A Content Management System (CMS) is a system that allows the creation and management of digital media content such as text, images, video, files and so on. A typical website CMS will allow the user (or multiple users) to create, edit, publish, categorise, search and archive this content as well as control how it will be displayed on your site.
So, why use a CMS? There are lots of reasons;
…he is a member of a great team
In the Signal vs Noise post ‘Designers: Make it Memorable‘ Jamie makes the point that pretty or impressive design alone wont really make an impact unless you have the content to back it up. He uses a rather poor example to illustrate his point though. He says that the Drudge Report site is a great site because it has no-frills and just delivers great content. I would disagree with him though as I was immediately turned off by the fact that the site was really difficult to read. It was an amorphous mess of bad typography with no distinctive elements to guide the eye to the most important content. It is ugly and for me that creates a barrier for connection.
When you create a website you want as many people as possible to be able to access the information and services your provide. That means thinking about the different kind of barriers some people might face when using the web. Some people have physical barriers, for example they can’t use a mouse, and others may have a visual or hearing impairment. Sometimes users have to employ assistive technologies like screen readers or different kinds of keyboards.
We recently had the opportunity to tender for a project website and logo for Children in Scotland. It our first ever tender, so the experience was both exciting and nerve wracking. The mission is to look effortlessly outstanding without being overconfident… a tricky balance to strike.
This is by no means an expert guide to tendering, just a reflection on a couple of things we learned in the process.
I’ve been working on a business plan for Post Creative on and off for a few months. Fortunately or unfortunately we have had so much work from clients that I’ve had to put it aside. Today I got a couple of hours to sit down and focus on it again.