Illustration in website design

Sometimes photos just don’t cut it – especially stock photos that are also being used on many other sites. Illustrations using traditional (using pen, ink, watercolour, pencil) and vector (a type of computer graphics) methods are starting to fill some of those holes on websites around the world.  One major benefit of illustration is that it can look exactly how you want it to look.  The illustration can be of many different styles, according to what look you’re after, and there are many examples around the internet.

One of the sites that we’ve designed recently, Conference Genie, uses a cartoon style vector illustration to capture their three service in a unique way.  I thought I would share with you the process that I went through to create these graphics.

Each character starts off with pencil sketches, which helps me and the client to get the same feel for the illustration.  This part of the process should be a time of a lot of discussion and collaboration with the client.

The sketch is then scanned into the computer and opened in Illustrator.  Here I outline the sketch and start building up some shapes.

The shapes are then filled with colours, and tweaked according to what is needed.

Finishing is then applied to the illustration in Photoshop and it is incorporated into the website design for a unique look and feel.

Stop discounting – How to add value instead and build loyalty

We have already seen in my previous blog that online sales are very robust even in the teeth of a recession.  Companies have used a myriad of marketing techniques to entice users to buy usually with excessive discounts.  It’s now the task of keeping those customers and encouraging repeat buys.

It’s well known that discounting does not engender loyalty necessarily and so retailers need to find other ways to add value.

First lets see what customers actually want:

EMEA survey

A recent study by EMEA concluded that the two biggest factors, likely to influence consumer spending during a credit crunch, are competitive prices (79%) and a combination of good prices AND good customer service (72%).

Retailers relying on brand pedigree, product uniqueness or reputation to see them through the downturn in spending may come unstuck as these were listed as the three least influential factors.

In a recent New Media Age survey consumers said:

89% believe internet has better prices
68% said online was cheaper (taking into account ancillary costs of “outside” shopping
81% said Internet offered wider range
89% cited ease of finding items
95% cited ease of comparing prices

Where the Internet could improve
74% said lack of waiting made high street attractive [Personnally I've never understood why retailers cant offer next day delivery if items are ordered before a certain time]

70% said customer service was better on the high street [there's so much to say about this that I will write a separate blog post about this]

So customer service (combined with customer service) and lack of waiting are key elements that customers want.  Lets see what other retailers are doing to respond to this.  I am assuming that if you run and e-commerce site that you have already covered the basics: free delivery, free returns, properly organised website with your telephone number and security in place etc..

We have scoured the Internet to see what successful retailers have come up with in terms of building customer loyalty and service over and beyond the usual discounting:

Customer service – Delivery
It’s always baffled me that retailers still think it’s ok to take 5 days to arrange delivery.  Next day delivery should be standard for most products. ASOS have made a start on this at least by offering Saturday deliveries at no extra cost as well as offering a next day service.  With 74% retailers citing this as making the high street more attractive I would have thought this should be the most pressing thing for most retailers.  Use a branded delivery service that can represent your brand.

Customer service availability
Zappos, an Online retailer that specializes in selling apparel and shoes has been able to grow from $1.6 million in 2000 to $597 million in revenue last year alone. Some of Zappos’ highlight features include their excellent customer service and a free overnight shipping on all orders. Over the past 8 years.  “We`re continuing our focus on service, which includes 24/7 customer service, free overnight shipping and free return shipping with a 365-day return policy.”

Customer service – communication
Letting customers know its coming – If you’re sending something bulk then why not call ahead to let the customers know.  www.naturalcurtaincompany.com do this and it’s very effective as people will tell other people about the great service.

Customer service – Know what your service is.  99% right is not enough
Make sure your Website is 100% accurate. Zappos ran into trouble when it used to have the manufacturers drop-ship orders, because their inventory was often off and created backorders and unhappy customers. Even 99% is not good enough.

Increasing loyalty
Amazon – Amazon Prime  – Amazon Prime is an exclusive membership program that gives you and your family the benefits of unlimited One-Day shipping on eligible Amazon.co.uk purchases for an annual membership fee of £47.97. During your one month trial, you will enjoy all the benefits of being an Amazon Prime member.

Understand FREEMIUM – the concept of making money out of giving things away for FREE.  This is not for eveyone but you need to understand the power of it. What ever you are selling think of what can be given away for free which will add value to your proposition. Give your service away for free, acquire a lot of customers very efficiently through word of mouth, referral networks, organic search marketing, etc., then offer premium priced value added services or an enhanced version of your service to your customer base.” viz google, facebook – read more http://inside.123-reg.co.uk/archives/chris-anderson-free-long-tail

Communication – The ability to communicate with your customer base is now as important as ever. The ability to get your message to your clients quickly and efficiently can translate into large profits. Blogging, mailing lists and participation in social networks can and do make a difference. Again using the example of Zappos over 400 members of staff use the microblogging service Twitter. This gives the company the ability to contact thousands of people in an instant about offers or new products. The CEO of Zappos alone has 35,000 people watching his updates.

Discount vouchers being sent with each delivery. Whilst constant discounting is not the direction to go in, it’s good for encouraging viral sales.

Membership -Sexypantiesandnaughtyknickers.com – get 15% off for life once you reach a minimum spending limit (bronze) then 25% silver etc.

more to follow…as we find them

Online is a recession free zone

Apparently there is a recession.

The media will have it that the world is in meltdown and that it’s armageddon out there. 

Woolies, MFI and Adams have gone to the wall.  Well honestly, I am not surprised.  Woolworths and MFI were awful businesses stuck in a time warp and deserved to die.  They were slothful and easily out done by more dynamic competitors.  MFI have done nothing in the last 20 years to dispel their brand image of producing low quality, dated furniture.   Woolworths were kidding themselves if they thought that people actually enjoyed entering their shops.  They may have been cheap but even the bargain hunters appreciate clean, well presented shops.  I never went into Adams but they looked pretty dated even though they were relatively new.

Other companies are retracting as well.  Marks and Spencer are closing some food halls but so what.  They had over expanded in the good times.  The fact that they are closing a few poorly performing shops isn’t the death knell.  It’s just a little tightening following a gluttonous expansion.  And maybe it means that the consumer, who is a little more careful these days would prefer not to pay an excessive premium for near identical products being sold next door. 

The care free spending attitude has changed and retailers need to adapt, but it doesn’t mean that people won’t spend money if the product is well priced and well presented.

This all reminds me of a previous hullabaloo in 2000 when the .com bubble burst.  The world’s press then tried to write off the whole Internet as a busted flush, when in fact there were many businesses doing very nicely online thank you.  It was only the news grabbers who had borrowed millions to set up spurious, hubristic .com world beating websites that failed to succeed.  They were poorly thought out businesses and poorly executed.  They too deserved to die.  There were many smaller, prudent businesses making a decent return throughout this period.

So, as before and as now there may be some troubled waters but there is no reason for retailers to panic. (Though for bricks and mortar businesses, they need to renegotiate their exorbitant rents with their landlords).  This is especially true online.  People still have money and they would prefer to spend it online. Anecdotal and personal experience shows that online sales on most websites are growing.  Latest sales figures from those retailers that have reported on Christmas sales also supports this:

John Lewis – online sales up by 27%
House of Fraser – online sales increase of 150%  (1.7 million visitors over Christmas period)
M&S – online sales up by 29% (although down 7.1% overall)
Ocado – up 97%
Sainsburys – online sales up 27%
Thorntons – online sales up 25%
Next Direct – up 1.1% increase since last year
Aldi visitor traffic up 64% year on year
Play.com Sales up 20%

Our own clients at Datadial have also reported record online sales. 

The big question for these retailers is how to return to charging full value for their products and services and to get away from the omni present discounting.  This is the subject of my following blog.

My New Years resolution

It’s no secret – I hate computers.  Outside of work I avoid them as much as I can.  I mean they are very very useful things, but i hate being tied to and dependant on a machine.

I think the root of my dislike is the way they diminish your creative output.  Many others have written about how going straight to a computer with a design can limit the effectiveness of the outcome.  Mindy from Vidget wrote late last year how she’s found her creativity drop significantly the more she looks at gallery websites around the internet.  This oversaturation of information is exactly how I feel.

When I go to my sketchbook rather than my computer, I can often come up with much better results, and much more quickly.  So my New Years resolution is to use my Moleskin to its fullest, filling it with sketches and drawings, before touching the keyboard & mouse.