I remember an encounter had during a visit to Paris 20 years ago. I stopped in a tiny ice cream shop looking for a bit of relief on a muggy summer day. To my disappointment, it was not air conditioned. And what’s more, the youthful server was dressed in full suit and tie, dancing to disco music as he dished ice-cream. Okay, I thought, this is a rather odd mix of elements for a tiny, worn at the heels, but nonetheless charming ice-cream shop.

I waited my turn, and got to see the ice-cream as I came to the front of the line. In well worn freezer displays was a small but delightful assortment of colors and flavors. I made my selection, ordered the largest size on the menu (still disappointingly small for an American used to super-sized portions) and watched as it was prepared. The man in the disco suit bopped to the music as he filled a small cup with plum-flavored ice-cream. I paid for the order and began to taste.

All the while, French disco guy stared at me with a big grin on his face. “Well?” He asked in his heavily accented English. “Well?” He asked a bit more impatiently. “Well, what?” I responded in puzzlement, not knowing what he was trying to say. “Well, what do you think,” he burst, gesturing broadly towards the cup I had in my hand. “The ice cream, it is the best you have ever had, yes?”

Indeed, it was. The flavor was subtle and genuinely fruity rather than cloyingly sweet. It was softer,and served at a higher temperature than what is common in the US. And it was really, really good. So, I heartily agreed. “Yes, it is the best ice-cream I ever had!” Laughing, the French proprieter smiled in a self-congratulatory way. He then proceeded to mock the “frozen bricks” that Americans sell as ice-cream (in that way that only the French can). “You cannot have any subtle flavors, you keep it too cold!” He declared. “That’s why your ice-cream is so full of sugar, no flavor!” The French man in the disco suit gesticulated wildly as he expressed his passion for good ice-cream in broken English.

During that conversation I learned that he was a third generation ice-cream maker, running a small business that had been in his family for over 40 years. What came through crystal clear, despite his flawed english, was a love for his craft, and pride in delivering a good product. I’ve long forgotten the name of that tiny ice-cream shop, but the lesson I learned that day has always stuck with me. Always strive to create something you can be proud of. Whatever it is, take pride in your work. Master your craft.

I recently read an article about Steve Jobs, Apple’s top executive, and discovered that we have something in common. We are both ardent calligraphers! In fact, Steve attributes much of the beauty inherent in the typefaces and page layout of the original Mac computer, and, present day Apple product design to his love for calligraphy. He took a calligraphy course in college and was hooked ever since. He is on to something. I also have an extensive background as a Calligrapher. In fact, I hand-lettered custom wedding invitations and high-end signage for well known designers like Vera Wang in my early twenties. I entered my work in numerous competitions and taught Calligraphy for The New School in New York City. I am convinced that Calligraphy is the secret to my current skill-set as a web designer. Developing this time-honored craft has taught me much about developing pages that are beautiful, have proper proportion, and that lead the eye along a desired path.

In my current redesign of my web design portfolio seen above (still in progress), you will see the classic proportions and use of white space that are basic principles of calligraphy. I will discuss that a bit more in an article I am developing for my web design guide. The advent of personal computers has caused a major decline in interest in calligraphy as a hobby. That is sad. A wealth of accumulated wisdom in developing beautiful page design is found in that craft. Mastering the art of Calligraphy is a great strategy for anyone thinking of becoming a print or web designer.

People love smiles. A comment I hear repeatedly is that much of my web design (Newark1 Web Design Portfolio) has a warm personality with lots of smiling faces. I’ve kept that observation in the back of my mind with each web site I design. It makes sense. We are naturally drawn to people who smile and are cheerful. That applies to web design as well!

Researchers have discovered that that a simple smile, either in person or in a photo, packs a potent punch. An article in a recent issue of Scientific American MIND magazine suggests that a smiling face may serve as a powerful memory aid!

In the April/May 2008 issue of MIND magazine, researchers at Duke University have found that the human mind is better at remembering a person’s face and name (whether in person or in a photo) if that face has a smile! It seems that a smiling face activates an area of the brain involved in reward processing. One researcher commented on the implications of this research: “We want to remember people who were kind to us, in case we interact with them in the future.”

Think of what that can mean for your web site. A warm smiling face welcoming your visitors, may help people to remember your website. That smile can be a powerful marketing strategy for your web site. After all, visitors want to remember a web site they perceived as warm and friendly!

I can remember more innocent days, long ago, when spending hours, days, weeks, fixing and tweaking buggy and crash prone computers and software was a delightful challenge. It absorbed me in a fascinating world of never ending problem solving. Of course, it was a hobby back then, computers were not the tools I needed to earn a living. Now, after more than ten years as a web designer, I have come to abhor the maddening clunkiness that is still inherent in computer technology. Buggy software, incompatibilities, glitchy upgrades . . . The worst possible times of my business year are the days and weeks required to upgrade software or hardware.

I upgraded my Windows laptops, as I do every two to three years to insure that my business tools are kept current and reliable. It usually requires migrating software applications, purchasing newer versions of current software, and insuring the compatibility and smooth functioning of all the varied bits and pieces. I have done four major upgrades in the eleven years I have run a web design studio. Each of them, due to the headaches of glitches, crashes, freezes, and failures took more than a week of my time to complete.

As I write this post, I have spent most of the past weekend doing last minute reformatting, backups, and re-installations of software on my new laptops. This caps close to a week spent doing what should take an afternoon at the most. I have eaten far too much pizza, and badly need a shave. I miss the sun. Why should this be so hard? Hey people, give me less features in my software and more reliable and intuitive code. If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they give us a Windows based computer system that can be upgraded in an afternoon without all the drama?