I’m not a big fan of group photos on a a business or company portfolio site. I’ve learned that I am generally alone on this one. The thing about an online company is that your imagination can run wild with the notion of “how big is this company?” A group photo kind of limits my imagination and without that photo that for some reason makes me so crazy, the scope of the company feels limitless. It’s also one less cost you’ll have to deal with down road if you need to shoot or reshoot the photo. I’ve been unsuccessful in talking the last 3 clients out of this as everyone thinks it makes the site more personal. Is it just me or does anyone else find themselves making wise cracks about them? Like: “Nice haircut, what is this the 80s?”. If I want personal, I’ll go to a car dealer or my local Mexican restaurant. I’d love to hear comments on this one. I also don’t like twitter. Nope, sure don’t.
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carter
May 26th, 2009
The group photos are corny, and twitter is a waste of technology.
admin
May 26th, 2009
Some people may debate the twitter thing a bit. It does work for some people as much as I dislike it and think we could do a lot of better things with our time.
Glad I’m not alone on the Group Photos though. For a second there I thought I was. Thanks for the comment.
David Boni
September 16th, 2009
My opinions are exactly the opposite.
Twitter is a powerful information gathering tool. I follow only extremely talented designers and the news blogs for design. They share links, thoughts, site updates, and opinions that are relevant to the industry. Guys like Oliver Reichenstein (of Information Architects), the guy who runs ilovetypography.com, and countless others. It’s the vast scope of discovery through sharing with like-minded individuals on Twitter that’s key.
And I happen to like group photos. Customers and clients value honesty and they want to trust who they’re emailing or calling from across the Internet. Showing the humans behind an interface or a brand isn’t bad, especially when it’s a small business. This could easily become a rant about how businesses need to evolve and develop a face that’s both unique, expressive, and relevant instead of remaining stagnant, hiding behind gray cubicles and a flashy website.
I’m not saying that profile pictures are a must (they are always at a high risk of looking cheesy), I’m just saying that businesses shouldn’t be ashamed of their size and thus try and hide the fact that yes, they are a small group doing the stuff they do best.
Here’s a great article about the subject: http://blog.asmartbear.com/blog/youre-a-little-company-now-act-like-one.html
admin
September 16th, 2009
Very interesting. There are 2 sides to every story for sure. In terms of how you find Twitter useful, I can definitely see how it’s beneficial for you. I find that Twitter definitely has its uses in that fashion, but in terms of clients looking to increase sales from their websites, Improve SEO or increase traffic, it’s not the golden goose it’s hyped up to be. Maybe I’m just jealous because I lack the time to get too involved in Twitter. I agree about how businesses should not be ashamed of their size. In a recent post about SEO copywriting and branding, I just wrote about the importance of transparency. Given the available tools like Google and Bing, most users will know a good bit of info about your company BEFORE they even come in contact with you. I just feel that it would be better to go without a photo then to use subpar ones that look like mug shots. Like you said, if not done right, there is a high risk of looking cheesy. And in my world of web design and web development, that is a risk I’m not interested in taking. Thanks for your input David!
David Boni
September 18th, 2009
Totally agree with people finding out more background info and testimonials with Google—I do the same thing in abundance. Shopping for apartments recently, for instance… it’s really maddening how poor the websites are for most communities, and even more alarming to find a ton of negative feedback on review sites come up as the first things on Google (with no apparent response from the business owners).
As for Twitter, it’s just become a part of my routine. I spend one to two hours in the morning, viewing the newest work, inspiration, tips and tricks, and other things constantly being poured onto the net. Twitter is just like a random RSS feed of links constantly being updated (once you follow the right kind of folks).