Rick Howard

Oct 01

Auto Sales stats

The Nightly News just posted some statistics.

Apparently sales are down 34% when compared to September of last year.

One thing that has to be looked at in this stat is that a lot of people bought Civic, Prius’s and other gas saving vehicles last year to avoid rising gas prices. Why would these people be out looking for cars again? Yet NBC claims it is because of the credit crisis, but allegedly that didn’t affect anything other than housing markets until recently. Yet from 2007 to 2006, auto sales fell %14.

Good job attempting to feed the hype machine NBC.

Of course, they tried to use another stat to support their argument. Apparently traffic is down %50 at auto shows.

Oh no!

I haven’t been to car show since roughly 1992. In fact, I don’t think we have had one around here in forever. Like baseball cards and stamps before them, Auto shows are becoming things of the past. Why go to an Auto Show when you can view millions of cars online?

I hate one sided or misused stats, 88% of th e time they aren’t real……make that 89%.

Sep 29

Im a PC

Opinion, General No Comments »

I am a PC and a web designer. I don’t need a mac to make me feel elite nor do I need one to make me feel adequate to be in the business I am in.

Just sharing.

Aug 22

Obama Flip Flops

Design, Opinion No Comments »

One would think the election in 2004 would have helped the democratic party from so much flip-flopping but alas, it seems Obama has now taken up where John Kerry left off.

Take a look at the 2 screenshots below:

How does one go from beautiful smooth fonts and styling to the organized chaos of the second image? How could a presidential candidate allow his initally smooth facade be desecrated by fonts, in different weights and sizes and faces. Is this the work of a over-eager campaign worker at 2am who is just trying to get a glimpse of the presidential hopeful or just design gone wrong? I have another suspect, The Content Management System!

I have found that most CMS’s allow a little too much in the way of customization. Giving your clients full access to edit their sites may seem like a good idea at first, but quickly you find that the inexperienced can find many ways of “improving” their websites. Improvements that can make or break a design.

With ARCedit, our custom CMS, we restrict our users from blink tags, red fonts on green backgrounds and abnormally sized images in order to keep the designs as clean as we can. It may be a lot of hand holding, but the payoff is in not compromising your designs.

Thus establishing your platform, keeping it organized and getting your point across without confusing your future constituents.

Aug 14

He or She - Espn is confusing

Opinion, Sports, News No Comments »

Chinese Olympian is 13.

Apparently “He Kexin” is only 13 years old and should not be eligible for the Olympics which means, the whiny US Gymnastics team will probably be given the gold. That isn’t the biggest problem I have with the article. What is more confusing is ESPNs need to repeatedly use the gymnasts first name, He.

So you end up getting gems like, “If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China’s first women’s team Olympic gold in gymnastics. She is also a favorite for gold in Monday’s uneven bars final.”

ESPN definitely is not short of a sense of humor, but why not change the gymnasts last name throughout the article. The Associated Press usually doesn’t mind small edits for clarification purposes but instead we are stuck with a confusing mix of shes and hes, which would leave one to question whether the athlete was too young or of the wrong gender for the sport they participated in.

I’m glad that ARC employs a full time copywriter to avoid pitfalls like this and insure all of our clients get their message across clearly.

Jul 25

Steve and Barrys

Design, News No Comments »

In sad news, it has been reported that Steve and Barry’s has filed for bankruptcy. Apparently the $8 price for everything didn’t go over as well as they had hoped. The good news is they may not have to close all the stores and could rebound with a better plan, but it is more likely that they will liquidate.

Pay attention aspiring T-shirt designers, cheap might help you start but it won’t help you sustain.

For more helpful advice on apparel design, read gomediazine.com’s article on mistakes made by designers in the apparel and music industry.

Jul 16

Chamber Unveiling

Design, ARC Design No Comments »

The ARC team just returned from the unveiling of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce new identity. Excitement is around the corner as the Chamber helps the local community by bringing in new businesses and aiding existing businesses.

ARC Design was proud to be a part of the event by building their website and doing some other identity work.

You can view their new website at http://www.fayettevillencchamber.org/

Jun 13

Not everyone can do web design

Design, Opinion No Comments »

It’s a simple fact that everyone can have a web site, but not everyone can do web design.

Using Kim Komando, Leo Laporte, Lockergnome and HTMLGoodies will help you but there are other elements involved in web design outside of knowledge of code and how to use frontpage.

This is why it is important for your business to select a web design agency that knows what they are doing.

Here are three tips on how to make the best choice:
1. Does the business have a website?
It sounds like a stupid question, but I have heard commercials for web design services that only list the phone number. You can also find plenty of online ads where the only thing listed is a yahoo, hotmail or gmail address. Hiring one of these is like hiring an amish electrician, if they haven’t experienced your wants, how can they serve your needs.

2. How does the portfolio compare to the site?
You should never choose a design company based on their website. You need to delve deeper and view the designs in their portfolio. Some companies invest more time into their own site than the sites of their clients. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
3. How easy are they to find in the phone book?
This really shouldn’t matter. If you wanted a car mechanic, you wouldn’t look under the heading of personal injury attorney. You should be looking online for a web design company. The whole point of having a website is having people view it. If you can’t find a full service design agency through a search engine then how long do you think it will be before anyone finds you.

To some these may seem like common sense, but amazingly some companies are still in business because unsuspecting business owners don’t know what they are looking for.

May 30

Fight Cancer

Personal No Comments »

If anyone is interested in donating to help fight cancer, I will be participating in the Relay for Life, you can donate at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/Rick_Howard

I will never hold this money in my hands, it goes directly to the American Cancer Society

So please chip in, you never know who you will be helping.

May 29

Scott McClellan

Opinion No Comments »

In his political memoir, What Happened, Scott McClellan claims that “he stood at the podium and said he had unknowingly passed along false information.”

Didn’t the president claim this was the reasoning for the war, he received bad information, the same information McClellan wants us to forgive him for. Yet the president got no sympathy and neither should McClellan.

The reason I don’t think he deserves any kind of commendation for his new book is simple. This book is his chance to say the things he couldn’t say while he was working in the oval office. He allegedly was forced to lie to cover up for the White House .

In my mind, he didn’t have to. He could have quit, but instead he put his ambition in the political spectrum before his conscience. He is no different that the other politicians that we hold accountable. In fact, he might be worse, because now he wants to share what his thoughts were while the country is in a small turmoil. While gas prices are going up, home prices going down and foreclosures going up, War still raging on, an overall bleak view of the future, and the presidents approval rate stuck in lower limbo, Mclellan wants to show us even more negativity. He wants to bring everyones spirits down even more.

Sadly, it’s all to line his pockets with cash and exact revenge on an office that forced him to resign.

Thanks for doing nothing Scott McClellan, I think I liked the old you better.

May 06

CD covers

Design, Music 1 Comment »

Cd covers, we look at them all the time, but do we realize that some of them have beautiful design aspects. Some may not start good trends, like 90s rap cds, more specifically anything from Master P’s No limit label, so bad they were mocked in a photoshop friday on something awful(Not for kids). Other are showing how the graphic design world is everchanging. Most notable are “Emo” bands who use simple typography and minimal imagery to show their proverbial hearts on their (CD) sleeves. You don’t have to take my word for it, look at the links below and see for yourself where the design trends may be going.

Stumbled across 15 Inspirational Album Covers on Alyssa Anduiza’s blog. Just days after seeing The Beautiful Unknown: Inspirational Drum & Bass Vinyl Covers.

Both were found through Design Float who have a searchable site where there are several other “Cd Cover” posts.

Go Kids!

Rick Howard

Auto Sales stats

Im a PC

Obama Flip Flops

He or She - Espn is confusing

Steve and Barrys

Chamber Unveiling

Not everyone can do web design

Fight Cancer

Scott McClellan

CD covers

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