It appears that scammers are targeting freelance web designers. Here’s the scenario:

I received an inquiry via email regarding web site design services. The sender claimed to be located in London and was opening a small business. He (gender is assumed) asked the cost of designing a simple 2-page web site and included a link to an existing web site as an example of what he was looking for.

It was odd to me that the sender was not inquiring with local designers in London. But I responded with a price range and recommendation that he work with a designer in the UK. The sender then informed me that my rates were agreeable and requested my contact information so he could have his associate in New York City send a down payment of a particular amount, and stipulated that the balance – again a particular amount – would be paid upon completion.

At this point, I was still testing the waters. The stated “budget” was generous, so I prepared my usual contract outlining deliverables, schedule and terms, and emailed it to him. It was ignored.

When the money orders for more than the specified down payment arrived in and envelope with no return address, I took them down to my bank, where they were confirmed as being suspect.

Fellow freelancers, beware. This scam seems to carry more legitimacy than the Nigerian 419 scam. Here are the red flags to watch for:

• You received an inquiry from a startup business claiming to be located outside the USA, with a contact/agent/go-between in the USA
• The inquiring party offers just enough information to make it sound like a legitimate project inquiry
• They use poor grammar (like in those Nigerian scam letters)
• You receive identical emails but with different information (it’s a form letter).
• You receive no response to direct questions about the project, and the inquirer is vague about details
• The inquirer dictates the payment terms to you
• Payments arrive in the form of international money orders for a lot more than the agreed-upon amount
• You are requested to deposit the money orders and refund the overpayment to the sender through Western Union

This type of scam is usually targeted toward uninformed seniors. The fact that this came through my business and was centered around a web design project shows that scammers have become more creative. They’re culling from portfolio sites and browser searches. As with any lie, there’s just enough truth involved to make it sound legit, but the further you go with it, the more it falls apart.

Be watchful. I’m not out any creative effort or money. If I was the target of the scam on the basis of my being a designer, it follows that other designers are being targeted. There’s sure to be a freelancer somewhere thinking it would be great to have an “international” client and take the bait.

I was asked by a client to re-design a print ad laid out by someone else.

The original layout (above, left) was cluttered and confused. The ad, for an author’s book signing events in upscale communities in Los Angeles County, was going to appear in a local cultural magazine. What was needed was a visual solution that supported the specific message (from Nazi Holocaust victim to survivor to thriving psychologist and author), was informative, and that appealed to the intended audience.

The original raised a lot of concerns: it lacked structure, hierarchy, a relevant color scheme, a headline, appropriate type and typographic design, proportion contrasts and visual “heroes”. Additionally, it included a poorly contrived re-creation of the Barnes & Noble brand identity, which is really not appropriate. The actual identity should have been used.

I designed my make-over from the ground up. I began with a formal structure to unify the various elements and imposed a symmetrical balance. Through hieratic scaling and isolation I made the author and her book the heroes of the design. They are now the focal point of and the visual entrance into the design.

I created a real headline from a block of text in the original and reduced the number of fonts to two, scaling the various text to appropriate sizes. I incorporated a color scheme that was neutral, warm and stabilizing, and which didn’t compete with the text. I revised the entire layout to establish a natural flow of information and create an orderly presentation. The result is a simpler layout that is easy to understand. The ad is now unified, appealing and relevant to the author, the book and the intended audience. The perceived value is increased.

Dr. Erica Miller web site.

Coldplay’s web site created this year, bears a remarkable resemblance to a book cover design by Paul Rand a few decades ago. The comparison cannot be missed.

Compare the Coldplay web page screen capture:

Home page at www.coldplay.com

Cover Design by Paul Rand

Comparing is to focus on what is similar. Contrasting is to focus on what is not. There are obvious similarities but enough differences to understand in these two designs to see that the web design is perhaps more than inspired but not a derivative or copy of the book cover. It is “in the style of”. Maybe it’s even a tip of the hat.

The web page lacks the contrast of precise, explicit edges against accidental edges, and is more “dirty” in sensibility. The book cover is an example of modernism looking forward, the web page is an example of postmodernism looking backward.