visit the site

Outcast had a good website, but they were looking for a sleek, sexy redesign that would better appeal to it’s young, on-the-go target market. The new site also needed to incorporate it’s two different products – ad space at Fitness clubs and ad space at Fuel pumps. Tribe brought me in as a lead designer on this project to help provide this cool new look.

Colors to Differentiate

We decided early on on a dark color scheme that would allow the bright colors of Outcast’s branding to really pop off of the screen. We then split the content of the site into 3 sections and differentiated them by color: orange for Outcast, green for Fitness, blue for Fuel. This helped users understand the different parts of the company and know which content they were viewing at all times.

Graphics to Explain

I helped created custom infographics for the landing pages of the different parts of the site. These infographics give a quick overview as to the powerful demographics Outcast brings to the table.

A Gorgeous Finale

Careful attention was paid to the images on the site. As the design utilizes big background images to evoke powerful feelings of strength, youth and mobility we scoured image banks and went through thousands of images to make sure we got photos that spoke directly to the user.

Casey did a great job coding the entire site, providing subtle animations, AJAX loading of blog items, and in general making the site perform as well as we had all hoped. In the end the client was enthused about the redesign that reflected their core audience like a mirror.

Or, read one of these:

1. Indiewire Website Design
2. Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce Website
3. AP College Football Website

visit the site

If you’re looking for the latest news and reviews on all things in the movie industry, IndieWire is one of the heavy-hitters on the web. They provide insight and coverage on everything coming out of Hollywood. They just needed a good website to put it all on. I worked with my friends at Tribe again to design a new IndieWire.com from the ground up.

Depth, depth, depth

The content you can drill down through on this site is just awesome. Not only did we have to design for all of it, we had to make sure visitors wouldn’t get confused while they were moving from story to gallery to review. We spend hours wireframing the best way to tell each section’s story.

Powerful Widgets

On some websites the sidebar widgets are an afterthought, thrown in to take up space. Not so on IndieWire. Each widget throughout the site offers fresh content, relevant links, and standalone info about current movies. We wanted to make sure the user understood this too. Careful consideration was given to make each widget appealing, easy to understand, and part of an integrated whole while it offered it’s own unique message.

A Vast Network

But IndiWire.com isn’t the only part of this project. The site features a huge network of other blogs and sites that feed into IndieWire. One of the problems we solved was unifying all these sites into a more cohesive network. We created a number of corresponding design template so that each network could choose a similar look, while getting options for making their own site unique.

Nominated for a Webby

The new design didn’t go unnoticed. In 2012 IndieWire was nominated for a Webby Award (the Oscars of the web). Go check out in the Media: Movie and Film category!

Or, read one of these:

1. AP College Football Website
2. Value Inn Website
3. e3 Website

The Beginning

I began working with Icicle Creek Center for the Arts in the summer of 2011. At the the company was undergoing major transformation – changing their services, their focus, and even their name. They also brought on a new marketing director to help give Icicle Creek a new image. The first time Lilia and I met we knew we had a big task in front of us, along with the potential to do something really great!

One of the first things we had to do was create diversity among unity. Icicle Creek had multiple branches doing many different things in the arts world. We had to give each of these branches their own flavor while keeping enough consistency throughout to help people recognize they belonged to a whole.

Our latest posters and designs have captured the hearts and attention of the community. We increasingly receive requests from people wondering how they can get one of these posters!

The Posters

Event posters are some of the most noticed marketing pieces Icicle Creek uses in the community. Lilia and I worked together to create a flexible template for the events showcased in the company’s Performance Series. Each poster uses the backdrop of the mountainous environment surrounding the campus to center the place. The posters showcase the performer’s, each in their own mood, colors and style. Overall the style is consistent while retaining individuality for each show.

The Results

The results? An informed public, sell-out events, marketing materials the community wants more of, and one happy client.

Or, read one of these:

1. Community Farm Connections Print Projects
2. Write on the River Poster
3. E3 Brochure

The Magic Mouse from Apple is one of the most beautiful mice I’ve ever seen. But spend a couple hours using it and you’ll see that it’s ergonomics might not be quite up to snuff. There are  discussions here and here about how the Magic mouse might be better with ergonomics. In fact, there is a product created just to fix the ergonomic problem for people who want to continue using such a pretty device.

So, there’s no denying that the Magic mouse is absolutely beautiful, but not necessarily the best at what it is supposed to do. What happened is that Apple traded function for beauty. Undoubtedly, many people buy Apple products simply because they are so beautiful, but the company can’t forget why a user is using something.

The same goes for you and your website. (Or for you designers – how you design your websites.)

Out on the interwebs there are many gorgeous websites that might not function as well as they could for their intended users. They have also traded beauty for purpose. Creating a beautifully designed site is important – it has been shown to increase your sales and the perceived value of your product. But remember the purpose of your site (whether that be to give people information, get them to buy a product, etc
) and keep that purpose first. Make sure that your user doesn’t have a problem doing the what they came to do (more on that in a future post). When building a website it’s vital the “cool factor” and your design do not hinder your user’s experience.

Where have where have you seen examples of beauty taking precedence over functionality?

Or, read one of these:

1. Make Your Premium Services Wow

visit the site

The Apple Country Snowmobile Club was looking for a new website that would serve a few purposes. They wanted a central hub for delivering news to members, a high-ranking site that would allow area snowmobilers to find local information, a place for new members to learn about the Club and signup to be a member, and a connection into their forray into social media. In addition the site needed to be friendly and extremely easy to use.

Instead of trying to add all of that to their old site we decided the ACSC needed to start fresh. I helped them design a minimal site that reflected the beauty of their winter playground and the warmth of the people involved. The site not only met all of their objectives, it exceeded their expectations and now helps them get information to current members and recruit new ones.

Or, read one of these:

1. Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce Website
2. Apple Annie’s Antiques Website
3. Inner Circle Gym Website

visit the website

Kelly Allen of Full Bloom Marketing had an idea. She wanted to build an online resource for brides looking to get married in the beauty of North Central Washington. From this idea was born NCWWeddings.com. Having worked with Apt Design before she knew where to come for a uniquely designed website that delivered for both her and her visitors. After some strategy sessions and wireframing of the entire site, I designed and developed NCWWeddings.com. The site uses subtle design elements of ornamentation, texture and color to match the beauty of North Central Washington and the weddings taking place here.

Kelly now updates the site herself, doing everything from adding new posts from multiple authors to adding new ads from her vendors. Backend analytics provide her with easy-to-digest data about who is visiting her site and what they are doing, and she is also able to provide her advertisers detailed reports about the views and clicks they received on their ads.

Or, read one of these:

1. Gold’s Gym Blog
2. Write on the River Website
3. e3 Logo

In January of 2010 I took a private business retreat that quickly turned into a holistic life retreat. One idea that really came to me as I meditated was the idea “Share Life.” It seemed like such an important epiphany that I added it to my personal mission statement:

• Simplify Life
• Enjoy Life
• Purify Life
• Share Life

And so this Creating Work/Life Balance series ends not with a 50-tip list for arranging your paper clips or a post on how to increase your productivity 1,000-fold, but a simple reminder to spend time with each other.

Because if you think about it aren’t the best parts of your life – the most glorious moments, the minutes filled with ringing laughter, the deepest experiences, the most special and significant seconds – aren’t they the times when you were together with other people?

Coming to this realization has put things into perspective for me. Now, part of achieving a work-life balance is being able to work little enough so that I have time for the important people in my life. Cause that’s what its all about. Spending time in a tea party with my daughter (even when she’s too young to remember it later!) becomes more important than doing more work for work’s sake. Turning off email to spend quality time in conversation with my wife just make sense. Flexing my schedule to help out a friend in the middle of the day becomes no big deal.

Work is nice and work is great, but let’s remember what’s really important at the end of the day, week, and career. The time spent with people is what we should be working for.

Life with a Capital L

And as a Christian sharing life is more than just hanging out with others. Its sharing the Abundant Life that has been freely shared with me. Its about sharing the Truth and Love that is Life and pouring love into other people as a calling in life.

Whether you life by faith or not, we should all take time to share the life we have with those less fortunate than us – either financially, physically or emotionally. Sharing life is just as much about helping others as it is anything else.

Do this Now:

Go make an appointment right now to hang out with someone (in person) that you should spend time with.

Download the Wallpaper:

1900x1200

1024x768

iPhone

Or, read one of these:

1. Separate Work and Life
2. Guest Blog Post on Creating a Healthy Work/Life Balance
3. The 2011 Apt Design Ebook – Creating Work/Life Balance

As a freelance designer I’m immersed in design all day, which works out great because I love design. Hopefully you love your job as well. But sometimes when we love our jobs we tend to want to keep doing them even when we’re not working. So we create hobbies – “personal projects” – that we do for fun oftentimes without getting paid for them. I know many designers, developers, writers and other business owners who spend plenty of unpaid time working on personal projects.

Personal projects are great.

But when they are essentially the same thing you do all day at your job, they don’t really help you become a fuller, more well-rounded person.

And I think that can be a problem.

Being Well-Rounded

Ancient cultures considered you to be a gentleman only if you were well-studied in many areas. Confucious said the “perfect man” is one who “combines the qualities of saint, scholar, and gentleman.” And in the 16th century the Italians said a gentleman needed “attainment in physical (sports and war) intellectual (education, literary and musical accomplishments) and also moral and social mores.” (source)

Being “well-rounded” will look different for each of us, but the whole point of being well rounded stems from the idea of being round, or being a complete circle. If your entire life is pencil-thin focused on one thing (like your job), then your are not filling out the circle of your life. I think a fuller life is one that is balanced. And that means having a variety of interests, hobbies, influences and experiences.

So, get a hobby. And get one that’s not the same thing as your job. In fact, in my opinion the further away your personal hobby is from your daily job the better. Be more than your job, more than just your profession. Basically, don’t let your work be your life. There are a myriad of new things waiting for you out there – go and explore them! You’ll be better for it.

Do This Now:

Similar to the exercise list, make a list of 3-5 new hobbies you’d like to try or new experiences you’d like to have. Then give yourself a month or two to try out each one.

Download the Wallpaper:

1900x1200

1024x768

iPhone

Or, read one of these:

1. Guest Blog Post on Creating a Healthy Work/Life Balance
2. Separate Work and Life
3. Find an Exercise You Love

view the app

Its not every day that you get to work with one of the top companies on the internet to create a brand-new app for the world’s leading smartphone. Working with eBay on their new Motors iPhone app was a dream project. The Shane&Peter team brought me onboard to help create a functional, friendly user experience and a beautiful, memorable design for this new app.

The project started with Shane and I creating wireframed screens and walkthroughs of the entire app – basically thinking through how the user would use and navigate every part of the program. After that was done I turned into lead designer on the project and worked with Ryan to create the look and feel of the entire app. I put together a style that was a throwback to the idea of old baseball cards (one of the themes of the app), while still being very clean and modern. I paired rough textures with clean, sharp fonts and lots of contrast to create one of my most favorite designs I’ve worked.

The app itself is packed with features. You can browse beautiful cars, save specific searches for your car, and even create your ‘garage’ which stores info and pictures about cars you own or want to own. Go ahead and download the app in the App Store, or read Shane&Peter’s announcement of the completed project.

In the end this was a great project for everyone. My client, Shane&Peter, was super happy with the way the design turned out; eBay was delighted with the app we gave them; and dozens of great customer reviews in the App Store show that the target audience is loving this work.

No related posts.

Part of creating the right work/life balance in your life is creating balance in all areas of your life – emotional, spiritual, and physical. This post is just a quick reminder that being physically active is good for you in general, and the best way to be physically active is to find an exercise you love.

There has been immense amounts of research done that proves when people work out regularly they are happier, healthier, less stressed, and have better self-image.* (*And no, I don’t actually have specific sources for this, but everyone knows this is true I think) So why doesn’t everyone just exercise more?

Because for so many people exercising is a horrible experience. But here’s the thing – it doesn’t have to be.

There are an endless variety of ways to get your blood pumping and your body moving. You need to find a way to workout that you enjoy. You need to find what works for you! Only then will you be willing, and even excited, to exercise consistently.

In his great free ebook, Sustainable Fitness, Blair McHaney writes,

You need to feel like there is more to the exercise than just the exercise. You want to be able to look forward to this as much as possible. Here we are looking for two things – fun and peace of mind.

For me the answer is running. I love to run. If I’m ever feeling stressed out after a long day of work a few miles on the trail will unknot all the tightness in my shoulders. Running is a meditation, an escape, a peaceful solitude.

My wife thought I was crazy – how could anyone actually enjoy exercising? She had tried running and working out at the gym and thought of working out only as a negative thing. Then she found swimming. Now she can’t wait to get to the lap pool, and has even cut out other activities she doesn’t enjoy as much so she can have time to swim.

It doesn’t matter what it is – just find the exercise that you love and do it!

Take it Outside

If possible, take your exercise outside. Doing what you love only gets better when you are in nature as well.

When you find the exercise you love you get to reap the rewards of fitness: being happier, healthier, having more energy and being less stressed.

Do this now:

If you already know of an exercise you love commit to doing it 3 times next week. If you don’t have an exercise you love – make a list of 3 you’d like to try and give each one a shot over the next 3 weeks.

Grab the Wallpaper:

1900x1200

1024x768

iPhone

Or, read one of these:

1. Find a Non-Work-Related Hobby
2. The 2011 Apt Design Ebook – Creating Work/Life Balance
3. 1 Simple Way to Love Your Job More