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Alien Architecture: Surreal Cities for Future Worlds

25 Aug

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

alien architecture 2

Will the architecture of the distant future be recognizable to us based on what we have built up to this point in human history, or beyond what we’re able to conceive? Take a look at any retro-futuristic architectural visions and you’ll most likely see structures influenced by the era in which they were created, but one contemporary illustrator is attempting to take such speculative creations into deep reaches of the imagination.

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Graphic designer Mike Winkelman has created a series of digital illustrations that combine hyperrealism with structures that can seem physically impossible, but in a maybe-someday kind of way. Unlike the kind of fantasy architecture that feels totally dreamlike, such as floating houses, these visions often seem to employ technology that hasn’t yet been created.

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Winkelman (known as Beeple) is on his eight consecutive year of drawing something every day, and hasn’t missed a single day in all that time. He uses Cinema 4D, Octane Renderer, X-particles, Zbrush and other tools to build these sci-fi worlds, some of which seem like they could be connected in an overarching narrative.

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It’s the kind of work, presented sans commentary or explanation, that really gets your brain going imagining what the story could be for each piece. Dozens of these drawings can be found on the artist’s Behance, and select prints are available on Society 6.

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Back From the Future: Working Hoverboard Surfs Water & Rails

07 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

hoverboard over water

Pro skaters pull tricks on (and beyond) the pavement on this real-life hoverboard – at a distance, one might mistake their rides for normal skateboards, except for the steam from liquid nitrogen cooling superconductors to negative 320 degrees. Completing the futuristic scene, hovering drone cameras can be seen floating into and out of view, capturing wide-angle views and close-up shots of the gravity-defying skateboarders in action.

hoverboard park

Developed by Lexus, getting the hang of this electromagnetic contraption is still not trivial, even for professionals, as many falls and bails illustrate in the video above. Considering the challenge of relearning a fundamentally difference set of balancing variables, though, these skaters do quite well for themselves, even managing a few rail slides and to coast across a body of water.

hoverboard lexus

hoverboard bowl

The device does, however, come with a significant catch: like other similar inventions, it relies on a metallic subsurface to function – the depiction of this scene as taking place a typical skateboard is alas somewhat misleading.

hoverboard pavement

hoverboard jump

Out in the real world, there are limited environments where one might actually make this work. That being said, infrastructure changes, and should this take off as a recreational sport, new parks could be designed around these devices as well. At the very least, this one is a few steps past the Hendo in terms of technological compactness, robustness, stability and, of course, an outdoor demo to get people excited.

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Opinion: The future of DSLR or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the ILC

19 Jun

Despite some sales growth, mirrorless isn’t taking over photography. Equally, DSLRs aren’t flying off the shelves the way they used to. But if you’ve found yourself arguing about whether mirrorless is the future, you’ve probably been addressing the wrong question. DPReview’s Richard Butler argues that convergence is coming and that it’s not the mirrors that matter. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Future of Wayfinding: Augmented Reality for Urban Bicyclists

13 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

1augmented

Using augmented reality highlights, hints and cues to guide bikers through complex city paths and streets, this conceptual system addresses issues of wayfinding and safety, speculatively asking: “Could a cycle path be created, or at least augmented, using connected technologies?”

augmented urban path highlight

Five initial functions are proposed by the Connected Cyclists project for this wearable prototype, all around themes of navigation in London, a place notorious for the variety of its path types and unexpected route shifts. With so many transitions between street paths, parks and alleyways, it can be hard for bikers new to the city to know where to go – subtle highlights of next steps could solve that problem.

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“We see that cyclists often take bearings when paused at traffic lights—this interface could essentially simply provide the next direction, reinforcing the journey. We also feel that the visual nudge implied here, using the fabric of the city itself, is more akin to how cyclists move and navigate—a more fluid movement through and sometimes across the streetscape, as opposed to the very directed navigation delivered for drivers.”

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Blind spot visualization assists travelers as they pass in the shadows of cars, buses and trucks, while an overall approach promoting backstreet network paths helps avoid traffic and poor air quality in the first place. Monuments, icons and landmarks displayed subtly in the background can also give clues to riders about where they are in the city.

4Blind-1

Already there are many programs like CityMapper built on OpenStreetMaps that contain the necessary information about routes and paths but using those on the go via a typical mobile device means either unsafe cycling practices or frequent stops, hence the augmented heads-up display. “If these displays talked to the city around them—if they knew where the cyclist was and what they were looking at—they could give much more subtle spatial and contextual information that builds on the surroundings of the cyclist.”

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The key is making such technology accessible and seamless, a distraction-free overlay to other visual information being taken in by those on bikes moving through the urban environment.

augmented reality headset

“Many cities are spending serious money, time and attention on improving the ‘hard infrastructure’ of cities to make cycling safer, more convenient, more attractive,” but “there is potential of a ‘soft infrastructure’ which can be overlaid on existing urban fabric to further support cycling, which takes advantage of contemporary technologies such as wearables, the internet of things, real-time sensor data, and so on.”

augmented city bike device

While none of this is a reality quite yet, “‘Design stories’ allow you to try on a future for size, and to imagine how a prototype might fit into its urban context. With prototypes to point at, critique and discuss we can begin to imagine other externalities or knock-on effects and build up both understanding and language to discuss what can otherwise be fairly abstract and technical ideas.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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The Future of Photography Websites – Understanding and Adapting to Trends Continued

31 May

In an earlier article (The Future of Photography Websites – Understanding and Adapting to Trends) on this topic, you can read about a couple of major trends in the web-design industry (as they relate to photo websites). Here’s a quick review:

The huge number of new websites being built and ways to rise above the noise including: Choosing a photography niche (specializing); Differentiating yourself as a photographer; Using quality platforms and website templates; Simplifying and prioritizing elements on your site; Understanding and focusing on your target audience.
New website performance standards and their effect on browsing habits: Why and how to make your website faster; Editing down your content and creating a smooth browsing experience; Having clear website navigation.

Now we’re going to continue exploring many other important aspects you should take into consideration when building your photography website (whether it’s an online portfolio, a stock website, or centred around a photo blog). All combined, these notes should give you a more clear picture of how to build your photography website and steer towards a more successful photo business.

3. Mobile devices are omnipresent and powerful

This is fairly obvious to see in the world around us, but what implications does it have on photography websites?

a. The old adage: stop using flash on your site

No need for me to dwell on this, but it’s hard to write an article on photography websites without mentioning Flash, and with good reason. I hope you’re in the position to skip this paragraph, but if you’re still using Flash, continue reading and consider making some changes soon.

Besides the well-known SEO limitations, Flash websites are slower, not compatible with Apple devices, harder to update, and can be almost entirely replaced today using modern HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript components (and surely surpassed in many aspects).

b. Make your website mobile-friendly (responsive)

Many photographers are reporting that almost half of their website traffic comes from mobile users (smartphones and tablets), and we can expect this number to rise further.

So you can no longer afford not to have a mobile-friendly website. Google confirmed this by announcing they will now penalize non mobile-friendly sites. While this is just one of the many factors Google uses to rank websites, it’s a strong signal to take note of this issue.

This is especially important for photography websites where users interact with the site more (using slideshows, doing searches, buying images etc.) Slideshows and static images (along with the entire layout, of course) should automatically resize and adapt to any screen size.

Example 7a responsive

To emphasize the importance of a mobile-friendly browsing experience, Google provides a free testing tool for your site and rewards responsive websites in mobile search results:

c. Once again, make your website fast

You can read about website performance in the first article, however, it’s worth mentioning here again. The load times of a website are even more important to mobile users (with mobile networks being somewhat slower and less reliable than home broadband connections).

4. Content-consumption rates are increasing (a lot)

Not only are more users coming online (and using more devices than ever before), but they’re also consuming a lot more content. This should come as no surprise, and it’s worth considering for its web-design implications. Since users want more content, here are some ways to help them out:

a. Make your site easily shareable

That means leveraging social media buttons on your website (even when you don’t have your own profiles on those specific social media sites), making it easy for people to recommend your images and pages.

Don’t neglect tweaking your site to display pretty permalinks: a page URL like this www.johndoe.com/?p=789 is much uglier than something like www.johndoe.com/gallery/great-description-here/. Besides the SEO implications, pretty permalinks are also important for people sharing your content: if a URL is more inviting, it will naturally get more shares and visits.

b. Keep the content fresh

Example 9 yannickdixon blog

While everybody knows that blogs should frequently be updated, you need to refresh the rest of your website once in a while too.

Make sure your contact information is up to date.
Have some featured galleries on the homepage? Change or rotate them from time to time.
Have a slideshow? Rearrange some of its images, or add new ones. Returning visitors will notice that.
Recently worked on a project or received an award? Make sure it’s there on your site.
Consider keeping a Recently Updated gallery or section on your site’s homepage, depending on your layout.
Schedule and do such a site review regularly.

You’re not making a good impression if your site is becoming stale after months of inactivity, and let’s not even talk about Google (who values fresh content as much as users do).

c. Consider offering an email newsletter

Email marketing is becoming huge these days. While everybody hates inbox clutter, getting unique and valuable content via email is always good. This is especially important if you have a photography blog. Sure, people can come to your site to check for new content (or subscribe to an RSS feed), but sending them content directly via email can be very effective.

Example 10 kenkaminesky newsletter

The people who subscribe to your mailing list are already targeted; they’re interested in your content to start with,
and want to see more of it. You can look into tools like MailChimp (free for up to 2000 subscribers) and follow their best practices for creating, and managing your mailing list.

5. People are searching more, not just exploring

Remember we mentioned impatience. With things happening so fast online, people expect to be able to search for content if they can’t find what they’re looking for in a few clicks. It comes down (again) to how you organize your site structure (and having clear site navigation), but it’s also about providing metadata and search options where appropriate:

a. Don’t ignore text content

Okay, you have a photography site, so it’s supposed to be image-heavy and visually impressive. The homepage is sometimes a good place to do that, but throughout the site, you need to also have quality text content to provide context.

Example 11 rosafrei metadata

We’re not even attacking this point from an SEO perspective. It’s important to your users that you describe every piece of content you have:

What are these images about? (IPTC captions and keywords displayed on the page).
What is this entire gallery about? (Gallery descriptions).
What is this page about? (On-page intro paragraphs, SEO titles and meta descriptions to help users when seeing search results).
What is this blog post about? (Text inside blog posts too, not just one image per post).
What is this entire site about? (Titles and descriptions once again, text on the About page, text on other pages describing your work/services).

b. Allow (and track) image searches on your site

Once again, this comes down to properly captioning and keywording your images, along with having an easy-to-find search functionality. This entire process is time-consuming, for sure, but you’ll reap the benefits in the long run. How you add all this searchable image IPTC metadata is also important and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Nobody will do a search on your site for “DSC0023”, so you need to provide real value to users that need to search, by describing your images for:

Abstract meanings.
Scientific names where appropriate.
Actual persons/locations/objects depicted in them< ./li>
More creative captions describing your process, experience, gear, etc.

You can obviously write unlimited keywords for your images (sometimes overdoing it with all the possible synonyms), but it’s usually recommended to go for 10-20 keywords per image depending on the type of photography you do.

Once images are on your site and people are searching for them, be sure to also track those searches in Google Analytics to learn more about popular search queries (informing you about content demands). There are exceptions to this: simple portfolio websites (with just a small selection of best-of images) don’t really need a search functionality. For larger stock archives or anybody selling prints/licenses though, it’s a must.

If you have a popular blog on your site, a blog search option also comes in handy. Just make sure it doesn’t get into a fight for attention with the image search box – they need to be clearly separated. Choose whichever is most important to make prominent (like having an image search box in the header throughout the site, and a discreet blog search option in the blog sidebar only).

6. Search engines are looking at user satisfaction as a huge ranking factor

There’s obviously a huge buzz around SEO and how to rank higher for certain keywords. Google is always one step ahead, continually changing their algorithms to prevent any dishonest or spammy tactics. How do they do that? They constantly figure out how people make browsing choices, and turn those into ranking factors.

When writing SEO titles and meta descriptions, think about how they would look in search results, how to best encourage users to give you their clicks. Don’t just stuff them with keywords for Google’s sake.

Example 13 mariankraus

For every main page on your website, ask yourself:

What do people come to this page for?
Can users quickly find the information they’re after?
What would you want to see on this page if you came here for the first time?
Where should visitors go to after viewing this page?
What elements on the page are probably not useful to people?

This change in mindset is the one thing that can set you apart and differentiate your photo website. Sure, there are many SEO-specific actions you need to take care of, but you should always go above and beyond in providing value to people. Do that, and it will be impossible not to rank well in search engines.

7. Social media websites come and go

You probably can no longer build a successful business without some sort of social media presence. But you would be taking too many risks to only setup camp there, without building your own website. Social media companies can always get sold or shut down (acquisitions, natural life cycles, new competitors etc.), so you don’t really own your profiles there.

Whereas a website is an asset you can control, that you have copyright over. You’re interested in buying instead of just renting online real-estate. Social media sites are excellent marketing hubs, and they’ll always be there to drive business forward in one shape or another. But building your strong personal website should be the core of your focus.

With this in mind, it’s obviously important to leverage all the social media tools you have (by placing profile links and sharing buttons on your site). Use them as much as you want, just don’t rely solely on them, it’s more important to build your own online presence.

8. Web platforms and tools are maturing, and eCommerce is exploding

A lot of photographers these days are looking for hybrid solutions instead of having multiple separate sites. They want a place where they can blog, and showcase and sell their photos if they want. So it makes sense that some platforms are starting to offer that, and the days of having separate portfolio and blog sites are coming to an end.

Current established companies (like PhotoShelter or SmugMug) are getting strong competition from WordPress plugins like NextGen Gallery (with its Pro version) or WooCommerce (with its new Photography extension).

Example 14 scenicnh products

If you want to start selling prints/products, now is a good time. Since online sales keep growing, it’s natural to see many photographers shift (at least partially) from services to products, basically trying to build a passive income from their photography business. They do that through books, prints, courses, workshops, etc.

9. Design aesthetics are changing

Change is the only constant. I won’t recommend you use any particular flat design elements, any colors or layouts because those are just like fashion trends. They come and go.

What is here to stay is simplicity. I can’t imagine a time when having a cluttered header area (with 10-12 menu items, six social media links, a search box and a subscribe box, all crowded together) will be in fashion. A clean website is not about using big fonts or a lot of white. It’s about prioritizing your business goals and the elements on your site.

Applying this mindset to the number of galleries you feature on your homepage or the products and services you offer is important. When visitors have fewer and more clear choices to make, they have a better browsing experience and are more likely to trust your website and keep coming back for more.
Example 15 sebastienmerion

Conclusion

Along with part one of this article, this was an overview of the important web-design trends you should be aware of as a photographer.

Constant improvement is the only way to be successful with an online photography business. You know this to be true for your photo technique and composition skills (since you’re reading this on dPS, after all). The mindset can be applied to your online presence as well; it’s a continuous effort to get better and adapt to the industry.

Success does not depend on cool slideshows and flat designs. Sure, you have to make your photography website beautiful, and, therefore comply with the latest web design fashion trends sometimes, but not at the expense of helpfulness and clarity.

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The post The Future of Photography Websites – Understanding and Adapting to Trends Continued by Alex Vita appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Life After Apocalypse: 8 Seed Banks Saving Up for the Future

22 May

[ By Delana in Culture & History & Travel. ]

seed bank preservation

By some predictions, Earth will become nearly uninhabitable within just a few generations – and between now and then, one of the most damaging events will be the loss of genetically diverse food crops. Luckily, there are some pretty smart folks out there who are dedicated to keeping seeds safe for the future. Whether it be on a grand, global scale or just a grassroots (pardon the pun) movement at a local library, these seed storage sites might prove to be an incredibly important part of the future of the human race.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault – Norway

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tunnel svalbard seed vault

This is perhaps the mother of all seed vaults. Tucked away on a frigid island near the North Pole, Svalbard is the backup storage vault for 1,750 other seed banks all over the world. If other seed collections are damaged or lost due to a global crisis, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the place we’ll go to begin rebuilding the Earth’s vegetation.

deposit in global seed bank

norway global seed vault

The permanently frozen, difficult-to-access, post-apocalyptic location wasn’t chosen by chance – this was a calculated decision based on careful foresight. The vault is set nearly 400 feet into a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen Island. Although no permanent staff are assigned to guard the vault, the structure has an impressive security system that would foil even the most nefarious of seed stealers. When an organization deposits seeds, only they are able to access the boxes containing those seeds; the organizations retain ownership, making Svalbard simply a storage and preservation facility for the good of the planet.

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Furthermore, the site is favored for its lack of seismic activity and its altitude; at 430 feet above sea level, the vault would be spared from flooding even if the polar ice caps melt. The site’s permafrost is ideal for storage of genetic material, as well. Even if the vault’s refrigeration units were to fail, it would take several weeks for the interior temperature to rise from its stable -0.4° F to the ambient temperature of 27° F.

inside svalbard global seed vault

seed samples svalbard

As of 2015 – seven years after the facility opened – approximately 4000 plant species are preserved in the vault, with a total of around 840,000 total samples. The facility has the capacity to store a total of 4.5 million samples. Besides being an important part of the future of humankind, Svalbard is an incredibly cool-looking facility that would be equally effective as a supervillain hideout.

Millennium Seed Bank – Kew Royal Botanic Gardens – UK

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The Kew Royal Botanic Gardens is a must-see destination in England, but their conservation arm is equally fascinating. According to the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, between 60,000 and 100,000 species of plants are in danger of extinction – this number represents approximately one-fourth of all of Earth’s plants. Most of the threat to plants comes from human activities such as over-exploitation and poor farming practices.

wild plant seeds millennium seed bank

kew millennium seed bank

The Seed Bank’s mission is to preserve these endangered plants – as well as those that are not yet in danger of extinction – for the good of the planet and all of the living things occupying it. Partnering with more than 80 countries worldwide, the Millennium Seed Bank has collected seeds from 34,088 wild plant species, representing more than 13% of wild species from around the world. Their goal is to raise that number to 25% by 2020.

kew seed bank seed science

Researchers at the seed bank study the properties and value of each plant variety and produce more seeds to increase biodiversity in plants all over the planet. They also study optimal storage conditions for the seeds and try to determine why some seeds die during preservation. Their research can help future generations of conservationists store valuable seeds more effectively.

Australian PlantBank – Australian Botanic Garden

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Acting as the research and storage facility of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, the Australian PlantBank (formerly NSW Seedbank) focuses on horticultural research and conservation of native Australian plant species. The facility uses traditional seed preservation methods as well as tissue culture – a conservation method that involves growing new plants from small pieces of plant tissue.

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In the seed vault, more than 10,035 collections of wild-sourced seeds are preserved, totaling a staggering 100 million individual seeds. The seeds represent 4669 species, mostly collected from NSW in an effort to conserve the complex and unique area’s native plants. More than 600 plant species are considered endangered in NSW alone.

australian plantbank research

Seeds and tissue samples are regularly tested for health and viability to ensure that the facility isn’t simply housing millions of dead seeds. The PlantBank researchers point out that, while in storage, plant species do not have the ability to evolve and adapt to changing conditions. Therefore, any seed or tissue sample that is banked today is a “snapshot” of the plant’s genetic makeup today.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Life After Apocalypse 8 Seed Banks Saving Up For The Future

[ By Delana in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Fractal Formations: The Fascinating Future of Urban Growth

19 May

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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What might the patterns of urban sprawl look like if humanity were to survive another thousand years or so? Artist Tom Beddard envisions fractal formations seemingly cut right into the earth, broken up by the occasional sky-high tower or curving superstructure. The architecture in this futuristic vision entitled ‘Aurillia’ ranges from bleak industrial scenes to incredibly complex city centers, all created using a fractal formula called Mandalay.

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The London-based artist, who earned a PhD in laser physics before moving on to design and web development, used the Fractal-lab tool that he built himself to render the images. Fractals in visual form are generally characterized by obvious patterns, but with this formula, the resulting aerial views have a surprisingly organic look.

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“What I found particularly interesting was the mix of architectural forms that could be found when certain parameter combinations create structural resonances,” Beddard told The Creators Project. “The curved domes are due to the Mandlebox sphere folding effect and the towers result from the different fold scaling of individual axes.”

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We’ve seen some amazing applications of fractals and parametric designs in architecture and furniture designs, from mobile pavilions to fantasy cities, but nothing on quite this large of a scale. Check out aerial views of real-life suburban complexes and you’ll see that these patterns aren’t all that far from the patterns we’re already creating with urban development.

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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The Future of Photography Websites – Understanding and Adapting to Trends

03 May

Right off the bat, this is not an article about what background colors to use, what plugins to install, or other shallow web design fashion trends. Focusing blindly on bells and whistles (flat design, parallax scrolling, full-width page layouts) won’t actually make your photo website better. Sure, it might make it pretty, but it won’t necessarily be effective.

Getting the bigger picture and understanding the WHY behind web design trends will make you better equipped to build a successful photography business.

Having worked on over two hundred photography websites in the past few years, I’ve developed an eye for all the details that make up a great photo website and have recognized some important mindset shifts. My aim with this article is to give you a good overview of where the web design industry is heading (as it relates to photography websites), and how you can stay ahead of the curve.

Focusing on trends that truly matter allows you to then provide real value to your audience.

Change is inevitable

Web design trends are just a result of an ever-changing landscape. That’s why building your photography website should not be considered a one-time effort. It’s your responsibility to keep an eye on the industry and adapt as you go along.

So, what is driving all the web design changes in the photography industry, and what can you do about it?

#1 – The sheer number of online users

The web design world is rapidly evolving in order to manage the Internet boom:

There were more than 3 billion (with a “b”) Internet users in 2014, representing 43% of the world’s population.

So if you think the Internet has grown in recent years, we have yet to reach the tipping point. Not to mention how fast and easy it is to create a new basic photo website these days, instead of just being a content consumer. Everybody is getting online, which is the obvious cause of many web design changes.

Let’s explore some strategies to differentiate your photo website and rise above the surface:

a) Choose a niche

When the market becomes over-saturated, you’re somewhat forced to specialize in a smaller niche and become an expert in it. Your target audience will be smaller, but you’ll also be a better fit for their needs.

Example 1 wildscenics

Niching down can usually be done through:

The type of photography you specialize in (instead of being a jack-of-all-trades).
The physical area you cover (only accepting clients from a certain city).
How you promote yourself online (blogging, publications, events etc.)

This also has a great impact on how you structure your website. Having a clear target audience in mind, allows you to craft your message and tailor your site’s landing pages better.

If a first-time visitor comes to your site and is greeted with 10+ galleries from completely separate photography domains, (s)he might start exploring some of them, but will surely be a little confused and ask “What is this photographer actually good at?”.

b) Differentiate yourself and show your personality

Besides having great images (which should be a constant focus in your career), your website is an important way to showcase your personality. Just like you’re trying to craft a unique style in your photos, you should also infuse your style into the way you build your website.

How do you do that?

Your words have a lot of power. What you write (and the tone you write in) can make a lot of difference:

Using your sense of humor in blog posts and your About page (within reason).
Having a good self-portrait (did you nail the right facial expression?).
Describe your work/services in a friendly manner.
Write about your experiences in your own words, as if you’re talking to a friend using natural language. Forget about SEO for now.

Example 2 patitucciphoto

Furthermore, it’s obviously not enough to use a great website template, thousands of other photographers might use the same one. The branding and design of your website are also important differentiators:

Defining who/what your audience is (to inform what site structure, colors and fonts to use).
Choosing whether to brand the site under your personal name or a business name.
The general mood created by the site (minimalist, strict and professional, very joyful, retro, dark and intriguing etc.)

To dive deeper into how you can infuse personality into your website, look no further than this excellent article from Smashing Magazine: The Personality Layer.

c) Use quality platforms and themes/templates

Using free blogging platforms like blogger.com or wordpress.com (not to be confused with the self-hosted software from wordpress.org), you get what you pay for. I don’t want to sound harsh, because they’re useful to many people, but they’re targeted at beginners, so you also let out that impression when using them.

Using the right platform (like wordpress.org for your blog and/or PhotoShelter, Smugmug, or Zenfolio for your portfolio or archive, to give a few examples) allows you to build your site under your own terms, with SEO advantages and more design flexibility. But then you also have to pay attention to the theme or template you’re using on these platforms. Choosing a weak one (and not even customizing it in any way) makes your site very similar to many other ones out there.

Even if you’re not in the position to hire a professional web designer or developer, or you’re just starting out, it’s important to do a little research first and choose a strong theme as the foundation for your site.

Website of our own Gina Milica – dPS writer and ebook author

If using WordPress, one of the best places to look for quality themes is ThemeForest (this link automatically filters for the term “photography” in the WordPress category, sorted by bestsellers and does not use any referral code).

Once you have a theme, it’s worth browsing the theme demo, reading its documentation, and getting acquainted with all the various layouts and options it has – they’re building blocks from which you can build your own WordPress-based website.

d) Learn to prioritize and simplify your website

You can tell a lot about a photographer’s personality from his website layout. Cluttered headers and overwhelming navigation can leave users confused and make them abandon the site (or at least browse to less important pages).
By letting go of clutter and focusing on quality over quantity, you can provide a better browsing experience for your users:

Provide simpler (and fewer) navigation options. Try to keep menu items around five to seven choice at most.
Any new piece of content should replace an older one, instead of just being crammed in there with all the existing content.
Leave the header area distraction free (that means: no big blocks of text, client logos or obtrusive subscribe boxes). Just your logo (linking to the homepage), main navigation items and maybe a couple of social media links.
Forget about only placing content above the fold (in the first few hundred pixels from the top). People scroll a lot these days (if the content is worth it). So leave some breathing room (whitespace) between elements – it adds legibility and creates a more modern and elegant look.
Choose one or two accent colors for the site and go with them, consistently, throughout the site.
Question the purpose of every element on your site: Is it distracting people from the main content? Would it be better placed somewhere else? Do you enjoy seeing/using similar elements on other websites?

Notice I did not mention minimalism in particular, or using the now-popular flat design elements. Prioritizing your content and focusing on a clean design are key ingredients to being more successful with your site.

e) Focus on your audience

Your photo website should obviously showcase your work and let your personality shine, but it shouldn’t be built around what YOU like (as the website owner). Instead, you should embark on the long process of defining your target audience and figuring out their likes and needs:

Read industry blogs (What shifts are there in the industry? What tools are popular these days?).
Get inspiration from other successful sites in your niche (How are other photographers writing to their audience?)
Continually get feedback from your readers/clients (Can you see some patterns in the contact messages you get from readers? Can you ask a few clients why they chose you?)
Understand the process a client goes through to find a photographer like you, and draw conclusions to inform your website copy and marketing efforts (Where do my target clients go looking for photographers? What are their most common questions and concerns?).
Think about what visitors on a page are most likely looking for, and make sure that’s front and center (Does a reader come to your About page to vaguely see if you’re passionate about photography, or in fact to quickly view your experience and location?)

Answering questions like this should, in time, create a strong new mindset for building a site that’s useful and appealing to your audience. What a great place to mention this quote from marketing expert Seth Godin:

“The only reason to build a website is to change someone. If you can’t tell me the change and you can’t tell me the someone, then you’re wasting your time.” – Seth Godin

Example 4 jasonmyers

2. High-speed internet is becoming the norm

The spread of broadband connections and mobile networks are changing the way we browse websites. No longer are people expecting to wait too long for a page to load, or to sit and read very long texts (except maybe for long-form articles like this one).

High-speed connections bring many benefits, but also impatience and superficiality (users not staying long enough on a site to dive deeper into a topic). This has a few important affects on the way you should build your online presence:

a) Make your website fast, people expect that

Google expects that too. Photography websites usually have a problem with site speed, due to the nature of the image-heavy pages which require more bandwidth and are slower to load. While using a quality hosting provider is obviously important, the three main performance factors are:

The quality of your theme or template (see notes above on this topic).
The content you add to the site – unless you’re selling prints or licenses, you should only upload lower-resolution images (at the size displayed by the template, usually no more than 800-1000 pixels on the longest side, maybe larger for home pages or slideshows). With some exceptions, JPG files at a 60-70% quality level is a good compromise (in order to keep file sizes low while maintaining acceptable image quality).
Page caching – using performance plugins like W3 Total Cache (and integrating with a CDN (Content Delivery Network) or enabling similar caching features on your platform) can greatly improve your site’s load speed.

Quality content comes first, but a big chunk of users leave your site if it takes too long to load. As technologies advance, this performance expectation will only get stronger.

Example 5 fineearthphotography

b) Make your pages easy to skim through

Make no mistake – with faster websites, users’ patience is also stretched thin. In this era of distractions and (false) multi-tasking, rarely do people sit for long periods of time on a single page. Even if they’re fond of your work, the social media feed in the other browser tab pulls them away from your site and back to their notifications. It is, therefore, important to create a smooth browsing experience:

Be brief – when writing blog posts or your biography text, try to stick to what matters and get to the point. Quality over quantity, again.
Showcase only your best images – having tens or hundreds of images in a slideshow will only dilute the visual impact, and you can’t really expect people to sit through all of it. Especially annoying are very similar variations of certain images. Unless it’s for a client project, show visitors a different thing, not the same subject shot from three different angles.
If you have many galleries, try grouping them into collections/categories. A user is more likely to choose from five categories and dive deeper into sub-galleries, instead of choosing from 30 galleries right from the start. It’s the jam experiment all over again.
Properly format your text – you can increase legibility by breaking texts into paragraphs with spacing, highlighting important sentences/words and using headlines and sub-headlines. Notice how this article is quite long, yet (hopefully) easy to skim through with all the sub-headlines and bullet points.

c) Have a clear site navigation, people want to quickly jump from one thing to another

Since people are so distracted these days, you might be thinking of grabbing their attention and making them stay on your site longer. But this can be done in both good and bad ways. You can either use annoying pop-ups and write bombastic words to trick them into staying, or you can instead create a clean and simple website that’s a joy to use.

When you visit a website and can quickly find what you’re looking for, you’re a happy reader and more likely to go there again. Don’t you also feel the same way when shopping in a neatly organized store? Whereas on websites where you’re wasting time searching or navigating, your frustration level might prevent you from ever going there again.

What are the main ways to create a great website experience, you ask?

Once again, simplify your navigation – I’m not saying to just have three or four menu items, because that might actually create even more work for the reader to dig out your other pages. Just try to place your important site areas in the navigation, and remove the rest. You can always link to your other less-important pages in other places.
Position the navigation consistently – people expect to find the menu in the same spot throughout the site. This is especially important for people with multiple/separate websites. When a visitor reaches your blog, can (s)he see the same menu items and in the same position? Or do they have to learn a new layout again? It’s not difficult, but it’s a hindrance.
Provide clear calls-to-action – when users reach the end of the page, where should they go next? Depending on the page, you can let them explore the main menu on their own, or you can guide their actions by having buttons linking to where you want them to browse next (or subscribe to something, or leave you a contact message).

Example 6 paleyphoto

Conclusion

The web design industry is evolving. It’s heading towards clarity and simplification, forced by the expanding number of websites out there.

There are many other aspects to take into consideration (the rise of mobile devices, higher content consumption rates, new browsing habits, SEO and social media implications, and many more), but they’re the topic of a future article here on dPS.

If you closely read all the points above, you’ll spot the common thread; helping your readers and always asking yourself how to make things better for them.

Focusing more on the quality of your work and on providing an honest and friendly browsing experience to your readers can go a long way.

The post The Future of Photography Websites – Understanding and Adapting to Trends by Alex Vita appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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CastAR 3D: See the Future of Work & Play in Augmented Reality

25 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

virtual augmented reality headset

In this new video, Technical Illusions, the company behind CastAR, a hybrid augmented and virtual reality headset, shows off a series of amazing everyday applications of their technology, dissolving the distinction between real and digital spaces.

A year after raising $ 1,000,000 on Kickstarter, this technology combines but also goes beyond the AR of Google Glass and VR of Oculus Rift: “You and your friends can share this Mixed Reality experience that blends a virtual world into the real world. Move around naturally through this blended environment as you work or play together.”

ar headset gaming design

In founding Technical Illusions and pushing out a viable product in just over a year, Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson (formerly of Valve) have focused on getting something that works out the door and in the hands of users and developers as quickly as possible – in a world of possibilities, concepts and prototypes, their emphasis is refreshingly pragmatic.

ar desktop gaming

The CastAR system consists of a headset with a built-in projector, camera and works in conjunction with retroflective surfaces embedded with infrared LED lights. “The projectors cast a three-dimensional image onto the surface, while the camera uses the LEDs to track your head movement … you can use this unique projected augmented reality technology to do things like view building projects in 3D, play interactive video games and create three-dimensional presentations.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

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Non-Stop Rail: 2 Future Trains Pick Up Passengers in Motion

16 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

Saving time, energy and bridging the gap between high-speed rail and local-only service, these proposed solutions (each in their own unique way) let people board and disembark at their leisure while the main train speeds along. In on case, passengers wait inside an ancillary car that hooks into a passing bullet train – in the other, they step seamlessly across a dock when changing between slower and faster trains.

gif rail

First, the overhead-car approach (illustrated above) from China, a country that has long been on the cutting-edge of record-fast rail travel, pioneering magnetic levitation trains and incredibly fast cross-country routes with few stops in between. One simply steps into the upper cabin and then walks down into the main train once the two sync up. A second approach, proposed by PriestmanGoode and shown below, involves synchronizing two trains alongside one another then allowing each to dock with the other in transit.

transfer train passenger idea

Aside from being more energy-efficient, a lot of other standard frustrations of train travel are rendered obsolete by one or both approaches, like queuing up, pushing and shoving for quick entrances and exits at the right stop (an issue you will know is serious if you have ever ridden Chinese trains or subways). In the case of Moving Platforms from PG, train transfers in general could be made faster and smoother without requiring stops along the way.

At this stage, the concepts look promising but some technical questions still need to be resolved, including whether using wheels makes the most sense (in the Chinese variant) and the speed reduction required on the part of the passing train to make the two meet smoothly (in either case). Both, however, address a huge pain point in transportation as well as energy efficiency: slowing, stopping and waiting for and between public transit rides. Eventually, one could imagine an omni-directional maglev system taking people directly from buildings to their trains without needing to stop or transfer along the way.

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3. Mobile devices are omnipresent and powerful

a. The old adage: stop using flash on your site

b. Make your website mobile-friendly (responsive)

c. Once again, make your website fast

4. Content-consumption rates are increasing (a lot)

a. Make your site easily shareable

b. Keep the content fresh

c. Consider offering an email newsletter

5. People are searching more, not just exploring

a. Don’t ignore text content

b. Allow (and track) image searches on your site

6. Search engines are looking at user satisfaction as a huge ranking factor

7. Social media websites come and go

8. Web platforms and tools are maturing, and eCommerce is exploding

9. Design aesthetics are changing

Conclusion

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Change is inevitable

#1 – The sheer number of online users

a) Choose a niche

b) Differentiate yourself and show your personality

c) Use quality platforms and themes/templates

d) Learn to prioritize and simplify your website

e) Focus on your audience

2. High-speed internet is becoming the norm

a) Make your website fast, people expect that

b) Make your pages easy to skim through

c) Have a clear site navigation, people want to quickly jump from one thing to another

Conclusion

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