It’s no secret that we don’t like Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the outdated 10+ year old browser still used by 15-25% of people on the web. Last year, we called for IE6 to die so that the web could move on with new innovations such as HTML 5.
Now Internet Explorer, specifically IE6, is under fire again after a critical IE vulnerability was implicated for the attack on Google’s infrastructure by Chinese hackers. While IE6 criticism is not a new phenomenon, last week’s events give those of us who advocate for the abolition of IE6 (myself included) new ammunition.
Whether you work for a company that won’t get rid of IE6 or have parents that just don’t see the need to ugprade, here are five new reasons to upgrade or switch browsers:
1. Your security and your company’s security are at risk: There’s no other way to lay it out: if the security of Google, Yahoo, and around 20 other companies were compromised due to people still running IE6, then your security is at risk too. Upgrading after a hacker uses this exploit to steal your information is simply too late, especially if you hold sensitive customer data.
2. World governments are suggesting you switch browsers: Both Germany and France have issued warnings about Internet Explorer, asking citizens to switch to prevent the same type of breach that affected Google.
CWT Harvey's Travelis a travel booking agency that offers many unique and valuable services to its travelers to ease the stress of trip planning. The company operates from 22offices throughout Atlantic Canada, with their headquarters in St. John’s.
As leaders in corporate, leisure and group travel, their website needed to be streamlined to better suit that identity. And now, the refreshed online face ofHarvey's Travelis complete! Clean, bright and a dream to navigate, the site now reflects the fast-paced, fun world of travel. Refitted with a newly designed Content Management System, updating the freshest vacation offers in a timely fashion has never been easier.
With bright colors working alongside the streamlined interface, the website now better reflects the personality of Harvey's Travel: on the one side, an exciting, helpful place to plan a memorable vacation, and on the other, a professional, accommodating resource for the seasoned business traveler.
Vulcan Minerals is an up and coming junior exploration company based in Newfoundland and Labrador, exploring locally to discover major petroleum and mineral deposits in Western Newfoundland and Northern Labrador.
Recently, the company decided to streamline their website to make it more accessible and intuitive. Important pages were moved to a central location on the homepage, accompanying the added dimension of multimedia and an updated and efficient news section. The result is a balanced, project-driven website that reflects their place as a promising name in the industry.
2 : the style, arrangement, or appearance of typeset matter
One of the things that's become standard for a designer to dote on is typography--whether web-based or traditional. In fact, you could ask most of the people in Applecore's office, design or otherwise, about what things bother them most in bad design -- 'font choice' will almost always be one of them. Bad typography sticks out like a sore thumb, making it hard to read and often just frustrating to look at. This, of course, means that the design has failed in its primary goal: to communicate.
Good typography, on the other hand, is virtually invisible. You can observe it, especially if you know what you're looking for. But the best typography is something you never have to think about--it reads effortlessly, doesn't set off any inner design alarm bells and most times, never gets the attention it deserves.
Until now! Here are Applecore's favorite examples of typography, whether it's print, web or graphic design.
Beginning in the 1960s, when Volkswagen first applied the minimalist principles popular in German design to their American print campaign, heads definitely turned. The simplistic, no nonsense ads made generous use of white space and straightforward copy (usually 30 words or less). In the process, the success of Volkswagen's approach is largely considered to be the father of the postmodern age of advertising--not to mention convincing America that a small car was also a great buy.
Hands down, the site for typography fans. Informative, constantly updated, and always inspiring, this blog serves up not only fonts but also the designs they inhabit.
When Transport for London set out to design the face of its underground subway system, they turned to Edward Johnston. He then designed the distinctive sans-serif typeface in 1916. It's still the font you see today, albeit modified; it was substantially retooled in 1979 by Eiichi Kono and renamed "New Johnston."
A great tool when you have a general idea of what you want--say, an elegant script typeface for a romantic logo, or a bold sans-serif for an eye-catching header.
Founder Allen Lane had a simple goal when Penguin Books began in 1936: to remove the stigma from cheap paperback novels and make reading readily available for anyone. Design took on an essential role in what would become the "Penguin" brand. The basic design was simple: three horizontal bands in colors assigned by genre (orange and white for fiction, green and white for crime fiction, etc)-- with none of the gaudy, lurid photography that gave paperbacks a bad reputation in the first place. In the 1940s, under Swiss typographer Jan Tschichold, a set of rules and design principles was compiled as the Penguin Composition Rules, a four page booklet of typographic instructions for editors and compositors. Maybe that's why the brand is still easily recognizable, even today, and retains a classic, clean look that most designers envy.
More favourite typography links:
Beautiful Blackletter and Script (via retinart) From modernist magazine spreads to book art from the 1920s and 1930s, this blog can always be counted on to provide beautiful examples of typography that are motivated by passion but chosen by skill.
From the conventional to the truly unusual, this list of new fonts in the past year or so show that the art of the typeface is in no danger of slowing down.
And just for fun:
JOKE! Comic Sans walks into a bar. The bartender eyes him suspiously, and when the font tries to order a drink, the bartender points to the door and says, "We don't serve your type in here."
ALSO! Check out College Humor's video on what happens when the fonts get together for their annual convention....
Located ideally inside Gros Morne National Park, the Ocean View Hotel (http://www.theoceanview.ca/) was in the process of reinventing itself as the premier accommodations of Rocky Harbour, NL, making the change from motel to hotel and incorporating a complete re branding. With its prime location and excellent record of service, the hotel needed a website re-design that would better reflect their fresh new image. The upgrade involved an elegant, more professional interface, a content overhaul and the development of an online booking system that would ease their guest’s ability to plan their stay.
Found in the bustling centre of the Avalon Mall, local dentistry office Avalon Dental (www.avalondental.ca) wanted to increase their online presence by developing a welcoming, informative website. The challenge lay in creating a website that matched their state-of-the-art facilities, which included designing their logo, as well as developing an appointment request system, a functional Q&A and a comprehensive list of services. The result was an intuitive, streamlined interface that was easy to navigate and put the focus on what mattered: their business.
Have a look at what came out of our collaboration.
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