HSBC Plans to Redesign Its Bank Cards

New unified design proposed for HSBC's bank cards across its 30 countries

HSBC could be onto something with their latest announcement. The multinational retail banking giant are going to redesign their bank cards. Across the thirty countries it serves, the Hong Kong based bank aim to standardise the graphic design of its ATM, credit, and debit cards. Its main aim is consistency, a must if you have a global brand like Apple or McDonalds.



HSBC's 30 countries will benefit from their new look. They will be based on the lion which sits at the entrance of HSBCs headquarters in Hong Kong. Created by Hong Kong-based design consultancy, Shift, the lion forms the centrepiece of its future ATM, credit, and debit cards. Each colour represents the kind of card that is issued to the customer. A red lion on a matt silver background, for example, is used for debit cards.

Shift's aim is to “cut through the complexity” of its retail banking products. The company has also designed digital equivalents for Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. By the end of this year, HSBC's new look cards will have been issued to new customers and existing customers, whose cards will expire this year.

>Other facts about HSBC’s new cards:

• The first recipients of the new look cards are holders of Premier Mastercard and VISA Platinum credit cards;


• From June 2017, existing customers with VISA Debit cards will get the new design;


• In July 2017, holders of VISA Gold and Classic credit cards will follow suit;


• Stephen Stitt, the customer name on the card design is shared with HSBC’s two lions, which are seen at the entrance of their Shanghai headquarters;


• The two lion statues, Stephen and Stitt, were cast in bronze by Henry Poole in 1921. They are named after chief managers Alexander Stephen and Gordon Stitt.

Dreamkatcha, 28 April 2017.

HSBC and Canary Wharf image by Aaabbbccc (via Shutterstock).

Typography: Stuck for Suitable Typefaces?

How to choose suitable typography for web and print based projects

[caption id="attachment_8987" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] Image by Frazer (via Shutterstock).[/caption]

It takes a bit of nous to choose a different typeface to the first one you see. By default, we set our standard body text to Times New Roman, Calibri or (gulp!) Comic Sans MS. After a bit of soul searching, you find there’s a world of typographical options on your computer or cloud computing account: Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Verdana, and so on. Sometimes you can never have enough typefaces. For typography options, you might need to look elsewhere.



On the internet, there are oodles of typography sources. Not only websites advertising free fonts, but also those of type foundries. Plus you’ve also got Google Fonts, which offers a wealth of open source typography options.

If you’re looking for free typefaces...

There may be some limitations. Some typefaces may be licensed for non-commercial use, which is fine for coursework, though not corporate brochures. In some cases, you might see ‘pirated’ versions of paid-for typefaces. Any typography could be suitable for web projects; with desktop publishing software, the transition from web fonts to print could be fussy and lost in translation.

If you’re on a strict budget and looking for a free typeface, go to the Google Fonts website. As well as being able to download each font family onto your PC, embedding Google Fonts into web based projects are straightforward.

If quality matters...

Go to the websites of well known font foundries such as ITC Linotype. MyFonts.com has a wide variety of paid-for typefaces. Depending on whether you download one typeface or the entire font family, you can use them on any project. The typeface is yours for keeps. For commercial projects, this by far is the best option. Moreover, they will work well on print projects as well as online.

If you wish to follow the trends...

Typography addicts should go to Typewolf. This website has several Top 10s of typographical leanings. It also features alternative typefaces to, for example, Helvetica, Arial, and Gotham. It is well worth a read for catching up on the latest font fashions.

Dreamkatcha, 26 April 2017.

DIY Web Design - A Costly Mistake | Dreamkatcha Web Design

What is a DIY Website?

We've all seen the adverts and the posts "Create your website here - it's FREE!". I'm referring to automated web design services where you pick a generic template and add you own text. Then choose from a limited number of boring, uninspiring images that just leave your website flat and boring. "We'll have you up and running in minutes" - a bold claim and absolutely false. The "website builder" is often offered to you as you purchase a new domain name, these are confusing and a poor choice in al respects. Costs seem low to begin with, but this all changes in time and we'll discuss this a little later.

What are my options?

As a start up business owner or if you are looking to redesign/revamp your existing  website, there are a few option to choose from...

1. DIY web design
   A very limited option with little room for expansion, with a very generic and lifeless feel to it.


2. Bespoke web design
   The most expensive option by far. Coded 100% from the ground up using raw code and various design languages. If you want your website to be all singing all dancing, with seriously complex functionality and programmed by an experienced web developer and then assembled by a professional web designer. This is largely unnecessary in today's world of CMS platforms and advanced frameworks such as Wordpress and Joomla, and carries an astronomical price compared to the below option.


3. Hybrid web design
   This option is by far the most common and value for money option. Over the last decade, CMS platforms such as Wordpress and Joomla have taken up the market share of all website designs currently online. With almost the exact same opportunity to expand and update as the bespoke option, many add-ons and plugins can achieve what you would usually pay hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds for. Templates can be selected if required, but this isn't required, or even benefitial most of the time.

At Dreamkatcha, we believe the Hybrid web design is the best option for 95% of all start up business. Why do we suggest this option...read on!

The limitations of DIY Websites

As a start up business, it is very tempting to scrimp and save as much as possible. Sometimes this is done in completely the wrong areas and this is simply down to inexperience and shooting from the hip, without proper research and planning. We see the same thing all the time - new businesses breezing over the importance of having a professional web designer construct their online presence. They feel that a DIY site builder is the best option for them in the beginning, but this decision soon comes with deep regret. A quick solution implemented at this stage immediately limits your future in more ways than realise. We will discuss these limitation below.

1. Confusion
   Many people assume that these DIY site builders are easy - they heard a friend of a friend has done it, so hard can it be? Confusing, if you aren't computer savvy and used to online computer interfaces. Many people try to save time and money with these online options, but soon realise that there is much more to it than just typing some text and selecting a few pictures. Often they abandon the race and come to their senses, other end up spending a horrendous amount of time before they eventually quit. Then there are some who refuse to let it beat them and post the site live for all to see. They then wonder why their business is crumbling before their eyes.
   

   98% of all DIY (Do-It-Yourselfers) fail to even complete their website design

   
   


2. Design
   All DIY websites come from a very limited range of templates. Most of which are unsightly and plain, but these make up the bulk of the "Thousands of templates to choose from" Leaving just a handful of designs that you would even dare to use as your online representation. Unfortunately, you are not the only one looking through these templates, so the best of the bunch will have been chosen by thousands of other customers. Leaving your website the same as everybody else's and just as uninspiring. You are massively limit as to what you can change - while many vendors offer expansion packs for money, they are still very basic compared to what is available with a CMS system. If your website is an important part of your business, I would look elsewhere just on this basis.


3. Mobile friendly
   The majority of DIY site builders do not display well at all on mobile devices such as tablets and phones. They are also not updated regularly, so as soon as a browser is updated, your site may now be unreadable..and unfixable!


4. Little, or no support
   What most people don't realise with web design, is that it takes many hours and lots of experience to render a website on multiple devices and browsers. When a new business owner signs up for a DIY website builder, they only expact the fun creative (although very limited) part and not the hours of trouble shooting to edit the code for each display. Most online solutions don't offer any support for these common issues and even if they do, it comes at a cost.


5. SEO
   If SEO if a vital ingredient to your website's success then a DIY site builder isn't they way forward. Many are built with Flash (a technology that isn't compatible with the majority of mobile devices) and is any empty page as far as search engines are concerned. As above, once a search engine changes its algorithm, the website may also drop dramatically in rankings.


6. Content Management
   Being able to update and add to your website is an integral part to owning a website in 2016. Many website builders are without options for blogs and limit the amount of pages you can add to your website. This will hinder and attempts to promote and expand your site further down the road. This may not seem like a big deal now, but Dreamkatcha (and most other web design companies) cant do anything with your website if it has been created but one of these online web builders. We will need to start from scratch every time.


7. Your own Domain
   Not having your own personal and unique domain name screams that you are not a serious business. This will instantly deter any prospective clients who are looking at your website. It could be enough for them to loose faith and simply move on tot he next company in the search results. Yet another opportunity (if you are lucky) for the software company to charge you more money for this privilege...it's all starting to add up isn't it.


8. Extending Functionality
   Adding extra features to your bog standard website is again a tough pill to swallow. Whereas CMS platforms such as Wordpress and Joomla have many thousands of plug-ins offering all kinds of updates and expansions little or no cost. With the "quick & easy" DIY site builder, you are now at the mercy of a specialist developer within th company, who will now charge you astronomical prices to create these modifications.


9. Advertising
   Most of these DIY websites won't let you use external advertising on your site - a viable option if you decide to promote with this feature. They will however place their own annoying adverts all over your website, in order to recoup some income from their free or low cost website option. Again this feature can sometimes be removed, but guess what...at a price. I assure you, it wont be long before you decide these ads are completely ruining your already boring and bog standard low cost website.


10. A sitting duck!
    Not only is the code unprocessable to any external developers or web designers, the site cant be transferred away from the company. So if you wanted to change hosting providers or change your domain name, you have no option but to start again from scratch. You are also not protected from an attack from a hacker, so once your site has been destroyed, you wont have the expertise on hand to rectify the situation.

The Cost of Saving Money

A recurring theme has been rearing it's ugly head right the way through this article...extra charges. What first seemed like a quick, painless and low cost option, is now becoming expensive and unrewarding at best. With the simple addition of a blog, a few extra pages and a personal domain name, his "free" website has now cost you £350 for the year, including hosting. Now lets look at the cost of this site, should you decide to keep it (your business will be well and truly burred buy now) for 5, maybe 10 years. You are now paying more than you would for a professionally designed hybrid website, with 10% of the adaptability and 1% of the class.

If you are serious about creating a website for your business and want it to be taken seriously, hire a professional and be proud of your online presence. Your time should be spent on much more important things, such as building stock, accounts, promotion...and your family or loved ones.

Graphics Tablets: This is How We Did It

In our nostalgic look, we take a trip back to a time before Wacom graphic tablets became the norm

[caption id="attachment_8965" align="aligncenter" width="640"]British Micros' Grafpad III, one of the earliest graphics tablets designed for home and business users. Image by 488405 Sespo (Creative Commons License: Share Alike-Attribution).[/caption]

Among the tools we take for granted in our studio is the trusty Wacom tablet. We find it a boom for illustration, especially for web design, brochures, and image manipulation. Being able to negotiate the tablet like a pen is second nature compared with a mouse. Graphics tablets have been in existence for the last forty years.



The most seminal creation was the Quantel Paintbox. Launched in 1981, it became the ‘must-have’ tool for television graphics. The system included a VDU, keyboard, a ‘digital paintbox’, and a giant graphics tablet. The original model had 160 MB of hard drive space. This was back when 10 MB was a big deal on the original IBM PC (a chunky 8086 processor-based machine released the very same year).

To say it revolutionised television graphics was an understatement as it led to the creation of similar, more advanced systems in its wake. Back in 1981, some of the smaller ITV franchises and independent production companies may have struggled to buy a Quantel Paintbox - let alone home users. In 1983, British Micro launched the Grafpad. This was a graphics tablet that plugged into the back of a Sinclair Spectrum computer, which came with a light pen and utility software.

One of the most successful graphics tablets of the 8 bit era of computing was KoalaPad. Originally released for the Commodore 64, it was hailed as one of the best graphics packages for the time. It came with a small touch sensitive pad with two buttons, a cordless pen, and utility software (Koala Painter). It didn’t only became a ‘must have’ tool for graphic designers with a C64: other machines like the Apple ][ and the Tandy TRS-80 were supported.

Without KoalaPad, we wouldn’t have got the venerable Wacom tablet. The Wacom uses similar design principles (wireless pen, small pad) but (most importantly), it doesn’t tie you to one utility package.

Today, the graphics tablets see a new threat: the Microsoft Surface Studio PCs could take their place. Microsoft’s cutting edge design sees the monitor turning into an electronic drawing board. Instead of a pen, a control dial is used to choose colours and other settings. This could be a game changer in design studios around the world.

Dreamkatcha, 04 April 2017.