We are having a series of posts dedicated to the many iterations we have gone through, while designing and re-designing our website. Following the inception of Blow Trumpet, as we adapted to changing market requirements, we made it our constant endeavour to maintain design cues that made it possible for our visitors to connect with standard expectations, and create an overall learning experience while they engage with us to benefit from our products and services.
Part 1
We dedicate Part 1 of the series towards values in design that we display through all iterations of design for our website. We strive forward with certain values and principles, and we display them in our digital practices and endeavours. If you are following these posts, you will be able to follow the timelines to the fast happening changes in the digital arena, that enable new businesses and startups to create engaging user experiences, while older organisations can either opportunities with emerging trends, or struggle with ongoing change before they come aboard with a sound strategy to be successful in the new-age digital era.
Minimalistic.
One of the first steps we took towards deciding the design for our own digital presence, is we decided to keep the clutter away with regard to the content we host on our website. Your digital presence can start from very basic pages that talk about who you are, what you want to do, and who are your existing and prospective clients. The next stages would be around placing your products or services for visitors to browse through, and then you can take it further with news and information around what’s happening in the digital space. News and information can be supplemented with critical views, opinions from multiple sources. Apart from this, you can always make space for promotions and affiliations on your website or applications, which can sometimes dilute your message, but in other ways promote the spirit of your larger aim. Monetising can help reduce costs and increase collaboration.
But one has to make clever choices around the end aim that must be achieved. And keep clutter out, so that your website or posts do not confuse visitors. And minimalism helps manage that inherently and easily.
Branding & Logo Design.
Once we were decided about what to do, we brainstormed upon the brand name for our products and services. We knew for sure we want a simple and generic name, that communicates our vision and values precisely. Thus, Blow Trumpet.
We set our foot forward into logo design, and wanted to communicate values that will stand strong for the long run. The ‘W’ stands for values of words, wordmark and wisdom. These can be explained by words standing for communication and content, while the wordmark speaks about intricacy in design philosophy. Wisdom is about a balanced approach towards creating sustainability in communication and providing long-term value for our clients. The 3-pronged approach is reinforced with three valves from a trumpet’s components which when operated skilfully create art & music. Blue has been carefully chosen to highlight serenity, calmness and creativity. It is a symbol of trust and stability, while the oceanic shade highlights limitless potential for exploration and growth.
These subtle cues trigger off surrogate values in a viewer’s mind, and are wrapped in overall minimalism by remaining portions of the logo.
Simplicity.
The minimalistic approach to design aided our decision to maintain simplicity in coding the basic website, as well as choosing from many of the available channels to publicise our message. Implementing complexity requires building in fallbacks and hacks as part of the code to ensure cross-browser compatibility while maintain consistency in user experience. We use a simple content management system that helps us remain visible and scalable.
Share knowledge.
We believe that knowledge is a universal phenomenon. In fact, social media has become insanely popular because people want to create content in order to share their knowledge. And we decided, we will consistently share our knowledge and experience through our platforms, so people can build upon that knowledge or apply it in their business and work.
Sharing is caring.
If you learn something from our website, we smile every time you share it with others. Sharing knowledge openly is a good practice. We provide you with options from popular social networking sites and a simple click is all it takes for you to help spread the message far and wide.
This is the end of Part 1 in the series of “redesigning our website”. If you find it interesting to know more about how we continue to build upon knowledge and integrate it into the design of our website, please continue to Part 2 of the series.
