Several factors are motivating these changes. WordPress, the platform I’ve used to build my websites and that I use for my web development clients, has recently released version 3.0 which makes having multiple sites managed from one WordPress installation possible and easy. Explaining all the things I do as professional services is tricky and seems to need an even more visual approach. The process of doing something is the best way to learn how something works. These are just three of the motivations for making these changes. Therefore, one of the first things to change, at least temporarily, is the Theme I’m using for this site. You may recognize it as TwentyTen, the newest and most powerful default WordPress Theme that now comes with each installation.

As the infrastructure of my websites becomes consolidated and streamlined, you’ll see the Theme or Themes for each site be designed to express what I’m trying to do with each.

Please stay tuned.

Billboards used to be a wonderful opportunity to express oneself large! Now they seem like the red-headed-stepchildren of the Web 2.0 age; they’re barely remembered and when they are they’re clearly copied and pasted. The result is layouts that, even though they may measure 30″ x 70″ are unreadable.

There’s a great example on 101 heading north in the heart of San Francisco. It’s on one of those rooftops in the design showcase area of Townsend. It’s a Stella Artois billboard and the concept is a metrosexual man and a glamourous runway model/socialite are sitting face-to-face at a small (restaurant?) table in a white photo studio (in other words, they’re in a limbo world of white, but you get the picture).

He’s gazing lovingly at her, or something, and she’s holding a glass of Stella Artois.

The headline,… wait for it…, is… illegible. Why? Because it’s so damn small!

If you’re a passenger, not driving, and crane your neck to follow the board as you pass it, it reads “A thing of beauty” (or something like that). By the way, this is not good advertising because I remembered it and I’m writing about it.

The concept is lame. As my advertising teacher used to say, it’s a horse-laugh. It’s a guffaw concept. “Oh, I get it! He’s gazing at the beer!!!” Second, it takes such a straight-ahead approach to the concept, including a clearly gorgeous woman on the opposite end of the interaction, that there’s no surprise.

The ad would be markedly better if they had posed an ancient “bag lady,” holding the beer, opposite the metrosexual dude with the same headline. Then at least there would be some conceptual dissonance and interest.

But it’s still an easy concept in that it ultimately only says that “Stella Artois is good!” Duh!

So, it doesn’t help that you can’t read it.

I have lots of thoughts as to why art directors can’t art direct billboards nowadays, the most obvious being that they’re designing them on their iPods at Burning Man. But that’s it for now.

Advertising is not about selling. Advertising is the process of creating communication pieces that persuade a target audience to have a new understanding and appreciation for a product, service, company or cause.

Graphic design is the process of solving problems (design) that are manifested in 2-dimensions, otherwise known as print. Clearly, graphic design has transcended the print medium to encompass many media, including film and video, the internet, computer application interfaces, packaging and so on.

AnAdGuy does all of these and to see samples please visit the Gallery.

These are the services An Ad Guy offers. By taking a more practical approach to your marketing/advertising needs, An Ad Guy can cover just what you need at the moment or all of your needs.

Our scope covers everything that expresses your key message, the words, the visuals, your online presence, your broadcast communications, and the planning for how they all work together.

Whether you need help with just one tiny element of this picture or the whole thing, An Ad Guy is here for you.

Strategy

Those who fail to plan plan to fail. Strategic planning is crucial for any effort your business is about to undertake, small or large. Why? Because strategic planning is the same as aiming. If you’re not careful to aim at your target, or even identify your target, you’re guaranteed to miss. [Read more →]

Web Development

Web development is more than web design. Nowadays, it’s not enough to have a great looking website. It has to be a hub for your e-commerce abilities. If yours is a large company, you may already have this in place. But if yours is a smaller business, putting together an e-commerce site may seem too daunting. It’s not. You can be up and running in a very short amount of time, depending on what you want or need. Just ask. [Read more →]

Production

Technology has made broadcast advertising much more accessible. Whether you need a local radio or TV commercial or a modest corporate video for your next trade show or website, An Ad Guy can produce that for you or even find the right resources for you. We’re good at a lot, but some people are better at very specific things. Part of being smart ad folks means knowing that we don’t have to do everything. [Read more →]

Words

There are a lot of misconceptions about writing for advertising, or copywriting as it’s correctly termed. One of the most prevalent is that long copy is bad, short copy is good. That’s like saying longer pants are better than shorter pants. Isn’t it more important to find what fits? Long or short, copy should get to the point quickly, do so eloquently, and leave you with a clear course of action. At the same time, good copy should build a bond, a relationship, with the reader. After all, they’re your customer. [Read more →]

Design

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, good design is the intelligent use of visual elements to communicate concepts effectively. Those elements can be logos, photographs, typography, or layouts. The layout of a print ad or a web page not only says a lot about your brand, it literally and directly presents your information to your reader, your customer. [Read more →]

The number one problem clients seem to deal with regarding web development is the inability to edit their sites by themselves.

An Ad Guy’s commitment in web development is to provide clients websites that they can edit when and how they see fit. Beyond that, we give them the tools to further promote their websites and drive traffic.

WordPress

To accomplish this An Ad Guy builds all of its websites for clients using the blog publishing application WordPress; you can read more about it here. WordPress is a solid software foundation on top of which a uniquely branded look can be placed while structuring the website as needed and providing clients with a robust content management system that allows them to manage their websites without being dependent on a web designer.

“Form Follows Function”

It’s not enough for you to have a great looking site. Your business must communicate your Key Message clearly. This is true for all of your marketing, but if your website in particular fails at this, it’s as if you’ve invited a bunch of people to a party, but no one’s home.

The main point of websites designed by An Ad Guy stands out first and foremost. What is it? What’s it about? Why should I care? Beyond that, these solutions take the reader or visitor through the next logical steps to achieve your goals. Fundamentally, your Key Message is expressed by every aspect of the design. An Ad Guy’s web designs are clear, bold and always persuasive. Depending on your goal, sometimes they’re complex and at other times they’re very basic. Each project dictates the requirements of the design.

Pricing and Fees

Each web design project is priced individually. Web design is not like brochure design. The constraints of printing force projects to limit themselves to a specific size of paper and a specific number of pages and therefore those fees can be quantified fairly easily. Web design is far more flexible. Some projects can consist of just one page, even if they don’t look that way. The opposite may also be true. Pricing a web design project really requires a thorough discussion with the client to get a better idea of what is needed and wanted. A flat, one price fits all is not realistic and pricing websites per the number of pages also does not make sense.

An Ad Guy has a 3-tier pricing structure for website development. If you’re looking for a “simple one page website” we will most likely talk you into using WordPress as your solution. That’s because the money and time spent on a so-called “simple” static website that you, the client, cannot edit and that is not scalable for your enterprise (which should be growing), would be better spent on a dynamically generated website solution that can grow with your efforts. An Ad Guy can make a 1- or 2-page static website; that’s what the Tier 1 pricing structure is for.

If your business needs something more complex and flexible than a blog publishing platform, then you probably need the features of a bona fide content management system such as Drupal. That would be a Tier 3 pricing structure.

Tier 1 – Per day or hourly rate

Static websites that do not operate from a database, limited number of pages, approximately 1-3. (Hourly rate: $125; Day Rate: $800)

Tier 1 – $3,000 or more

Dynamic websites that operate from a database using the WordPress blog publishing application as a base.

Tier 3 – $6,000 or more

Dynamic websites that operate from a database using the Drupal content management system as a base.

Standards Compliant XHTML/CSS

Since 2005 the field of web design has officially implemented the use of Cascading Style Sheets to determine the look of a website, “the presentational” code. This means that all of the complex and bulky code that used to be needed to make some text regular body copy, some text bold subheads, and columns positioned correctly is now contained in one separate document, a stylesheet. This has made web design not only much more logical, it makes the content of your website more accessible.

If you see the phrase “standards-compliant,” know that it ultimately means “more accessible.” It literally refers to modern browsers (Firefox, Safari) that comply with the same current technical standards. That same compliance also means that your cellphone, PDA, or assistive devices can access the content of your website. That’s because the older version of HTML that included all of that presentational code in every webpage also gets in the way of these devices. In some cases, these devices may be barred from seeing your content and so they can’t access it. But if your website is made “standards-compliant” most likely that means it’s accessible and that means more people can find your business, product, service or message. That is not the case with websites that rely heavily on Flash or other third-party code to achieve their design requirements.

Contact us for a quote today or if you simply have questions about web development and how it relates to you.

—This is the website for my latest client, the law firm of Hardiman | Carroll. They requested that the design developed by their previous web firm be retained while incorporating the rich features that are available through a WordPress installation.

—This is the website for rising musical star, Lucia Comnes. Check out this great review in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Datebook of Lucia’s CD.

—The Albany Music Fund is a non-profit that raises money to support music programs in the Albany Unified School system, ensuring that talented kids are able to compete in national music competitions.

—This is the website An Ad Guy did for The American-Batticaloa Development Fund.

—This design is for holistic health care provider Dr. Katharina Johnson.

—This is a website dedicated to helping gay couples get married in California created by Sheila Kappeler.

—This is the website I re-did for my friend, the wonderfully accomplished commercial photographer, David Fischer.

—This design is for Sheila Kappeler and her writing services.

“Management is doing things right;
leadership is doing the right things.”
  —Peter Drucker

Business plans are the blueprints for a business. There are a handful of basic elements that go into a business plan:

1. the summary;
2. the description of the basic business concept;
3. the description of the company (or the proposed company), the “who is going to make this happen”;
4. an analysis of the market sector or industry the business will operate in;
5. an analysis of the competition;
6. the description of how the product or service will be made and delivered;
7. and the financial projections based on precedents.

There’s a lot of noise out there about business plans, but these are the basic elements found in every one and the good news is that writing a business plan is pretty simple and even exciting. That’s because, like a blueprint, it’s really an opportunity to dream, imagine and define your vision. It is the first manifestation of your business and the cheapest part—since it’s only on paper. If you’re excited about having and running your business, you should be just as excited about writing and completing your business plan.

We can help make your marketing plans, business plans, or creative direction and implementation better, more focused and more effective. If you or your company need any of these things, contact An Ad Guy.

Marketing Plans

When a business has identified the value of its product, the wants and desires of its customer and the key communication it needs to make to that customer to convert them, that is a marketing plan. All you need to do is put it on paper. That is the map that details all of the basic steps the business needs to take to achieve success. Tactics may change—print or broadcast, online or direct mail—but the intention will remain the same, clear and actionable.

Too often, marketing plans are just media plans trumped up to look smarter than they really are. Anyone can spend money and show some results. You can spit on media space and get a response. The goal is to spend money intelligently and achieve the results you want. The goal is to hit the bull’s-eye.

“Management is doing things right;
leadership is doing the right things.”
  —Peter Drucker

Creative Direction

Creative Direction is the process of developing communications—advertising, collateral, etc.—that will express the branding correctly and make that familiar bond stronger, while at the same time guiding all of those creative elements to make sure that the communication really works. It is not a fire and forget sort of process. It’s more akin to shepherding, particularly since the real world will usually surprise you with your results. So, Creative Direction is really a process of aiming, shooting, judging and improving or evolving the message.