Jeff
By Jeff White: May 03, 2012
Filed Under: Development, Jeff
Only a few short years ago, we built as many sites using static HTML and occasionally (gasp!) Flash as we did using a Content Management System (CMS). This was due to several factors. In 2002, there were a lot more sites that were simple brochure-ware, and most companies still weren’t using their web properties as dynamic platforms for selling, conversing with and informing their customers and community.
A decade later, however, and the vast majority of organizations have come around to the web as a primary marketing medium. As such, most sites on the web today use a CMS. There’s plenty of choices when it comes to picking a system, and this post isn’t about the benefits of one CMS over another. No matter which CMS you choose though, it’s important to understand what you’re buying and what it will do for you. Read More »
By Jeff White: Apr 17, 2012
Filed Under: Jeff, Social Media
If you follow me on Twitter, you might know that I re-watched High Fidelity this weekend. Aside from my life being at least 200% different from John Cusack’s character on that movie, we’re a lot alike. Still, I love the Top 5 lists. Or Barry Jive and the Uptown Five.
You can tell the stories you’re passionate about. Everybody’s good at a couple of things. Usually these align with the things that they’re interested in. I’m good at design, business, cycling and barbeque. I’m interested in lots of other things too. And those are usually the things I’m interested in talking about. Read More »
By Jeff White: Jan 27, 2012
Filed Under: Business, Education, Jeff
I’ve had the pleasure of giving a talk at each of the Podcamp Halifax events since it was begun four years ago by Craig Moore, Ryan Deschamps and Jon McGinley. I thoroughly enjoy the event. It’s well organized, and the excitement and interest is infectious.
Since I get to give a ton of talks for my business that usually have something to do with the web, design, social media or the like, I like to give presentations on subjects I don’t normally get to talk about. Last year I discussed saving the oval mixed with typographic trivia and this year I spoke on how to start and run a business. There isn’t really time or space enough to recap the entire talk here, but I thought I’d share some of the major points. Read More »
By Jeff White: Jan 05, 2012
Filed Under: Jeff
Three years ago on this day, I wrote this post: Five years ago today, my life changed forever.
If you want to know how I started this business originally, have a read of that post. The basic gist of it is this: my oldest child was born on this day in 2004. The company I was working for (who had attempted to recruit me for most of a year) laid me (and the rest of the department) off one week later. I vowed to never be an employee again and here we are eight years later, and I seem to have kept that resolution. Read More »
By Jeff White: Nov 14, 2011
Filed Under: Design, Jeff
(I originally posted this as a comment to Jian Ghomeshi’s opening monologue for CBC Radio’s Q. As a NSCAD grad, I think it’s essential to spread the message about what’s happening at the school. Any support you can provide would be appreciated.)
When I was 16 I worked for a summer with a graphic design agency in Halifax. It made me realize that my destiny was to become a designer. I started at NSCAD in 1991, and spent five very full years exploring as many aspects of the school as possible, eventually graduating with a bachelor degree in Communication Design (at the time, the only degree of its kind in Canada and among a very small group in the US). Read More »
By Jeff White: Nov 01, 2011
Filed Under: Education, Jeff
It is with great sadness that I learned today of the passing of one of my most treasured mentors, Horst Deppe.
In the winter of 1992, I was about to start my fourth semester at NSCAD, then the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. My third semester had been hard-fought. I had begun to study design after a year of foundation, photography and art history and I was ready to enter my chosen field of study, or so I thought.
I have very little in the way of hand skills when it comes to design. I can’t draw very well, and I’m messy as hell with plaka, ruling pens and rubber cement. So, after a semester of trying to draw perfect 10cm grids with a 0.3mm Rapidograph pen, I was just about ready to give up on the profession I had chosen when I was 16. Read More »
By Jeff White: Oct 06, 2011
Filed Under: Design, Jeff
The internet has exploded with news of the death of Steve Jobs and tributes are pouring in from all sides. I’m leery of adding my voice to the din, but I wanted to share a few thoughts on it.
Apple has had a massive impact on my life. There is no question that I wouldn’t be where I am today without the Mac.
I’ve known that I wanted to be a designer since I was 16 years old, after spending a summer working for a design agency in Halifax. At the time, I think it was 1989, and that office was full of Mac SE30s, Pluses and other all in one Macs, plus a single new colour Mac IIx that blew everyone’s mind. I had never really used a computer before, but I knew I would be learning about it soon.
Read More »
By Jeff White: Jun 20, 2011
Filed Under: Design, Development, Jeff
This morning, we were reviewing comps for the new kulapartners.com site that our design team whipped up (side note—they’re gorgeous, can’t wait to show you). Anyway, in reviewing these mockups we noticed that the on site search box was taking up some valuable real estate that could be used for other things.
Before removing it though, we went and looked at our Google Analytics to see just how many were using the on-site search tool. Less than 0.5% of the pageviews on our site were generated by the search tool. Of those, 2/3ds were for “search kula”, and the other third were for searches I personally had performed looking for old blog posts to reference. Read More »
By Jeff White: May 18, 2011
Filed Under: Jeff, Social Media
Being able to hold a conversation with someone is a lost art, according to my seat mate on the flight home from St. John’s, Newfoundland. We had started chatting when Porter’s free drink service (woohoo!) began, and didn’t stop until we landed in Halifax. The elderly gentleman seated next to me with his huge wispy white beard had been on the rock for a bit of vacation, until it came time to leave his wife behind to cook for the men and women actively working to rebuild parts of the island devastated by last year’s hurricane. Read More »
By Jeff White: May 13, 2011
Filed Under: Jeff, Social Media
I gave my first ‘intro to social media’ talk more than three years ago at the AIM Conference. That was a presentation Rob Swick and I gave called “The Authentic Web”. Since then, I’ve lectured on the topic frequently; introducing various industry groups, small businesses, non-profits and numerous others to social media. Since the talks are often an hour or less, it’s hard to delve too deep into anything but tactics when many in the groups haven’t really moved beyond a personal profile on Facebook. Read More »
