Navigation - is often relied on to much.

Many sites place too much emphasis on a sites navigation bar to travel around a website. Although the navigation bar is still an integral part of a successful website I would challenge the theory that it should be the primary way to navigate your website.

It should read like a storybook…
A good website should almost read as a story, one page should succinctly follow on from the next like progressive chapters in a story book until you finally turn to your point of arrival…the end.

If your website is focused towards its goals, your users should be able to find what they want from the homepage without the need to even use the navigation bar. The key to this is well planned lead-ins and focused call to actions.

One Clear Voice…
Be careful not to have too many lead-ins on your homepage. You may argue that you want your user to carry out a multitude of different actions, but as I’ve mentioned before if you try and speak to your user with several voices at the same time, they will lot listen…if however you speak with one clear voice the likelihood of success increases.

Even if you have several different inner pages of equal importance you don’t have to announce these all at once on your homepage…each inner page can have its own call to action and its own agenda.

Navigation in the form of CTA's

Navigation bars in the style of CTA’s
There are still instances where your navigation can take prominence however. A large stylised navigation can work if is designed to take the form of several different CTA’s. This technique however can only work if you have a minimal number of sections otherwise there are too many elements fighting to deliver a message.

The Navigation bar is a Failsafe
Clients expect a Navigation bar to be in the same place, in the same way they expect a logo in top left  and a footer at the bottom, so there is no doubt you need the navigation as a failsafe. The nav is the roadmap of your site…almost like a wicket keeper, if your natural lead-ins don’t work the navigation will still be there in the same position giving your user a reassurance that they won’t get lost!

Instead of relying on your navigation we should be placing an emphasis on a smoother transition through the website using anchor links, related links, images as links etc. One of the reasons breadcrumbs have become devalued is because they shouldn’t be needed if your site is built logically.

The Final Word
So next time you begin to apply a plethora of graphical effects to your navigation, just question the navigation bars importance within your pages hierarchy.

The BAD Design. A Necessary evil?

Bad design allows us to make a comparison. Without bad design good design wouldn’t exist…it would just be design. In the same way that if there was no dark, light would not have the same meaning as it does now. In essence one can’t exist without the other…we need both the yin and yan: good design and bad design.

Don’t aim for design utopia.
I often here designers and day-out designers complaining about the quantity of badly designed websites which exist on the web…they make it their mission to create a web utopia of perfectly designed websites. But inevitably as is the case with any utopian ideal…it turns into dystopia. Remember Atlantis? This was the first sample of a utopian society. In the search for perfection the leaders of the society needed to create a hierarchy to get the work done…this hierarchy created division which ultimately ended in war and destruction aka dystopia.

Use bad design for comparison and to reinforce your point
Bad designs are also a useful tool when educating your clients. It is useful to make comparisons to good and bad as this comparison makes your reasoning starker. “This is how it should be done” is more powerful when put alongside”and this is how it shouldn’t be done.”

To help you differentiate between good and bad design I’ve compiled two lists:

What is Bad Design? Bad design is…

• Bad design is generic and quick to conform.
• Has no hierarchy.
• Makes you work hard to find what you are after…
• Is overly complex…with elements having no particular purpose.
• Is like a tin or sardines.
• Shouts loudly yet carries no clear message.
• Bad design is painful on the eye.

What is Good Design? Good design is…

• Good design is innovative.
• Good design makes a product useful.
• Good design is aesthetic.
• Good design makes a product understandable.
• Good design is unobtrusive.
• Good design is honest.
• Good design is long-lasting.
• Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
• Good design is environmentally friendly.
• Good design is as little design as possible.

How do you become a bad designer?
By beginning design without any schooling. In a recent talk with graphic designer Christopher hewison we compared a bad designer to a monkey in an armoury. Our message here was that the monkey will most probably end up blowing himself up as he has not been trained to use these weapons, in a similar way to how a bad designer has not been taught how to use design techniques. Many DIY designers feel that because they have learnt a technique they have license to use it, the skill lies in knowing when and where to use this technique. Fundamentally what I’m getting at is that in the wrong hands these design techniques can be used as weapons of mass destruction rather than mass creation.

Good Design is timeless.
Some make a case for these bad designs along the lines of “In it’s time the design was actually pretty contemporary….good design is timeless so this argument can go straight out the window.

The final word
In conclusion I’m not advocating bad designs just reminding you that they have a position in the food chain which makes the good design good and the great design great.

There is every reason for you not to seek design feedback, as inevitably faults will be picked in your design and you may end up in tears. Even if you are you one of those designers who thinks you’re rock and roll and you’ve got an ego at point size 600…well you need to stop believing this and take a hard look in the mirror. To become a better designer there needs to be the realisation that you are never the finished article…only after this step can we begin to make strides. Now bin those shades and tuck into a portion of the humble pie.

I guess the big questions you want to know are:

• Who should you seek feedback from?
• How do you go about seeking feedback?
• When should you seek design feedback?

Well let me try and answer these.

Who should you seek feedback from?
The most obvious people you should seek feedback from your design peers and friends…essentially people whose design knowledge and input you respect. Having a network of design friends and colleagues who you can quickly receive feedback from is vital, as often you will need an opinion there and then rather than having to wait for days. Building a tight circle like this is vital as it allows you to seek an opinion from outside your walls. Unconsciously your company will have a certain way of thinking which will impact upon all of you and may blinker your thinking…so it is good practice to seek a critique from outside your establishment.

An ancient proverb from anon states the only way to get stronger is to fight a stronger opponent; the same principle can be applied to design. By engaging with designers who you rate highly or designers with more experience than yourself you can learn and improve your skills.

Seek brutal feedback
When you seek feedback from these people I would advise you to seek brutal feedback, which means looking for faults and ways too improve before commenting upon what works well. I’m not saying you have to go mental at the person you are critiquing, I’m just suggesting you need to be as critical and articulate as possible…delivering your feedback in a harsh tone probably won’t help! I can understand why Tin-Tin is shouting in the feature image; simply the professor can’t hear him. However there is no need for you to take a similar approach (unless the individual you are critiquing is hard of hearing!).

Swallow your medicine
Critiquing is such a vital part of becoming a better designer as design is as much about convincing and justifying your designs as slapping on the paint and pushing the pixel. It’s tantamount to swigging a huge bottle of purple, frothy medicine. Initially the taste is rank and it may even hurt but the bottom line is this medicine will make you stronger in the long run…swallow that pride!

Even with the things that work well, try and look at alternatives…challenge how you would do things differently next time or how elements could be improved.

As well as approaching those you trust don’t be opposed to approaching those that you don’t know as well through networks such as twitter and other design communities on the web.

Grammatical Checks - involve your team
Another good reason to seek feedback is to get a fresh pair of eyes to search for spelling mistakes and other minor errors. You can get people in your company to do this for you. I know it’s a boring job but some people actually enjoy doing this! Find out who these people are and let them get there boots dirty, some bodies got to do it.

Client Feedbackshould be fun
Now your earlobes have been giving a royal grilling its time for the fun bit (I hope!); the glowing praises of your client once your website has been completed. A couple of points you need to cover with the client are listed below:

Send a short questionnaire to your client asking them how smoothly the process went and what improvements you could’ve made (again ask them to be honest).

This is the ideal opportunity to ask for a testimonial. You can use these testimonials on your own site to give your company more credibility and also add to your personal rep.

When should you seek design feedback?
The other big question I promised to answer was “When do we to seek feedback.” Obviously you need to be well into the design process before seeking feedback, but no time is a bad time to listen to an authorative voice. In fact often even before you have begun your design it may be worth having a quick chat with a few of your entourage to help set you on the right path.

The final word
So for my final word …foster a brutal critique of your site from those you respect most. Also if you are giving feedback don’t mimic Tin-Tins approach; there are better methods of delivery

Information Architecture

What is an information architect?
I would compare an information architect (IA) to Napoleon. Now hear me out a moment before you tell me to put a sock in it. They are both master strategists who spend the majority of their time analysing the opposition and gaining information. Information is power…the IA and Napoleon both realised this and therefore spent the majority of their time gathering as much info as possible. The key from here is to understand how this information can be used to defeat the enemy to create conversions on your website, in the form of a strategy. A good strategy will win the war or make your website a success!

I was wet behind the ears
Strategy…how’s’ that related to design I would’ve said as a wet behind the ears young buck designer. I used to think information architecture was as simple as arranging bits of content on the page in the most effective way.

But this is just the final stage of an information architects process which is comprised of 3 strategical steps:

1. Researching and compiling data .
2. Analysing this data and understanding the best way to use it. This is where you form your strategy based on your findings.
3. Developing the structure: Yes this is the layout part…the final piece of the jigsaw.

An information Architect…isn’t that just a fancy name for someone who arranges content?
An information Architect creates structures to facilitate effective communication. I think what differentiates an information architect from a web designer is the amount of research they put in and how they use this data to organise and label a website. From my research (very limited compared to the IA) I think the key for an IA is to adopt a holistic approach. To consider how each and every component works in relation to everything around it!  In reference to my last post (Context is King) the ability to contextualise is the key…to get a real grasp and understanding of the whole project is the imperative for the IA.

The role of the Information Architect is very close to each of the listed disciplines:

• Project Management
• User Experience guru
• Graphic Designer
• Front end developer

Is your job title accurate?
Looking into what an information architect was really made me consider my own job title of creative web designer; am I just a creative web designer? Or am I also a Graphic Designer / Illustrator / User Experience Specialist/ Copywriter / Typographer / Psychologist / Counsellor?

When I first started out in the world of design I thought the graphical look of the design was everything; I would invariably  rubbish design which lacked the so called WOW factor (Clients may be familiar with this terminology!). I used to scream that these designs lacked impact; they needed to become more alive when in fact they were beautiful designs and I was blinkered to the extent where I couldn’t see beyond the aesthetics. I soon came to realise the visual is often the final piece of the jigsaw rather than the whole jigsaw itself.  It was tantamount to Napoleon going to war on his enemy with untrained, malnourished and impatient soldiers…a recipe for disaster.

So preparation is the key for the IA and in trying to define one I’ve listed the key traits here.

Key Traits of an information architect:

• Analysis
• Research
• Strategy
• Tactics
• Relationships

The final word
So the next time you begin your design, question how well prepared you are? What is your strategy? And finally are you going to win the war against bad web design?

Should we really design straight into the browser?

The Mock war…
Should mock-ups be pixels perfect creations? This was a question which I’ve recently been debating and the natural solution to avoid time wasting in Photoshop appears to be to do website mcckups within the browser.

The root of the problem is that clients will often ask for small changes (like textual amends, replacing an image) which would be far easier to do in code rather than in a visual mock-up. Making these amends in Photoshop can be a time consuming process as it is a visual tool rather than a textually based tool.

When does a mock-up get signed off?
In response to those of you who think this may create a grey area regarding the sign off of a mock-up, I would propose still getting an initial sign off based on a Photoshop mock-up. This Sign off would stipulate any further changes will need to be minimal (aka text changes or replacing an image) but shouldn’t break the structure and feel of the design. This would then allow the designer to begin the build of the site in the knowledge that any amends won’t “break their design” and will be easy to implement.

CSS3 and HTML 5 pave the way for designing mock-ups in the browser.
The development of CSS3 and HTML5 is probably the biggest reason designers are even contemplating this move. The introduction of these two big boys (which create the content (HTML5) and appearance (CSS3) of your website) has effectively put Photoshop on the ropes. The big two now have design elements built into them; with elements like rounded corners, dropped shadows, transparencies etc. These elements are making it easier to design straight into the browser and cut out the middleman (aka photoshop!).

Making it easier for your client
Typically clients will be less web savvy than designers (There would be quite a problem if this wasn’t the case!) and will need to see the final functioning website in order to understand how it will work. In a static visual you can’t show how the dropdown animation will work, or how an image will fade in and out. In essence it allows your client (and yourself) to contextualise. For instance how will the tooltip effect work in relation to the rest of the design? Does it make the design now seem too crowded? These are questions which are much more difficult to answer in Photoshop. Making things clear to the client is really worth your while.

Making the web design process more organic
Wire framing is now very much part of the web design process, but I would now question the need for this if we were to design straight into the browser. Surely it is just as simple to produce a wireframe in CSS / HTML than login and use a collaborative wire framing model such as mockingbird. If you have a live test area for all to view your mockup, collaboration could also take place in real time. This also makes the design process more of an evolution, rather than succinct stages…is this a good thing? Until I’ve tested I’m going to reserve judgement on this.

Is this stepping stone needed?
Another point is that sooner or later the build is going to have to take place, so why not incorporate it into the design process. Really all we are doing is removing a small stepping stone and making the one next to it larger! The end result is still the same we can cross the river.

I know though that many designers are more than happy with Photoshop mock-ups. It is a process that works and there is definitely a case for Photoshop being a more organic design tool. Many a designer would argue that the code behind designing in the browser automatically tunes your mind into a more mathematical way of thinking which is opposed to the creative thinking you need for the design process.

I’m still not sure myself which is the best way to go, but I don’t think we’ll find out unless we test the water….right lets take the plunge into that river!

SEO - A Beginners guide

All righty then, time for a more technical blog post from moi! Let’s tackle some basic best practices to help optimise your website. Considering this is a beginner’s guide I guess I should explain the term Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). In a nutshell SEO helps search engines find your site when a user types a search term into the search engine (the most popular of these being Google). There are a variety of techniques you can use to achieve the best possible result, which I will discuss individually.

You should base your sites optimisation decisions on what is best for the readers of your site rather than just to improve your ranking. Incremental changes to small sections of your site will make all the difference.

1. Create unique, accurate page titles
List the most important key phrases first…creating a hierarchy of importance. The title for your homepage can list the name of your website/business and could include other bits of important information like the physical location of the business. You shouldn’t write your companies name here but rather the service you offer followed by your location i.e. web design Northampton!

Good practices for page title tags

2. Accurately describe the page’s content - Choose a title that effectively communicates the topic of the page’s content.

3. Create unique title tags for each page - Each of your pages should ideally have a unique title tag, which helps Google know how the page is distinct from the others on your site.

4. Use brief, but descriptive titles - Titles can be both short and informative. If the title is too long, Google will show only a portion of it in the search result.

5. Make use of the “description” Meta tag
The description meta tag are the first few lines a user will read before they enter the site, so give a brief summary of what your site is about, or take the first paragraph from the sites body copy. These pieces of information appear above the pages url and below a pages title text in a search result. Make sure each piece of description text is relevant to that page rather than duplicating content.

6. Use unique descriptions for each page

7. Improve the structure of your URLs
Use appropriate terms within your url’s…remember that these are a key area for search. Making the url title descriptive will also tell the user what the page is about before they arrive there.

8. Make your site easier to navigate
Make your navigation keyword friendly and descriptive - i.e. Agriwheel tools instead of tools. Create a natural flow for your hierarchy. Try to make your navigation text based, if you want to use a flash alternative make sure that you have a text version on your page.

9. Create a html sitemap listing all your pages and create a structure with titles etc so it makes sense.

10. Have a useful 404 page

11. Offer quality content and services
Quality, readable content is the key to users visiting your site and creating a buzz. Get the basics right like correct spelling and grammar. Take other obvious steps like breaking your text down to readable chunks, using paragraphs, Header tags, lists etc. Use relevant language which your users might search for.

12. Create fresh, unique content- Make sure your content isn’t duplicated or rehashed otherwise Google will spot this and not give credit to your copy.

13. Write better anchor text
This is important because it shows Google where your link is going, so this link should relate to the title of the page it is linking too. Avoid generic anchor text like click here or read more as this offers no link bait. Keep the anchor text short / concise as well. Another seemingly obvious point is to make sure links are easily visible and distinguishable form the body text.

14. Use heading tags appropriately
Use a variation of heading tags where appropriate (These vary form h1 to h6) and use these sparingly to help create a hierarchical structure to your page.

15. Optimize your use of images
Make sure you apply alt and title text to all images, if for whatever reason the image won’t appear. Also when you hover your mouse over the image the relevant text will appear. If you are using the image as a link the alt text will be treated in the same way as anchor text. Make sure when naming images they are descriptive and relevant as well. Store images in a directory of their own i.e. web / images simplifying the path to your images and making the location concistent.

16. Make effective use of robots.txt
A “robots.txt” file tells search engines whether they can access and therefore crawl parts of your site. This file, which must be named “robots.txt”, is placed in the root directory of your site.

Follow these points and you’ll give yourself a great chance to take the Search out of SEO!

If you call our main phone numbers you will go through to our reception that will take messages for us, we can then return calls, during this difficult time we would ask that you would submit a support ticket to support@ihm.co.uk as its a much more efficient way to get issues resolved for both you and us.

We apologise for this but hope you understand this is beyond our control.

Context is King

All Hail the King
He stands in His honour
And speaks what is true
He is the King of Context

We’re all aware of the adage “Content is King”, but just because we’ve always been taught this, is it necessarily the case? As designers we are beginning to take a more holistic approach to web design and we are also beginning to explore a myriad of different factors to determine what makes a website work well and convert results (I hope!).

All hail king context
It is official King Content (formely known) has been usurped by King Context. The reason we have a new king is because the world we live in is rapidly changing. With the development of mobile devices / augmented reality and the like, we are no longer designing for just a desktop experience. I hate to use the artist analogy again but it really is a case of taking a step back and evaluating your surroundings. Looks different to when you were in your own little world at the screen doesn’t it?

Now take another step back and you’ll see what type of room your user is in…
take another step back and evaluate the building he is in and the estate which surrounds him.
You can push this even further…which country is your user from ….
what galaxy are they in…wait a minute, maybe I’ve pushed the analogy too far.

On a serious note, the idea I’m trying to sow is that we need to understand where our target audience sits in relation to everything surrounding them. Still struggling? Try this analogy: Visualise your typical target individual as a dot on the globe. Now take into consideration everything surrounding that dot before you begin your design.

What is context?
So what is context? In essence context is comprised of all the factors and variables which indirectly and directly affect the users of your website. Many of you may currently contextualise by identifying your target audience…heck some of you might even create a typical persona and try to second guess their actions based on their character traits.

But Contextualising goes one step further than this. It looks at the factors which surround your typical user. It looks at the wider environment which your design exists in. Okay so your website typically sits in a screen; but in what environment / situation is that screen sitting in? Is it in a crowded cyber café with a one hour time limit, with no seating / air conditioning….or is it sitting on an old computer in a library with no audio? These are the external factors we need to take into consideration before we even begin designing the site. Contextualising should begin in the research phase of the web design process.

How do I contextualise? (in order of importance, and yes these are all inter-related):

1. Environment: Where is your primary audience located? Could they possibly be in two different environments? A pensioner on the Algarve in a 5 star hotel with a quick broadband speed is far more likely to spend time on a site than a highly strung MD in a packed office with high blood pressure and little time on his hands.
2. Device: Pretty self explanatory, what device is your website being viewed upon? A laptop, desktop computer, mobile device etc? If a user if browsing your site on a portable device the likelihood is they’ll be on the move which in turn means that lighting could be suspect and the battery low. Basically they are less likely to spend time browsing whilst on the move.
3. Comfort: The more comfortable your viewer is the more likely they are to be receptive to your site and in turn spend more time on it and also be a little more patient. In contrast to this is someone who may be in an uncomfortable situation in a shopping mall / exhibition and will not have the patience to search for what they want.
4. Mood: A bi product of comfort is mood. A few factors you may want to consider here
   Factors which may impact upon mood:
   Temperature, well being, comfort of chair, spaciousness of environment, internet speed, space, time, environment, attention span.
5. Time: Again does what it says on the tin. How long is your user likely to spend on the site? This could impact on how many pages you include…and how many CTA’s you include etc.

Let’s consider where the user fits into the grand plan
Contextualising is about personalising the web experience as much as possible….it is about creating a domain, (no I’m not talking domain name and hosting here!) and then working out where the user fits into this model. By nature context cannot exist in isolation, so it is about working out what surrounds your webpage. Okay I’m going to try and cut the bs and sum this up in a sentence! Context is about understanding the world we live in and how that impacts upon your user that exists in it.

An example of minimal web design

A lot of my recent articles have talked about simplifying your website and reducing unessarry elements in order to deliver a clearer message. Well this post talks about the key to this issue: minimalism. In an age where the client often pushes more and more content upon you, it can often seem a herculean task to produce a minimal design. But even in this situation we can apply principles of minimalism to improve the design.

History.
Minimalsim came about as a revolt against abstract expressionism and can be summised by anything wich is stripped down to its essentials. In art painters from the Bahaus stripped pieces down to there very orgins applying the analogy that if you stripped a human of all it’s material things (clothes, bling etc) then it’s true beauty will be revealed in its purest form.

There are certain techniques which you can use to employ a minamilist approach to your site. For instance with images you could use a sillouette or an outline of the shape…or how about using a single shape rather than a cluster of shapes.

Benefits of minimalism
The are certain techniques you can use to simplify your web page. Look at it like this shops entrances use large spacious stands to promote special offers which are intended to entice the shopper in and funnel them into busier areas of the shop.

A key trait of minimalism is whitespace; which I’ve already talked about in depth in a previous article: design psychology.

Your colour palette can also be kept minimal. Also don’t confuse minimal design with plain and faceless design. Complex elements can be featured if used subtley. For instance a tiled background, subtle shadows etc.

Stripping your design down to its origins
There was once a designer who knew Photoshop inside out and therefore he had a myriad of techniques at his disposal. However this designer couldn’t understand why having applied more and more of his techniques the design showed no signs of improvement…in fact it became worse. The moral of the story is the key to good design is knowing when to apply these techniques , to understand the subtleties and nuances of design, hierarchy and the like. Know why you using a technique and question whether it is there for a reason.

Minimal design is calming…reducing noise and distractions…creating calm. The less you say the more people will listen (as long as you speak sense!) and minimal design assumes the form of the dalai lama: speaking a few words of enlightenment, wisdom and sense.

The polar opposite of this is bad design.They say people talk too much in order to mask there insecurities…well bad design has many faults and insecurities…and it speaks with more frequency and volume than anyone else in the room.

Business Card Style Websites
Clear out the junk and clutter from your design – in fact agencies such as Headscape have streamlined their content to fit on just one page. Simplifying your approach to a site has also become a trend as seen in business card style sites which simply contain essential information. These style of sites reduce the site down to its fundamental elements. It is so tempting to pile every piece of information into your site but these sort of sites  push minimalism to the extreme in terms of website design.

Minimal Business Card style sites could help differeciate yourselves from the crowd.

Concerntrate on having just on having just one clear message.

The Human Brain
The human brain can only process six or seven pieces of information simualtaneously and the less information you give the more likely it is able to be processed.  It’s kind of when you first learnt to drive a car, at the start it is information overload which is why the process is slow, but once you have learnt how to change gear, which mirrors you need to check before pulling out etc, these actions become instinctive and therefore no longer need your brain to operate (you are on autopilot effectively!).

My Site is already overdesigned…but it’s not too late:
As I’ve said before “Realign instead of redesign”. In some instances when redesigning the best solution often lies in removing content from the page in order to simplify the message.

In order to simplify your site, there are three techniques which you can use:

• Delete
• Hide
• Shrink

Delete
Think about what elements are not essential within your webdesign. Each element should serve a purpose; if it doesn’t then get rid; delete it!

Hide
Okay so the client has argued that all 100 paragraphs of text are essential; simply they must be included in the site. In this instance it is okay to compromise. Not all content has to be visible instantaneously. Using javasript libraries such as Jquery there are a variety of show / hide techniques we can use. Here are a few ways for you to try:

Rotating Banner images
Often you can use a selection of stunning visual banners to draw users in to the best relevant pages on your site.Think about keeping this up to date with seasonal special offer sales if you are a shop or latest articles if you write a blog.

Scrolling images are a great device to draw attention to key content

Rotating Text
This is often a good technique to use for elements such as testimonials. Instead of dedicating a whole page to your testimonials try using them as a supporting element.

Tabbed content:
This is possibly the best technique for fitting mass content onto a page. By categorising this content we can set up a plethora of tabs whereby only one piece of content is even seen at one time.

How tabs should be used

Drop Downs:
Usually used for drop down menus, drop downs can also be used on inner content.

Pull Out:
By placing intriguing tabs on the edge of our pages, more content can be revealed. You could even use tabs with a chord on which say ‘pull me!’

Pull Downs are an intriguing way to show / hide content.

Hover Over:
Hover over’s can be used to reveal more information. For instance when a user hovers over a titlew more info about that title is revealed. Tool tips also work in a similar way to this and are another useful technique which you can use.

This site uses hover overs to dramatic effect

Shrink
Make elements smaller, be careful how you adopt this approach though. You probably only need to make less important elements smaller in order to create a page hierarchy. As always hierarchy is essential to a good design.

Minimal Design for maximum benefits.
The case for minimal design is very much the opposite of minimal. If you’d like to speak to me about how you can use minimalist techniques to improve your site please just drop an email to chris@ihm.co.uk and I’d be more than happy to advise you on ways you can use minimalism….and you will only have to listen to one clear voice I promise you!