I kinda love wireframing* things. Mostly because I longed to be an architect while I was younger, and like George Costanza, never became one. This video quickly runs through my process for wireframing the new obamabaton.com site in Microsoft Visio. You’ll hear a LOT more about this project in the days to come, courtesy of El Gaffney and my boys at Hustlewood.

Some tips for a good wireframe:

1. Use the grid to line things up. I find that the more you fuss over the details, the easier it is to sell to both clients and design teams. Why? It shows that you care. It also shows that you’ve thought about it for more than a few minutes.
2. Add all the user interface elements you think you’ll need, and then enlist a team of people to help you hack away at them until you’re left with a clean interface. More elements is usually NOT better, while more detail usually is.
3. Have reasons for why you do things, other than that it is “innovative” or “looks cool”. However, “expected” is also not a reason. Metrics, for one, count as good reasons. As do particular experiences that you may have had elsewhere.
4. Sketch on a whiteboard first. Then move to paper. Then go play basketball or go for a walk. Poke around on the web for a bit. Then translate to a design/wireframe program of your choice.

Lastly, have fun. I know I did.

* “Crap, what’s a wireframe?” It’s kinda like a blueprint for the design of a website. Have questions? Ask them in the comment area.

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• October 6, 2008 — Obama Baton: Pass It On. (1)
• January 30, 2010 — Writeminds: Homepage Design (16)
• January 13, 2010 — WriteMinds: Goals and Wireframes (10)

I play softball with my old employer, Slack Barshinger. We’re HORRIBLE. Oh well. We have a good time.

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• June 30, 2010 — Happy Birthday, exitcreative (4)
• April 12, 2010 — Size Does Matter (7)
• April 10, 2010 — Report Up @ Canvas8 (1)

Feed readers go here: Cheers, Sunset. I love iMovie+YouTube. This took 5 minutes to make and now you all can watch a bit of my life right here.

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So this weekend I went to Atlanta with my roommate, our friend and his special lady. Quite a time. Quite a long trip. A few notes: Cracker Barrel is doing some great billboard work. Billboards promoting God and related services are quite a bit more common down there than they are up here. Barns that are all but fallen-down are used as outdoor media for towns and locations: “Tell your friends about Rock City” was one of my favorites. Improvised advertising.

The biggest, loudest advertisers down that way are the fireworks stands that dot the interstate. The video above (available here also for feed readers) is just a little example of the marketing wars these fireworks stands engage in. They’ve both elevated their product/service line above the norm, by adding booze, other cold beverages and of all things, GAS STATIONS to their locations. And they both had significant ad spends on billboards ALL OVER THE PLACE. But Big Daddy Fireworks won us over with their clever tag, “Best Bang for your Buck”. Get it?

FYI, Big Daddy’s retail space was WAY smaller than the sign he had up on the roof.

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Don’t get me wrong, I think DM is great. But I got some examples of crappy DM that made me mad.

One is a fake clipping from Trend Letter, a newsletter that isn’t staying with the times. $195 for a print subscription? I can get that stuff on Springwise and PSFK, thanks very much.

The other is a salvo of redundant postcards from Artisan Talent. They need more talented people looking at their DM list. Perhaps they can find them among the many talented folks they represent. Or maybe DM isn’t part of the booming artisanal industry?

The key points?

1. Don’t send crap.
2. Don’t try to fool me. When I figure out, I’m pissed.
3. Check your list. Get it de-duped. It’s an automated, cheap process these days.

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So here’s my first video. Gonna try to do them on the way to work. This one is about a building that I like to look at on my walk to work: Big Monster Toys, LLC. They’re apparently the remains of Marvin Glass & Associates, a board-game maker that has since dwindled to obscurity. Oh well. They have a sweet front door. Check it out.

Being on video is really weird. I’m normally not very self-conscious but I felt strange doing a little ‘report’ on the street. I had to wait until the passers-by actually passed by, and I still was very uncomfortable. Anyhow, I think it’s a nice contrast to the lo-fi stuff, which I’m glad y’all like.

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