News & Insights

Balancing business objectives with user needs on the web

Creating a website requires careful balance. On one hand, the website must reflect the brand’s identity, convey its message, and ultimately serve its business objectives. On the other hand, the website must provide a seamless, intuitive experience for users, ensuring they find what they want effortlessly. Balancing these needs requires finesse, strategy, and a deep understanding of both the business and its target audience.

Team Profile: Judd Madden

Meet Judd, Design Lead at Calico. Known for his insightful approach, Judd blends creativity with pragmatism to deliver powerful designs. Discover his love for simplicity, collaborative debates, and the dynamic interplay of client and user needs. Part of Calico since 2015, Judd continues to shape digital landscapes with creativity and insight.

Calico is now an Umbraco Platinum Partner

Calico is proud to announce that we are now an Umbraco Platinum Partner, one of only two in Australia! This is the highest tier of Umbraco partnership, and we're delighted to bring our clients the benefits of this partnership. As a Platinum Partner we have direct access to Umbraco HQ for prioritised support, information on the latest solutions, and the most cutting-edge Umbraco training.

Questions to ask to set a digital project up for success

By nature, a project is not a known day-to-day activity; rather, it’s a piece of work that hasn’t been done before, and is often complex and full of unknowns. Thankfully, there are questions that you can consider at the start of a digital project to help give it the best chance of success. Project teams who fail to discuss questions like these have a much greater risk of running into significant trouble and ultimately delivering a disappointing or unsatisfying result.

4 More exciting emerging & future technologies

Following on from our “4 Exciting emerging & future technologies” article published earlier this year, Calico is pleased to bring you an additional four of these amazing technologies that are captivating our team. As a digital agency committed to innovation, we continue to keep our fingers on the pulse of recent developments throughout the wider technology sphere.

To scroll or not to scroll

As website design and development evolves, new technology and devices emerge from the market delivering the potential to shake up our understanding of pre-established user behaviour patterns. Although people’s behaviours are fairly consistent and usability guidelines rarely change over time, the tendency to scroll is an example of one behaviour that did.

4 Exciting emerging & future technologies

As a digital agency, we are endlessly intrigued by new technologies and keep a keen eye on what other creative minds are developing. Even if these emerging technologies cannot fuel your own digital projects, being aware of new perspectives can help you to drive change, to solve problems, and to think more creatively in your field. Here are some exciting new inventions and innovations currently fascinating the Calico team.

Composable DXP, not just another marketing buzzword

The term “Composable DXP” is increasingly common in the digital world, and you wouldn’t be the first to read that and have no idea what it actually means.

A website refresh that puts people first

As part of our recent rebranding efforts, we’ve undertaken a website reskin – one that better reflects our personality and culture, and puts our people front and centre

Micro-interactions, macro impact

There are many considerations that contribute to dynamic UX design, but one that is often overlooked is the power of micro-interactions – teeny gestures that can have a huge impact on how your audience engages with your website.

What to use in your designs instead of Lorem Ipsum

As web designers we’re often designing without final content. We know our designs will contain text; headings, sub-headings, paragraphs (body copy), links and buttons. This text is actually the most important part of the design. It must be legible, balanced and show clear hierarchy. When we don’t have any content, we use ‘placeholder’ text in our designs, and many designers resort to Lorem Ipsum, even for headings. But there are far better alternatives!

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT has been at the forefront of many conversations over the past couple of months. With buzzwords like “industry-killer” and “AI” being thrown around, it’s easy to get confused as to what it actually is.

Top 3 CMS Platforms for Event Management in 2023

Planning an event in 2023? Now more than ever, it’s critical that your digital presence is sleek, user-friendly and responsive to the ever-changing events business.

Calico’s food + drink guide to Melbourne CBD for busy city workers

With our digital agency headquarters being located in the heart of the city, our office is a stone's throw away from some of Melbourne's best eats & drinks. So if you’re looking for the best work-day dining in Melbourne, here's a list of our team's favourites - from Banh Mi to Bistecca, there’s something for the whole team.

Codegarden 2022: A virtually great time for Umbraco developers

Umbraco 10 has landed: What this means for the future of Umbraco

The long awaited Umbraco 10 was released in June 2022, signalling an exciting new era for the CMS.

Why Umbraco is a perfect fit for your next digital project

As an Umbraco-specialist agency, we are often asked why this particular CMS has become so popular within Australia, especially in the last few years. After having conversations with clients that have chosen this CMS, there seems to be a number of key reasons for this.

How remote workplaces can boost team collaboration

Even after years of working together in a remote or hybrid workplace, some teams may still be communicating ineffectively. It’s worth reviewing and implementing improved communication strategies before collaborating at a distance becomes overwhelming or too difficult for some team members. Here’s how to ensure your team feels on track and heard, even when miles apart.

Tools to level-up your remote workplace practices

Over the past few years, many workplaces have experienced a major shift in their attitudes towards remote work, where it has transitioned from an anomaly to the new normal.