Please note than Xenonsoft Studios Ltd is no longer trading.
This website will still remain only for the first couple of months next year before it is replaced with something new and exciting.
See you all in the new year!
We have had to move servers due to some technical difficulties.
There are some issues with the website and blog that are in the process of being fixed. Currently, the website can only be viewed by accessing http://xenonsoft.co.uk, this is being looked at and should be fixed soon.
If there is any information you cannot reach on the website, then please send us an email.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
Well after many hours tweaking this and that the site is finally live.
Feel free to check out our ajax domain name search tool or our fledgling blog posts.
We’re interested in hearing your opinions, so please leave a comment in this blog post and we will monitor all your opinions and join in with some friendly chatter :).
Recently a letter dropped through my door. It was just a run of the mill envelope but as I walked past it I couldn’t help but notice the font the address was in, and it got me thinking, is awkward branding better than no branding at all?
It looked something like the below:
Now I didn’t catch the Company name that had sent it, so the branding could be relevant for their target market, but for me, it didn’t seem quite right.
First and foremost, Century Gothic is a nice typeface, but due to it being a default font on most Operating Systems’ it is way overused, so not really the best choice for branding, as after all branding is about standing out and making a mark on your potential clients.
Secondly, it was in italics. Now, italics are used for emphasis, such as at the top of this blog post I asked ‘is awkward branding better than no branding at all?’. But that emphasis is meant to be used in conjunction with a standard, in this case non-italic text, so this use of italics seemed quite irrelevant and pointless to me.
Anyway, my point is, is it best to stand out from the crowd, but for the wrong reasons, or is being the run of the mill business preferable?
I’m interested in hearing your opinions.
As an extension of the recent blog post ‘always doubt’ an early 2007 blog post by Jeff Croft recently caught my eye.
He stated:
“Where web standards and other best practices don’t provide great benefits, find solutions that do.”
For me, that makes total sense. Always strive to abide by standards, not only will it make your job as the designer easier but it will hold the site in good stead for future changes with regards to new browser releases. But; and this is the key; don’t follow them religiously.
Sometimes it can be easier and even a better solution to have inline JavaScript. Does the CSS hack fulfil your brief to the best of your abilities? Are relative font sizes a better solution than absolute?
Well, absolute font sizes will surely be reintroduced as the standard as browsers continue to improve their font resizing aswell as being so much easier to perform maintenance on. Inline JavaScript can sometimes make things less complicated and can in some situations even have preferable loading times. CSS Hacks shouldn’t be overly used, but what if they’re the only solution to the problem?
All I know is we’re here to provide the best solution to the problem, whatever that may be.
Your comments are welcome as always.
Don’t take anything on face value. No, I’m not saying we should go around to the suspicious man next door and attempt to pull off his saggy facial skin, that sort of thing could get nasty. What I’m saying is in the design industry and indeed in many others, much of what you will come across will be standards, and not just the w3 type.
What I’m trying to say is that you should never just agree with the general consensus because it is such but rationally think things through. This may be a simple and well known concept but it is often overlooked.
Is Helvetica really a nice typeface? Or is it only loved because it’s the original and Arial is the rip-off? This design doesn’t work you say? Or is it just that it’s way ahead of the ‘norm’ and could actually put a new spin on the web? Does Times New Roman really suck? Are tables the end of the world?
Often you will come to the exact same consensus as the other 90% did, but at least you will now have a greater understanding of what you think, and that is invaluable.
The underlying message here, is always think for yourself and debate the norm, for that is the only way to truly understand it.
Comments welcome as always.
I was recently enjoying a nice discussion on the DesignForums about where everyone thought the design trends were going. Most people thought along the lines of decoration, furthering web 2.0, effects here there and everywhere. Others thought we would see more serif and yet still others, more organic, ‘green’ designs. I can see their point, but I’m thinking in a slightly different direction.
I envisage a shift in the design community towards a more old school look, taking it back to the early years when design and order on the Internet was struggling with birth pains.
No, I’m not talking about going forgetting all we’ve learned, I’m predicting a movement of more thin width, cram it together, lower the
padding a touch and centre it style designs.
Current Examples:
Design is all about opinion, and I’m interested in hearing yours.