So recently I am getting more experience with mobile website design. Here are a few tips:

1. Text Legibility: Make sure the text is readable at small sizes. Contrast is a must
2. Button Sizes: For touchable mobile phones like the iPhone (or even the iPhone touch), button sizes are extremely necessary. Fingers can sometimes be clumsy and really inaccurate.
3. Choose Menu Items Wisely: A mobile site should not contain every aspect of it’s big brother site. Instead focus on relevant menu items for users on the go. For restaurants (see LuLu’s Mobile) directions and menu info can be a lifesaver for the on-the-go parent. For a radio show like Rick & Bubba, users want to access show emails as well as social media links

This was an interview I edited and produced with for UAB | AMA. I just found out that it won first place in the Acton Foundation’s Take an Entrepreneur to Lunch.

I decided to repost a recent paper I wrote on Hulu. Be warned, with any thing online features and experience are subject to change. This paper is comprised of two parts: a descriptive biography of the online channel and an evaluation of the advertising experience.

Short Profile
Hulu is an internet based network that offers it’s viewers the ability to select programming in on-demand fashion. The channel is supported by a joint venture by NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and ABC Inc.  Hulu describes itself as a video content aggregator although the majority of its users know it for its legal, free, popular, on-demand programming.

Experience
The most popular way to experience Hulu is through its online website although several other viewing forms exist including a downloadable standalone application branded as Hulu Desktop.  Clips on the site are also available to webmasters to embed on blogs and websites extending the sites viewing area. Some videos are available in HD 720P and all videos can be maximized to take full advantage of a computer monitor’s screen size. All clips can be “scrubbed” although commercials, which play during set commercial breaks, cannot be avoided. Oftentimes viewers can chose which advertiser advertises during commercial breaks. Flash player 9.0 is required limiting a minute percentage of the potential internet market. Sound is only available in stereo.

Programming
Hulu offers a wide variety of programming ranging from feature length movies to minute long clips of popular TV shows. The most popular videos on Hulu are comedy TV shows and clips. Currently the most popular video of all time on the site is Family Guy episode entitled 420. The most popular video clip of all time is the Saturday Night Live Digital Short Motherlover (Censored). Other shows featured in the site’s top twenty include The Simpsons, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (an internet only musical tragicomedy) and Glee. All shows featured in the top twenty are under 45 minutes while the median length is about 3 minutes indicating that short clips are a substantial part of the average programming experience.

Target Market
Hulu’s typical viewers are internet savvy young adults who value quality entertainment and convenience.

Internet Savvy- The twenty most popular Hulu clips reveal that the typical viewer favors shows with a cult like Internet following like Family Guy or SNL Digital Shorts. The media length of these clips along with the unpopularity of feature-length movies on the site reveal viewers are time strapped and have limited entertainment time. Viewers also like to share short clips and contribute to the viral nature of internet media. Hulu consumers prefer a short laugh rather than a long (feature-length) cry. It is also probable that many viewers have limited entertainment venues (no cable TV) and instead rely on online media as their primary source of entertainment. It is interesting to note that every show listed in the top twenty has extensive Wikipedia articles.

Quality Entertainment- The most popular videos are produced by NBC, Fox and ABC showing a viewer preference for high quality, professionally produced media. This contrasts heavily with the user generated entertainment available on YouTube. The site incorporates quality entertainment with its rating system which allows higher rated videos to be pushed forward while lower rated videos lag behind.

While YouTube could classify its users as innovators, Hulu would classify its users as early adopters. The typical viewer has a Facebook but not necessarily a Twitter. They read and comment on blogs but most likely do write their own. While many of them have downloaded a song or two from Kazaa they prefer to get their entertainment legally from iTunes. These consumers have an iPod and are more likely to own a Mac than the average consumer. They prefer laptops to desktops for the sake of convenience. They are also price conscience and prefer to watch shows on Hulu rather than download (buy) TV episodes on iTunes.

Hulu, the Brand
Hulu believes that the future of entertainment distribution will be played in its online, on-demand channels. Hulu is already extending their experience from web browsers to standalone applications. The next step will take place when the company enters the mobile market on the iPhone or another similar device. Free is an important aspect of the Hulu brand. In order for content to remain free advertising must become more targeted which will become more effective once the early majority adopts the brand. Hulu also boasts that there is less commercials on Hulu compared to regular television.

SNL Digital Shorts: Comedy Central – Southpark
The boundary pushing comedic style of the SNL digital shorts most likely aligned itself with the extreme no-holds-bar comedic style of Southpark. The commercial lasted 15 seconds and played before the SNL digital short which lasted a few minutes. The objective of the commercial was to increase awareness/reminder of Southpark on Comedy Central. The style of the commercial followed the traditional Comedy Central brand of shock-and-awe high color, high contrast graphics with slick transitions and brash comedy.

Family Guy: Halo ODST
The trailer for the new Halo game was about two and a half minutes in length and was more of an awareness campaign. While its probable that the primary demographics for the new Halo game and Family guy might be similar (Male Age 18-24), this commercial would probably be better suited on IGN (an online network devoted almost entirely to video games). In contrast both Family Guy and Halo take on a “fanboy” or in some cases a “fangirl” status.

Glee: Cottonelle
Cottonelle’s trailer for sensitive skin tissue featured a cute puppy and a much softer overall tone (in comparison to the previously listed commercials). This is most likely due to the higher female market (when compared to Family Guy and SNL Digital Shorts) that the show Glee attracts.

Other Advertising
At the end of every episode, times and network identification is displayed. This is apart of the high quality entertainment value that Hulu offers. It is also interesting to note that shows on Hulu are oftentimes a week behind.

We’ve all been in that same situation before. “Could you make that logo just a little bit bigger?” “I’m not sure about those colors.” “We need more punch.” “Add a starburst.”

Were those elements really necessary? Problaby not. But should we do them?

I’ve seen/heard many arguments from designers that say no, design integrity should be upheld. For my own pleasure, I’m going to attempt to play the devil’s advocate and argue otherwise.

Getting Political
I guess you could say high school still rubs off on me and every now and then I’ll remember something that I learned from one of my classes. In this case it comes from my political science class regarding views on political representation. There are two basic schools of thought when it comes to how government representatives view how they should answer the many questions they face in office:

The Caretaker Approach
This view believes that the official must be a good caretaker to their constituents even if it means disagreeing with them at times. For a designer this view is more ideal. We must be a good caretaker of the clients brand even if it means telling them no. But do we really know what’s best for them?

The Democratic Approach
This view is more swayed by popular opinion. “The people know what’s best for there lives. It’s my job to give it to them.” The clients views are #1. Disregard your design sense. Just give them what they want. In reality though, clients know (or at least should know) more about their business and their target market than you do. While making that logo bigger might make zero sense from your view, there possibly could be some increase in the bottom line because of it.

Please Handle with Care
Obviously there has to be a happy medium between these two viewpoints. All I ask is that you take a second before saying no to a design change. Are you really increasing the clients bottom line?

High school was when I really got my start in design. I remember spending most of that summer looking up tutorials on Deviant Art and experimenting with Photoshop. That summer in 2003 really became the base of my design career.

I got heavily involved with the high school broadcast department my junior year. It was then when I started really toying with motion graphics.  I didn’t have After Effects so I made due by animating in Flash. I decided to post some of my high school creations.

Beach Freak – Billy Commercial from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

Nuclear Summer Commercial from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

PHS Broadcasting Intro from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

Epoch Yellow Shirt Ad from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

Senior Video Intro ‘05 from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

I was asked by Discovery Church in Los Angeles to put together these seasonal Welcome screens for their preservice announcements. Please note that if the video plays super fast, drag and drop the playhead to beginning of the video and it should play back at a normal speed.

Discovery Church – Welcome Screen – Fall from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

Discovery Church – Welcome Screen – Winter from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

Discovery Church – Welcome Screen – Spring from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

Discovery Church – Welcome Screen – Summer from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.

Wedding Baggage – Podcast Intro from Morgan Stone on Vimeo.