Steady as She Goes

Slowly but surely, my Web site (www.nickrathert.com) is getting updated. The latest additions include résumé and contact info updates and new projects in the Web section of my portfolio (Inventions-Guide.com, Hair-Removal-Specialist-Guide.com and Alaska-Fishing-Lodges-Guide.com). I still have quite a bit of work to do in regards to shaping up my little corner of the Web. However, I think that work will be put into a less hastily designed brand new version of my Web site. Because I had to get this current version of my Web site "out the door" in less than two days, I've never been very happy with its design. It feels rushed to me and it's definitely not the best I can do. Therefore, time to start from scratch.

I'm still in the very early conceptual stages for my Web site redesign, but I'm definitely going to create a cleaner design with more white space. I'm also going to make the portfolio navigation much more user-friendly. I still plan to create a MySQL-driven back end for (at least) my blog and portfolio. I'll also probably add a few social networking features to my site as well. I'm still at the pencil and paper stage planning everything. Staying in this stage as long as possible will help creation and development go smoothly, but it should also keep me from wanting to redesign my site again in a year. I guess we'll see if that actually holds true...

Regarding the current portfolio updates, you'll notice that the live version of Hair-Removal-Specialist-Guide.com doesn't match the version I have in my portfolio. It's a long story, but a design decision was made by a non-designer person of authority and a juxtaposition of the two versions of the site will probably be all you need to see in order understand why the version in my portfolio does not match the live site.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the updates. Please feel free to comment on this blog or contact me.

New & Improved Website

It's finally happened. I've updated my website and online portfolio.

My website is pretty much done (all the important stuff is, anyway). I've implemented a new and much more attractive design. My portfolio is now pretty comprehensive and shows a wide sampling of my design abilities. My resume is updated and I've even included a "Skype Me" link on my Contact page.

I still have quite a few things to do, however. My Misc. Works page needs to be finished. I need to look through all of my past work that's not in my portfolio and see what I want to put up on that page. I will also update the aesthetic of this blog so it more closely matches the new design of my site. I should also add descriptions to all the images in my portfolio so viewers get an idea about each project. And regarding a more time-consuming effort, I will eventually PHP my site. My portfolio and Misc. Works page will be database-driven, and thus much easier to maintain. I also plan to make this blog internal to my site. So instead of having my blog hosted and viewed on Blogger.com, it will be wholly contained within my website. Should be an interesting undertaking...

Anyway, that's the rundown on my New & Improved website. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me or comment on this blog. Thanks for reading.

Don't Use PrintPlace.com

So I learned a very important lesson last week. It's a lesson I've learned numerous times but never seem to remember when I sense a good deal. The lesson I learned is that "you get what you pay for." Let me elaborate...

I've recently redesigned and updated my website (more on that in a future blog) and changed my branding a little. Because of this, I thought "I should order new business cards." Being that I don't make a huge salary, I found a place on the Web where I could get some pretty decent business cards for pretty cheap -- PrintPlace.com. Couple their low prices with the 31% off coupon I had (it was a Halloween weekend deal, set to expire Sunday night at midnight), and I was going to get a really good deal. So on the evening of the 28th I uploaded some designs, approved the proofs, and was pretty happy about my purchase. Then I got an email the next day.

The email was another online coupon from PrintPlace. This time it was a Halloween week coupon worth 50% off. Upon reading that, I was pretty annoyed. I had just ordered business cards 12 hours before under the impression that, once my 31% off coupon expired, I'd be paying normal prices. Then, the following day, I find out I could have saved another 20%? Of course I'm a little annoyed. It's just like when Apple lowered the price of the iPhone, but instead of waiting weeks (which I would have been fine with), PrintPlace waited hours to alienate their customers. Being that I wasn't really happy about the situation, I decided to give PrintPlace a call.

I gave them a call to see if they would apply the 50% off coupon to my order since I had placed my order less than 12 hours previous to the start of the new promotion. I assumed they'd say no, but thought they might give me an extra 5%-10% off because they could understand how this situation would make a customer a little angry. I was connected to a customer service representative and things went downhill quickly.

I calmly and politely explained the situation and my point of view. The customer service representative met my comments with complete hostility. When I asked her if she could understand how this situation might upset some customers, she said in a very condescending and disrespectful tone, "No. You don't have the right to be upset. You should be thrilled that you received 31% off and even happier that you can get 50% off any order you place over the next 3 days." That uncalled-for response made me even more angry, but I decided to salvage the conversation by calmly asking if they were going to do anything to show me that they appreciated me as a customer. Again in a hostile tone, the representative said "No." At that point I told her that the PrintPlace had lost all my future business, but before I could get the entire statement out of my mouth, she hung up on me.

So again, you get what you pay for. Next time I need something printed, I'm going to the print shop down the street and paying a little extra so I'll at least be treated like a human being.