Cheymaxim Blog

Don’t be blind

Charl — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:10:24 +0000

Good—now that I have your attention: let’s discuss web development for your non-seeing audience.

Giving the blind an alternative with the alt attribute

What is alt attribute and why is it important anyway?

What wikipedia says:

The alt attribute is used in HTML and XHTML documents to specify alternative text (alt text) that is to be rendered when the element to which it is applied cannot be rendered. It is also used by “screen reader” software so that a person who is listening to the content of a webpage (for instance, a person who is blind) can interact with this element.

“…but my site isn’t targeted for the blind market” — really?

Guess what — your number one target & most important visitor is blind.

Who is your websites most important visitor?

Drum-roll please: Google of course! So next time you feel skimpy prepping your site for the visually impaired—think again.

Angry Birds Space

Charl — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:30:54 +0000

Welcome to the next level:

Exciting news is that Rovio Mobile has released Angry Birds Space — a well-designed extension of the brand, rather than a quick attempt to draw some easy cash from the legions of series fans. Space introduces the new interstellar gravity elements right from the start, and steadily builds on them over the course of the game’s 60+ stages.

Angry Birds Space successfully taps fresh ground while maintaining the series’ winning formula. Game on everyone.

Easy four steps to improve on your website’s accessibility for better SEO.

Charl — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 08:30:13 +0000

What is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps search engines find and rank your site higher than the millions of other sites in response to a search query. SEO thus helps you get traffic from search engines.

Four easy steps you can take to make a immediate difference:

1. CSS vs. JavaScript

Use accessible navigation: avoid JavaScript rollover graphics in menu/navigation items — use plain html with css instead). Reserve JavaScript functionality for other non-menu/navigation DOM elements instead.

2. ALT attributes

Ensure to give all images descriptive naming ALT tags when possible. Use a blank space for irrelevant titles as shown in example code: alt=” “>.

3. Title attributes

Give all hyperlinks descriptive TITLE tags:
title=”Check out our Cupcake Menu!” target=”_self”>Our Menu

4. Sharing is caring

Include social media and share links (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) on all your pages to increase overall traffic.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta released for download

Charl — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:29:57 +0000

Exciting times: Adobe has released a beta version of Photoshop CS6 for users to demo & download! New features includes video editing and background save, with many more. Be warned the new darker interface might scare the faint of hart. Note Bridge CS6 is included.

Download the beta version of Photoshop CS6 here.

Branding Basics – Logo simplicity

cheymaxim — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:03:59 +0000

Having worked on a number of creative corporate identities we have derived a few essential guidelines for developing a corporate identity that will be visually striking and timeless.

A common corporate identity design mistake

There are many poorly designed logos where designers have attempted to capture the business’s entire personality in the logo design leaving it cluttered and far from timeless.

The reason for this common mistake is that the logo is often seen as the as the only canvas for the entire corporate identity design. This approach usually leaves the logo over complicated and difficult to re-produce as well as limiting to work with in marketing collateral.

Basic corporate identity design guidelines to look out for

Cheymaxim’s approach to corporate identity design is certainly a simple one. Someone once said that beyond complexity lies simplicity and it is in this elegant statement’s truth that we have found our forte. When producing an effective corporate identity design we keep the following in mind:

A logo design should be simplistic and elegant, complimentary yet separate from the surrounding corporate identity. This allows the corporate identity look and feel to go through modifications and updates as times change without having to re-design the logo.
Typography selection should be one of the first steps as this will depend on the type of market or customer you are trying to attract.
A logo should be able to still retain all of its character when it is reduced to a simple black and white print.
An effective logo is one that is scalable and still legible when sized down to a thumbnail at the bottom of a website footer.
A logo should be designed as a vector – this ensures the highest quality when reproduced for different mediums. Examples are: Litho print, large format print such as posters and billboards or even new media design.
Lastly and I think one of the most important qualities of a logo is that it should have character and be strikingly unique.

With that said, designing a logo should be a liberating and creative exercise in which you explore new and exciting concepts leaving you proud and eager to share it with the world.

View the Cheymaxim Logo design portfolio.

Designing a brochure that is striking and effective

cheymaxim — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:42:43 +0000

Quality Content

Any effective brochure relies strongly on quality content. When it comes to designing a brochure the most important part is the content and that it communicates effortlessly. The graphic design interpretation should be a natural extension of the content and the message it carries.

Images – A picture should not say a thousand words!

Choosing images to use in a brochure design can be a challenging task. My advice is to steer clear from images that over communicate and instead leave room for interpretation. Especially when you want the copy to rise to the foreground and keep the reader engaged and focused on the information. When working on other advertising materials such as a poster design or book cover design this may not be the case.

The Cover Design

Imagine your brochure on a shelf amongst 50 other brochures. People rarely pause to read each brochure’s cover text. What will catch their attention and filter out the competition is the beauty of contrast! Contrast on the cover as well as a contrast to what is surrounding the brochure is important. There are a number of ways to achieve this – one can use colour, shapes, texture, the perfect image, etc.

Typography – The Forgotten Art

As mentioned earlier, the main focus of an effective brochure should be clear and efficient communication. For the reader to truly focus on the text one must eliminate as many distractions in the layout as possible. This is when a natural flow of information through thoughtful stylized copy becomes invaluable. Beautiful and natural text reads easily. Spending some time on fine-tuning your font-sizes, colours, line spacing, tracking, hyphenation etc. can make a world of a difference to the end product.

A Creative Extension – Finishing

Many designers focus purely on the white canvas in front of them and what they can throw onto it when planning a new brochure design. Force yourself to extend your creativity by using the latest finishing and production methods available like embossing, spot-varnishing, die-cutting, foiling etc.

For effective, creative and strategic brochure design that will prove to be an asset to your business’ advertising, contact us at Cheymaxim to find out how we can assist you.

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