Theres yet another design on its way. If you like the current design, you might wonder why. If you dont like it, you’ll know exactly why. If your in the know, you’ll appreciate it has issues.

Ok, so let me stop been cryptic. It was Dec 07 when I realised the old “CV3 design wasnt cutting it anymore. The site had flaws, and was really dated. It didnt have any forms, no easy way of contacting me, so that need sorting.

Between Dec 07 & May 2008 I coded 3 unique designs, and crafted countless PSD’s & alterations that just didnt feel right. It quickly became quite a bane, I think I am my worst client.

Still, There came a week or so where I thought I had looked into everything I needed to, such as seo, copy e.t.c And the site as you know it quickly came together. Perhaps too quickly. After the site was launched, I realised that I can do better than this. I need to move away from the ‘corporate image’ that this current theme has.

This theme isnt very attractive, its not massively user friendly either. Its just mediocre. And I cant do mediocre. So a design is in the works.

This time though, I decided to take a new approach to the whole “Im the web designer, I wile away hours designing in Photoshop (:O) and then starting again from scratch” scenario.

I want to get other people involved as the design evolves. This time, I want to make it as perfect as possible. An impossible task? Ofcourse!! But I want it as near as I can get…. The idea is, that this site will be a framework for growth. The layout will be solid, the design pleasant & different, but hopefully one that will age less quickly. The plan is to keep the newest design for atleast a year with tweaks here and there.

With the new design, I will be updating the blog, both in terms of its design to suit the new style, but also to make it more useful to the people who I guess read it most, freelancers & web designers. I will be posting more often, and better quality stuff.

The new site will be built around the principles of:

- Usability
- Extensibility
- Flexibility
- Simplicity

Anyway, thats enough of my crazed, caffeinated mumblings (note I didnt use rant or ramble, the 2 most overused words on the internet, EVER - after lolcats :P). Where was I?

Oh yes, getting people involved. I’ve posted the first 2 protoypes to Flickr. Please check them out, and let me know what you think. Feel free to email your comments to ben@bengribbin.com, or just post away below.

Heres the links anyway:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bengribbindesign/3098716050/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bengribbindesign/3097880495/in/photostream/

Thanks,

Ben

Hi all, I just thought I do a quick update seen as a lots going on here, and also I haven’t blogged much recently (as a result of my busy-ness (is that a word?))

Firstly, I want to announce some new stuff. I’ve got some design tweaks to make on the site over the next month or so. These are mostly not major, but I want to improve the sites menu, as its rather unconventional. I’m also overhauling the front page to make it more usable and interesting. I’ve also got some ideas and plans for the blog to improve the design, and we’ll be changing the font on the site too. There’s also some bugs and stuff that needs fixing, as well some more features and content I want to add. So keep an eye out for those.

There’s also my lovely clients. I’ve been busy with all of you lately, and I really want to heartily thank you for all your support and projects, its been super

A Lot of people are asking how Twigbook is coming along. Answer: Slowly. Its behind, I mean WAY behind, but still on track for release next year hopefully, despite my original target of Sept this year. Still, it allows more time for getting more sites in e.t.c

I’ve got a few other things on, like a Freelancers guide to Passive income, but more on that in another post. Anyway, I will try get back into the habit of posting more regularly, its great to sit down and just write.

Speak to tha soon

You may not know this, but I love cssmania.com

Whenever I get to the office, in the early hours, the first thing I do is check css mania, without fail. This site has got to be one of the best and most popular CSS galleries around, and I love it to bits. And, they featured the site today, how cool is that?

Thanks guys at CSSMANIA.COM

Sometimes we get stuck. Lets face it, we are all mere human, and can only work accordingly. From time to time, we can sit down raring to do work, but it just won’t come out. As creative’s can get a creative block, regardless of whether you are a writer, photographer or designer.

Ever had the feeling or ability to sit down and just excel at what you do? The articles write themselves, the designs are so easy to craft and look brill. That is when our brain is in super productivity mode, a combination of the right amount of creative ability and skill. These merge to create a person who is on top form and cant seem to do wrong…

Until, one day, you walk into your office, Happy as Larry. You turn the light on, flick the PC (or Mac) switch, and grab a coffee. And then… nothing. You write a paragraph. It makes no sense. You hit the Delete button furiously. Several rewrites follow. Or, you mock up a new layout. Nothing looks right. It doesn’t seem to gel, the colors, the layout, nothing at all! You scramble furiously through layers and styles in Photoshop (or Fireworks ). Where did it all go wrong?

If I could tell you the answer to that, I would either be very clever (and likely hold a degree in braino-physcology) or would never encounter this issue myself. But I do. I cant tell you how to avoid it all together, but I can tell you how to prevent it, and what steps to take if you suddenly come down with a case of the Brain Blocks, or as I like to refer to it, Brain Block Syndrome [BBS]

1. Read it aloud

If you blog a lot, perhaps sometimes lengthy articles, you may notice that you can get writers block. A good method to combat CBBS (Creative Brain Block Syndrome) would be to print out whatever you have, turn off the PC (or Mac) and get comfy with a cup of coffee (or tea) and read what you’ve written. Try to evaluate it honestly, to make sure it makes sense, and that it isn’t utter drivel. When you read things aloud, you quickly spot any grammatical or logical errors, and get a better feel for the flow of the blog post (or article e.t.c). Likewise, copywriters and pro-writers can still find reading aloud useful, even in a world of computers and electrics.

2. Step away with the computer

If you own a laptop computer, then get out of your house / office / workplace. A change of surroundings can sharpen your focus and inspire you to work (particularly if you go to Starbucks, where’s there’s coffee and Internet access - what a perfect combo). Other places you might go could include: a park, a library or even just into the back garden (yard), where the birds are chirping and you can hear a gentle rustle of leaves. What a great way to work. Take advantage of it.

3. Pull out the paper

That’s right, even in the super techno-computer wizardry age we live in, paper and pen still rule. Working with paper is great, as it allows you to be very creative, and work super quick. You don’t have to bother with formatting as a writer, or 1000’s of layers in Photoshop. Another brilliant ‘feature’ of paper is that you can rip bits off, color it in and stick it to your wall. You can then use your drawings and scribbles as references for your latest design or masterpiece. Combine paper with a scanner / photocopier for the ability to create different color schemes and combos. Highlight bits of a paragraph you don’t like or feel need to be emphasized more. Just you, your brain and your pencil. Now that’s a divine workflow.

4. Have a break, have a Kit Kat

Sometimes you can get a serious case of CBBS. Don’t worry. It might seem the opposite thing to what you feel inclined to do, but have a break. There’s no point sitting trying to work through it if you cannot shake it. Instead, use that time to have a little break. Relax a bit. Grab a biscuit and watch some telly, or have a bath. Try sitting in the garden, going for a walk or having a conversation with a good friend. Don’t fret over it, just take a break. This will help you feel more relaxed, and you’ll find it easier to get the thoughts that are in your head, find them and express them through your chosen medium.

Worrying about it will only make you more stressed, and when we get stressed, the brain becomes tighter and harder unwind. When we are relaxed there is a natural transgression from the brain to paper, or computer.

5. Check up on your peers

It can be fun and a useful productivity tool to check up on your peers. These are the people who work in the same industry as you, and they quite often blog about a lot of great subjects. Catching up with what they are saying & advising could do you the world of good, and will confirm to you how up to date you are.

6. Do something else.

If you’re at work, or simply don’t have much of an option what to do, then do something you can do. That might be to catch up on your emails, process all your outstanding voice mails, or even just tidy your desk. Doing something will give you a boost, and will help you feel as though you’ve achieved something. That way, when you sit down again to do some proper work, you know that is the only thing you have to concentrate on.

Knowing you had a million other things to do could have been the reason you had BBS in the first place. Subconsciously it’s fretting over all the other things there are to do, and causing you to have little creativity. So, finish up anything outstanding, and try again.

If you want to find out more about getting things done, and to find out how to focus your attention, I’d like to suggest the absolutely fantastic book “Getting Things Done: How to Achieve Stress-free Productivity” by David Allen.

7. Do a ‘personal project’

Sometimes certain clients can stifle creativity somewhat. Now, that is never the client’s fault, however some clients require certain specifications to be carried out, which you must adhere to.

So, if your feeling a bit blocked up, create your own personal project. It could be anything. For example, you might:

• Build an application or service to sell
• Create a blog
• Design a personal site
• Write a book
• Create a photo book
• Write a poetry book
• Create an organization or club, for your peers, like a web design meet-up perhaps
• Go to networking events
• Start your own networking events
• Make a pod cast
• Create tutorials / screen casts
• Create a community
• Buy an old car and renovate it
• Take up painting

You can see it can be very diverse. Just something to give your brain a break, or to generate enthusiasm about writing, designing or whatever else it is you might do.

I do you hope you recover quickly from BBS. If you have any ideas you can add to the list, just pop them in the comments, and I’ll edit the post.

1. Espresso

Wow. The Espresso Design has to be one of the best site designs I’ve seen all year. Its so clean, so light and deadly simple, coupled with the effective use of gradients to give a deep and more interest holding design. Not withstanding the super vector cup and great icons. Looks a good app too! Top design lads (and lasses), and this weeks winner

2. Newspond

It was a tough decision, but Newspond more than deserves 2nd place at least. This site really does set the stakes for news and community driven sites, with a very lush and sophisticated theme.Its truly grand, and A top design for our top ten.

3. Q

The brilliant “Q” is next, I love this site, and the typo graphics are second to none. A strong site with a clean color scheme and deserved 3rd place.

4. Present.ly

1 word. Wow. That has to be one of the better designed web apps. So clean, so light, yet its definitely been styled and I love the use of green. Short to the point, just like its review!

5. LogoHolik

This site gets kudos for been inventive with its layout. Its a sort of 2 column square-ish affair, with a paper fold attracting attention to the logo feature and breaking rhythm. A very cool effect, and a superb site. I love it!

6. Doggy Day Care

A truly cracking design. With so much potential to go cheesy and old school on us, this designer has taken a fresh and fun approach to designing a site for this Dog hygiene company. A cool layout I am sure you’ll agree. I like the giant cartoon dog. Very unique

7. Gist

Anyone developing a web app currently will be interested in this one. With so much potential to overwhelm the non-techy, this site has built a cool, and light layout, complimented by some nifty shades of blue. I love the super light menu, and the attention that is given to the slogan in bold. Good design, and worth its 7th place this week.

8. IconEden

What a great site. IconEden sell some amazing quality stock icons, and their site is equally as good. I love the use of a strong green, and the large type-face paragraph near the top, overlayed on a slatey coloured background. Pure Genius, and a well earned number 8 for this weeks roundup.

9. Ronin

This site for the Ronin project / client management site is great. Again, a simple and clean design, using Lucida Grande (which became my favourite font of the week). Giving attention to the screenshot of the app and the sign up button with clever margins, this site has a very subtle and cool design. Nice job

10. 101 Print

Last but for sure not least, we have 101 prints. This site uses a wood texture to create a very warm and cosy feel to the site, with a nice light and bright font. I love this design’s 3 column approach and simplicity, and for that it gets its 10th place. Technically last, but all these sites deserved 1st place if you ask me

How will it work?

Essentially, you join our team on a freelance basis (as and when we need you) but still be free to work on your own projects. We will pay you per project, based upon a pre-agreed figure. We basically want to create a design agency based upon a group of talented freelancers in their respective fields. You will be required to work off site (from home, your own office, wherever you chose) and will need to be all hooked up to the net and respective programs of choice. This way we can have smaller offices, and take on larger amounts of work (to facilitate growth, and pass a saving on to clients)

The design guru

As above we are looking for a talented design professional (working as a freelancer). You love to with the web in XHTML and CSS, and you should know Photoshop like the back of your hand. It is essential you have around 2 - 3 years of working professionally in the web field, or show great talent and vision. You would ideally be a standards and accessibility freak, and create beautiful and clean code. You will need to send us a link to your portfolio or show us some of the sites you have worked on. You’ll be working on our clients projects, as well as future projects of the company.

The code junky

We could really do with a few skilled and passionate developers. Your chosen language should be PHP or RoR (ok, technically a framework, but still…) and you would ideally know javascript (and frameworks such as jQuery) to a detailed level. If you work using the agile development principle, then that would be super. Developers will be hired to work with clients on bespoke apps and projects, and also to work on future projects of BGM (template independent CMS’, and some other cool apps).

We’ll need to see examples of sites you’ve worked on, and prefferably some working examples.

The Search Marketeer

And last (but by no means least) we have the role of the SEO / SEM consultant. We have a need for freelancers’ in this field who are willing to work with our clients to better their rankings.

Please show us some samples of your work (however you see fit).

Thanks for reading through this job post, and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Hows tha doing?

Great news, our company project (the web inspiration guidebook - twigbook for short) is well under way. We still have a lot more sites to contact about been featured in the book (all painstakingly hand picked and individually emailed) but all in all, I am really happy with the progress been made.

Just this weekend I have created a proposed cover design for the book, which you can view on our flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bengribbindesign/2871394588/ and have gotten up a mock site at http://www.twigbook.com. In fact, its coming along quite nicely.

I am rather proud of the books clean and subtle design, and we already have a few entrees to the book. I just have the small task of emailing around 1000 more sites (I’m counting on perhaps 25% accepting the offer - which is free by the way) and then I can move on with compiling the book. We have allready had some really high profile sites join up and the project is becoming very exciting.

I am hoping to get the book released in Spring 2009, and it should be priced at approximately £30 (Plus P&P). I will keep everyone updated on Twigbook, and any associated news. Keep a look out for a blog and such on the site shortly, until then, you can check back here.

Thanks,

Ben

The results are in

Ok, so as you may or may not know, the site is very fresh (I updated the design yesterday).

Imagine my surprise when I went to Google Analytic today (been a stat junkie) and looked at the stats. Here’s a quick run down, but sufficed to say, its looking good.

Unique visitors are about the same as usual (which isn’t too bad - as I will explain shortly). The reason for that I guess would be as I haven’t really promoted the launch, I wanted to keep it low key till I am 100% with everything.

But the stats that have impressed me is that whilst the uniques are about the same, the bounce rate has dramatically dropped. And I mean by alot. Its dropped from a whopping 86% (the old 1 page launch page was a little too empty perhaps) to 35.7%.

Return visits is up 200%. This is reflected in the fact that visits (not uniques) is up by 40%. Average time on the site is up 10 minutes on average. The good news is no one is exiting via the pricing page tol.

So the stats look positive, I will keep everyone updated keep tuned for some awesome posts this week / next week.

Yes, after over 5 redesigns, and around 12 months after we started, the new look website is up. Not only has it been given a fresh new look, its also had a major content overhaul. We hope that the new site will continue to spread the word about our work, and help move our company forward.

Its so exciting to be able to type this on our new blog area, a place we will use to post all kinds of super content like screen casts and things. And of course we have our new internet tv show, which will be going live this Friday at 12:30 (GMT) -  you can begin submitting questions as soon as I wrap up the shows page (which I will link to here).

Its all happening. There are still a few bugs on the site (and a few things that need a bit of polish - like the contact and services page, and also the work page where we are building a page for each individual project that shows in more detail what we did e.t.c) but all in all I am super happy to have the site online and about 95% complete.

We are looking for freelancers who may be interested in working with us on a contractual / per project basis. This will allow us to continue to grow in 2009 into a company which has a refreshing approach to websites and branding projects. If you are interested in joining, please email me: ben@bengribbin.com. Don’t forget to tell us a little about yourself, show us some of your work, and let us know your contact info

I am sure you agree its alot better than any of our previous sites, in terms of its organization and also features (you can send us quotes online, or download a pre-made worksheet and post it to us, to name but one of the new features). So, here’s to the new site, and hopefully a sign of whats to come.

Just in case you don’t know who I am, I’m Ben (Gribbin) the founder of BGM. I coordinate all the freelancers and work, and also have the role of lead designer here. My main interests include buying too many web development related books on Amazon (I have over 20 now, and have only read a hand few), trying to learn Ruby on Rails, Watching Formula 1 and drinking coffee.

Phew, that turned into a longer post than expected. Must dash, I have a lot of work to do on the site, so keep your eyes peeled on the blog and site for new posts regularly, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with me (ben@bengribbin.com or by phone) if you want to work with us or spot a bug.

Sithee later