Throughout the history of life on our planet, many formerly dominant species have found themselves ill-equipped to adapt to changing environments. Surivival strategies that proved successful in one ecological niche were useless in another. The result: mass extinction!

The same thing may be happening as we speak to many species of websites – possibly even yours! The world is changing. Business is changing. So are computers, operating systems, browsers, and web standards. Yet the vast majority of websites were built to thrive only in desktop and laptop environments. How will these websites fare as smart phones and iPads become ever more viable competitors?

The statistics are impressive: A July, 2009 Nielson report found that almost 25 percent of Internet users in the US are accessing the web through mobile devices. That number should increase drastically in coming years, threatening innumerable websites that haven’t been optimized for mobile devices. Will your website be one of them? It may be veiwable from mobile devices, but are load times too long, links too small, and images awkwardly placed? If so, you can expect to be gobbled up and possibly rendered extinct by your competition.

Fortunately, it isn’t too late to optimize for mobile devices. Nor should it be unduly expensive or time-consuming. Mobile devices generally have smaller screens and lower bandwidth, giving lighter, less complicated websites the competitive edge. So, when considering designing a mobile website, “less is more” may be your most viable survival strategy.

To view a mobile site we recently designed, visit www.Rare650.com from both your computer and smartphone.

Posted in Design Trends

Here’s the dilemma: website owners want potential customers to take notice. Hence, web design companies get lots of requests for Flash websites with compelling imagery, catchy transitions, and robust functionality. But website owners also want high Google rankings, and Flash-based websites often fail in this regard. The resulting choice is a dismal one: either skimp on design or skimp on search visibility. This is where jQuery comes in…

JQuery is a javascript library that allows web designers and developers to do lots of amazing things: it’s a great tool for creating eye-catching photo galleries, impressive page transitions, and a variety of animated effects. But unlike Flash-based websites, it is standards compliant, and perfectly at home in a traditional HTML environment. The best of both worlds, you might say!

For good examples of jQuery functionality, check out Brainstorm Studio’s Portfolio page and Contact form dropdown.

www.brainstormstudio.com

Posted in Design Trends