Varick Design

Creative Attractive Engaging Websites

PayPal hires Apple VP of Global Design

Sarah Brody, who is the VP of Global Design at Apple and worked on the designs of the original Iphone, Ipod Nano and packaging has been hired by Paypal. Hopefully, she will be able to redesign the awful paypal buy now buttons.
Pay Pal Buttons Ugly

Secrets of the Drunken Monkey Webmaster

As we start posting again I want to introduce a new series in which we discuss secrets of a webmaster. One of my friends claims to be the first certified webmaster in upstate NY. Every time he told me I would chuckle and then wonder – what the heck is a webmaster? And who came up with that name? Could this be due to the heavy influence of Dungeons & Dragons on the early adopters of the internet? Since the title of webmaster is as cool as the title of headmaster of Hogwarts – I added Drunken Monkey to the title cause any time you add a Kung Fu element to something uncool it becomes cool. Just ask Quentin Tarantino.

I don’t know if they still certify or what kind of test you have to take to be a certified “webmaster”. I know that whatever they did before you and I can also do now. One of the best tools for us to be able to do this is coincidently named Google Webmaster Tools. This great tool by Google helps you to get your site optimized for SEO juice, keeps an eye out for malware and attacks, and some other great features.

Since there is so much to see and learn we are going to break this up into a series. Once you master the tools you too can become certified as a Drunken Monkey Webmaster.

Varick Design A New Look For Our Site

Since we are creative people we are easily bored. Well in one of our spells of boredom we decided to redesign our site. We are still in the process of getting the elements all put in place but it is coming along. We will be making a new post pretty soon called Bend it Like Beckham – which will be about our decision to change our site and to talk about creativity.

Bob Ross And The Power To Engage

Many years ago on a Saturday morning, I woke up ready to watch my cartoons. Well, to my horror, my dad was watching tv and he was transfixed. In frustration I sat down waiting for the show to end but then I started watching along. On the screen was a soft spoken Caucasian with the biggest afro I had ever seen and he was creating a beautiful canvas. I was mesmerized by Bob Ross. There is something soothing and hypnotic about Bob as he paints those canvasses. He engages you. I think we can learn a lot from Bob Ross about how to be engaging. Here are 4 things that I learned from Bob and how you can apply it to your designs, your writing, your business and your life.

1. He shared the process. In our microwave culture where everything has to be now, we often miss out on the process. The process is as important as the product. Revealing the process and not just the end product is engaging.

2. He made you feel like you could do it also. Today, what Bob did in our corporate is called “empowering” but that just means the feeling that you can do it also. Oftentimes we see great athletes or performers and admire them because of their ability, but they are not engaging. What is engaging is when someone with extraordinary skills makes you feel like you could go and do it also.

3. He taught. In the East, one of the most honored titles you can be called is “teacher”. Bob Ross was a great teacher. Not only did he make you feel like you could do it, but he actually endeavored to teach you how. We should all emulate Bob Ross and teach – pass along something knowledge. A teacher is engaging.

4. He had vision. Bob would start on his palette mixing the colors, apply a little here and there, and within 15 minutes a blob here and there became beautiful scenery. At the end of the program you could tell that from the beginning he knew where he was going. Our website, our design, our blog, our business and our life is an empty canvas. Before you mix the color and start painting on that canvas called life – make sure you have a clear vision. He had vision, and vision is engaging.

Watch him by clicking here.

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