Graphique Communications Design

Recently, I have received requests from clients to have websites compatible with older versions of Internet Explorer. If you have ever coded a website, you know that making a website look and work correctly in any version of Microsoft Internet Explorer® (IE) older than version 8 can be a real pain in the patootie. Luckily, I came across certain tools to help alleviate some of the hassle of testing and troubleshooting issues that come with designing and coding websites for older versions of IE.

For Mac

If you have a Mac, you can use NetRender. This site will let you take a look at a single page of your website and show how it would display based on the version of IE you chose. (Note this tool renders and then displays an image of the page, so you will not be able to interact with the site or see any moving elements.)

For Microsoft Windows®, or a Windows partition

The remaining solutions require you to have a PC running Windows, or a Windows partition on your Mac, with either having Windows 7 or Vista installed.

There are two ways to test multiple versions of IE on a single system. The first is IE Tester. This program has multiple versions of IE in a single tool so you can open up different tabs, all with different versions of your site to see how they look and work. This allows you to identify the areas you will need to tweak and those to make exception rules for. The second tool is IE Collection. This program installs versions of IE going as far back as 1, which is not necessary unless you want to have a laugh.

Now that you can view your site on multiple versions of IE, there is still one last tool that can really help. If you design and code websites, you most likely use Firebug or something similar, depending on which browser you use. But what do you do if you do not have any good web developer tools for older versions of IE? That is where Firebugger comes in. Enter a web address from any browser into Firebugger and it provides you with a debugger bar that allows you to manipulate a page like you would with Firebug.

Hopefully these tools will come in handy when you have a client asking why the website does not act right on IE6. You now have the ability to make a website look as good as it did when you showed it to them in an updated version of Firefox, Chrome or Opera.

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For those of you looking to revive your product’s branding, web color pallet or your print materials for Q3 and Q4 2011, we’ve decided to provided some insight into business color trends for fall and winter.

Let’s reevaluate some of this year’s prominent color trends. As those of you in the design field may know, Honeysuckle - 18-2120 was announced as Pantone’s color of the year for 2011. That’s the pink one folks! Since then we have seen several complementary variations to this hue. As an ensemble, they created vibrant color pallets for spring.

Businesses have embraced spring’s color pallet by including it in their development of new branding, or applying it to their existing products. Some would argue that spring pallets are often too vivid to be associated with business graphics for fear of being seen as weak or unprofessional. With its use of bright, yet cool and complementary shades, this year’s spring palette was a bit more subdued than in previous years. However, it was still lively enough to be included in a wide-range of business communication graphics.

At Graphique, some of our most vivid design work has become our client’s favorite. So much so that we have clients specifically come to us requesting a logo or business identity designed with the same “whimsical and colorful feel” in mind. This spring and summer we worked with a wide variety of spring pallets, including an assortment of bright sports team colors for a corporate identity design and assertive hot pink logo design.

Color trends do not always translate into all fields of business. We pride ourselves in finding modern colors to help harmonize our designs in everything from tradeshow displays to branding and webpage design. Being aware of innovative color pallets helps us suggest contemporary looks for our clients requiring a brand update. Designing with the Pantone color formula guide makes it easier to match and apply our client’s pallet of choice to virtually any product type.

Now let’s focus on the forecast for fall and winter 2011.

Blue becomes an emerging color in print for fall and winter 2011. Color forecasters believe it is due to heightened awareness of global water reduction. Blues are shown in paler, inky and darker navy tones that give an ethereal feeling.

Red will be a vivid, orange-red hue to evoke a hot, energetic and intense feel.

Pink will be a mixture of hues that are dynamic, assertive and anything but subdued.

Purple will emerge as a red-based hue. It gives a passionate, complex and vivid feel when applied to patterns and print.

Green will be seen this season as either a foggy or vibrant shade of green. Think of an olive based, fresh and un-intrusive shade when you think of foggy.

Orange will be preferred this season in mixes of bright, attention-grabbing yellow-orange, pink-orange and coral.

Brown, as always, will be popular during fall and winter. This season it will be seen in combinations of orange and brown, or with an adaptation of leather tones.

Neutral, which has been popular in past years, will continue to be seen as shades of warm camel and coffee. It is comfortable, upscale and understated.

Gray has also been popular for the past few years. This coming season it transforms to pale, mid-tone shades that feel classic and unassuming.

We have seen plenty of competitive branding in 2011. Companies demand modern treatments to update their image to stand out in today’s tough markets. Rebranding your entire business’ systems may seem challenging and costly, but it doesn’t have to be. Subtle redesign with a modern color pallet applied to different branding and communication mediums such as web, print and even office space can really draw your target market’s attention. Whenever people see orange and brown, they think Graphique!

The opportunity to update or refresh your company color pallet is yet another means of subtle rebranding. Whether a website, product package or print campaign, embracing 2011’s fall and winter color pallet is your chance to communicate with your audience.

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Graphique would like to congratulate one of our IQ team members, Matt Hakes, for graduating from The Art Institute of Phoenix, and receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design. He is now an ‘official’ designer and an important part of our company. However, it is significant to recognize that during his studies in college he was also a Graphique geek.

Matt started out at Graphique as one of our web development and design interns and quickly moved up to become an in-house web designer. He has brought to Graphique an abundance of creativity, innovation and knowledge. His contribution and hard work was essential in the success of many of our website design and marketing projects. Matt applied his creative IQ to his projects and designs in his final graduate portfolio, as seen above, as well as at Graphique. A big congratulations to Matt from all of us at Graphique. We are very proud of your excellent achievements!

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