Author: Dana Bryson

Website Designer and Developer Dana Bryson has a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications from Middle Tennessee State University, with a concentrated collegiate study in the field of graphic communications. She previously worked for MainStreet Media, LLC as a Graphic Layout Designer and Online Manager. She has designed several publications with her proficient knowledge of pagination and design for newsprint, magazines and advertisements. Dana shows creativity and clarity within workflow schedules. Her knowledge of website design gives her the ability to work closely with our clients to produce customized designs to meet the needs of each business. Dana has also been an adjunct instructor at ITT Tech in Nashville teaching within the Visual Communications Program. Dana has designed and developed over 100 custom websites since joining Bear Web Design in 2010. Dana enjoys scrapbooking, which she feels is a tactile extension of her design skill set. Dana and her husband Keith, also enjoy traveling and spending time with their two dogs.

Responsive Design

Written by Dana Bryson on January 28, 2014.

We do our best to help you “Go Responsive … Responsibly.” When we design a Responsive Website at Bear Web Design we focus on what a mobile, tablet or desktop visitor is wanting to accomplish. Working with our clients we try to create a user experience that is optimal in varying device sizes. Check out this article from Website Magazine:

Responding to the Hype Around Responsive Web Design

Some Key Quotes from Article:

What’s more, because viewing websites on mobile devices is generally quite slow, most people are reluctant to start tapping all over a page. This means that design must make it visually clear what elements on the site allow for user interactions. Buttons, links, form fields and other points of user interaction must be large enough to be clicked easily, and spaced far enough away from other page elements that users don’t risk clicking the wrong elements. – See more at: http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/pages/responding-to-the-hype-of-responsive-design.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter#sthash.fiNiJ9zw.fS5Q6Zwx.dpuf

“… viewing websites on mobile devices is generally quite slow, most people are reluctant to start tapping all over a page. This means that design must make it visually clear what elements on the site allow for user interactions. Buttons, links, form fields and other points of user interaction must be large enough to be clicked easily, and spaced far enough away from other page elements that users don’t risk clicking the wrong elements.”

“A safer approach for many sites will be to use a drop-down or “select” menu. The user simply clicks the menu and scrolls to the selection (or category) of interest.”

What is a Plugin, a Module and a Component in Joomla?

Written by Dana Bryson on February 25, 2013.

Joomla Components, Modules and Plugins can have a great influence on your final website design. They can enhance your website design ranging from interesting content such as blogs to desired action items such as purchasing a product. Some of you may already know what these additional pieces of Joomla are… But for those clients or future clients that are new to Bear Web Design and Joomla! lingo, here’s an introduction.

A component in Joomla! is the most complex add-on. This usually adds a completely new, or different, function to your site. A component handles data input and storage into the database.

Some Examples:

An Online Store System
A Blogging System
A Business Directory
An Advertising System
A Slideshow or Photo Gallery

A module in Joomla! is usually an add-on to the site that extends the functionality of another part of the system. It usually has fewer options and most of the time does not handle any storing of information into the database. A module usually supports a component by allowing more options on how to display data from the component. Modules are the most commonly referred to in a design meeting environment at Bear Web Design. Many modules can be customized to fit your color-scheme and style.

Some Examples:

A module that shows a visitor their account info, shopping cart, and or login/logout info. (Works with a store component.)
A recent blog area or featured blog listing. (Works with a blog component.)
An advertisement area that holds an advertising banner. (Works with an advertising system component.)
A mini calendar. (Works with an Events component.)
Customized Quick link buttons. (Works with Joomla! menus.)
A slideshow on the homepage. (Works with a slideshow component.)
Search Box (core Joomla!).

A Plugin in Joomla! will manipulate output already generated by the system. It typically does not run as a stand-alone element but retrieves data from other sources like content on your site.

Some Examples:

Search Plug-in (works with components, to make some of their data able to be searched within the entire site)
Simple Image Gallery – pulls images from a folder in a database and displays those images when called into an article.
Article Editor Plug-ins – allow for embedding of special media such as iframes, videos, etc.

It is also good to know that modules and components are great ways to provide interaction with your website visitors.

These items are important to know when starting or redesigning a Joomla! website. In a design meeting these will help express how you would like your site to look and function.

What is Functionality?

Written by Dana Bryson on April 11, 2012.

As a designer I refer to functionality on a daily basis. I truly believe in having a well designed website, however, if it doesn’t have functionality it is just a pretty image on a computer screen.

SOO.. Let’s define functionality.

Functionality is defined in the dictionary as the “quality or state of being functional.”

Functional is defined as being “used to contribute to the development or maintenance of a larger whole.”

A Function can be described as a purposeful action.

Ask yourself this question, “What should be my website’s purpose be?”

Your answer should be that you want to reach your audience efficiently and market your company/organization well.

To be able to bring that purpose into fruition there needs to be an understanding that a well designed website is more than exciting colors and graphics. It is a high-level dynamic mixture of a strong content management system with branding, color schemes, composition, clean design, meaningful and easy to update extensions, and good content. That mixture is used to achieve a website that is designed well because of it’s level of functionality and of course some good aesthetics.

You see there are a lot of templates site and graphic designers out there that can provide a image that looks dynamic, but in the end it flops. We make sure that behind the scenes it is working for you … not against you. Each client that we work with is a customized experience. We review the needed functions and pick the right extensions and design elements to achieve their marketing purpose.

At Bear Web Design we use slide shows, photo galleries, blogs, action buttons, search modules, calendars, forms, Google maps, social media integration, multi-level menu systems, video players, and all sorts of other extensions that have to be integrated into the overall design to be the “larger whole” – to achieve that sought after purpose. (Do you see the functionality ooozzzing out!?)

Hopefully you can see that we take web design seriously and design websites that are more than just a image on a screen, but a functional marketing tool that can grow as your company grows.