Apr
16
What did I miss?
April 16, 2007 |
A few updates from while I was on vacation:
-We lost another police officer
-We need to fix a road
-People are arguing about where to spend money
-The council wants to get with the times and create a web presence
Three of these things are pretty common anymore and have been discussed thoroughly on other sites. What’s new is the web site idea, and since I paid Kansas University a lot of money to study this kind of thing, I think I’ll talk about web design for a little bit.
Without question the City of Stuart needs a web site. Many of the surrounding towns have their own, and Menlo’s is one of the better town-related sites I’ve seen. The Menlo site is still being updated, but it’s layout and structure are fantastic.
The council is putting almost $2500 towards the design so a fantastic site is definitely not out of the question. In fact, it should be reality. I’m happy they realize that it takes some money to build and maintain a decent site. What really concerns me, however, is their choice to award the design of the site to Tokheim Web Design.
Browsing through Tokheim’s portfolio leaves me less than enthused about their work. I don’t see any graphic design of any substance, and all the example sites look to come from the same basic template. Obviously I’m not against the use of templates (one of Wordpress’s biggest assets is the usability of templates), but every client shouldn’t receive the same design, should they? I’m pretty sure one of my professors mentioned something about that at one time or another.
I don’t mean to tear Tokheim apart, but I think for the amount of money the Stuart City Council wants to spend they should be able to get somebody with a proven track record. Maybe Menlo’s web designer is available.
Comments
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i’d go with menlo’s. it is nice i think.
What did I miss?
oh, any juicy details from your trip?
Sorry, nothing juicy. I slept a lot, read a few books, drank some beers.
A not-so-skinny stripper sat on my lap and broke the sunglasses I had in my pocket. Does that count as juicy?
well it did make me laugh so i’ll take it as juicy. thanks for the laugh. the reading part sounds good though.
Hey, welcome back senor Nate!
I agree with your assessment of using the same template. For that amount of money a unique and eyecatching and maybe most importantly, easy to use, interface should be able to be found. Time for the town to catch up with people’s daily lives, a lot of whom, don’t have the time to get involved, unfortunately.
This would be a means of letting them, if some rules and/or terms and conditions of usage could be applied. Menlo’s IS impressive and showed some good forethought. Good ideas as always, Nate!
Forgot to mention, I hope you didn’t leave too many chiquitas with broken hearts.
Also, maybe the town could use you as a consultant. Hey pay a local son who knows what they’re doin!!
PS:Sorry bout the glasses, dude!
No broken hearts, just my sunglasses and my bank accounts.
If anyone needs any consulting done you know where to find me!
I think you’d do just as good a job as Tokheim, Nate! Maybe you should submit an $1800 bid to the city…
Menlo’s website is good, but that phrase “A Town of Few and Friend of All” has got to go.
because the phrase is a lie!
Here we go again. Look what you started Maren!
Aw, crap. I’ve never even been to Stuart or Menlo or anywhere close to that!
I do regularly visit our plant in Monticello though… I think Iowa is lovely.
I think you’re lovely
Yippee!!
A table based layout? pop up windows? background images galore? Nate, maybe you should get your money back from KU.
I checked out Tokheim - holy early 90s hideousness. How these so called “web designers” get work is beyond me. I cant believe people who call themselves web designers are still laying stuff out in tables and not using css and valid markup. So sad..
Ive done my fair share of freelance work and I would think the city should be able to get something done for less than $2500. But, most designers with a shred of self respect will start at 40-60 $/hr.
Why not get someone who knows what they are doing to donate some original templates/graphics, designed for the city - to some highschool students/class and the students can pick up and fill in the content. The town basically gets a free site, and the students get to learn a little html and css. If someone had shown me photoshop and the ins and outs of basic html, css and some javascript when I was 16 it might have made a huge impact and I could have spent a lot less time effing around in science class and more time working towards and actual marketable skill.
You got me there. Maybe I should have said fantastic compared to what we have now. Or compared to any of Tokheim’s examples.
sorry nate - just had to give you a bad time..
your site, on the other hand is a shining example of great design. layout, typography, graphics and balance. All the while keeping presentation and content two seperate things. This is design as God intended.
As are pretty much all of Gardner’s works.
Gardner is very good, no doubt. This template fits exactly what I was looking for.
Hey, maybe they could do a design like a band’s website I visited the other day.
http://www.theformat.com
Flying dogs! Check it!
Menlos slogan is superior compared to Stuarts. Home of bla bla bla and a few stinkers. They need to do a stinker recount!!!
True, I think there are more then a few stinkers in town.
Glad to see you made it home safe and sound. Hope to see you when you’re in IA again.
I’m a stinker, so that’s 1. Let’s keep a running total.
The truth shall set you free!!
OMG. IT’S SO BORING HERE.
Seems like the only thing most folks want to talk about is Iowa small town gossip.
When you bring up a real topic like school violence, no one has anything to say…