“Esquire” magazine says that I have the right to be quietly smug. In SMS text, right on my iPhone, courtesy of the m.Esquire.com text club. Apparently, any American man who can pronounce Ermenegildo Zegna had the right to be subtly self-congratulatory. Or was it any man who could spell his name. No matter, I’ve got it covered.
Few people would know it from my current t‑shirt-blue-jeans aesthetic, but there was a time I cared very, very (did I mention very?) deeply about my duds. A time I could tell you what had come down the catwalk for the next season, show you where to find the latest must-have for your well-heeled wardrobe, and quote chapter and verse from Alan Flusser’s “Clothes and the Man.” A time when the very sight of me in Nordstrom’s suit department would make my personal shopper Norman giddy. And so when our clients tell me that they want gasp-inspiring, jaw-to-the-floor, beautiful web design, I feel I can identify, and even pick out a tie to match.
And jaw-dropping design, we do at mStoner. Lovely, fantastic, edge-pushing design concepts that make our clients say “wow.” Many times, however, designs that never see the light of day. Why? The smug answer would be that we’ve designed haute couture for a pret-a-porter world.
But more honestly, some of the more arresting push-the-envelope, Web 2.5 designs we’ve created tend to polarize target audiences: 40% love it, 40% hate it, 20% just don’t get it. Part of this, I think, is based on the expectations of site visitors, who don’t expect or tolerate on higher-ed sites the same level of complexity or clutter or edgy that they’d welcome in mySpace, ESPN, or the latest release for the Wii. Turns out, from what we’ve learned in usability testing and focus group sessions, that in 2008 prospective students and their parents are still looking for information about majors, costs, and steps in applying. That they still expect straightforward, clearly labeled, and consistent navigation. And that a clean, well designed interface-however conventional it may seem to us-still trumps a visually arresting but less intuitive design.
Much like a well-tailored Joseph Abboud three-button black wool blazer that looks fantastic over a black t‑shirt and jeans.
Voltaire Santos Miran EVP, Web Strategy I've developed and implemented communication strategies in education for more than 20 years now. I think my team at mStoner is the smartest, funniest, and coolest group of colleagues ever, and I can't imagine being anywhere else. Except Barcelona. Or Paris. Or Istanbul. To quote Isak Dinesen, "the cure for everything is salt ... tears, sweat, and the sea."