Let’s Speed Things Up: How to Improve Your Site’s Loading Time

Have you ever visited a website and it didn’t load instantly? Do you ever stop to notice how quickly you may get frustrated while impatiently waiting for everything to appear? We’ve all been there. In a time in which everything we access digitally is instantaneous, the cases when things aren’t delivered to us promptly can become an annoyance. We all know the saying, “First impressions are everything.” This doesn’t just apply to your first day on the job, the first day of school or your first time meeting people it applies to your company’s website loading speeds too.

In studies performed by Gomez.com and Akamai.com, almost half of people expect a website to load in two seconds, while 40 percent of them would choose to exit the site if it takes longer than three seconds to load. To make matters worse, 79 percent of those who left the site due to slow loading speed would be less likely to come back.

It’s time to speed things up. Here are a few easy tips to help determine if your website is loading quickly and what to do for why it’s not.

1. Check your website speed

Google has this handy tool called PageSpeed Insights that allows you to input your URL and it will generate your website’s stats and suggestions for improvement. It will even separate the stats by desktop vs. mobile to give you the most accurate and detailed information for each. This tool will identify all of the components that are causing things to slow down, but not only that, Google provides you the solutions for them too!

2. Optimize your images for web

Large images are one of the main culprits for slow loading speeds, taking up more than half of a website’s memory load on average. All images incorporated for your website should be saved down for web functionality. Stick to using PNG, JPEG and GIF file formats that are saved at 72 dpi (dots per inch) while keeping the file size as small as you can make it without losing quality. You can use programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to optimize your images for the web; however, there are also numerous free online tools that will effectively do the same.

Check out Google’s Web Fundamentals for Image Optimization

3. Keep your website mobile friendly

Cell phones have quickly evolved into being tiny computers (well not so tiny these days) in our pockets. With every bit of information you can think of available to you right at your fingertips wherever you are, it is vital that your company’s website is optimized for mobile devices. Websites that are not mobile friendly tend to have tiny navigation, tiny images, tiny content, tiny everything. When your new or existing customers have to work to find the information they need on your website, that is a problem. A website that is responsive does exactly what the name says; it responds to each device it is being used on and formats accordingly. This means, large and easy to read navigation buttons and stacking your content for easy browsing. There are responsive templates that are easy to use on different platforms such as WordPress and Shopify.

In conclusion, a fast loading website can only benefit your business. So, what are you waiting for? 1…2…3…go!

It’s Read Across America day and the Vision team wanted to celebrate by sharing some of our favorite books! Reading is not only an enjoyable form of entertainment, but it’s also educational, even when you don’t realize it! The simple act of reading expands your vocabulary, focuses your attention, and can fuel your imagination. As Dr. Seuss once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” 

Everyone brought in some of their most beloved reads to share with each other (we’re always looking for the next good book!) and we also inquired about everyone’s most cherished children books which we’ve compiled below.

Great Reads Brought in by the Team

Cherished Books from our Childhood

Happy Birthday, Tom!

We’re celebrating Tom’s birthday at the office today! We sat down with our very own language connoisseur for a few questions in honor of his birthday:

WHAT IS YOUR OFFICIAL TITLE?

Production Manager.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A PART OF THE VISION TEAM?

8 years.

WHAT’S A DAY LIKE IN THE OFFICE FOR YOU?

Coffee, proof, create specs for estimates, track jobs, write, more coffee, repeat.

DO YOU CATCH YOURSELF PROOFREADING WHEN YOU’RE CASUALLY READING THE NEWSPAPER OR A GOOD BOOK?

Unfortunately, all the time.

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN TO SPAIN?

Every few years, so probably about 6 or 7.

YOU ALREADY SPEAK FRENCH AND SPANISH, ARE THERE ANY OTHER LANGUAGES YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO LEARN?

Russian and Chinese.

ANY HIDDEN TALENTS?

Still looking. 🙂

Celebrating Designers in Honor of Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate these influential designers who have through their creations made an impact not only in the design industry but also in our society. These designers have contributed groundbreaking work throughout the years in many forms such as advertisements, album covers, marketing collateral and even Census forms.

Georg Olden: The Trailblazer Designer

Shown Above: 100th Anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation Stamp design, 1963, below President John F. Kennedy at the design reveal (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

Shown Above: CBS Program titles for Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Web (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

Georg Olden greatly influenced the field of broadcast graphics during the “dawn of television”. Working under CBS’s Creative Director, William Golden, he oversaw the visual identities of shows such as I Love Lucy and Lassie and Gunsmoke. Olden also sold cartoons to The New Yorker, purposely dropping the ‘e’ off of his birth name, George, in order to capture the editor’s attention which he then kept throughout the years. One of the many notable works he created was the postage stamp design for the 100th anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation making him the first African American to design a postage stamp that was also presented to President Kennedy at the White House.

Sylvia Harris: The Citizen Designer

Shown Above: US 2000 Census form design (Creative Director: Sylvia Harris, Art Director & Designer: Julie Marable, Designer: Colleen Hall) (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

Shown Above: Voting by Design poster University of Minnesota Design Institute, 2003 (Creative Directors: Sylvia Harris & Janet Abrams, Designers: Kathleen Meaney, Leila Taylor) (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

Sylvia Harris has used intelligent strategy and flawless design to communicate ideal functionality for both the end user and the companies she’s worked with. Sylvia gained an interest in taking complex information systems and recreating them to improve the user experience. Harris has worked with Citibank to help establish an industry standard for digitally based consumer banking systems. Working with the United States Census Bureau, she was challenged to improve participation among Americans in completing the form. Harris capitalized on this opportunity to learn how a new design can impact participation and solidify branding for the Census Bureau.

Leroy Winbush: The Pioneer and Entrepreneur

Shown Above: Materials created for the Black Expo, which was considered to be at the time the largest gathering of black businessmen in history (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

Shown Above: Variety of album cover designs (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

Winbush started his career right out of high school, learning from the South Side sign painters in Chicago which lead to a job designing signage for the Regal Theatre where he met famous performers like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In 1945, he established his own design firm in 1945. He was considered a jack of all trades who despite never having any formal design training taught classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Winbush was also a strong advocate and used his design work to help the black community. He has designed exhibitions for the DuSable Museum of African-American History on subjects such as the Underground Railroad.

Emmett McBain: The Influential Advertiser

Shown Above: Playboy Jazz All Stars Album Cover, 1957 (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

Shown Above: Marlboro Advertisement, 1972 (photo courtesy of AIGA.org)

McBain was a determined socially conscious designer who gave a new voice to advertisers and the black community.  At 12 years old, Emmett started taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago during the summer and then continued on to attend Ray Vogue School of Commercial Art, American Academy of Art and the IIT Institute of Design. By the age of 24, Emmett had his own design firm and had created over 75 album covers for artists such as Tony Martin, Max Roach, and Sarah Vaughan. He then went on to help launch the Ford Mustang at the World’s Fair with a dealer promotion campaign. Some of his most famous work has been in the tobacco industry with groundbreaking ads for Marlboro and Newport.

Source: Aiga.org:

Sylvia Harris

Emmett Mcbain

Leroy Winbush

Georg Olden

Happy Birthday Ashley

We’re celebrating another February birthday today at Vision Creative Group! We wish a very happy birthday to our own designer and photographer, Ashley! Here are a few fun facts about the birthday girl:

WHAT IS YOUR OFFICIAL TITLE?

Senior Graphic Designer

WHAT’S A DAY IN THE OFFICE LIKE FOR YOU?

Designing things like print ads, displays and graphics for our clients.

DO YOU HAVE A HOBBY?

I have been getting into photography and have been taking classes online to better my skills. I recently lit some flowers on fire to photograph them and I loved the way they came out.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT VISION?

Just under 2 and a half years.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE VCG MOMENT OR MEMORY?

When I started, I was only here a few weeks before we all went to the Far Hills Race (aka The Hunt). The weather was good, the food was great and it was a fun way to hang out and get to know all of my new coworkers. I also loved making our mannequin challenge video.

FAVORITE ITEM(S) ON YOUR DESK/IN YOUR OFFICE:

Pictures of my family & a finger painting my son made.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST IN 2018?

Hanging out with my husband and son (who is now 8 months old) and seeing all the milestones he will hit and new things he will experience.