Having been in a relatively beta format for over five months, expanding and contracting through my own education and understanding of the WordPress environment and the language of PHP, and listening to several suggestions and requests of current and past members, ug2.org has frankensteined itself into an awkward organism with no sense of purpose or direction. With lulls and explosions of member activity, strange and clumsy appendages, and an apparent lack of awesome, our website needs some counsel.

It is my understanding that hardly anyone uses the website. And those that do visit are often frequenting on Thursdays, which is not surprising. Also, although greatly appreciated, most of the blog posts are completely unrelated and discontinuous in nature.

So in an effort to repackage and tame this bolt-necked creature, I’d like to welcome the awesome. Bring it on as if it were a Teen Choice and MTV award nominee about cheer leading. Suggest new features, or spit upon the unpopular ones. Feel free to use references/examples as well.

To start, I’ll share what’s been on my mind:

1. A dedicated area for upcoming events and reminders, aside from the calendar page
2. Guest contributors who are professional designers and/or faculty
3. UG2 Review posts, like this one, that spark dialogue about websites, print pieces, or user submissions (student portfolio reviews!)
4. Weekly Q&A from professionals and/or faculty
5. Weekly/biweekly design competitions
6. Website staff, who collaborate on interesting topics, and post weekly textures and tips

Suggestions are open to the public; membership is not required.

Forewarning: Never show design samples you wouldn’t want a client to choose. It may be a bit early to be preaching this, but you’ll thank me later.

Never show a design to a client if you’re not happy with it yourself. If you send sample 1, 2 and 3 to a client and #3 snuck in there for quantity sake only – it will inevitably be picked.

If it’s a logo you’re not 100% happy with – you’re going to hate working on the stationery package to go along with it. If it’s a crappy web sample that’s picked – you’re going to be miserable building the site.

9 times out of 10 – the client will pick the worst (or your least favorite) design that you show.

So, get it out of your system while you can. You may only show professors one final design (along with the many comps in-between), but keep in mind – when you’re showing clients a few logo samples, or a web design/layout or two – only show what you’re happy with. By all means, ‘error’ on the side of quality, not quantity.