Infographics Inspire Imaginations Instantly [ironically enough, an INFOGRAPHIC]

Now I know the information graphic, or the "infographic" is nothing new to the online world. They've been around for a few years, however I have recently noticed a strong surge of them all across the board. Surely some people gawk and make fun, saying they're too over-simplified; displaying huge charts and graphs, soaringly large fonts and unnecessarily gargantuan vector images.

I say those people are jealous.

Passing on the savings to youuuuuuu!

I crave over-simplicity. I love it, in fact. Show me something with less than 10 words, 1 image, and 2 colors used, (provided it's designed well) and I'll show you the smile on my face. Those are the ads I pay most attention to. Those are the infographics I like. I think the design world is headed in the right direction with it's new found obsession with neo-minimalism. I say less clutter and let's start focusing and honing our abilities and getting down to brass tacks. People are short-attentioned creatures. Look at modern day commercials. Most are whipping information at you along with buzzing lights and noises it's hard to know what's going on. All you know is that by the end of the commercial, you really want to go out and get a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man.

Some of these things are the epitome of great design. Great typography, good use of space, marvelous color palette and a great sense of design style. Some I would no-doubt frame and hang on my wall. So I believe that infographics are a great addition to the ever-growing web world. People need/want information, so why not provide them with it in an interesting manner?

Having never made an Infographic before, here is my attempt at making one. The information I'm showcasing? Infographics, of course...

Click for full screen

Marvelous Typography/Design in the Real World

Being in the graphics area of life, I tend to notice great design that often goes unnoticed. Be it a giant billboard that I pass every day on my way to work. Or a small band sticker placed carelessly (or perhaps carefully?) on a light pole. Or maybe even placed right in front of my face, such as a restaurant menu.

Look at that. Simple and to the point. Beautiful.

This past weekend, the wife and I decided we wanted to go to a diner or cafe in midtown Atlanta after church that we've never been to before. Midtown is filled with great places to eat and shop, so we knew we were in for a treat. Literally, the first place that popped up on our map when we searched for "Restaurant" was the West Egg Cafe. We then chose to look at their website and see if we could find a menu.

Upon visiting their website, I was hooked. I had never been so excited to go out to eat before in my life. Their website was laid out in a very classic, yet modern way. The font choice was stupendous and intriguing. A great web layout with plenty of space to boot. Even the photos around the restaurant were fantastic!

Fantastic photo showcasing the natural light .

When we finally made our arrival around 12:45pm, there was a 45 minute wait, and the building was packed. Vintage style art hung on the walls. A photobooth right as you walk in (which was temporarily busted, unfortunately). Great layout with huge 20(ish?) foot ceilings. Everything was carefully chosen to give a wonderful vibe to any patron to walk in off the street.

The West Egg Cafe obviously either knows what they're doing and designed internally (which is most likely the case), or they hired a great outside consultant to design the whole feel of this restaurant. Everything from the great earthy/vintage colors, to the hand-me-down-but-it-still-works-with-everything-else furniture, and mostly the font selection just works on a whole different level.

Yes, even the stools are awesome.

I never thought I would be so inspired by an eating establishment, but lo and behold, I was. I suggest searching for little hole in the wall places around your neck of the woods, seeing as those house the greatest gems.

For more information about The West Egg Cafe visit their website: www.westeggcafe.com!

Be well,

P.S.
It goes without saying that the food was also out of this world. A definitive 5 out of 5.

The Importance of Being Social (And Good at It): A Random Musing

Perusing the interwebs, blogosphere, and twitterglobe(?) today, I came across several postulates that I felt I should share concerning why a business needs to be active in this social world of ours, and why content, appearance, and overall quality matter.


Web. Not just for Spider-man.
We'll look at basic websites first. When I come across a business' website, it's hard not to throw up certain judgements right away. Does the website look professional? Is their information displayed in a clear, concise manner? How long will I hover on this site before boredom takes over? These are all subconscious questions I ask myself within the first few milliseconds I'm on a website.

We got a promo sheet from a prepress company (to remain nameless) today and I was admiring it before I threw it away. The design was nice. The choice of colors were pleasing to the eye. Photos were great quality and well-composed shots. I was intrigued and was drawn in to look at their website, which was placed neatly at the bottom of their piece.


Oh boy, was I ever underwhelmed. A plain-Jane background under an even plainer-Janer web layout. The graphics from the site were totally inconsistent with the printed piece! I was expecting something of greatness here based on the physical handout! Obviously they put more towards the promo rather than their website. The high-school level layout and overly-simplified buttons ruined the web experience for me.

Sample shot of described website. Blurred and edited for their protection from further scrutiny.

I promptly threw the piece away.


Tweet Your Heart Out

Yes I'll click you. Only if you're deserving.

Next, let us move on to Twitter. I usually allow about 15-20 minutes a day looking on Twitter for interesting people or business to follow. I go through my main list of who I'm following already and see if there are any decent re-tweets. I then follow a said re-tweet and look at that person's page. If I find other tweets worth reading, I'll go ahead and click that little "Follow" button.

Sometimes I'll take a leap of faith and see who Twitter thinks I should be following. Most of the time their suggestions are rubbish. Sometimes they're absolute gold. But I mostly disregard most of who they send my way.

Now on to the importance of having a Twitter page. You want your business to get noticed, right? You want more traffic to your website? Or you're just wanting to be heard? Let me tell you right now a few reasons why I won't follow you:

1. You haven't tweeted in months - I have a 3 month rule. No tweets in 3 months, no follow.
2. You have a low tweet count - Come on. 4 tweets in the past year? No dice.
3. Your following to followers ratio is really off - You follow over 1,000 folks, but only 7 follow you? Count me out.
4. You use a generic Twitter supplied background - Or you don't even try to be different. I want to follow interesting people. Not lame sheep. 

In Conclusion...

Now, I'm not trying to sound pretentious or elitist, but these are the facts people. In order to engage and be noticed in the ever-swelling world online you have to give people a reason to look at your stuff! It's simple when you think about it. We are sensory-prone creatures. If it's not pleasing to look at first and foremost, be prepared to get skipped over.

Mmmm?

I know our Twitter page isn't the best, our tweets are always great, and our website isn't too flashy, but at least we do our best. In the immortal words of Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."

Be well.