Web Design & Marketing Blog

Don't Have Money For Photoshop? Don't Worry, We Got You Covered

Written by Estevan Montoya

Category: Blog

As you probably know, we use Adobe Photoshop around here. It has many great features that help with web development and graphic design (which is what it was NOT made for in the beginning). Many people think of Photoshop as a program for graphic design, and had become popular in the design world. Many people do not know that it was intended to be a piece of software that came with your scanner so a user could edit photos in a "digital darkroom."

That being said, this image editing software is well, made to edit photos and images. If that is all your wanting, or if you want some program to create cool graphics, but can't afford $600 for one program, then look no further, we have some alternative places you can go to create great images with out taking out a business loan for a piece of software.

Where Can I Create Nice Graphics Without Going Broke?

Read more: Don't Have Money For Photoshop? Don't Worry, We Got You Covered

7 Things Good Web Development Will Get You That An Amateur Can’t Deliver

Written by Matthew Millet

Category: Blog

Before you decide that your nephew can solve your business' web solutions with Microsoft Front Page, give some serious thought to what separates professional web development from amateur sites.

1. Design Perfection

It is an expectation in the web development industry that a web page will look exactly like the web design down to the last pixel. That may seem unlikely or surprising, but as a web developer I will take screenshots of the design I'm turning into a web page and measure every angle, border, and font to the exact size right down to a single pixel. This is not only what's expected, but demanded of a professional web developer.

I shudder when I see large companies with broken web sites. I'm sure we can all relate to the unpleasant experience of seeing text overflow the box it was supposed to be in, or links overlap each other when we’re considering giving our money to a company. What you are telling your clients when they see those things is that you are not a serious business. You may think it odd that a developer is expected to be pixel perfect, but believe me when I say your visitors don’t want to see a single mistake when considering to give you their business or personal information.

Read more: 7 Things Good Web Development Will Get You That An Amateur Can’t Deliver

What In The World Can I Do With My Own Website?

Written by Estevan Montoya

Category: Blog

I remember being in middle when I truly introduced to the internet. We had an after school program that I stayed at because my mother worked late and the school bus didn't travel across town to my house. This after school program was in the computer lab. So after they made us complete our homework, we had access to the internet. Back then, it was very limited. It wasn't as easy as it is now to make a website. Yet, there was one place that gave people an online voice...GeoCities! I remember my would be "hacker" friend make a website. We all gathered around the workstation and were in AWE of the fact that he had his own personal website. Then all of us went straight back to our workstations and created our own websites. Kinds funny how "cool" we thought we were.

Then over my should a I heard a voice "What Are you DOING?" I thought I was in trouble, but the computer lab teacher had a crude sense of humor and liked to make us think we were in trouble, but not really. I kind mumbled that I was making a website. He then said, "I ought to make one too". After that little encounter, I thought to myself, "He's a teacher, he's not cool enough to have a website. What what it be about?"

Well, people are still able to make a website, even free of charge (with limitations of course).

You maybe thinking to yourself, what I do with a website? Let me give you some ideas that you can make your website for:

Read more: What In The World Can I Do With My Own Website?

Lessons I Learned From Creating An Email Newsletter

Written by Estevan Montoya

Category: Blog

Well, the past few days have been a little stressful over one item....an email newsletter. We have a great relationship with a company as far as their website goes. The owner wanted to send an email blast to all the members of his website (over 100k!). We went to work and created a great looking newsletter. Well, the mail testing came, because we didn't want to send out an email without testing it. That's where we ran into problems. I am going to off of the record here, to the following statement does not exist: I DO NOT LIKE MICROSOFT! Our email newsletter looked great in every email client except for Outlook. We have ran into problems before when designing websites that work on IE, so it was not surprise to me that Outlook would have the problems as well.

To give you a better understanding of our experience, it's kind of like going to a fast food restaurant. You know, the kind where they emphasize fast over food. Just like me, you have probably had times where you looked at your burger and thought "this looks nothing like the picture!". The cheese is half way our. These mustard all over the place. Grease is dripping. You know what I'm talking about. See, the concern was to get the customer something, and not the best thing. Well, that's how I look at Microsoft and their web based programs like IE and Outlook. The client gets "something", but not the best thing. In fact, the email newsletter I created looked better in a FREE web based gmail account than a program people pay for. That's sad, because people are paying for junk.

So, What Did I Learn About Designing An Email Newsletter?
Beware, this will be a little techie...

Read more: Lessons I Learned From Creating An Email Newsletter