edged Sword.

I am lucky enough to have been in the wonderful field of graphic design since before 'the coming of computers!'. I remember with fondness the first Apple Macs (note the added Macs?) as they arrived with black and white monitors, low quality printers and Aldus PageMaker. Yes, that's right, way back then not only was it not yet InDesign but it wasn't even made my Adobe!

Everything was revolutionised, and I reiterate that I am lucky to have worked both before and after this advent as it gives me a perspective of the previous way of designing things, of paper, pens, letraset and more. Especially I remember the pain that was known as 'casting off'. Back then we would give a rough character count of any text to be used on a brochure or other project, trace out a layout on tracing paper, roughly guestimate how many characters per line by cross referencing in a type book so that we could work out the type size and font. Then it was sent to typesetters to work their dark arts before returning.

Aldus PageMaker changed all that with Lorum Ipsum. It was a god send for the whole studio. We could now design what everproject we liked and fit the text in as we went, even if it wasn't written yet! Design visuals, still prepared by hand from the rough black and white (and eventually colour) could now accurately show text in the correct size and font. It was, and still is, a very useful tool to this effect.

In fact, nowadays, we can use it for more than showing text in prospective print items, it can be used for trial e-mailshots, e-newsletters and websites. Test webpages can be created with the magic that is Lorum Ipsum to give the client an idea of how much text is required and how the final project will look. This can be provided either as a PDF or on a test server well away from the viewing public thus avoiding any chance of looking unprofessional or incomplete.

That is of course the big danger here. It amazes me when I visit websites that have Under Construction notices on them in the first place. In most cases these pages are not temporary and will remain on the site perhaps while the design company and their client iron out some difference or ther, or perhaps until the client realises that the page is not even required at all. However at least an Under Construction notice could give the impression of progress to a website visitor, a page (or two, or in some cases whole sections) filled with Lorum Ipsum must seem bewildering and pointless. I'm sure that this loses websites some visitors and maybe even business.

At Gabriel Design we strive to ensure that any website, or any other internet project, doesn't go live with any form of Under Construction notice, and especially not any Lorum Ipsum. No matter how useful it has been in the original design work.

New Year's Vision

A slightly belated wish for a happy and prosperous 2011 to you all. Despite the doom and gloom peddled by some politicians, certain areas of a media and some business leaders I believe that 2011 has a lot of potential and could be far, far better than they would have us believe.

Of course, as a sole trader, my views wont hold that much sway but I am optimistic for the future and am looking forward to the forthcoming year. I shall be restructuring my collection of internet services; offering more varied options to existing and new customers, making the services more economical and cost effective, and saving all clients money.

I shall also be expanding the new field of advertising and offering advert booking services to all clients old and new branching out from the mainly tourism field from where I launched this branch of my business.

Most importantly, however, I shall be launching a new product which will be an advantage to small businesses and with which I hope to increase my customer base. I shall reveal more on this exciting new product as I near launch date and look forward to sharing it with you.

There are even further plans for 2011 which for now I shall keep under my hat!