Understanding UX & UI Design vs. Web Design

So, you have a project and you need the right digital agency but it’s getting harder and harder to understand what various agencies do. The language they use to describe themselves is full of acronyms and insider references; while nearly all sell themselves as web designers, quite a few claim to specialize in UX design and then there are some that do UI design. Sound a bit confusing? In this post, I will briefly address each of these disciplines, explain the differences between web design, UX design and UI design and why it matters to the clients that hire these designers.

September 30, 2015/by Garrett Dandreo

Five Tips for a Smooth Website Project

What can cause a web design project to go over budget or off schedule? This question is often asked of web firms. Similarly, client’s ask, “What can we do to ensure success with our website project?”

Good news, bad news: this is not rocket science. In design, success is often subjective. Reigning in subjectivity is where we can realize economies, both in money and in time. To that end, the following recommendations apply to a majority of website projects, regardless of industry and irrespective of intentions.

June 9, 2015/by Garrett Dandreo

5 Reasons Why Most Websites Look the Same Today

Just last year we won a terrific job by showing the client 10 competitor sites, which all looked almost exactly like theirs. The need for differentiation was alive and well.

March 25, 2014/by Garrett Dandreo

5 Steps for Saving $ on a Website Design Project

web pricing small blog With the growth of responsive design, inbound marketing, personalization and web analytics, websites have become more complex, time-intensive and often expensive. While most clients require these services, often budgets do not keep up with technology, so agencies like RainCastle need to work smart to provide our clients the best and most current services at a reasonable cost.

February 24, 2014/by Garrett Dandreo

5 Reasons Why You Need a Website Content Editor

I’ve seen many clients, who with the best of intentions fall into the same rut year after year. There are certain universal truths about successful websites; one of them is that on website projects that include a quality content editor as part of the dedicated team, the process is smoother, stays on schedule and client satisfaction is high.

August 1, 2013/by Garrett Dandreo

Three Cases of Websites Using Modern Design Techniques

As visual storytellers, we are always looking out for exciting new online tools and techniques to build strong digital brands. Up until fairly recently, for the most part, websites have guided users down the navigational path using the “page paradigm.” On a typical site, one is met with a top navigation, and dropdown menus that when clicked transport you to an internal page that has the limited content predefined by the information architecture. This has been fine overall and we’ve built and continue to build many successful websites using this approach.

January 22, 2013/by Garrett Dandreo

What We’re Thankful For, And One Thing We’re Not (Marketing Edition)

It’s the start of the holiday season and time to celebrate one of the most thoughtful (if derived from historically misguided events) days of the year: Thanksgiving. And 2012 has given us a lot to be thankful for. In light of this, we wanted to share some of the many things we at RainCastle are most grateful for this year in the world of web design and marketing. But, ever the Scrooge, couldn’t resist the opportunity to highlight one particular 2012 frustration.

November 20, 2012/by Garrett Dandreo

The Value of a Great Website Process

Important website process What happens when the self-service digital ethos in which we are living is applied to a website design and development process?

October 10, 2012/by Garrett Dandreo

Diving Into Responsive Design: What are the main challenges?

describe the image Back in January, I wrote a post on getting started with responsive design, including basic design factors and aspects, current examples, and questions to consider. Responsive design is the process of developing your website so that the site can re-format and re-size itself according to the user’s screen resolution. For example, this allows you to design your website in a four-column layout for desktop resolution that will, once it senses a change in screen resolution, change its layout to accommodate the user.

June 27, 2012/by Garrett Dandreo

What Today’s Marketing Numbers Mean for Your B2B Business – Part 3: Mobile

Mobile: Mobile queries have grown 500% in the past year and 40% of people will turn to a competitor for a mobile experience that gives them a good user experience

Ever had a frustrating experience viewing a website on your phone? Well, chances are your clients have, too. This statistic represents two key concepts: mobile search is an undeniable beast, and potential consumers will turn to a competitor if your website is not optimized for mobile to a point where it makes browsing difficult.

April 25, 2012/by Garrett Dandreo

Understanding UX & UI Design vs. Web Design

Five Tips for a Smooth Website Project

5 Reasons Why Most Websites Look the Same Today

5 Steps for Saving $ on a Website Design Project

5 Reasons Why You Need a Website Content Editor

Three Cases of Websites Using Modern Design Techniques

What We’re Thankful For, And One Thing We’re Not (Marketing Edition)

The Value of a Great Website Process

Diving Into Responsive Design: What are the main challenges?

What Today’s Marketing Numbers Mean for Your B2B Business – Part 3: Mobile

Mobile: Mobile queries have grown 500% in the past year and 40% of people will turn to a competitor for a mobile experience that gives them a good user experience

Let’s discuss your project

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Mobile: Mobile queries have grown 500% in the past year and 40% of people will turn to a competitor for a mobile experience that gives them a good user experience

Let’s discuss your project

Contact

Services

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