Our client’s challenge:

StepWare, which offers a line of desktop computer software that helps people of all ages become better readers, wanted to create a web version of AceReader, its premier product. The online version would provide a subscription-based service to schools and allow educators and students to use the software at any computer in the school’s computer lab.

The Scott Design solution:

Scott Design created an online application that is almost identical to the desktop version of AceReader. The web version even uses configuration files and settings from the desktop version. Teachers can monitor students’ progress by viewing speed and comprehension graphs from any computer on the network.

The Summit EMA competition is based on the foundation that advertising is consistently at the forefront of the technological evolution of communication. It was created to identify the world’s marketing communication pioneers – those pushing the bounds of the communication badlands.

The Adobe/Amazon.com Product Selector is an online application on Amazon.com that removes the guesswork for Adobe customers selecting products to buy. Instead of a static banner ad, the selector is an interactive application powered by Adobe ColdFusion and AJAX technology with a back-end database that recommends products and brings the user right to the Amazon.com purchasing page to shorten the sales cycle.

“Those involved in today’s emerging media technologies are the leaders who are establishing tomorrow’s avenues of advertising communications.” Said Jocelyn Luciano, Executive Director for the Summit International Awards (SIA). “Most communication professionals recognize that established avenues of communication can be reliable and safe. However, audiences are becoming increasingly fragmented and difficult to engage, inform, and affect.  Developing, applying, and combining emerging media with creative messaging and market awareness is challenging.  Achieving this synthesis is what makes earning a Summit EMA a significant achievement.”

Since 1994, the Summit International Awards (SIA) organization has been dedicated to furthering excellence in the communications industry. It administers three distinguished award competitions throughout the year with the goal of raising the awareness of companies and individuals who have the creative and marketing talent to go beyond the ordinary.

This SIA organization stands apart by offering a true competitive environment where entries are judged alongside those of their peers, and makes its competitions affordable and accessible to the industry by offering multiple entry discounts, streamlined internet submissions, and a friendly, knowledgeable customer service staff. Companies and individuals from more than 50 countries and across five continents participate in its awards programs and choose to invest their promotional dollars for the opportunity to be recognized as an SIA winner. The SIA organization conducts three awards competitions each year: Summit Creative Awards, Summit Emerging Media Awards, and Summit Marketing Effectiveness Awards.

For the latest information on recent awards, visit the Design Awards page.

Our client’s challenge:

Adobe wanted to promote special upgrade pricing for photo- and video-editing software products. The goals of the “tours” were to allow users to quickly and easily understand the value of the products, become inspired by the top features, and actively engage with the products by exploring all the features.

The Scott Design solution:

Scott Design produced online Flash “tours” that display new features in action and highlight price-slashing offers right in the welcome screen of trial and full-version products. The team combined animation, compelling imagery, and streaming videos in a series of online presentations that display the software’s top features. Each of the presentations included prominent, strategically placed calls to buy the product. Scott Design also created special “Black Friday” versions of the tours to promote a limited-time upgrade offer.

Our client’s challenge:

To show online sellers how to use a new listing process, eBay sought animated online demos that would explain the new flow. The goal was to provide mid– to high-volume sellers with clear, step-by-step instructions for using eBay tools to add and revise listings in the eBay online catalog.

The Scott Design solution:

Scott Design partnered with HDI to design and produce a series of easy-to-follow Flash demos—with corresponding PDF versions—that make it simple for anyone to add their products to the eBay online catalog. These step-by-step tutorials include animated screen views and narration that remove the guesswork. The end result is a fast and easy learning experience for sellers.

Forrester recommends that technology marketers concentrate on the sources that yield the most influence and use social media to expand their reach, with the understanding that time spent on social media efforts probably will not yield great value in the short term.

Personal preferences

A 2011 poll of color preferences according to gender yields more information useful when designing your website. In the first 1083 results of this ongoing survey, both men and women selected blue and green as their favorite colors, but while purple was the third-most favorite color among women, purple was the third-least favorite color among men. Differences also come up depending on age, so the color palette you choose for a site geared to children might be quite different than one designed for older adults. What’s your favorite color? Take the one-minute poll and after you vote, you can see the latest worldwide results of this color preferences survey.

Color Harmony

Selecting a palette of colors that work together is part art and part science. After you select a principal color for your site, you can actually use color theory to select the color combinations that work together, using analogous colors, complementary colors, or a color triad. More about color harmony»

Color Deficit

Color blindness occurs when there is a problem with certain nerve cells of the retina. In the most common type of color blindness, a person has trouble telling the difference between red and green, but some people have trouble seeing blue-yellow colors, and in the most severe form of color blindness, a person cannot see any color. About 8% of Caucasian men, 6% of Asian men, and 4% of men of African descent have some form of color deficit (very few women do). But, as anyone ages, changes in our eyes can cause blue colors to appear darker, making it difficult to distinguish between red and purple or green and blue. To make sure your site is user-friendly to everyone, don’t rely on color to convey information. Use shape, size, labels, textures, and line shadings instead. More about color blindness»

Cultural Differences

Certain colors have different meanings depending on the culture you grew up in, and colors can send the wrong meaning if misused on your website. For example, if you were creating a wedding site for U.S. audiences, you might use a lot of white, which in western cultures is used for brides, angels, peace, etc. In some eastern cultures, white is the color of mourning and funerals, whereas red is the color for good luck and celebration, and is worn by brides. More about color in different cultures»

Color trends

Colors go in and out of style over time, including colors used in website design. Often these color trends come from the fashion and decorating worlds, and a great way to see what the future color trends will be is to check out the seasonal Pantone fashion color reports. These reports show the colors that textile designers will be using in their upcoming collections and incorporating them in your web design can put you ahead of the pack. Remember that in fashion, one week you’re in and the next you’re out, so design so it’s easy to update colors when the next season’s looks hit the runway. Pantone spring 2012 color forecast»

You

Of course, all these rules are trumped by the specific needs of your website. If your products are ecologically friendly, you might want to use a lot of green on your site. Selling coffee? Then brown might make sense. Trying to attract a Fortune 100 audience might call for a lot of blue. Testing different colors, asking your customers, and refining your color palette is the only way to know what colors work best for you.

What’s YOUR favorite color?

Take a one-minute survey and let us know what your favorite and least favorite colors are, plus take a look at what others around the world have said so far. Click here to take survey»

Scott Design earned a Gold Davey Award for its work on an Amazon.com application that helps Adobe customers select the best products for their needs. The Adobe-Amazon.com Product Selector is hosted on Amazon.com in the Adobe Store.

Scott Design received a Silver Davey Award for the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce website. The redesigned site has become the trusted source for information on local Santa Cruz businesses, services, news, and resources.

The Davey Awards competition is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from media, advertising, and marketing firms.

For instance, community college students and non-students use the Internet less, are less likely to have broadband access, and use wireless less than undergrads and grads in four-year programs. If you have an online-only marketing plan to reach these young adults, you’ll be missing some of your audience.

Non-students use social media more than any one of the college groups—undergrads, grad students, community college students—so a social-media-only program will again miss some of your target student customers.

Finally, college students are more likely to access the Internet on their cell phones than the national adult population, so including a mobile version of your online marketing materials is a good idea.

To learn more, check out the full Pew Internet College Students and Technology Report.

Scott Design received a Silver Award in the 2011 W3 Awards competition. The W3 Awards honor outstanding websites, web marketing, web video, and mobile apps created by some of the best interactive agencies, designers, and creators worldwide. Website entries were judged on creativity, usability, navigation, functionality, visual design, and ease of use.

Scott Design was honored in the Innovative/Experimental Media category for its work on the Adobe/Amazon.com Product Selector app.

The 2011 W3 Awards generated more than 3,000 entries from ad agencies, public relations firms, interactive agencies, in-house creative professionals, web designers, graphic designers, and web enthusiasts.  The W3 Awards are sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms.

For the latest information about Scott Design’s recent awards, visit our Design Awards page.

Our client’s challenge:

Adobe wanted a microsite as part of a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of the first version of Adobe’s Photoshop software. Adobe wanted to highlight the most important features and the developers that were involved in the 20 years since Photoshop was launched.

The Scott Design solution:

Scott Design developed a microsite that features an interactive timeline of Photoshop’s history. Users can either watch an animated presentation of the timeline or click to specific years to see product highlights. The timeline includes information about the history of Photoshop, the people who made the software, and the evolution of the interface and packaging. The site also features information to help visitors determine which Photoshop family product best fits their needs.

Awards:

Outstanding Achievement Interactive Media Award—Computer Software
Silver Emerging Media Award  — Microsite
Silver W3 Award  — Computer Software
Silver Davey Award  — Microsite
Silver Davey Award  — Landing Page