Billy Hylton

Wisdom Report 2010

Billy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:16:14 +0000

MarketingSherpa has published its eighth annual “Marketing Wisdom” report (PDF download). The report features 70 lessons learned from MarketingSherpa readers. The economic crisis of 2009 offered challenges and opportunities. According to the Wisdom Report, “it was a time to focus on the fundamentals of marketing, while also testing new tactics, new channels and new ideas.”

Twitter and Street Vendors

Billy — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:17:21 +0000

I’m really excited about the rising popularity of street vendors. Portland, no surprise, is out in front of the trend. Many of these vendors are using Twitter to pass on information to customers about where they will be on a given day. Take OnlyBurger in Durham. On a recent Friday night they were on Main Street from Midnight to 3AM and then were up early to serve breakfast burgers at the Farmer’s Market.

(Ross Grady)

Mobile Web

Billy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:17:29 +0000

Twitter Revolution

Billy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:22:59 +0000

“The surest way to show support for the Iranian pro-democracy movement without jeopardizing its viability is also the simplest: maintain current levels of service on internet websites like Twitter and Facebook, and provide means for Iranian protesters to circumvent current bans on media reporting and Internet café use.” – Max Burns

Encyclopedia of NC

Billy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:18:56 +0000

The Encyclopedia of North Carolina, edited by William S. Powell, is the “first single-volume reference to the events, institutions, and cultural forces that have defined the state.” I worked closely with UNC Press to redesign the promotional Web site and provide four easy-to-use, scalable templates.

Law Library

Billy — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:36:11 +0000

UNC Press

Billy — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:27:56 +0000

Overview

I played a key role in a recent redesign of the UNC Press site by guiding the client through the web development process, redesigning the look and feel, building standards-based web templates, and providing helpful documentation.

Client Testimonial

“Billy was brought in on a very high-profile project for the Press — to design a new web site for the Encyclopedia of North Carolina. The Press presented Billy with a lot of vague ideas of what we wanted to convey through the site but very few specifics. He asked for, and was given, access to the image files for the book and all of the graphics/fonts used in the publication. When we saw the results the reaction, Press-wide, was amazement. Billy “got” what we were trying to do, the understood the need to link the prestige of the Press with the history conveyed in the Encyclopedia while keeping the site looking fresh and modern. Billy did an incredible job, completely exceeding our expectations. Several months later, when it was time to start work on redesigning the Press’ main site, Billy was the natural choice to do the work. This project, however, was much more complicated, with various political in-fighting for home page space, differing opinions on look & feel, navigation, layouts… Billy worked out numerous wire frames of proposed ideas based on what he heard in our meetings. Through excellent communication with the Press, insight into our business and creative graphic design work, Billy was able to work through several iterations of web site designs until we found one we were able to agree on. I would not only work with Billy again but would (and have) recommended him to anyone in need of web design services. Billy is in high demand and one look at some of his work will show you why.”

Tom Franklin, UNC Press

Daily Yonder

Billy — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:57:46 +0000

Client Testimonial

“We hired Billy to design a new web site, The Daily Yonder. We didn’t know what we were doing, to put it mildly. Billy walked us through everything — helped us with both our concept and our design. AND he helped us find the cheapest, easiest way to do what we wanted to do. Plus, he designed the site with originality and style. We got art, we got practical advice, we got a site that has worked without a flaw for the past year. We really couldn’t have been happier. Billy is fun, creative and an absolute joy to work with. He really wants to do what’s best for the client — even when the client doesn’t know what’s best for himself.”

- Bill Bishop

User Data Isn’t Everything

Billy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Graphic designers and user experience experts often see the world differently. The UX/usability person may view the graphic designer’s creative and aesthetic contributions as indulgent. The visual designer argues that beauty enhances usability and trust. This recent article in A List Apart explores both sides and concludes:
“Smart graphic design is always some balance of current expressive trends, information architecture, classical layout aesthetics, and detailed research on user preferences and motivations. You should never ignore solid user experience data, but mountains of data won’t auto-magically build you a successful site.”

Read the whole piece

IE 8 Browser Comparison Chart

Billy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:49:11 +0000

It looks like Internet Explorer is back in the game….