Every quarter there is a painful play reenacted as I watch my long suffering wife trying to navigate her way around the confusing HM Revenue and Customs site when uploading the company PAYE figures. What should be a quick process deteriorates into a frustrating, time consuming effort trying to second guess the convoluted system.

You don't need me to tell you but a website's design will make the visitor decide whether to stay, and take action or leave. It's not just the styling that's important though, any confusing elements will drive that next click to another site quicker than a…. er mouse.

This got me thinking about web design and sharing some simple hints and tips that you could use to improve your own site, advise your obstinate boss or rein in the overly creative urges of the designer you've just commissioned.

I don't normally kick off discussing politics but I was particularly inspired by the recent Corbyn leadership win and it's effect on the party membership. 'MORE than 15,000 people have joined Labour in the 24 hours since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader' the party said.

This reaction was not due to the spurious promises of radical new ideas, instead it was an endorsement of someone who outlined his traditional values with a vision and integrity that clearly chimed with the membership. For a party that had lost direction over the years it was a wake up call as the people voted to stand up again for what they believe in and reaffirm why they became party members in the first place.

As I lay in the comfort of my bed finishing the final chapters of Andy Miller’s ‘The year of reading dangerously’, an absolutely brilliant, witty and insightful journey through his ‘List of Betterment’ - 50 books he always meant to read or ‘claimed’ to have read. I came across one of the final quotes from the CEO of a well known publisher which, as a book lover, quite shocked me and inspired this little piece.

“In the future, no one will read Pride and Prejudice from cover to cover, they will just tap the screen, of the phone or tablet and find out more about the bits that interest them, the costumes or the recipes.”

Benefits of working with a professional designer

I was contacted recently by an enthusiastic young man, a skilled tradesmen who’d put in many hours to gain valuable experience and now wanted to set up a new company with a vision for the future. Obviously he required a new identity to get things underway. He had approached a signage company, van livery was an important element of his business, and they ‘created’ a logo for his new vision. He was, not surprisingly, underwhelmed by the result but savvy enough to realise that, good sign makers as they were, they weren’t designers. He understood the importance of a strong cohesive identity and was willing to invest in it. I was impressed, not everyone get’s it.

There are several DIY approaches with predictable results:

This nugget of thought that I’m currently pondering is in no way an excuse to rant or expose my latent luddite tendencies. It is though a heartfelt desire to reach out to like minded people and see if we can create a critical mass.

Yes the smartphone revolution has been phenomenal, opening up a world of possibilities to instantly tap into a never ending source of online information. However this box of tricks comes at a cost and the price may be too high. My area of concern is not the monetary value but the effect on human interaction and communication.

Lennon Design HQ has been buzzing this week. First off we welcomed our new Web Designer, Adam, into our merry band. We've been really busy lately so we're delighted to have him onboard.

Things got really wild with the arrival of a creatively challenging brief from our brilliant clients at the Forestry Commission. They wanted to produce a range of material for a new on-site children's woodland event - 'The Really Wild Festival'. Lovely project but the caveat was that the timeframe was particularly tight. Ouch! The first phase of the work was to create an identity for the festival pack with the sly brief to include a fox. A short period of intense research was swiftly followed by feverish sketching and decision-making before picking up the mouse. Loads to do; the graphic style, colour palette and integration with the Forestry Commission brand all had to be considered. Initial visuals were sent off for approval and were thankfully warmly received.