MADC.xyz – Open Provider customer – (Spain)
In any well-established industry, it is the forward thinkers who will incite change, create growth, and foster evolution in the field. Growth and evolution can help ensure the endurance of your brand. Longevity results from offering services that continually satisfy customer demand, and it is even more impactful when those services also improve society as a whole. This week’s #WebsiteWednesday features an architecture and urban design firm that puts sustainability and innovation above all else: MADC.xyz
MADC.xyz is the online home of Miguel Ángel Díaz Camacho (MADC) & Partners, an international architecture firm established in Madrid, Spain. With over twenty years of experience in both public and private buildings, MADC.xyz is cognizant of the need to view each project through a lens of sustainability. According to their website, they believe that decreased impact to natural resources equals longevity and allows for the coexistence of the biosphere and urban development. MADC.xyz claims to operate under a succinct philosophy: “Design without sustainability is no longer design.” Following this belief, their view of architecture becomes a balancing act in considering people, public space, neighborhood, and the city, as well as the climate, geography, and the environment.
The firm states that they operate under the idea that “Designing is caring for the world. No excuses.” This idea was initiated by founder Miguel Ángel, a lecturer, researcher, writer, and architecture critic with a Ph.D. in Architectural Design. He also sits as Chairman of the Architecture and Sustainability Association (ASA). This care for the world extends to the firm’s online presence. MADC.xyz’s website was designed and developed as a low carbon website by Hyper Studio, a digital creative studio in Spain. According to a post on MADC.xyz, the Internet uses three times more energy than the world’s wind and solar power sources are able to provide. The manufacturing and maintenance of renewable power plants also requires energy. This implies that if data traffic keeps growing, so will the use of fossil fuels.
To design MADC.xyz with the intent of low environmental impact, they employed three energy-reducing efforts. First, they chose ProfesionalHosting, a hosting company whose policy is focused on green energy at all levels. ProfesionalHosting’s Green Hosting page states that “Our offices in Almería [have] self-produced electricity by means of solar panels and we carefully choose out Data Centers ensuring their energy comes from renewable sources.”
Visuals are an important part of MADC’s work, but they also take up quite a bit of bandwidth, and the website would not be the same without them. To solve this, they apply an image compression technique called “dithering,” allowing them to make images ten times less resource-intensive, yet still be displayed quite large. Instead of using full color, high-resolution images which impact size, they converted all images to black and white. Clicking the HD button on each image enables visitors to access the full-color high-resolution version of each image, and adds a fun interactive feature.
The second energy-reducing design tactic is that MADC.xyz does not load a custom typeface. They explain that all resources, including typefaces and logos, create an additional request to the server, requiring storage space and energy use. Visitors will see the default typefaces of their browser, a sans serif and a serif font. In place of a high concept logo, MADC.xyz’s identity consists of “MADC” with the strikethrough effect in the blank spaces between the initials.
Miguel Ángel explains, “Of course I think having a short website name helps our low-carbon website footprint mission: LESS IS MORE. We use a similar approach for the logo. Instead of a designed logotype, which would require the production and distribution of custom typefaces and imagery, MADC’s new identity consists of a single typographic effect: to use the strikethrough style in the blank spaces between letters to create a chain (the chain is the symbol about how we connect things like design-environment-people-architecture-city-food-public space-water-landscape-etc), that’s why the logo is like that (–m–a-d—c-)…it’s not an image but some connections with letters, that reduce KB and MB and GB at the end.”
The third energy-reducing design tactic is use of color. Some devices may consume more energy displaying a page with a white background versus a black one. However, accessibility can be affected by one version or another, so MADC.xyz provides both options. The default display depends on the time of the day. While visiting the website during the day, viewers will see it in white with black text. This scheme is inverted at night. They’ve also placed a toggle in the upper-right corner of the screen, another interactive feature, so that every visitor can choose between these two modes.
MADC.xyz‘s commitment to the world is echoed in their design work. Potential clients can check out an assortment of sustainable designs on their projects page, like the construction of 30 rooms intended for temporary housing for underserved families of newborns admitted to the ICU at Madrid’s Hospitals. Created in partnership with the Avintia Foundation, the rooms are designed with what they call a green infrastructure, a natural system that resets temperature fluctuations, recovers and purifies rainwater, generates oxygen, and regulates humidity. Each of the 30 rooms also has its own “energetic backpack” for production of electric power using high-performance technologies and renewable sources.
With such forward-thinking designs, it’s no surprise that their News page is filled with the many awards and recognitions MADC.xyz has earned from national and international contests in architecture and urban planning. Most recently, they took first prize in a 2020 ideas competition organized by the Insurance Compensation Consortium with the aim of executing a full renovation of a 68,000 square foot office building located at Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid.
In March 2019 they won the competition for the creation of a new Public Library in Villaverde, Madrid with their “Thousand Suns Library” design. MADC.xyz designed the library in two overlapped architecture sheds, the Cultural Shed and the Social Shed, both intended as an open infrastructure with autonomous access. The design generates new public spaces that utilize natural sunlight to create both a warm space during the winter and a cool shaded area during the summer.
MADC.xyz has developed a system of operating that seems to yield longevity. They show compassion for the environment and the overall impact their output will have on the neighborhood, the city, and beyond. The firm is branded with Miguel Ángel’s initials, short and memorable, which were available in the .xyz domain ending. The distinctiveness and minimalism of the .xyz domain aligns with the firm’s very ethos. And, when said out loud, MADC.xyz has a poetic ring to it that makes it fun to say. To read more about their services and see more examples of their design work and achievements, you can visit MADC.xyz on Instagram and Twitter.
BrianTan.xyz – Namecheap customer – (Phillipines)
Your personal website is a place where you can share your education and career experiences as well as the missions that are important to you, especially if you wish to impart helpful guidance and lessons learned from your experiences. There are no limits to what you can share, in fact you can create an online hub for each subject that you’d like to share with your audience. In this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, you’ll meet an accomplished product designer, app developer, and Effective Altruism advocate who does an extraordinary job sharing the EA philosophy as well as his varied professional experiences online: BrianTan.xyz
BrianTan.xyz is the carefully curated personal website of Brian Tan, an accomplished designer currently working full time with Effective Altruism Philippines, the local chapter of the EA organization he co-founded in 2018. Considered a philosophy, a movement, and a community, Effective Altruism is a response to an obstacle that many people face when trying to figure out the most impactful way to do some good. It’s the obstacle of wanting to help, but not knowing the best way how. In some instances, money and efforts are just not as impactful as intended. Effective altruism uses evidence and reasoning to determine how to help others as much as possible. There are over 170 different chapters of EA in over 40 countries. Brian created his chapter of the global EA movement because he wanted to bring together the local community of Filipinos interested in EA.
Brian and his EA chapter are currently working to spread the philosophies of EA and tackle COVID-19 issues with their ideas. In 2020 Brian gave an introduction to Effective Altruism and its benefits in addressing the pandemic during a virtual event organized by his EA chapter. He shares this talk in an article on his blog. He explains the attributes of Effective Altruists, including the willingness to solve global problems that are big in scale, neglected, and solvable. This includes global catastrophic and existential risks, which are things that could cause humanity to go extinct, thus ending the possibility of future generations to enjoy life. And, as with all other aspects of BrianTan.xyz, he doesn’t just tell – he also shares examples of how effective altruists are doing work in these neglected problem areas.
Brian’s experiences in the tech industry show off his impressive design skill set. On his website, Brian shares many projects from school and various employment experiences in a section labeled My Portfolio. One such experience, the co-creation and launch of the Hangtime app (a platform that helps students compare schedules with friends), served him well for a future project. Two years later, he joined a startup called HeronChat to work part-time as their lead UI/UX Designer, and made significant contributions to the design of their job placement app.
Brian is a very accomplished and globally conscious member of the .xyz community. He serves as a resource to those visiting his website. He shares not only his experiences and samples of his design work, but also the valuable lessons he has learned along the way. BrianTan.xyz serves to educate and inspire, and includes many opportunities to connect with Brian to learn more. You may also visit him on Facebook and LinkedIn.
In this XYZ Quarterly we’ll cover six helpful tips that you can use to develop a customer-inspired brand and recap XYZ’s Q1 2021 activity.
Evolving your brand to fit the needs of your audience is vital to its longevity. The world is ever-changing, and often unpredictable. From economic stumbling blocks and new health regulations, to environmental dangers, social upheaval, and demographic challenges, the needs of your customer are changing. A customer-focused brand is one that always identifies growing trends and serves their audience in the best and most current way. Being flexible and nimble when necessary can help your brand to achieve true staying power.
In today’s digital world, a thoughtful and purposeful online presence is one of the best ways to stay ahead of the curve. A website with a memorable domain enables you to promote your brand and your evolution of services. It can reach new audiences all over the world and you can showcase your brands exactly how you want to.
That’s the reason this year’s XYZ Quarterly theme is Staying Ahead of the Curve with .XYZ. Each quarter we will provide you with tips on how to develop and redirect your brand to stay two steps ahead. To begin, this quarter we’ll be showing you how to stay ahead of the curve by being customer-focused. We’ll offer you six helpful tips that you can use to develop a customer-inspired brand, as well as six .xyz websites that serve as prime examples of these tips.
Read on for Part 1: ““Six key ways to stay ahead of the curve by building a customer-focused brand”
Or jump down to Part 2: “XYZ’s Q1 2021 Recap.”
It may be necessary for your brand to pivot in order to better serve your audience. Making a pivot can help you to improve your results and make the best use of your efforts. Pivots can be made in many different ways, small and large. Consider narrowing your efforts to offer one fully enhanced service that is above and beyond the best in the field. Redirect your marketing to cater to a new audience or demographic that could benefit from your services. Consider surveying your audiences to discover gaps between your offerings and their expectations. You can make your efforts widely known with updates to your website.
HelloWorldRobotics.xyz is an example of a brand that pivoted to serve the market better. With a fleet of skillfully developed autonomous delivery robots fully designed, they recognized a greater need for their technology at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. They realized they could provide a way to help reduce imprudent physical contact. The company launched Project Care, a focused effort to provide contactless delivery of essentials and sanitizing services using the technology they had just developed. Their delivery robots can be dispatched to hospitals, quarantine zones, shopping malls, and gated communities; practically everywhere a person in need could be. HelloWorldRobotics.xyz made use of their existing technology to better serve the needs of their customers.
Adjusting your lens to see the greater needs your products or services could address can help them gain traction and put you ahead of your competition.
In today’s digital world, a strong website user experience can give your brand a competitive edge in attracting and retaining your audience. Designing a website that effectively communicates the value you bring to your audience will help you to generate brand advocacy and customer retention. Becoming hyper-focused on the needs of your customers is one of the keys to creating the most engaging user experience possible. Utilize varying types of media to communicate how your brand serves them, including images, videos, and gifs. Create opportunities to be interactive with your website visitors by sharing their user submissions and hosting topical quizzes or trivia. Be creative and consider surprising your audience with something new or unexpected.
Find inspiration from Foodism.xyz, one of the first-ever social media platforms centered on food. Their mission is to gather all food enthusiasts under a single digital roof, and they do so by creatively engaging them in all things food related. What began as an online presence for their print magazine evolved into a full-fledged platform with a pretty remarkable user experience. Foodism.xyz gives members reasons to log in at least once a day, including the promise of a user-submitted recipe of the day. Not only are viewers excited for a new recipe, but they’re eager to see if perhaps their submission was chosen. Members can also read user-submitted blog posts, mixed in with posts directly from the Foodism staff, covering everything from “desserts of India” to “why it’s time to change up your cooking oil.” Foodism.xyz has created an online atmosphere where viewers can spend considerable time. They make regular use of user participation to collaborate with and build their growing community of brand advocates, strengthening their position as a leading food-based social media platform.
Utilizing engagement and creativity to understand the interests of your customers can help you design an appealing user experience on your website and set you on a course of long-lasting favorability.
Taking the time to identify areas within your company that could be more effective or efficient can help you to develop solutions to improve what you have to offer. This can help you to keep up with the needs of your audience and ensure the longevity of your brand. Larger companies may not need to make a full pivot to keep up with their audience’s needs; they just need innovative solutions to fulfill new requirements. See if you can find ways to improve your customer experience. Streamlining warehouse functions can decrease the time it takes to send out shipments. Adding a chat service to your website can cut down on customer service phone call hold times for your customers. Optimizing the images on your website can decrease its load time and help your customers save a minute or two when online shopping. Improving your operations with your customer in mind can help you continue to serve the growing needs of your customer.
Byld.xyz specializes in providing solutions for this kind of strategic internal optimization. Their website states that “61% of CEOs expect a startup competitor to disrupt their industry at any moment” so they help big companies create innovation internally to keep up with the growing needs of their customers. Byld.xyz determines a solution through three main growth phases: Insights, Labs, and Startups. The Insights phase focuses on identifying trends and detecting opportunities. Based on learnings from the Insights phase, possible solutions and minimum viable products (MVPs) are created during the Labs phase. Finally, these MVPs are put to the test during the Startup phase. Once an MVP is considered ready to become a startup solution, Byld.xyz assigns internal teams to take care of essential functions like marketing and sales, operations, product, and IT.
You can take inspiration from Byld.xyz’s startup process to help improve your own operations. New internal processes can help your brand stay relevant and in demand.
Technology has freed brands and professionals from many location constraints. Email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and messaging platforms make it possible to connect with and serve customers all over the world. Associates are working remotely, enabling them to move freely about the world and still get the job done. While businesses are utilizing digital solutions and operating remotely, they can also rethink how they conduct business. You and your customers can become fully acquainted digitally, with no need to have them travel any distance to meet with you. This helps you to expand your customer base and own your niche. A well-designed website has become an essential way to inform your audience of how your brand operates, your mission, and examples of past projects.
Take note of Wave.xyz, a creative agency that offers complete promotional and branding services to their clients. Their website clearly communicates that they handle everything from the development of a complete strategy, material creation, and campaign management. Wave.xyz sets themselves apart from other creative agencies by choosing to be “nomadic.” Their employees go to their client and work from the front line. Visitors to the About Our Collective tab will find a quote from Jason Syptak, Wave.xyz‘s founder, which identifies the forward thought used in their operations. “We set up shop, work and deliver at the point of impact, or Impact Point as we call it.” Their goal is to immerse their team in the environment and create the most meaningful final product. They don’t have a headquarters because Wave.xyz was born with the idea of traveling to their clients, demonstrating a unique dedication to their audience. Wave.xyz uses their website to inform potential clients about their methods to illuminate the fact that geographic location does not limit their ability to do business.
Eliminating limitations and boundaries created by distance is easier than ever. Being flexible and showing willingness to serve a global audience can position you as an industry leader.
Analyzing your niche’s marketplace may lead you to create a completely new product or service. World events, newly developed technologies, and changing attitudes are all opportunities to create brand-new services, projects, or communities. An evolving marketplace continually provides new opportunities to work towards improvements, and increase efficiency and convenience. Many brands find a problem or pain point and solve it in a new way. Being innovative can assist your continued relevance and position you ahead of the curve.
Learn from KetoChow.xyz, who addressed an obstacle in the trending ketogenic diet lifestyle. KetoChow.xyz recognized the growing desire for a healthy and convenient meal-replacement option to serve the ketogenic community. There are ample protein shakes and meal-replacement shakes on the market, but KetoChow.xyz wasn’t seeing any that met the trifecta of requirements to make them perfectly ketogenic: high fat, moderate protein, and very low carbohydrates. Founder Chris Bair has been following the ketogenic diet since 2014. As a customer himself, it was easy to center the customer in his strategy. He took something that worked for him in his journey and developed it to make it available for the mass market. KetoChow.xyz created a shake mix of their own. Customers can add water and heavy whipping cream or avocado oil to create a convenient ketogenic meal replacement. KetoChow.xyz created an innovative solution for the ketogenic community, positioning themselves at the forefront of ketogenic meal-replacements.
Creating a brand new product or service that fills a gap in the marketplace can create incredible value for your audience and establish you as a forward-thinking brand.
Expanding your services can help you to provide more value to your audience. You can develop a second leg of your main service to combine two services in one offering that hasn’t been done before. Increasing your services can increase the size of your brand and demonstrate your awareness of the growing needs of your customers. Once you have developed your unique combination, you can add new pages to your website and/or launch a sister site to work in conjunction with each other. Many companies have fully reinvented themselves to take advantage of digital opportunities — online stores and applications can put all of your existing services at a customer’s fingertips, at any time of the day.
Offering multiple products or services that customers need can help you to create a unique solution that positions you at the forefront of your industry.
Brands that stay ahead of the curve stay focused on their customers. Keep an eye on growing trends and the changing needs of your audience. Strive to offer them the best experience possible by adapting to new situations and perspectives when necessary. That could mean layering and increasing your services, developing smaller innovative solutions to improve what you currently provide, or making a drastic change that better utilizes your resources. Every improvement can be promoted with a website that is as adaptable and flexible as your business.
Following the examples of the six .xyz websites above can help to keep the customer at the center of every decision and help to ensure the longevity of your brand.
2021 is well under way. For XYZ, Q1 was filled with innovation, accomplishment, and anticipation. Here’s how we made a big entrance into the new year.
In our continued effort to help the next generation of internet users make their mark online, we changed the face of the beauty industry online forever. We proudly introduced the first-ever domain names made for the beauty industry: .Beauty, .Hair, .Skin, and .Makeup! These exciting domains allow beauty brands, professionals, and influencers to acquire affordable, memorable URLs that match their brand name, first and last name, social handle, or creative idea. We also introduced .Quest, the domain made for gurus, experts, and authorities in any field. .Quest is the perfect domain for internet users to show their website is the destination their audience is seeking. These new domains are affordable, unrestricted, and available to anyone looking for a head-turning brand presence.
Flawless beauty brands are getting online with .Beauty, .Hair, .Skin, and .Makeup domain names. Many smart brands and visionaries have already taken advantage of these exciting domain opportunities and exceeded our expectations. A .Beauty, .Hair, .Skin, or .Makeup domain can enable beauty brands, professionals, and fans to launch affordable, memorable URLs that match their brand name, first and last name, social handle, or creative idea. Some noteworthy early adopters have already realized the value of these extensions. To name just a few, we’ve noted registrations such as www.MaxFactor.beauty, www.Barbers.hair, www.Freckles.skin, and www.Glossier.makeup!
We also launched .Quest, the domain intended for gurus, experts, and authorities in any field. .Quest is the perfect domain for internet users to mark their website as the destination their audience is seeking. Some of today’s gurus are already on board, including Twitch co-founder Justin Kan who launched www.Justin.quest as the dedicated home for his podcast The Quest. New apparel brand www.GoldenAge.quest is paying homage to famous expeditions with their Explorer Series t-shirts. Each t-shirt design charts a different well-known voyage from history.
At the onset of March, eight of our domains joined .xyz in achieving MIIT accreditation in China. We’re thrilled to say that any owner of a .Rent, .College, .Monster, .Baby, .Security, .Protection, .Storage, or .Theatre domain in China can publish their site live to a global audience. Meanwhile, .xyz continues to enjoy its position as one of the most popular domains in China, having maintained MIIT accreditation since 2016. With adopters ranging from startups, individuals, and organizations, we’ve seen so many launch creative websites on their .xyz domains. Be sure to check out our blog to learn first hand from .xyz adopters and discover their inspiring websites for yourself.
We’ve been busy preparing for the relaunch of our latest domain acquisitions. We’re excited to continue to serve the real estate and transportation industries with .Homes, .Autos, .Motorcycles, .Boats, and .Yachts domain names. They make it easy for brokers, dealers, and service-providers to create memorable domains that match what their audiences are searching for. Starting in June, we plan to make these unrestricted domains even more affordable. Stay tuned for more information!
XYZ supported five student-focused hackathons in the first quarter of 2021. Participants at Hack BI 2021, UPES-CSI, UofT Hacks, SacHacks, Makeathon 3077 received .xyz domains to help them launch their ideas and projects online. Located throughout the United States, Canada, and India, the hackathons all celebrated technology with workshops and mentors that helped participants learn and grow. XYZ is proud to help participants share their ideas and solutions with a global audience via their new .xyz domains.
We also supported entrepreneurs and small businesses by partnering with business education platform StartUpStarter in March. Free .xyz domains were provided as part of their No Code Week, a 9-day event where leading companies in the no code space taught participants how to build apps, a website, and even entire businesses.
2021 promises way more excitement, and XYZ has continued plans for the year ahead. Stay tuned by subscribing to our newsletter, and following us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
HelloWorldRobotics.xyz – GoDaddy customer (Malaysia)
Greatness can be achieved when innovators recognize a universal need and get to work towards a solution for the greater good. We see this type of innovation a lot within the .xyz community. Starship.xyz is an autonomous robot delivery service working to ensure a more efficient and cost effective future of delivery. Similarly, this week’s #WebsiteWednesday features another robotics company, this one in Southeast Asia, honing their focus to greatly reduce the risk of contagion in the home delivery process: HelloWorldRobotics.xyz.
Once considered a luxury of ultimate convenience, home delivery became a standard necessity due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. According to the CDC, a primary way to stop the spread of disease is to “put 6 feet of distance between yourself and people who don’t live in your household.” Following these guidelines has led people to reduce the number of errands and shopping trips they make. And this has led to an unprecedented rise of the home delivery option, thereby creating an increase in the need for delivery drivers.
HelloWorldRobotics.xyz considered the risk involved for both drivers and buyers in a new atmosphere of high contagion, in addition to the pre-existing risks of deliveries in unsafe and less accessible neighborhoods, as well as delivery obstacles like traffic congestion and lack of parking. HelloWorldRobotics.xyz states on their homepage banner that they’re dedicated to making delivery smarter, cheaper, and faster with their “No.1 Autonomous Outdoor Self-Driving Delivery Robot in Southeast Asia/Malaysia.” But you can use it’s more memorable name: TARS.
TARS, a name borrowed from the robot of the same name in the film “Interstellar,” is a “last mile” delivery robot that aims to eliminate risk and increase efficiency during home delivery. In a product’s journey from warehouse shelf to a customer’s residence, the “last mile” of delivery is the final step of the process, or the point at which the package arrives at the customer’s door. Described as a smaller version of a self-driving car, the TARS robot uses a sensor system named LiDAR (Light detection and ranging sensors). LiDar is a core component for self-driving cars, like GM’s Cruise and Alphabet‘s Waymo, and other robotics companies, like Boston Dynamics. The technology allows computers to take a 3D image of the world around them. The sensors measure the range or velocity of objects using a process that is similar to radar. They bounce lasers off objects and when the light returns, the sensors can properly map out a proper route.
HelloWorldRobotics.xyz claims they are the first robotics startup to design outdoor “last mile” robotic delivery solutions in Southeast Asia, as well as the first startup in the world to develop what they call a “safe-drop.” A “safe-drop” is the deposit of a delivery in a safe, secure area at their location if they are otherwise unavailable to receive the delivery. With TARS, HelloWorldRobotics.xyz developed the safe-drop functionality so recipients can pick up their packages in front of their homes 24 hours a day (even in gated communities), eliminating the need to walk to guard houses or parcel locker locations.
HelloWorldRobotics.xyz’s homepage features an informational video about TARS and LiDAR, which also shows the impressive robots in action. Sharing this video on their website is a great way to introduce potential users to the available technology. It helps increase awareness by showing TARS in action, which can bolster the possibility of adoption.
As detailed on HelloWorldRobotics.xyz’s About tab, Founder and CEO Kennedy Wai has accrued an impressive number of accolades and awards since graduating from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan with a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering. The website’s News tab features audio and video clips from Malaysian technology podcast Plug-In with MARii, which offer keen insight on the genesis of Wai’s innovative company.
At the onset of the pandemic, Wei and his company launched Project Care (Covid19),a focused effort to provide contactless delivery of essentials and sanitizing services via their TARS robots. The Project Care (Covid19) tab on their website contains useful information about this ambitious project. They explain that TARS delivery robots can be dispatched to hospitals, quarantine zones, shopping malls, and gated communities — nearly everywhere a person in need could be. Robots are deployed to deliver food and essential items to recipients after receiving directions from remote operators.
HelloWorldRobotics.xyz explains their contactless delivery process via an illustrated guide. The illustrated guide for contactless delivery in hospitals and quarantine zones shows a member of medical staff placing food on the TARS robot. The guide shows the cycle of the robot then delivering to the quarantined destination within the hospital, reaching its location and awaiting pickup of the food, and then returning to the pick-up location to await the next order. Interested parties can also click the link at the bottom of the page to email the company for more information.
HelloWorldRobotics.xyz effectively welcomes business inquiries and partnership requests on their Business tab. Aiming to collaborate with existing e-commerce platforms, startups, restaurants, grocers, and dispatch companies, HelloWorldRobotics.xyz promises a next level experience for their customers. They offer various ways to reach out to them via their Contact tab. Be sure to check out their Instagram feed for compelling imagery of TARS, as well.
The .xyz community consists of many startup businesses making the most of their websites to help solve real world problems and universal needs. HelloWorldRobotics.xyz shares their technology and spreads their mission for safe and effective autonomous last mile delivery. Follow HelloWorldRobotics.xyz‘s continued growth on their website, Facebook, or Instagram.
LeightonGray.xyz – Squarespace customer (United States)
If you’re a creative in the online community, a personal website can be essential to grow your online influence. People are visual, so it’s more beneficial to show them your talents rather than just telling them.Your resume, samples of your work, and your proudest accomplishments are primary examples of what you can put on display. If you have a diverse skill set, it can be challenging to decide how to organize and showcase your work on your website so that it captures all your talents. Your website’s audience consists of potential collaborators, clients, and employers, so making sure it’s well-organized is a top priority.
In this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, you’ll learn how Los Angeles creative and self-professed “writer, sometimes illustrator, art director, story consultant, podcaster, and game developer” Leighton Gray serves as an example to follow for building an organized personal portfolio site via her own online portfolio: LeightonGray.xyz.
LeightonGray.xyz is the personal website of Leighton Gray, a very busy creative living in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. She hosts two podcasts. She is a prolific illustrator. She has even had public speaking engagements about art history, video games, and Twitter. She writes and develops games for Game Grumps, an American independent video game publisher. And, she was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 – Games list with her writing partner, Vernon Shaw. Together they created Dream Daddy, a cross-platform simulator that Nintendo World Report said “succeeds at creating developed characters that have unique stories, interesting dialogue, and fun personalities.”
So how does a writer-illustrator-art director-story-consultant-podcaster-game-developer showcase all their various skills online? Here are six tips for achieving an organized and diverse website design like LeightonGray.xyz.
A striking domain name will get you noticed immediately and can encourage a new contact to dive right into your website.
Leighton wisely selected her full name as her domain name, one of the most memorable selections you can make. The .xyz extension in her URL, she explains, made it zing. “The .com domain for my name was already taken, and I had never seen a .xyz before and found it unique. I find it more memorable than a more traditional .com domain. Looks great on business cards, too.”
A unique name paired with the allure of your .xyz domain can make visitors take notice. A memorable domain name can make the difference between a successful web presence and being just another website. Imagine you’re walking through a shopping mall among a sea of shops. An enticing shop name paired with an eye-catching window is likely going to see an impressive rush of visitors. That’s the goal for your website.
Displaying the projects you have poured your heart into is a great way to highlight your capabilities.
You’ll notice on the menu just beneath Leighton’s About tab that there are four direct links to specific projects she wants to spotlight. These projects showcase her diverse interests and accomplishments.
First is a link to the landing page for her podcast for the “terminally online,” the Leighton Night Podcast. The next option, Fearful Fathers, leads to a page sharing Leighton’s presentation for the 2019 Game Developers Conference (GDC) titled “Dream Daddy & Fearful Fathers: How Indies Can Cope with Being Terminally Online.” The third option, Metamodernism, is a direct link to a page full of resources on Metamodernism, another of Leighton’s passions. The fourth and final option, Deep Cuts, leads visitors to a page dedicated to Leighton’s horror movie-themed podcast of the same name.
By including a variety of your passion projects on your website, you can show visitors just how multitalented and proud of your work you are. This can then generate increased audiences (and potential clients) by word of mouth.
It can be tempting to use elaborate detail when working on design projects, and creating a website is no exception. However, simplicity is often best as it yields a website that is concise and easy to navigate.
Leighton’s website is both clean and bright. Her Homepage and About page feature a stark white background with her small logo on the top left that states her name inside a word balloon. Using this iconography makes it clear that Leighton is an illustrator involved in comic art. Below her name, she’s specified three of her main working interests: illustration, writing, and games. This directly informs visitors on her primary areas of expertise.
It is best to avoid complexity in favor of strong content and a simple design. Doing so can better retain the interest of your visitors, and can also provide the best platform to showcase your talents.
Your personal website is an extension of yourself. You can use it to make sure your visitors truly get to know you. Some great ways to achieve this are by using design techniques that match your aesthetic and by writing copy in your authentic voice.
Leighton uses a menu on the left side of the homepage which encourages viewers to navigate to her About page. Then, she uses her unique voice to write a short biography with noticeable wit. This works to share her personality and demonstrates her abilities as a multi-hyphenate creative.
Designing your website as an extension of yourself gives your visitors more of a complete picture of you than simply providing samples of your work.
Provide clear and welcoming channels of communication on your website for potential collaborators or employers. They are interested in your content, and your website design can put them one click closer to reaching out to you.
Leighton’s About page includes her email address and links to her Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch. Listing multiple methods of contact gives potential collaborators or employers the choice to use the channel they prefer. Leighton stands to earn income from her video game, Dream Daddy, so she’s included a direct link to the game’s website, as well. Being able to read about this video game and then go directly to its download site may be just the incentive needed for a potential player to make a purchase.
Employing multiple ways to contact you on your website makes it easier for potential partners to reach out. This is a great way to drive more opportunities for collaboration or employment.
Make your homepage a superior first experience for your visitors. This will grab and hold their attention, encouraging them to see what you’re all about.
You’ll see that LeightonGray.xyz opens directly to Leighton’s illustrations page, which showcases her colorful, female-inspired artwork. This includes artwork for a podcast titled “Leighton Night,” which lends a strong clue that there’s more to Leighton than her illustrations.
Spotlighting your strongest imagery or work samples on your homepage creates a great and memorable first impression for the visitor.
Your .xyz domain will stand out on your business card, so your website ought to stand out too. After all, it’s the place to incorporate all of your varied skills and accomplishments in a clean and organized manner. Following these six tips, LeightonGray.xyz spotlights her illustrations, podcasting, video game creations, and more on her vibrant and easy to navigate website. She is a great example to follow for how you can showcase your many skills and stand out with your own .xyz domain.
If you’re interested in discussing a possible collaboration with Leighton, or simply wish to enjoy more of her witty content, connect with her on Twitter or Instagram, or reach out at LeightonGray.xyz.
