My background in the design field started with a degree in Painting from the Maryland Institute of Art. Moving to Chicago 20 some years ago I started creating nightclub flyers, concert posters and small business ads with a rapidograph pen and rub-on letters.
The desktop computer came along I soon welcomed it with open arms. Imagine being able to look at the same ad with a hundred different font choices by simply pointing and clicking, or changing the color and size of something without having to redraw it.
I became interested in the internet as soon as it started to evolve from its DOS type interface. Laying out web pages with drop and drag programs over ten years ago led me to want to understand the nuts and bolts behind this new medium — programming.
My client’s needs fueled my interest and took Rodman Design down the path of starting to build custom database driven applications.

- Dave Rodman

Posted: June 27th, 2007 under Rodman Design.
Comments: none

PROS

• Enables you to make a big impression
• Good for presentations and demos
• Supports audio, animation, and advanced interactivity.
• Most visitors to a web page incorporating a Flash animation will be able to view it without downloading and installing the Player application. 96% of Web users already have Flash Player installed in their browsers.

CONS

• Bandwidth and Load Time Constrains: Sites designed with Flash take a long time to download and consume vast amounts of bandwidth. Not all users have a broadband connection and even if they do, they may not want to take the time to be entertained. 99% of users on line are looking for information.
• FLASH can go against the interactive nature of the internet. Since Flash technology resembles video, users are many times reduced to mere observers rather than the interactive players that the web was designed for. They may get bored. If they wanted that kind of entertainment, they could simply turn on Cable TV.
• Updating Content can be a bit more complicated and is done less often
• Search Engine Constrains: Although large search engines like Google now have some Flash indexing capabilities, these are still very limited. You will have a harder time achieving high rankings with a Flash site. One option around this problem is to design a second, search-engine-friendly HTML version of your site. This, though, usually represents an unnecessary expense in both time and money, since in most cases the HTML version alone will get the job done.
• Building FLASH content properly to answer usability issues is time intensive and generally costs at least twice as much as HTML solutions.
• Bookmarking FLASH sections is not a possibility unless you are bookmarking the html page the FLASH is contained in.

Evidence still points to the fact that most web users utilize the web to find information, and what they regard most important is quality of content, ease of navigation, and speed.

- Dave Rodman

Posted: June 27th, 2007 under General Website Design Knowledge.
Comments: none

I do not run a Web Hosting business. I do however host many of my client’s websites on my servers. The main reason for this is that it gives me total control of the applications and services that I can offer my clients. I have also learned that it saves my clients and I time and frustration by not having to debate with the tech support of hosting companies when something goes wrong at their end. Rodman Design shares rack space with Hot Media Group at Steadfast Networks. This data center is very impressive.
Go to: http://steadfast.net/corporate/datacenter.php for an overview of the facilities.

Pros for having your website hosted with Rodman Design:
(only available if you are a client of Rodman Design)

• I have full access and control of Server
• Tech Support easy and efficient (I am tech support)
  (My partner covers me when I’m unavailable)
• We can install and implement whatever applications you need.
  (Most shared hosting companies will not allow 3rd party applications on their servers)
• Bandwidth is maximized since you’re not sharing the server with
  hundreds, if not thousands of other clients, all being served from the
  same machine and using the same bandwidth. (This is usually the case on 3rd party shared server hosting) You’ll notice the difference of page download times.
• Client security is insured since we personally configure each
  client’s hosting area

- Dave Rodman

Posted: June 27th, 2007 under General Website Design Knowledge.
Comments: none

I do some programming work for other designers from time to time. Occasionally a designer will give me a design in Photoshop or Illustrator that they then want converted to HTML. They may give me point sizes for the fonts. The problem is that print font sizes do not directly translate to screen font sizes.I have created a page that gives examples of what different font sizes look like on the web:
Make sure you read the two articles at the bottom of the page. They explain font choices for the web.http://www.rodmandesign.com/webfonts.php

Posted: June 27th, 2007 under General Website Design Knowledge.
Comments: none

Most website content is “Static content”.
“Static” content is information/copy/images that are given to your webmaster to place or change on website pages.  It changes seldomly.

“Dynamic” content is any information that is driven by a database. “Dynamic” content can be info that may consist of product data, blogs, bulletin boards, content that may change day to day, or any content that may be more effecient for the client to manage. We build an interface with an Administration area for the client to make their own changes…or sometimes the user or visitor may change info (like on a bulletin board or a user’s contact info). The data is driven “dynamically” from the database. Other common “Dynamically driven” items are such things as news items, calendar events and member info. (since this is the type of content that will change on a regular basis)

As we build and test the site, the client may become aware of other sections that they might like change on their own. Keep in mind though, that it may not be cost effective to spend the time building forms, database queries and dynamic pages for content that seldom changes. Also, all layouts do not necessarily lend themselves to dynamic content. Dynamic content is best suited for items that will always have same number of field items and layout.

- Dave Rodman

Posted: June 27th, 2007 under General Website Design Knowledge.
Comments: none

Though 79% of pages accessed have their screen displays set to 1024×768, there are good reasons that the majority of major company’s websites are designed within an 800 pixel area. 800×600 resolution accounts for about 17% of page accesses and even if you are with the rest of us, (with larger screen settings), you rarely open up your browser to the full width of your screen. Designing the width of your website any wider than 800 pixels, will make the website experience a clumsy one for most of us.But don’t take my word for it.
There must be a reason that 98% of the Fortune 500 companies follow this rule. Just a few would be: Target, Chase, BMWUSA, USA Today, Verizon, AT&T and Bed Bath and Beyond.Still not convinced?
Would Hewlett Packard, Adobe, Dell or Apple convince you?If you have to go bigger,
the next largest width that is generally accepted is 1010 pixels. nike.com pushes the envelope at 950 pixels and anheuser-busch.com comes in at 1010.But, I would also argue that 800 pixels wide is not necessarily the “way of the dodo”. Content should dictate size. For clients that don’t have a lot of content, or content is mostly copy — I think 800 is more apropo. Stretching copy across a longer width just makes it harder for the user to read. Standard copy columns read best at no more than 8-12 words across. That’s why newspapers and books are laid out that way. Unless of course — you might be thinking of laying out a two column page.

Posted: June 27th, 2007 under General Website Design Knowledge.
Comments: none

The importance of your navigation structure cannot be over-emphasized. There are many ways of presenting your navigation: in a bar down one side of the screen, along the top and bottom. The navigation should never be at the bottom. You can never depend on a user opening their browser to a certain size and you cannot risk them not seeing the navigation (or relying on them to scroll to it or open their browser larger). It is important to allow access to the rest of your site from anywhere. The user should be able to go to any page in a maximum of two or three clicks, with your main pages accessible in one.Just glancing over your navigation links should give them an idea of what’s in your site that they definitely want to see. Having a well-designed navigation can assure the user that there’s lots to see and do, and encourages them to explore a little bit.

Posted: June 27th, 2007 under General Website Design Knowledge.
Comments: none