I don’t really want to bitch wildly, but there has been an undercurrent I’ve noticed around a lot of sites and services lately that has caused me no end of frustration, and I want to take some time to discuss my recent experiences with:

Customer service.

Those fifteen letters might as well be a four letter word, the way they make people feel lately. Yeah I know we’ve been in a recession; my wallet has felt it as much as everyone else’s. But so many companies have decided that the the fastest and easiest way to “trim the fat” is to cut back on their customer support services.

posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 in communication, eponymous, tips
Comments Off

I have always considered myself a halfway decent photographer, and over the years I’ve collected some of my favorite shots I have taken using my Panasonic Lumix digital camera and made some free desktops/wallpapers for you to download. The reason I love this particular camera so much is because it has a Leica lens- Pansasonic has a deal with them to produce their electronics, and Leica makes the glass. Panasonic’s versions sell for a lot less, but work just as well as far as I can tell. I love the results I am able to get with it, and I’m happy to be able to share them with you!

posted on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 in design, eponymous, photography
Comments Off

I wimped out a little and decided to go with this:

I incorporated the gradient like a couple people suggested, and dropped the “@” symbol. This is what will be on the other side:

posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 in communication, design, eponymous
Comments Off

I’m thinking about doing this for my new card… What do you think? Too little? Too much? I was planning to put my name and title on the back in white type on red.

posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 in design, eponymous
Comments Off

LiveTouch.net is a telephony company local to Alameda, CA, that came to Gillico early in 2009 looking to freshen up their website and print collateral. They were about to launch some new products and wanted a new look to appeal to potential customers. Gillico was asked to take a difficult to navigate homepage and bring it to life, and make it more usable.

posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 in design, eponymous
Comments Off

Dear Mr. Gillitt,

I found your profile on BRUnet and I was wondering if I could ask for your advice. I’m a senior at Brown, and I’m considering starting a small web design firm after I graduate. The plan is to offer re-design and possibly database services to small businesses in the Boston area, and I’d be particularly interested in hearing about how you started your business, the challenges you faced, and how a new company should make its pricing decisions.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Brown Student ’09

posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 in eponymous
Comments Off

By taking away a confusing button during a major online retailer’s checkout process, a designer was able to reclaim $300 million in lost sales for his client. Little changes make a lot of difference and listening to your users is where site design changes should be generated. Make it easier for your user to use your site and you will be rewarded. Link.

Related topics via Technorati: user registration, Jared Spool, UIE Brain Sparks, simple changes, check-out process, simplify.

posted on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 in communication, design, eponymous, outlinks, technology, tips, web
Comments Off

Everything about this WSJ article is wrong. It’s as if they’re telling Jane and John Q Public to go out and buy the cheapest hammer and screwdriver available, then to steal some of the decorations off the surrounding houses, on whatever land they can get their hands on, whether it’s bedrock or swampland, and then they will magically be able build themselves a lovely, fully functioning home.

It’s wrong, it’s irresponsible, and it will only lead to the cheapening of their image and brand.

Gillico represents the polar opposite of that kind of thought. I respect my (and your) clients more than that. I have been working at this craft for many years, and I have experience and knowledge about best practices that you will not be able to acquire by simply looking at another web site.

Please take the time to contact me with your  needs, and I will work hard to help you identify a plan of action, and how to best achieve your goals. My job is to make you look good, and to provide you with the most professional results possible. I don’t cut corners, I don’t outsource, and I won’t let you down.

I look forward to working with you.

Related topics via Technorati: gillico, good design, value, graphic design, web design, blog, alameda .

posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 in eponymous
Comments Off

Please take a moment to have a look at What I Had For Dinner Tonight.com, a new side project I have created: a group blog journaling what people have for dinner each night. It’s already an interesting look at what I eat over a period of time; now it’s even more interesting with more people involved!

Please join, read, post, comment and enjoy! Link

posted on Friday, March 14th, 2008 in eponymous
Comments Off

HP’s purchase of LogoWorks is ruffling feathers in the design-o-sphere. And rightly so to those who care about design and originality. LogoWorks has long been notorious for derivative and plagiarized designs, and a sweatshop attitude towards logo creation.

The optimist in me hopes this turns out to be a good event. I see this as the equivalent of the division between a pre-made meal, that is cheap, stale, overly processed and targeted to appeal to as wide of a market as possible, and a gourmet restaurant, where a quality meal with fresh ingredients is created just for you. Who doesn’t want the finest quality meal you can afford? Who honestly would prefer a TV dinner? However, some stock watchers think it’s a great move, saying “if the logo looks cool, the customer may be inclined to buy other [HP] products.”

I was chatting with another designer online about this earlier and he declared, “Yeah… the real companies, they understand what branding is… they will continue to use agencies… Logoworks is still for the mom and pops that want a logo for a buck.”

As much as I would like to agree with him, LogoWorks’ site claims that they created designs for Disney, SeaWorld and Microsoft, even though I could find no examples anywhere on the site. If big established companies are willing to use low-grade, mass-produced logos without fear of damaging their public image (let’s not digress into a discussion about MS’ crappy typography), I fear that potential design clients will only see the cheap price, and bypass independent designers entirely, in favor of a package deal with their HP Pavilion.

Related topics via Technorati: HP, Gillico, Hewlett Packard, LogoWorks, mass production, sweatshop, plagiarism, logo design, stale, TV dinner .

posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 in eponymous
Comments Off