August 15, 2017

Crafting a Brand Story? Consider the Archetype

There are many ways to approach the creation of a company’s brand, but at its most basic level, it comes down to compelling storytelling. To tell the right brand story about an institution or product, you first have to determine the unique characteristics that set it apart from competitors, and then develop the storyline from there. As is the case when crafting any narrative that you want to draw...

August 11, 2017 | Technology

How Prospective Undergraduates Navigate Websites — and What They Expect From College Content

At Eastern Standard, we do a lot of work in the higher education space. And, as a firm that is passionate about user-centric design and content strategy, we've done a lot of research into the browsing behavior of prospective undergraduates: the digital natives who have very different expectations and habits from the previous generation. Here are a few high-level takeaways from some of our...

August 09, 2017 | Strategy

Getting the Most Out of User Testing

I’m (hopefully) not going to be the first to tell you that user testing is vital for creating and confirming strategy in website projects. That battle has already largely been won. What does remain is the question of how to do it well. It’s easier than ever to collect user data, but data is easy to misinterpret (and easy to warp into support for any opinion). It can also be difficult to translate...

June 29, 2017 | Technology

Should You Upgrade to Drupal 8?

Drupal 8 has been out for quite a while now, and although it represents a major shift in architecture and signals the eventual phasing out of Drupal 7, we've seen a hesitance to adopt it. In this article, I've laid out some honest answers to how a Drupal 8 upgrade might affect you. BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER: This post is intended for folks who are already on Drupal 7 and wondering whether the...

March 29, 2017 | StrategyTechnology

Machine Learning and the Content Connection: What You Need to Know

You might be hearing a lot about how machine learning or "ML" is influencing how content creators think about SEO. Machine learning — the ability for computers to meaningfully interpret large volumes of data without being explicitly told exactly how to do so by a programmer — is changing a lot of the conversation around content creation on the web. If It Walks Like a Duck and Quacks Like a Duck...

November 02, 2016 | DesignStrategyTechnology

Digital First - Rethinking the College Viewbook

Over the years, we have worked with many colleges and universities on a wide array of marketing materials, and we have found one common denominator when it comes to traditional student viewbooks: They tend to look and sound the same. The formulaic approach that so many colleges take to this printed brochure geared towards incoming students generally includes uninspired photography — students...

September 29, 2016 | Strategy

From Paper to Web: Tips for Successfully Transforming Print Materials Into Digital Publications

For almost any business, taking print-based publications and marketing materials to the web opens the door for exciting opportunities in user accessibility and content presentation. But it’s a transformation that requires careful consideration of the medium. Because users experience content online differently than in print, the interface and experience needs to take several factors into account...

July 17, 2016 | Technology

What to Do If Your Website Is in Violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act

We've recently had an increase in the number of folks reaching out to us because they've received a legal notice stating that their website is in violation of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. We have quite a bit of experience with website accessibility and ADA compliance, especially in the higher education/university space, so I thought I'd put...

June 20, 2016 | StrategyTechnology

The Tall and the Short of Real Estate Websites: Portfolios vs. Microsites

Over the years, we’ve worked with a variety of large-scale commercial and residential real estate development, management, and architectural firms, all of which present an interesting challenge when it comes to website design: What is the best way to compile, present, and display myriad different properties offered under one online umbrella? The answer depends on the results the client is trying...

April 13, 2016 | Design

Hearts in Design: Where Is the Love?

The heart symbol is, by all accounts, one of the most overused images in all of graphic design. While rudimentary images of the heart symbol date back to as early as the 30 th century BC, credit for bringing the image to the forefront of the mainstream consciousness typically goes to designer Milton Glaser and his iconic late 1970s I ❤ NY campaign — which is said to have been sketched in a taxi...

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