The New Twitter: A Quick Review

It was just recently that I was able to make a first hand review of the new twitter. Out of curiosity on what the new twitter has to offer, I tried it and took some little efforts to compare it against the "old" minimalist design of twitter.

Here is the lay-out of the new twitter: On the left side of the screen, retweets, @mentions, searches, and lists are being positioned side by side just above the timeline. The list of your followers, persons or entities that you are following, your favorite tweets, trending topics,people/entities suggested for you to follow are being placed on the right side of the screen.

Direct messages are now being accessed through the tab link at the topmost part of the screen, alongside home and profile tabs. The search form is now also at the top.The copyright information, privacy policy and other footer-related links are being placed at the bottom of the right pane.

One of the cool features of the new twitter is the display of the  details pane when a tweet is clicked. It displays tweets, replies and retweets in relation to the tweet that was clicked. This pane also provides an enlarged format of the tweeet-- good for those who are still not comfortable reading tweets from the timeline.

Embedding photos and videos directly on twitter became easy as partnerships with photo and video distribution entities were made. The video or photo can be viewed or previewed right in the details pane.

Another good feature of the new twitter is the preview of a tweep's profile, account info, bio and his recent tweets when a tweep's username is clicked.

The twitter team claimed that the new twitter provides an easier, faster and richer experience... and I can't help but to agree. :)

Interactive Web Banners in Corporate Web Pages

Commercial and corporate web sites used to be very clean, no complex design elements, colors are not varied and typography is consistent.These sites are very professional-looking and are really serious in promoting business products and services. They are also serious intargeting people who might be interested in their line of business.

The look and feel of corporate websites must be engaging. The first fold of the page
is very important. It must contain primary information or messages that presents the goal of the site.It must usher the reader to dig more pages on the site and eventually creating a lead.

sample web banner

It is with this reason that the design of web banners is essentially important. The message must be clearly expressed in the banner. The typography that outlines the tagline must be easy to read. It must also be positioned in the area that is not cluttered with many colors or jungled by other design elements.

Before, it is already enough for websites to have just a static banner. Logo, few characters for the tagline, a picture of a product,corporate background image, blend of colors and other design elements. Not even clickable banners. It was the advent of flash banners that websites got additional "coolness" and better look and feel. Animated text and images, all formed to persuade, to introduce new services and products, to present a glimpse of what the visitor is searching. Some web banners today are powered by javascript. They are in the form of sliders or mini-galleries. Some are automatically scrolling under preset time, others need users' action to get visible. These interactive web banners are usually linked to some pages of the site--providing the user some kind of navigaton of site exploration.

But not all corporate websites need the interactive banner kind. It really depends on the overall look and feel of the site and the scope of content. Interactive banners can be an option to a website with many related pages. The interactive design must not override also the main message of the banner; there must be enough time for every transition so that the reader can scan the text and can have the time to click it.It is not all bout coolness. What is important is good usability.

A Quick Look on HTML Email Design

Designing for browser indeed requires a different approach of execution compared to designing for inbox. HTML email design necessitates the use of old-fashioned table-based layout for it to display across different email clients. Many CSS styles are not well supported and if any style is supported, it is imperative to place it inline with HTML tags.

Some designers even regarded designing HTML email as more tedious and more painful to the ass than working with web pages for browser display. As stated, designing HTML email involves layout with the use of tables and nested tables and the process is like creating web pages during  the 90s. If testing a web page into different browsers and their different versions makes you scratch your head, testing an email newsletter into different email clients and their various versions could make you lose hair. Imagine the number of email clients in existence today, and the version of each also render differences in the display of an HTML email. In addition, some newer versions of email clients even have poorer support for CSS.

sample html email newletter 

Email marketing is still a very effective way of promoting products over the net. It is still the preferred method of presenting product offers and sales invite by some marketers. And the effectiveness of the campaign depends, for the most part, on the presentation, reliability, and attractiveness of the newsletter. And those attributes should be carefully considered during the design process.

HTML emails are here to stay. Their importance in internet marketing arena cannot be understated. And as to their design, rules are to be strictly followed to keep the structure intact and more presentable. And designers can only hope that one day, the process of creating HTML emails can be more forgiving, with the support for newer web technology by the different email clients.