CityBlogz Design Studio / Blog

After months of working with the Rochester International Association board, we’ve all decided on the final logo that will be the face of the new website and brand.  It took a while because we wanted to make sure we got it right. The first one listed below was the final choice.

Here’s an update on the web redesign project under way for Rochester International Association.  These are some logo designs that we are currently brainstorming.

Looks like I am approved to get started on redesigning the Rochester International Association website. It’s been about 4 years since it’s last redesign. This is how the website looked like before 2004.

I have some interesting ideas for it:

• Instead of the blog as the front page, redesign front page to simplify navigation and accessibility.
• Split up into 6 themes according to what are the most requested information: World Festival, Your Country, About RIA, Blog, Events Calendar, Memberships.
• Shiny new logo
• About RIA – Allow people to easily find photos, and other promotional materials. Without exposing personal information, add a directory of current board members and a way for people to contact them.
• Your Country – Enable people to easily find resources and news based on a specific country.
• Memberships – Add ability to renew or join membership online. Add a way to accept credit card donations online via PayPal or Google Checkout.
• Link to Facebook group page for RIA

Ok, I’m taking a big risk here talking about politics on my blog, but this article really hits home with what America is all about. Millions of Americans can identify with Obama’s identity. He’s neither black nor white. He’s in between. So are millions of Americans today. 

Roger Cohen: A chubby Obama’s ‘unity in diversity’

Note: I do not affliate myself with any political party. I am a unbiased bystander in American politics. I am pretty sure a lot of readers will consider this a nod for Obama as president, but I make no such claims.

Happy Lunar New Year for those who aren’t Chinese. Yesterday marked the first day of the Year of the Dog in the Chinese lunar calendar. Follow the blogosphere at Global Voices Online on this special day.

I am proud to announce a new website for my web design and consulting business. I call it CityBlogz Design Studio.  I had originally registered that domain to be a blog portal for local metros, but that was before I found out that there are already many websites that do that. i.e. TheGothamist. So basically, I resigned to using the domain name for my web design business.  I am especially proud that the CityBlogz website was designed with accessibility and web standards in mind.  I tried to make the website as “bulletproof” as possible. “Bulletproof” is a term Dan Cederholm coins that describes:

design techniques that embrace flexibility — allowing for varying text size or content amounts. Also ensuring that web designs accounted for worst-case scenarios: preparing for a variety of situations, where the imporant parts of the page were adaptable — maintaining maximum readability and accessibility. At the same time, these techniques could still allow designs to be compelling. We could create cool web sites, while at the same time inject flexibility that helps them reach the widest audience possible.

I have also been busy working with the local non-profit organization called R.I.A. (Rochester International Association) . They have recruited me to redesign their old website and bring it to the modern age of web standards.