Vancouver Web Design Agency - Kimbo Design Inc.

Vancouver Web Design Company is ready for HTML 5

Thanh Nguyen — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:12:38 +0000

Here at KIMBO Design, every custom website that we design and develop for our clients is cross-browser compliant. Before we officially launch any website, we test the site using these popular web browsers:

• Internet Explorer 6
• Internet Explorer 7
• Internet Explorer 8
• Firefox
• Chrome
• Safari
• Opera

But now with the introduction of HTML 5, I am on the verge of removing Internet Explorer 6 from my list of test browsers. But I’m not ready to do that yet. I’m not going to complain about Internet Explorer 6 and how old it is, but rather, I’m going to talk about some exciting new features of the newly anticipated HTML 5.

Now, I know that the web browsers that I listed above, depending on which version, do not yet fully support HTML 5 but that is about to change with newer versions that are soon to be released. With the introduction of HTML 5, some really cool features have been implemented that will make my life a lot easier as a web developer.

For example, with HTML 5, you can embed a video on a webpage without having to use a third-party plug-in such as Adobe Flash. All you need to do to embed a video on your web page is to add the <video> tags. Similarly, you can embed an audio clip simply by adding the <audio> tags. HTML 5 makes it easy to specify elements on a webpage and has introduced new tags that provide structure to a webpage. A webpage coded in HTML 5 may look something like this:

<body>

 <header> ... </header>

  <nav> ... </nav>

   <aside> ... </aside>

    <article>

     <section>

       <video> ... </video>

     </section>

    </article>

  <footer> ... </footer>

</body>

As you can see, we are no longer limited to just the <head> and <body> tags like we used in HTML 4. This also eliminates the need to use excessive <div> tags in our webpage code that may otherwise result in coding that is difficult to debug.

HTML 5 has also added new <input> types for the popular <form> tag. If you are a back-end coder, you will find these new input types very useful and client-side validation scripts will soon be a thing of the past. Some of these include but are not limited to:

• date
• time
• number
• email
• url
• month
• week

The nice thing about HTML 5 is that it is backwards compatible with HTML 4. With that said, however, there are some tags in HTML 5 that are no longer supported. Some tags that are no longer supported in HTML 5 include:

So unless you are still designing websites using frames, there is nothing to be too concerned about because some of these tags have already been deprecated and some you can use CSS to achieve the same result.

Although HTML 5 is still in its infancy, web browsers such as those listed at the very first paragraph of this article are bound to be fully compatible with HTML 5 in the near future. Companies that create web authoring tools such as Adobe has released Dreamweaver CS5 and had already provided support for HTML 5 by offering the HTML5 Pack extension. One thing is certain is that HTML 5 will one day be the norm and KIMBO Design will be designing and developing websites for their clients here in Vancouver using the HTML 5 markup language.

How to leverage the major social media sites in your marketing plan or campaigns

Kim Pickett — Tue, 25 May 2010 02:05:13 +0000

One of my graphic designers came to me with this great visual representation chart of SMO marketing. This is great tool for explaining the how’s and why’s of social media. It is really amazing how the typical advertising budgets are now dedicating more than 50% to digital buys. “Branding” online is one of the most important tasks a marketer must think about when planning their entire marketing plan. When I think about a marketing cocktail, I always mix in a little more “social” than directed.

Social Media Visual Chart (PDF)

Kimbo Design’s New Green Web Server

Thanh Nguyen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:37:46 +0000

After attending the workshop called Commitment to Sustainable Workplace Practices presented by one of the representatives from the David Suzuki Foundation, I was inspired to become more “Green” in the workplace. The workshop got me thinking into what I can do at my office to reduce my carbon footprint and become more environmentally-friendly.

Now, there is not much that I can do at my office that can further reduce my carbon footprint. I mean, I do turn off the lights and put my computer to sleep mode when I leave the office every night. But that’s pretty much all I can do. So I thought to myself….there has to be more that I can do to become more eco-friendly.

Well, there is one more thing that I can do to become more eco-friendly and that is choosing a more eco-friendly web hosting company. I have been designing websites for many years, but never once have I thought about choosing a web hosting company that is eco-friendly.

Now, you’re probably wondering, what exactly is an eco-friendly web hosting company? I’m not really an expert in this field but I can answer this question in one sentence: An eco-friendly web hosting company is like any other web hosting with the exception that they use some other means of powering their web servers that are both more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly. That pretty much sums it up. That is what they call Green Web Hosting.

After many hours of researching and comparing several web hosting companies that offer green eco-friendly hosting, I decided that it was time for me to take action. I finally switched to a green eco-friendly web hosting company.

This means that the Kimbo Design website (the website that you are on right now) is being hosted on a certified green eco-friendly web server. Could you believe it?

I really think that other web hosting companies should make the move towards being more eco-friendly because if they don’t, in the future, web hosting may become a major energy waster considering the fact that an average web hosting company consume an enormous amount of electricity to power their data centers and web servers 24×7 365 days a year.

Now that we are hosting our website on a green eco-friendly server, I am proud to say that Kimbo Design Inc. has taken one more step towards reducing our carbon footprint and becoming more environmentally-friendly.

Kimbo Design gift giving recognizes sustainable design issues

Kim Pickett — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:10:56 +0000

PRESS RELEASE – Switching to sustainable design isn’t an option – it’s a necessity, a necessity that Kimbo Design recognizes and supports. To show this support and promote the idea of sustainable design Kimbo Design sent out “not a paper cup” eco-friendly mugs as their annual gift to clients.

The “not a paper cup” mugs recognize the enormous amount of unnecessary waste sent to landfills each year from disposable paper cups. The mugs allowed for Kimbo Design to voice their brand mission, create awareness, and provide their clients with a unique alternative to their current daily not-so-friendly-paper cups.

To reinforce their support for sustainable design even further Kimbo Design sent out matching eco-friendly pens and cards to accompany the mugs. The cards were printed on 100% post-consumer waste and explained Kimbo Designs dedication towards sustainability and the eco-friendly pens sent out were produced from renewable resources, are 35% biodegradable, and are refillable.

With these gifts Kimbo Design hopes to bring their clients understanding on how important sustainable design is, how their companies can benefit from becoming more sustainable, and how their choices can create a positive impact.

Why Invest in Green Printing?

Carla Trevisi — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:15:52 +0000

Hats off to Noverra Consulting & Capital Partners who have decided to use green printing for their new business cards, hopefully other businesses will follow in their lead! Besides the fact that businesses should make an effort to be more socially responsible consumers are also becoming more environmentally savvy each day and now know that doing things the green way has become less optional and more necessary. Therefore, being a little more green can now give companies an advantage in the marketplace, as well as make them feel good about being more environmentally friendly.

Conventional printing is very harmful to the environment; it is common for virgin fiber to be printed on (paper made from brand new trees), designs and layouts don’t take waste into mind, inks with high Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are used, printing facilities use non-renewable energy (printing presses are major consumers of electricity), on top of all this, toxic solvents are used to clean the rollers and ink wells of conventional offset printing presses.

With green printing, post-consumer recycled (PCR) paper is used (or another sustainable fiber alternative), printing is done with low-VOC inks, vegetable-based inks, or soy inks, facilities are doing various things to clean up their carbon footprint, such as buying Verifiable Emissions Reductions (VERs), and facilities are also using more environmentally friendly methods for clean-up among making other changes.

All of these differences between green printing and conventional printing make a significant difference for the environment, they also show your business is socially responsible. Green printing is a good investment for everyone and we can only hope that soon it will become the standard.

Objectified – Inspirational film about the importance of design and communication

Carla Trevisi — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:52:54 +0000

If you like documentaries you’ll probably like Objectified, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. You don’t need to be a designer or need to care about design for it to affect your life and this film proves it (you also don’t necessarily need to be a designer to find this film interesting). Objectified, analyzes what goes into design, its importance, and its role in everyday life.

The film focuses on the work behind industrial design and how users interact with objects, but the message is applicable to all design; be it graphic, interior, industrial, fashion, etc. Everything is designed and many choices are made before a final product or result is achieved (hopefully smart choices that create improvements to make ones life better). Creativity that takes functionality and end product into consideration along with effective communication skills make an enormous difference with how well something works and how well it is liked by users.

Good design goes a long way and this film makes you realize just how much it is part of everyday life. As a designer I am constantly looking at what’s new, and what makes effective design/ communication, seeing this film was inspiring and something that I felt was worth sharing.

5 Reasons why you should use WordPress as a CMS

Thanh Nguyen — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:30:48 +0000

Being a web developer, it is so much fun customizing a WordPress theme. For those of you who don’t know what customizing a WordPress theme is, it is basically taking the default WordPress installation and modifying the CSS and other images so that it looks like the way you want it.

I have had the chance of tweaking many WordPress sites over the past few years and let me tell you, I have learned a lot of things. I have even modified and tweaked WordPress to use as a content management system (CMS). If you have ever used WordPress as a content management system, you would know what I mean. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should use WordPress as a CMS:

1) WordPress has plenty of support
WordPress has a lot of online resources. If you ever get stuck on something, just search for the problem using your favourite search engine and most likely someone else has got the same problem before and is able to provide a solution. If that doesn’t work, you can try visiting the WordPress support forum.

2) WordPress has many plug-ins, widgets and themes
If you want to have a unique theme, a unique widget, a unique feature, or something else for your WordPress site, chances are that there is a plug-in, a widget, or a theme that does it. All you have to do is search for it, download it, install it, and then activate it.

3) WordPress is highly customizable
Because WordPress is an Open Source project, you have the ability to “get inside” the code and modify it to do what you want it to do. You can even get your WordPress site to have the same look and feel as any website. Obviously, you would have to know how to program in order to do this.

4) WordPress is very dynamic
Just remember that WordPress is PHP driven and is very dynamic. There are a lot of common files that allow you to make global changes quickly and easily. But there is a downside to that so be careful! If you modify some PHP code in your theme, make sure that the changes in your code does not “break” the other pages of your WordPress theme.

5) WordPress is easy to migrate, import, and export
I have had the chance to import and export a WordPress database from one web hosting company to another using phpMyAdmin. The process was pretty easy. I was also able to import all posts and comments from Blogger to WordPress using the tools provided within WordPress itself.

Those are the top 5 reasons why I believe you should use WordPress as a CMS system. If you would like more information on how to use WordPress as a content management system, feel free to drop a comment. Or better yet, if you want me to create a content management for you using WordPress, just let me know.

Five Ways to make your business more eco-friendly

Kim Pickett — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:56:00 +0000

1. Recycle & Purchase Sustainable Products.
The average office employee uses 10,000 sheets of paper annually. Look for paper products with recycled content and use double-sided printing.

2. Say No to Junk Mail.
It wastes valuable natural resources like trees, water, and energy. On average North American catalogue companies mail 17 billion catalogues annually – 59 for every man, woman and child.

3. Power Down.
Change your computer’s energy settings so that it automatically sleeps when not in use, and always turn your computer off at night. Desktop computers can cause 1,500 lb of CO2 per year; enabling sleep mode can reduce energy consumption by up to 70%.

4. Reuse Ink Cartridges.
Refill or purchase refilled cartridges. An average ink cartridge takes about 450 years to decompose in a landfill.

5. Always use 100% recycled stock for all your marketing materials.
When working with a graphic designer always ask for the most “green” option.

Kimbo Design sponsors Surfrider Foundation’s Event

Carla Trevisi — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:09:00 +0000

On Oct 22nd the public was invited to a screening of the film Addicted To Plastic by Ian Connacher which has won multiple documentary awards. The film was engaging, educational, and most importantly shed light on the steps that can be taken to create change. Design and attitude being on the top of the list.

Design innovation can provide endless ways of lessening the impact we have on the environment and creating more environmentally friendly options. Consumers are also a big and important part of this change! If the consumers choose environmentally friendly products they are sending a message to big businesses, that their dollar makes an impact. The more businesses see that, the more they will change to keep up with what the public demands. Kimbo Design currently informs all of their clients about paper and material choices when working on a product design or on marketing projects. All of our vendors know our stance and mission when it comes to climate, and that we provide some innovative creative solutions to our clients.

Kimbo Design was more than happy to dedicate their time recently to help out a non-profit organization with the event creative. The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches.

Design for Sustainability

Carla Trevisi — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:11:00 +0000

CityCentre (currently under construction) is located in Las Vegas and is designed to be its own city — A sustainable city. Keeping conservation in mind when designing the city and using some innovative technology and ideas the city will have a highly efficient water system, on-site energy generation for all the power the city needs, air conditioning system that minimize VOCs, and systems to increase/ encourage alternative forms of transportation (such as preferred parking for low-emitting or alternative fuel vehicles).

Besides being designed with sustainability in mind, CityCenter will also populate the public spaces with one of the largest and most ambitious corporate art programs in the world to go along with the amazing architecture of the city.

This $8+ billion city is cutting-edge and a great example of the overall design and effect being considered first. We can only hope that it is a glimpse into what other cities of the future will try to achieve as well.