They chose not to allow the page to feel like one LONG straight line, but, instead, guide the user through in a thoughtful journey—which includes visual rest stops along the way.

FIRST PART: Scrolling Pages

There’s been a trend in websites that embraces the scrolling page.

I’ll give you some history as I perceive it: there were a lot of people against scrolling pages for quite some time, using such notable phrases as above the fold. Anything below the fold the user had to scroll down to see and so people thought content in that space would be perceived as less important. There was another side to this though. At the same time designers were avoiding content going below the fold they were also avoiding clicks. Common knowledge is —that the more clicks needed through any site, the more people get lost. Users drop off the site in large numbers with each click.

Long sites are being embraced now though! Perhaps this is a result of problem-solving the click issue, but it may be as simple as stating that it’s FUN to be unique! Who doesn’t want their site to stand out? And here’s the exciting part, some of the designs that have emerged from this trend are really creative in the way they bring the user through the long pages. They chose not to allow the page to feel like one LONG straight line, but, instead, guide the user through in a thoughtful journey—which includes visual rest stops along the way.

Here are some screenshots of sites that we appreciate:

SECOND PART: Immersion

For a designer to create an immersive experience it takes understanding the client and project—goals, audience, personality, tone, restrictions, etc. It also takes a great deal of adventure and experimentation to get to that perfect solution. Some of the solutions use artistic videos to pull the user into the mood and tone of the business—capturing and then imparting the feel of the business the site stands in for. Still other sites use interactive experiences to allow the user to navigate through the virtual space in ways fully symbolic of the business itself. It may be hard to explain, but you know when you’ve been immersed in an experience/journey and it’s distinctly different from the average site.

Here is a screenshot of a site that takes the user on an immersive journey by way of video:

Check out the Savoy site to see the video!

From us here at openbox9 to you, congrats on getting through another year!

Congrats on making so many improvements in the way you see the world, treat others, treat yourself, and well, just congrats on becoming a better person! We think you’re pretty awesome, and while we understand that need to question yourself and make plans to improve with every year that you are blessed to be given, we’d also like to reward you with the challenge to Enjoy the Process. After all, you only have one life, but we grow with every moment we’re given. Bask in your accomplishments for a moment!

Blessings and peace to you this New Year!

Before you begin writing your RFP, its essential to have done some research into your needs. About.com has a good example, “Don’t issue an RFP for a machine that can produce 1500 widgets per hour when you have never sold more than 25 a month.”

Its appropriate to distinguish between the things you will expect will be done (needs) and things you’d like done (wants). For instance, its acceptable to write that the chosen company will design, develop, and launch an fundraising site and may travel to present the final product to the board. It’s your job to distinguish between necessities and elective responsibilities in the RFP, so give it thought.

Know your budgetary limitations, desired timeline, and the quality you’re expecting. The old saying is you can only choose 2 of those three – know which two are most important to the success of the project.

Writing the RFP

Now that you’ve got a good hold on your needs, wants, and restrictions you can begin to organize and write your RFP. Below, we’ve listed out the main components that you’ll most likely want to include.

1. About Us Section

This is usually a paragraph describing your organization; it should include its mission, size, history, primary business objectives, and current URL (for more information or as a reference in itself).

2. Brief Project Description (Statement of Need)

This can be a paragraph describing your current relevant products/services, etc. If you’re requesting a Web site, be sure to specify your current site situation, and overview of the project. Explain the motivation for this project (ie. what’s prompting the project starting at this time), key audience information, and final delivery date requirements (for the product or service).

3. Requirements

Every project has parameters that need to be worked within, be clear about everything known such as branding guidelines; technical specifications; printing budgets; approval process; and many more only known to your group.

4. Define Roles

Will you be passing this project over fully to the chosen design firm? Note in the RFP if they are expected to establish and maintain the timetable, hold your company accountable for certain resources, etc. This is something that can be easily overlooked, but—if clarified before the project begins—can make accountability and delivery smooth sailing.

5. Proposal Requirements

What do you want to know about the companies that are bidding for this project?  Too many RFP’s are created from boilerplates that ask many questions that end up not being pertinent to how you will evaluate the design studio. Take time to list what criteria you will evaluate on so you are matching up the strengths of your team with the strengths of that firm’s. Questions can be: company history, links, work samples / case studies, methods, process, references, and I think the most important one is who will be leading the project and the team they’ll assemble. Many times, the design company has an account executive write the proposal but the awarded project gets handed to someone else to manage later — find out as much as you can about the team responsible for your project.

Note: Most design studios have spent an incredible amount of time developing processes and procedures to provide a high quality of ideas while maintaining efficiencies. Rigid requirements in a RFP may result in studios not replying to RFPs or an increase in the cost.

6. Proposal Deadline and Contact Information

Be clear about the cutoff point and the means for the applicants to submit their proposals. You can specify “no calls,” give a specific number or email address for questions that may pop up, and can designate different contacts for questions and final proposals that are submitted.

TIP

An applicant’s ability to submit their proposal to the guidelines that you’ve expressed can be a good indicator of their merit as a partner in the project.

Sending It Out

It’s a digital world. You can use postage and mail your RFP to companies that you think might be a good fit for the project, but you should also consider posting it online to broaden the spectrum of bidders or sending out an email to a company mailing list.

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I invite you to also view our portfolio page to see what we’ve accomplished for our clients. Openbox9 is currently accepting RFPs.

Once you’ve proofread you’ll need to clearly indicate the changes that need to be made, that much is obvious. Proofreading marks are devices that specify needed corrections on draft documents. We know what you’re likely to think, most of the work we do is now done digitally, so how is this relevant?

Well, if you’re like many of our clients, printing out documents in order to make notes is still a very common practice and for good reason. We shouldn’t rely completely on what we see on screen. Especially for materials that will be printed, seeing the draft documents printed out will give you a better idea of the visibility and clarity of the text so that you can make proper requests for edits.

For your free use, we’ve attached a proofreading mark cheat sheet. There’s no need to memorize dozens of marks used in proofreading. If you keep our sheet handy you’ll become quickly familiar with regularly used symbols.

Enjoy!

Click to Download the Proofreading Mark Cheat Sheet

Where do those keywords come from and who defines them anyways?

You do. So, lets take a step back in order to take a step forward.

The evolution of the Internet and the birth and popularity of the search engine has changed the game a bit, but keywords have actually been around a lot longer. When your nonprofit was just starting, it had to define its mission, objectives, audience, etc. This is when keywords were formally documented or like most, a barrage of meetings where words rained down. Either way keywords were a foundational part of your brand in the beginning and in all your communication efforts.

Some Tips on developing keywords for your new organization or a refreshment for your existing brand:

• Write a list of words you want your audience to associate with your nonprofit
  • Break down your audience types to have more specific results (IE: donors, volunteers, sponsors, partners, policyholders, etc)

• Describe what your nonprofit does in a few sentences, then take out all extraneous words (the, of, you, and by) and take out conjunctions
  • If words you’re left with in this exercise aren’t in line with how you want your audience to view your nonprofit then you have a problem!
• Repeat the last step with the mission statement of your competitor
  • Remove what’s not in line with your nonprofit’s goals
  • Put these results in your back pocket.
• Synonyms – off to the side list out like-minded words

Before the Internet, keywords were the ones that stuck after a commercial, advertisement, or discussion about a brand (non-profit or for-profit) and were often a part of a tagline. Once your keywords are developed they should appear often in all appropriate communications to build the strength of your brand. Your internal and external communications, casual and professional office communications should be in the habit of using various keywords to the point where it’s automatic and essential. It’s like a mantra for your organization, which has the power to encourage your nonprofit to always reach for its goals and in turn constantly remind your audience (and online users) what you’re about.

Stepping up to the Internet.

Once keywords are built into your whole brand, strengthening it, you’re part of the way to having accurate and high-ranking search results on the web.

Some Tips on using keywords to strengthen your nonprofit’s search engine stats:

• Include keywords in your main page headers
  • The main navigation can say “Volunteer,” but the landing page for the section will be much more informative and useful if it is reinforced with a keyword (IE: “Volunteer to Protect Wildlife”).
• Include keywords in your cross-promotional links
  • Your organization might describe an opportunity to donate to help a specific cause in an internal page with a call to action “donate now” which takes the user to a specific donation page. If you want someone that hasn’t found that page, and hasn’t found that link to find that specific donation page through search engine searches (who wouldn’t?!) then its helpful for that link to read something more like: “Donate to Earthquake Victims Now”
• Ad descriptive captions with keywords to charts, images, and graphics
• Focus on search phrases, not single keywords, and put your location in your text (“our California office” not “our office”) to help you get found in local searches.
• Be sure you have a unique, keyword focused Title tag on every page of your site. And, if you must have the name of your organization in it, put it at the end.
• Content freshness can help improve your rankings and adds relevancy. Add new, useful content to your pages on a regular basis.
• And much much more…

We at openbox9 enjoy helping think through these critical strategies, so if you’d like to talk to us about this more just give us a call, email us, or respond below to start a dialogue.

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I invite you to also view our services page to see our current offerings.

Easter is the season known for jellybeans, painted eggs, bunnies and chocolate. We’ve found that churches however have, and rightly so, a distinguished sensitivity to these secular images that are the holiday’s politically correct and mass-produced identity. Sure, the mass-public still possesses an idea of where the holiday originally came from but its become clear to some and a deep-seated fear for others that this might not be where the future takes Easter.

Churches who would like to appeal to their secular counterparts while maintaining the values and meaning of the holiday’s religious tradition (the word “tradition” doesn’t really cut it here), have found themselves at a crossroad. There exists a tension around this issue that can bring about fruitful conversation and understanding, but there also exists a tension that can subtract from the key message of hope.

So, is a painted egg a shared image between a secular and Christian community, or is it a watered down symbol of Easter to church members? Can a bunny or painted egg be images shared by both communities? Should Christians lay co-rights these images?

Finding Balance

Lets admit that many churches struggle to find the right balance between these tensions and some just throw in the towel. It takes more than bravery and moxie to try and tackle this problem.

As Christian marketers at openbox9, the goal of our Easter promotions is to appeal to the churchgoer and general community alike to attend an Easter celebration. What better way than to use common ground imagery with a direct Gospel message attached? It’s true, an egg or bunny can be a trite scene, but it’s up to us to refresh it and connect the two communities.

Our Unique Visual Bunny Trail

This year when we shared a new Easter egg design with the client and the pastor chose to share it on his Facebook page. The outcome was a barrage of responses (80+) some being positive but others displaying disapproval for its “church-lite” approach or “surrendering to a commercialized world.” Mature Christians love the deep symbolic messages and images but it’s a foreign language to non-Christians wanting to learn about Easter. We chose to suggest to this audience that church-lite is the more appropriate thing to display if the effort is to make Easter inviting to those who don’t yet understand church-heavy.

Last year we witnessed openness from a church that allowed us to use the fame bunny. That client took the humility and patience (them, not us) to discuss the implications of using neutral images within a faith-based group of members as the questions came. Whatever the chosen solution to the problem was—whichever design direction they chose—started a dialogue about the issue within their congregation, putting some punctuation on the subject-at-hand.

For ourselves, we choose to bring the bunny into the story of Easter by using it as a prop to speak of sacrifice, being fed and resurrection. Yes, having rabbit for an Easter meal is odd but no more odd than hoping a large man in red from the North Pole sneaks into you house while you sleep on Christmas Eve.

Challenge the Concerns

So, no matter your stance on the subject, the discussion can be fruitful. It’s sometimes a matter of how and when we present the conversation-starters. At openbox9, we thrive in the challenge of helping our clients meet these challenges—and sometimes—embrace the issues that arise. Ask us how we can help you in an out-of-the box, openbox9 way.






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I also invite you to review our portfolio to see our other design solutions.

• To view Easter branding we created for Parkside Church click here or here.
• To view print work we created for another church click here.