A multi-disciplined creative design studio

T 613.482.1159

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FAQ
About the studio

Here is a simple question to ask yourself, do you work for FREE?
If I drive to the grocery store for fruits and vegetables, do you think the cashier will give the food for FREE? I don’t think so. In any profession, whether they’re an Architect, a plumber, an electrician, a personal trainer, or a massage therapist. These professionals do not offer their services or their products for FREE.

Better yet, why should you own our intellectual property rights? our ideas?

The following video below pokes fun at the idea of SPEC work in new business pitches. We believe there’s a better way for all agencies and clients to find the perfect match.

At Evolving Media, no project starts without a deposit and a signed contract.

Yes, Evolving Media & Design Inc. is a Canadian company operating under the brand name Evolving Media in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

We started our journey in 1995, and in 1996 started the incorporation process. During the procedure we lost the right to use our original name. Six months later we thought of and incorporated our business federally as Evolving Media & Design Inc. in 1997.

Evolving Media started designing internal websites (Intranet) for government agencies in 1996-1997. We started hosting client websites in 1998, and the changes keep rolling.

Evolving Media’s studio is open by appointment only after 4:30 pm. On our website your can register domain names, and set up web hosting and other services 24 hours a day.

Technical Service is available after hours through our support ticket system in the Client Care Portal or at support@evolvingmedia.com

Evolving Media is a multi-disciplinary studio anchored in tradition where Graphic Design and Communication Design are our core strengths. Photography, video production, and website design are sub-disciplines of design.  We offer web hosting services because Evolving Media’s strength is our technical knowledge and understanding of what clients want and need—flexibility.

The answer is YES! Our photo studio is portable, so we can setup a photoshoot anywhere. This is a great advantage to you, depending on the photo assignment, instead of spending money bringing the subject here, we can bring the studio to you.

The answer is YES! Our video production studio is portable, so we can setup almost anywhere. This is a great advantage to you, depending on the assignment, instead of spending money bringing the subject here, we can bring the studio to you.

At Evolving Media & Design Inc. we accept cash or E-interac direct payments.

To learn more about our Terms and Conditions, please visit the following section.

At Evolving Media & Design Inc. every project is unique and custom to your requirements, all sales are final.

When purchasing a domain name, you are essentially renting it for one year. See Terms and Conditions, there is no refunds.

Our web Hosting Services offer a range of packages; you can purchase a monthly agreement, a quartly agreement, or an annual agreement. There are no refunds.

An SSL Certificate is a legal agreement between you and the issuing organization DigiCert. An SSL Certificate is licensed for one year, then you must purchase another certificate. There are no refunds, all sales are final.

If you prefer, Evolving Media offers a FREE basic, shared, SSL certificate. 

No project is printed or site launched without your express written or email consent.

My name is Jeff Poissant and I am a registered graphic designer, which is why I can proudly put R.G.D. after my name. I am a professional with an extensive background in serving all manner of clients, delivering a comprehensive range of image-related services. My extensive skill-set is the result of over thirty-years of experience in the design industry, twenty-nine years as a freelance designer, and as owner of Evolving Media & Design Inc.

For information about RGD visit www.rgd.ca.

FAQ
About Commercial Printing

In this digital age when online marketing is the buzz word, you’re not the only one wondering if a business really needs to have any printed material. Today, start-ups and small businesses are investing in growing their online marketing efforts due to the comparatively lower costs. However, print media and real world interaction still play key roles in building customer confidence. We’ll give you five reasons why well-designed brochures and pamphlets have an important place in small business marketing strategies.

To learn more, subscribe to our newsletter.

At EvolvingMedia, we accept artwork in PDF (Portable Document Format) for Offset Press. This is the most common and preferred file format for submitting digital documents. With the installation of a PDF print driver on your computer, virtually any program can generate a PDF file suitable for printing. Both commercial and free PDF print drivers are available online for download from different sources.

Your PDF files should be saved at:

  • 300 dpi
  • Compression turned off
  • Typefaces (Fonts) should be converted to curves or outlines
  • Crop marks enabled
  • If your artwork is full page, make sure you include a bleed (extend your artwork of the page by a minimum of .125 in)
  • No colour bars or slug area.
  • Convert to destination (U.S. Web, don’t include profiles)
  • Please make sure security is turn off
  • Log in to your Client Care Portal, create a production ticket with the details, how many for example and include the PDF file

Today’s offset printing presses use the latest in direct-to-plate (DTP) technologies. To achieve the sharp, bright colour and image reproduction that only an offset press can deliver, images must be a minimum of 300 dpi at actual size.

  • Images used within your artwork, at the final size, must be saved at a resolution of 300 dpi
  • Images taken from the Internet (usually 72 dpi) and used within your publication cannot be used on a printing press and will result in very poor print quality, blocky images

This is a very simplified overview of colour theory. RGB is a colour space based on light – used in digital cameras, computer monitors, digital scanners and some desktop printers.

CMYK is a colour space based on ink – used for commercial offset printing press projects. CMYK stands for the 4 colour process inks used in offset press printing – Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow, and Black (K is used so as to not confuse it with blue or cyan). 

Combining these colours of ink allows for reproduction of thousands of colours, and is sometimes called “full colour” or “full process” printing. The issue in commercial printing projects arises from the fact that the RGB colour space does not correspond exactly to the CMYK colour space. It is therefore possible for you to see colours on your computer monitor that cannot be reproduced by an offset printing press.

RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue. Colour is a form of light energy that comes in waves. The visual spectrum is continuous. However, most dominant colours in the spectrum are red, green, and blue. RGB colour is in fact to colour as we see it – or to be more specific, light waves, such as the ones that come from your computer monitor. Colours displayed on computer monitors and captured by scanners and digital cameras are in RGB. When designing for the Internet, RGB is the colour space that you use. Many desktop colour printers are designed to interpret RGB colour, and translate it into ink on a page.

The following check list will help ensure that your file is print ready:
We accept artwork in PDF (Portable Document Format) format. If there is an issue with your file that we can fix easily, we do so for free. As a result, your job moves forward without delay. If however, we run into problems with your file, you will be notified right away. If there is an additional charge, we will let you know.

Be sure that all files have been converted to CMYK colour mode. We can do a conversion from RGB to CMYK for you. However, we do so using standard Photoshop conversion values, which may or may not yield the result you are looking for.

All images need to be 300 dpi.

Text must be at least 1/8th inch inside of the cut line on all sides.

If your page bleeds, please provide 1/8″ on each edge.

Outline all fonts when working in Photoshop or Illustrator, embed fonts in other programs and flatten all layers.

Include all fonts and other support files.

If your files are large (above 10 mb), place all the files in a folder and compress it as a .ZIP archive. This will produce a single compressed file that you can upload to our servers.

The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is a colour reproduction standard in which colours all across the spectrum are each identified by a unique, independent number. The use of PMS allows us to precisely match colours and maintain colour consistency throughout the printing process.

Evolving Media provides a PDF file of the final brochure, poster, postcard, rack card, business card, for Offset Press. All working files remain the property of Evolving Media, unless negotiated in advance, in writing. If Evolving Media designs a logo for your business or organization, then the logo is provided in a variety of file formats, including vector versions of the logo in Adobe Illustrator, an industry standard, and .EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) files.

This issue is explained further in our Terms and Conditions.

Don’t Let Your Paper Go Naked… Give it a Coating

Purpose of print coating
Print coatings are used on printed products primarily for protection or to achieve certain visual effects. Coatings can provide protection from moisture, scuffing, scratching and finger prints. They can also be applied to one or both sides of a printed piece to create a glossy or dull finish or can be applied selectively to highlight a certain visual element.

Aqueous Coating
Aqueous coating is a clear, fast-drying water-based coating that is used to protect printed pieces. It provides a high-gloss or matte surface that deters dirt and fingerprints. Aqueous coating improves the durability of postcards and other mailed pieces as they go through the mail, and protects business cards as they ride around in people’s wallets. It also looks beautiful on brochures, catalog covers, and presentation folders. Aqueous coatings provide more substantial scuff-resistance than varnishes. Aqueous is typically applied to the entire printed piece, usually by the last unit on a printing press. Due to its water base, aqueous coating is more environmentally friendly than varnish or UV coatings.

Varnish
Varnish is basically clear ink and can be gloss, satin or matte. A flood varnish covers the entire printed page for protection or sheen. A spot varnish allows you to highlight specific areas of a printed piece and adds shine and depth to specific elements on the page such as a logo or image. Varnishes are also applied on-press, but they are heavier-bodied and can be applied (like inks) to only certain areas (spot varnish). A plate must be created to apply a spot varnish, so artwork is necessary.

UV Coating
UV coatings are cured by exposure to ultraviolet light to quickly dry and harden the coating. UV coatings provide the highest gloss versus other coatings but may crack when scored or folded due to the thickness and hardness of the coating. Some find it too shiny for some uses. UV coatings can be applied as a flood (covering the entire printed sheet) or as a spot coating and can be applied on or off press. UV compatible inks must be used on sheets that will be UV coated. UV coated sheets can not be foil stamped and embossing should be done after the coating.

In most instances a coating will help protect and enhance your final printed product. They are a must for any piece being mailed, or recommended for any product printed on coated paper that will get handled, such as business cards, brochures, bookmarks, rack cards, catalogs or presentation folders

Aqueous Coating is usually the type of coating we recommend for most projects right for your project.

There are certain times when you do want your paper to go naked. It may be difficult to write on coated paper, especially if it has a glossy coating. If you are ordering greeting or note cards and intend to write inscriptions on the inside make sure to specify no coating on the inside of the card. The same goes for the address side of postcards or other mailing panels unless your printer or mailing house assures you they can print addresses on coated paper (as PFL does). If in doubt ask for some samples and run them through your printer or try writing on them.

FAQ
About Hosting Services

A web hosting account is a secure space on powerful computers (called servers) located in special buildings (datacentres) that provide consistently fast Internet connections, redundant power supply, and physical access security. Today, web hosting has evolved from being considered “just some space on a server” to being a comprehensive platform on which you can build, publish, and market your website, in addition to providing powerful collaboration tools such as email, calendars, and file sharing.

Our web hosting plans are designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs wishing to build, grow, and publish their website quickly and efficiently without breaking their budget, and include great tools such as Site Builders, WordPress, email, visitor statistics, and more. They are easy enough to use even if you have no technical experience, while being powerful and versatile enough to meet the needs of advanced software developers and power users.

Experience
Evolving Media & Design Inc. has been providing web hosting services to businesses, non-profit organizations, education and government agencies since 1998.

Redundant networks with multiple failovers
Over 8Tbps capacity in North America and 4.5Tbps in Europe as well as 33 peering points in 3 continents.

Eco-friendly datacenter
Powered by renewable energy and with reduced power usage thanks to special water-cooling and air-cooling technology.

100% Canadian datacenters
PIPEDA compliance, ensuring your data is protected by Canadian law against intrusive provisions from USA’s Patriot act.

A domain name is an Internet address used to locate your website or web application. If available, a domain name can be registered for up to 10 years at a time, and be renewed indefinitely. However, a domain name registration on its own doesn’t actually do anything other than prevent someone else from registering it.

To display website content and access email, a domain name must connect to a web hosting account, a cloud server, or a dedicated server. Evolving Media makes it easy for you to reserve your domain name while ordering a web hosting account. We include a free basic SSL Security Certificate with all of our packages. We do encourage you to upgrade to a more advanced SSL Security Certificate such as an EV Certificate, ask us how!

All web hosting plans provide:

• Server space, or disk space.
• Free Basic SSL Security Certificate
• Bandwidth (Data transfer per month)
• Site Backup
• A user control panel to access the features you have
• E-mail services, with webmail access

The type of package you purchase, determines whether you gain access to more advance features.

Rest assured at Evolving Media we provide the tools to backup your website which is self-managed by you through the cPanel.

If you are not able to retrieve a backup, you can request a backup through our ticket system. A fee may apply for recovering your data.

Please note that there may be an instance where we may not be able to help you.

Invest in the best web hosting plan for your type of website, business and usage.

The SIMPLY RED web hosting plan is a good starting place for small, personal websites or those who want to test the waters.

The LOCH GARRY web hosting plan is the right fit for most small business websites. It includes automatic SSL protection and delivers better performance enabling faster page loads and more simultaneous traffic to your website. It’s a great choice for WordPress, Joomla or Drupal sites expecting to receive several hundreds of visitors per day. It also includes Premium features such as Anycast DNS.

The GARRY FEN web hosting plan is designed for eCommerce sites, offering additional e-mail accounts, a dedicated IP address, basic Domain level SSL Security protection. It is recommended that you upgrade the Basic SSL Security Certificate to an EV SSL Security Certificate which identifies your business.

A Professional E-mail Only plan for those who do not necessarily need a website but who need to portray a business savy appearance. Includes up to ten e-mail accounts. Requires you to register a Domain Name.

FAQ
Why WordPress

WordPress is the world’s leading Content Management System (CMS) and the most popular website platform, powering over 64.6% percent of commercial sites worldwide according to W3Techs as of April 3, 2021.

WordPress allows you to create and maintain simple or complex multi-user sites thanks to its open-source design with thousands of free themes and plugins to choose.

WordPress can be tweaked and extended in almost limitless ways.

You can assign tasks to various members of your group to make maintaining your site much more manageable.

A domain name is an Internet address used to locate your website or web application (Sold separately). If available, a domain name can be registered and renewed indefinitely. However, a domain name registration on its own doesn’t actually do anything other than prevent someone else from registering it.

To display website content and access email, a domain name must connect to a web hosting account, a Cloud Server, or a Dedicated Server. Evolving Media & Design  makes it easy for you to reserve your domain name while ordering a web hosting account. You can also associate multiple domain names with the same website, or multiple domains to separate websites on the same hosting account.

There are thousands of themes available for WordPress (most of them free!), sorted by type and industry, with new ones being added every week.

If the available themes don’t meet your exact needs, they can be further customize the theme through the WordPress admin area, or with the help of a professional designer.

No, WordPress is setup as soon as you complete your order. The log in details are sent to your e-mail where you can get started and develop your site.

Yes! You can transfer your existing WordPress site to Evolvingmedia.com. Ask for details. A fee may apply depending on your original setup.

On May 27, 2003, the initial version of WordPress was released with subtle fanfare. Developed from the bones of another Blogging platform called b2/cafelog, WordPress continued to be used in many Blogging websites. WordPress has evolved through out the years into a versatile content management system (CMS). While you can still use WordPress to create a simple blog, now it also allows you to create fully functional websites and mobile applications.

The best part about WordPress is that it’s easy to use and flexible enough for just about anything. That’s the main reason why WordPress has grown so much in popularity. According to a recent survey, WordPress powers approximately 64.6% of all websites on the internet today with no signs of slowing down. With over 50,000 WordPress plugins and counting, you can extend the core WordPress functionality in almost limitless ways. Even create an e-Commerce website to sell your products or services with very few limitations.

To start, consider activating the following plugins:

Elementor, to help you create beautiful content with a practical drag-and-drop editor

Polylang, to make your site multilingual

Litespeed cache, to help you manage the caching that speeds up your website

Yoast SEO, to help you improve your website’s visibility and Google ranking

Due to it’s robust features, many of the top brands use WordPress to power their websites including but not limited to:

Time Magazine, Google, Facebook, Sony, Disney, LinkedIn, The New York Times, CNN, eBay, and more.

Elementor is a best-in-class, drag-and-drop, all-in-one page builder solution for WordPress — letting you control every aspect and visually, dynamically design and build your website on a single platform. Evolving Media & Design offers free access to a shared licence of Elementor Pro with some of our plans.

You can install WordPress on any of our hosting packages yourself with the One-Click Installer.

Managed WordPress is a specific type of hosting service that’s been optimized entirely for WordPress.

Built from the ground-up, WordPress hosting is feature-rich and packed with value for both you and your clients. It features:

Near-Instant Activation – get up and running in seconds with an optimized WordPress site

Auto-Updates – to keep your WordPress secure and current

One-Click Login – for easier access from your client portal

NEW! One-Click Staging – test everything before you deploy

Free SSL Domain level Security – pre-installed and active by default

Anti-Malware Firewall – preempt attacks before they happen; no plugins needed!

Performance Boost – for fastest load times with LiteSpeed premium caching

Easy Scaling – start small and scale up with just a click of the mouse

Developer Tools – supports SFTP, GIT, SSH, WP-CLI and phpMyAdmin

Automatic Daily Backups – with easy 1-click restores

100% Canadian Hosting with Full-SSD Storage – for blazing speeds

Global CDN Support – for fast load times across the planet

Free WordPress Migrations – if you’re switching from another host

Give your clients and visitors the WordPress experience they deserve with Managed WordPress Hosting.

Extra value. EvolvingMedia.com will install and activate Elementor and Elementor Pro shared license for a true professional drag and drop experience (Now installed on more than 5 million hosting accounts).

With the basic feature set activated, you can add or expand functionality as you need.

Add WordPress Maintenance to your plan and relax, concentrate on generating sales. The web is changing, and WordPress is changing with it. Every day there seem to be updates to widgets, themes, and WordPress itself; It’s critical to keep the WordPress Content Management System up to date. Security is paramount!

Evolving Media will keep your site humming along; we’ll send you a support ticket notifying you of when we start, what we’re doing, and when we finish. We’ll also test the site to make sure it’s functioning. You can then check and verify the website to see if everything is working as you intended.

Technical support is available 4:30 PM to 9:30 PM Monday to Friday, and all day Saturday. Log in to your Client Care Portal, submit a ticket, depending on the situation we might get back to you right away or the next business day. You can also reach us at service@evolvingmedia.com or call us directly
at 613-482-1159.

At Evolving Media & Design we design and develop websites using open source standards to ensure that your site is accessible, responsive and meets accessibility regulations.

Whether you need a simple web presence or a multi-level e-commerce site. You’ll have the freedom to manage the content of your website yourself or have us handle it.

At Evolving Media you’ll receive maximum bandwidth allowing your site to breath, flex and grow, even as you control your costs.

Call us directly at 613-482-1159 and we can set up a web hosting plan without WordPress where you can develop your own site. In either case, you will have full access to cPanel.

Our adventure began in 1995, over a quarter century ago. Our first website was designed  in 1997. Later in 1998, working with Skilsplus Training, we developed an Intranet site for the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada.

FAQ
About Cinematography

VIDEOGRAPHER

A videographer typically records events, interviews, and other types of videos using a camera. They may also perform basic editing tasks to create a finished product based on instructions given by the client or producer of the video.

CINEMATOGRAPHER

On the other hand, a cinematographer is responsible for the overall look and feel of the video. They work closely with the client to create a visual style supporting the storyline, whether an event, an interview, or showcasing a company’s product or service. A cinematographer further may use specialized equipment and techniques to achieve specific effects. In general, cinematographers have more creative control over the final product than videographers.

We are skilled in both videography and cinematography. At the core of our team, Jeff Poissant is a multi-disciplined creative design specialist. Depending on the project’s scope and deliverables, we can record an event or interview and hand over the raw video to the client’s production team. Alternatively, we can work together to write a script to create a cinematic experience that draws the viewer into a short story promoting your product, service, or event. We use the latest technology to showcase the final product on YouTube, your website, and through your social media assets.

Using redundancy is one of the most crucial aspects of recording. It involves backing up the footage during the recording process, and sometimes, very subtle nuances may be captured during recording, which cannot be repeated. Hence, having a backup ensures that such essential moments are not lost.

We typically shoot in high resolutions with professional-grade full-frame mirrorless cameras in 10-bit 4K UHD to capture the finest details and provide crisp, vivid imagery without sacrificing the PRO in audio.

When we edit video or audio for a client, we do it in-house to meet our quality control standards and your requirements.

Yes, It is possible to hire Evolving Media to edit any portion or all of your video or audio project, which you can then download from our server to your computer.

Looking for a way to showcase your brand’s latest events, interviews, product highlights or services? Look no further! We can help you create compelling content that captures your audience’s attention and leaves a lasting impression. Contact us today to learn more.

FAQ
About Corporate Branding

The answer is YES! Jeff Poissant can design an original logo for your business, organization, product, service, or corporate branding. We can also recreate a logo, if the artwork is lost. Each and every logo is designed in vector format, so the artwork can be used on any medium.

After Jeff Poissant, while working with your team, designs your logo. In the verification stage of the design process, a NUANS Search is conducted on the artwork to ensure the design does not infringe on an existing trademark in Canada before releasing the artwork to you.

Please note that there is an extra fee to conduct this search based on where you plan to conduct business.

When Evolving Media designs a new logo for your company or organization, we do not use ClipArt. Every element of the design is hand illustrated in vector format.

This situation can be dire, but losing the original artwork or not being able to contact the artist or design company happens a lot. If you find yourself in this situation and you have a company logo, Evolving Media can recreate your logo from scratch in vector format and provide the proper files.

Once you pay Evolving Media’s invoice for designing the logo, you will have secondary ownership of the artwork. Evolving Media maintains the primary ownership of the artwork as the designer. It reserves the right to showcase the artwork for promotional purposes: To use within our portfolio, our website, and any visual presentations that Evolving Media might take part in. Ultimately, this benefits your business, as our marketing efforts help promote your business or organization.

As the owner with secondary rights to the artwork, you are free to do with your logo as you like. A guide on how to use your logo is provided by Evolving Media, with the findings from the NUANS search if you decide to Trademark your new company logo in Canada.

NUANS is a computerized search system that compares a proposed corporate name or trademark with databases of existing corporate bodies and trademarks. This comparison determines the similarity that exists between the proposed name or mark and existing names in the database, and produces a listing of names that are found to be most similar.

NUANS is a registered trademark of the government of Canada. The software and the data is the property of Industry Canada. The NUANS goals include:

  • Quality – Cite all names that conflict with the proposed name in a concise, easily readable report format;
  • Economy – Minimize the time and effort required by searching staff in performing the name check function and optimize the use of computer resources required in a name search;
  • Consistency – Produce reports, upon which name granting decisions can be made, that are of equal high quality for all names searched without the dangers of human subjectivity;
  • Flexibility – Be flexible enough to accommodate the various differences between jurisdictions in legislation concerning the name checking and name granting process. NUANS is currently in use in jurisdictions where name searching is totally privatized, partially privatized or still totally under control of the corporate administrator.

 

The NUANS approach is to automate the name searching function by having a program with enough “intelligence” to consider all possible criteria for confusion between proposed and existing names. In simple terms, NUANS is a large computer program which provides a complete search, regardless of the name formulation. There are certain programs which perform the phonetic searching, and others do more direct searching dependent on the length of the words. There is a NUANS Dictionary which is composed of descriptive words, a synonym table, and other features to allow a user to enter additional name spellings when inputting a name to be searched.

The simplest answer is this. You are investing a lot of money in either starting up a new company, developing a new product or service, or revitalizing an existing brand. A NUANS search report or trademark search helps to ensure the validity of the new logo. The report helps to establish whether the logo can legally be used, that the logo is not infringing on another company or organizations trade mark. If the report states that the new logo does not infringe on another trademark in Canada, then you roughly have a few hours to decide whether to proceed and trademark the new logo to protect the design.

It is your right to refuse a NUANS Search. However, Evolving Media will not be held liable if, in the slim chance, the logo infringes on a Trade Mark.

You will be asked to sign a waiver form, stating that you refuse to have a NUANS Search conducted on the new logo design.

Your brand essence entails much more than your logo and slogan; it is the entire sum of what your company does, your core competency, and the experience your clients have with you. It is what determines whether your customers will become loyal and refer you to others, or forget about you.

Branding is the first impression your prospective client gets of your business from letterheads to business cards to outdoor signs to your website and social media.

For startups and small businesses, branding is essential to position your company effectively in the marketplace, think of all that repeat business.

FAQ
About Website Design

The answer is YES! Jeff Poissant, RGD is a multi-talented graphic and communications designer. We have been designing websites for Intranet and Internet since 1997. Today, we use Open Source Standards and take advantage of the current strength of HTML5, CSS3, and Javascripts.

Evolving Media has been designing websites for a long time. Clients that have listened to our ideas and our suggestions have received an excellent return on their Investment. Some clients have grown into large corporations, others are content with the steady pace of new clients they receive.

Here are a couple examples:

Alexandria Veterinary Clinic in North Glengarry. This client had a major problem where potential new clients couldn’t find the location. Evolving Media was commissioned to design and host a simple website, where photos, maps providing directions, and simple text, where the main ingredients. The original website was launched in 2011, the clinic, has received 4 to 6 new clients daily, from as far east as Quebec City, and as far west as Hamilton. The current website was updated in October 2018, despite its simplicity, continues to have great influence on this veterinary clinic.

The clinic was sold in 2021 and the website transferred to a new host provider.

Kitchens on Wheels Canada in Eastern Ontario, a small company at the time, designing and building a few concession trailers a year. Evolving Media was commissioned to design, program and host a new website more than eight years ago. The company is now one of the leading manufacturers of Mobile Concession and Retail concession trailers and trucks in Canada. The company receives hundreds of new requests a day, they can literally pick and choose whom they want to work with. The fourth iteration of their website and a new revised logo was launched in November 2016. There website is complex, integrating photos, video, sound and more.They have experienced an excellent return on their investment.

Visit kitchensonwheelscanada.com

At Evolving Media we get asked this question a lot. The simple answer is, it depends. There are no quick answers. We will ask you:

  • Who is providing the content (text, photos, video, etc.)?
  • How many languages will the website have?
  • Who will provide the translations?
  • Will you host your website with EvolvingMedia.com?
  • Do you plan to sell merchandise on your website, an e-commerce solution?

 

Your answers form the basis of our calculations.

You can host your services with EvolvingMedia.com and receive maximum bandwidth, which allows your website to grow, even as you control your costs.

Yes, you can design and start your very own website. Evolving Media gives you a vast array of tools to take your idea or business online! From site building tools and templates, to the one-click application installer. launching a website is literally at your fingertips.

Perfect for those DYI business owners who want to design their own site.

Designing a professional website that garners results, requires preplanning and research. Research on your current market, research on your competition, and research on new markets you may not have even been aware of. Before we even start the content gathering phase of a project, we haven’t touched designing yet, Evolving Media spends a day or two researching your competition.

It may seem like a lot of time, but things like content structure and delivery, overall website functionality, and other details must be planned in advanced.

1. The components and features you need.
Never assume that your needs are “simple” or should be cheaper than a designer’s standard rate. Some things look easy but are very complicated, while others seem like a big deal but are very easy to implement. Your site may only consist of a single page, yet that doesn’t mean it’s automatically cheaper than one with 5 or even 100 pages.

The thing is, designers don’t always price by the amount of time something takes. Your doctor can stitch a cut in 10 minutes, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t require knowledge, skill, and precision. Likewise, we have spent considerable time learning to do what we do. If anyone could do it, we wouldn’t be in business. Adding things like forums, ecommerce, opt-ins, memberships, and other custom functionality simply costs more money.

2. The skill level.
Yes, you can get a website for $150 elsewhere. No, it won’t be the same quality as a website that costs $1500. It’s like the difference between a bicycle and a vehicle. Both will get you where you need to go, but one is decidedly better than the other. Designers who charge more are providing you with expertise you won’t find at a bargain rate—and in most cases, the benefits will definitely outweigh the added costs. If you automatically choose the cheapest option, you risk hiring a designer or design company with basic skill levels. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

3. How demanding you are as a client.
Oops, I mentioned one of those things no one wants to talk about! But in the interest of being honest, we’ll just tell you: If you email or call the studio 50 times a day, expect a billion tiny revisions, cut into time with other clients and/or request things outside the scope of our working relationship, it’s going to cost you more.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before deciding on a budget for website design.

For Blogs:

What is the point of my blog? If you blog to share photos and memories with your family and don’t make any money from it, I wouldn’t spend more than a few hundred dollars for a design at the most. Actually, I’d probably just grab a free theme and leave it at that. If, however, you make thousands of dollars a year from your blog and need it to do specific things for your visitors, it’s time to increase the budget.

What will I gain from a professional design? Whether you want to attract better advertisers or get featured on big name websites, a professionally designed blog will always outperform a generic one. If you knew that spending $2000 now would earn you 5-6 times that in the next year alone, wouldn’t it make sense to spend the money?

Should I outsource this? Many, many bloggers ask me for a quote, then tell me they’re going to design their own sites to save money. When that happens we usually see one of four results:

  • They waste hours and hours trying to figure out what to do, then the end result still looks awful.
  • They waste hours and hours trying to figure out what to do, then get frustrated and hire someone anyway.
  • They immediately go hire a cheaper designer, then end up hiring EvolvingMedia to fix what the designer broke.
  • They pay for another design within a year of the DIY job because it wasn’t what they wanted.

 

In those situations, all we see is wasted time, money, and/or effort. If you’re a blogger, focus on blogging, especially if that’s how you earn your living. There’s no shame in outsourcing the things that aren’t a good use of your time.

You should consider spending anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. In general, people rarely spend more than $5000 on a blog design unless they have a huge audience and very specialized needs.

For business websites:

How important is it to have a website for your business? It’s the 21st century, and over 60% of internet users research products and services online before they make a purchase. If your company doesn’t have a website, regardless of what you do or how many employees you have, you are totally missing out. That said, having an ugly, outdated website isn’t going to help you much in the reputation department. It’s easy to tell yourself that any web presence is better than none, but you can certainly lose potential clients or customers if they perceive your brand as “cheap” or out of touch.

What does my website actually do for my business?

  • Do people use your website to learn about what you offer?
  • Make appointments?
  • Purchase products?
  • Find your phone number?

 

What does your business really need? We’ve talked to business owners who are obsessed with things that simply don’t matter. They absolutely must have a menu that pops out a certain way, or they want to push content lower on the page just to make the logo bigger. And while they’re worrying about all those nitpicky details, they’re missing the fact that half their visitors never click beyond the homepage. Immediately.

FAQ
Domain Name Registration

This is very important to understand, when you choose to research and ultimately register a Domain Name to represent you, your business or organization within the Internet, you do not own the registered Domain Name. You are renting the Domain Name for one year from ICANN.

An Invoice to renew your registered Domain Name is issued by Evolving Media, 30 days prior to the renewal date of your registered Domain Name to ensure you pay your invoice on time and that your registration does not lapse. 

If you decide to not renew your registered Domain Name by the required date, your Domain Name will be suspended and put on hold for up to thirty days or sooner.

Please note, your registered Domain Name is suspended and put on hold. That means your website, your email, and any other services attached to your Domain Name will no longer work.

If you choose not to renew the Domain Name within the suspension period, the affected Domain Name will be placed in a grace period for a minimum of thirty days. At which time you can still request to renew the Domain Name for an additional fee, currently set at $280 American, plus the Domain Name renewal rate.

Evolving Media will help you with the registration process.

The simple answer is an organisation called ICANN through a domain name registrar or reseller. For example, if you choose a name like “example.com”, you will have to go to a registrar, pay a registration fee that costs anywhere from $12.99 US to $60 US for that name for one year.

If your request is granted, you then have the use of the domain name for the specified period.

Evolving Media will help you through the process. 

WHOIS isn’t an acronym, though it may look like one. In fact, it is the system that asks the question, who is responsible for a domain name or an IP address?

Every year, millions of individuals, businesses, organizations and governments register domain names. Each one must provide identifying and contact information which may include: name, address, email, phone number, and administrative and technical contacts. This information is often referred to as “WHOIS data.” But the WHOIS service is not a single, centrally-operated database. Instead, the data is managed by independent entities known as “registrars” and “registries.” Any entity that wants to become a registrar must earn ICANN accreditation. Similarly, registries are under contract with ICANN to operate a generic top level domain, such as .COM, .ORG, or one of the new gTLDs such as .STORAGE and .LINK.

Based on existing consensus policies and contracts, ICANN is committed to implementing measures to maintain timely, unrestricted and public access to accurate and complete WHOIS information, subject to applicable laws. To do that, registrars and registries provide public access to data on registered domain names. Anyone can use the WHOIS protocol to search their databases and identify the domain name registrant.

In 2016, new ICANN Bylaws replaced the WHOIS obligations originally established by the expired Affirmation of Commitments. These Bylaws require periodic reviews to assess the effectiveness of the current gTLD Registration Directory Service (RDS, formerly known as WHOIS) and whether its implementation meets the legitimate needs of law enforcement, promoting consumer trust and safeguarding registrant data. In addition, those Bylaws require ICANN organization to use commercially reasonable efforts to enforce its policies relating to RDS, while exploring structural changes to improve accuracy and access to generic top-level domain registration data, as well as considering safeguards for protecting such data.

For more information please visit ICANN’s website.

WhoisGuard is a privacy protection service that prevents people from seeing your name, address, phone number and email when they do a Whois search on your domain. It puts its address information to the public Whois instead of yours to protect you from potential spam and even identity theft.

 

A domain transfer refers to the process of changing the designated registrar of a domain name. Once a transfer has been made, the new registrar will maintain all relevant information regarding the domain and the registrant. Domain names may be transferred only if they have been registered with the previous registrar for 60 days or more .

Yes you may transfer your existing Domain Name to Evolving Media & Design Inc.

Domain transfers can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 days to complete. The exact time-frame depends on the domain’s TLD and the time required for your current registrar to complete the process. Here are the steps to transfer a domain to Evolving Media:

1. Verify that your domain is eligible for transfer

Before initiating the transfer, make sure your domain qualifies for it. Here are standard requirements for most domains, including all gTLDs (e.g., .COM / .NET / .ORG etc.), new gTLDs (e.g., .BID / .CLUB / .TRADE / .TECH etc.) and some ccTLDs (.TV / .ME / .CO etc.):
The domain must have been registered or transferred at least 60 days ago;
The domain must be unlocked at the current registrar (its Whois status should be OK or Active);
The domain must show a valid and accessible Admin email address in Whois, as the Transfer Approval email will be sent there.
Some ccTLDs (.ES / .UK / .IO, etc.) have additional transfer requirements and/or exclude some points from the list above. Please check the specific transfer requirements for your TLD here.

2. Order the transfer

After verifying that your domain meets all transfer requirements, feel free to purchase the transfer at Evolving Media. For this, follow the steps below:

  1. Create an active account at EvolvingMedia.com or sign into your EvolvingMedia.com account.
  2. On our website, select the Hosting tab, then Domain Names. A new window or tab will open.
  3. Enter your Domain Name into the search bar, click “Transfer”.
  4. Verify that your domain is prepared for the transfer and check boxes next to the corresponding fields.
  5. Provide the Auth/EPP code.
  6. Add the transfer to the cart and check out using your preferred payment method.

3. Approve the transfer via email

After you check out and enter the Auth code, a Transfer Approval email will be sent to the domain’s Admin email address listed under WHOIS. This email is sent from donotreply@evolvingmedia.com (or service@evolvingmedia.com). Confirm the transfer by clicking the link in the email and selecting “I approve” on the following form.

Once the transfer is confirmed, your previous registrar will have 5 calendar days to approve the transfer. If they do not take any actions within this period, the transfer will be approved automatically. You may also check with the previous registrar if it is possible to speed up outgoing transfers with them. You will receive a notification from EvolvingMedia.com when the transfer is complete.

Note 1: Please remember that a domain transfer does not imply automatic DNS change. The nameservers for your domain will remain the same after the transfer and are not automatically changed to EvolvingMedia DNS. If your domain is using the default DNS at your previous registrar, the transfer process may cause temporary downtime of your website and/or email service interruption. To learn how to minimize the downtime, review the information in this article.

Note 2: If your domain expired with your previous registrar, and you’ve reactivated it (renewed after expiration) with them, please do not transfer it within 45 days of the previous expiration date. According to ICANN, the domain will be renewed for 1 year by the new registrar, but the reactivation year added to your domain by the previous registrar will be revoked. You may also lose renewal fees paid to the previous registrar.

The simple answer is no. If a Domain Name is expired and still within the suspended period, you must renew your domain name at the previous Registar, prior to transferring the domain name to EvolvingMedia.com

If the Domain Name is within the grace period, then you must pay the retrival fee, plus the Domain Name renewal fee, then you might be required to wait sixty days before a transfer will be allowed.

FAQ
About Security

How to Secure Your Website

As a web hosting account user, it’s essential that you take necessary precautions to protect your account.  It is your responsibility to avoid hacker intrusions, code injections and using malicious scripts that could give anyone full access to your account and your clients’ data. More importantly, you must avoid giving anyone access to the server’s resources for illegal purposes (e.g., sending SPAM, creating a BOT-NET).

It is vital that you understand that, as the account’s owner, you are fully responsible for any files or content present in your hosting account. We can not inspect every file or script sent to the server or guarantee the security of our servers. So it is imperative that you are aware and that you examine each script (especially if you’re using PHP and Perl) and web applications to ensure that it is:

  1. Safe, meaning that there are no documented security flaws on the Internet (a Google search with the name of the software and the word “vulnerability” could help you identify these flaws).
  2. Up-to-date. Always install the most recent versions of the software, widgets or plug-ins to benefit from fixes to security flaws as soon as identified. Hackers often exploit older versions of software via well-known security flaws.

    For example, we no longer support PHP before version 7.2

  3. Use a secure password. You are strongly encouraged to use a password with more than ten characters, that combine uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers.

  4. Do not use the same password for different services. For example, if you use a password to access your Client Care Portal, do not use the same password to access your Facebook account.

 

Evolving Media recommends that you change your password or passwords every three to four months. Insisting on this last point is vital; an insecure password is the origin of more than 60% of illegal accesses to accounts.

Other tips are

  1. Do not install unverified scripts (verification by professionals), or created by “friends having learnt PHP last week.” PHP programming is easy to learn, but challenging to master. It is quite likely that a novice having written a script has not taken all necessary measures to guarantee its security.
  2. Always delete the installation folders of software once they are installed, and do not leave files with 777 permissions (anyone with access to the server can modify such data).
  3. Do not list the files in a folder on your hosting account (Deactivate this option in the cPanel).
  4. Be particularly cautious about Joomla, Mambo, and phpBB. These applications all have serious security flaws in previous versions, and must, therefore be updated regularly.
  5. Perform regular backups of your web site after each major upgrade. If your account does get hacked, you can lose weeks, or even months, of work. Although Evolving Media performs daily automatic backups of your host services, it is always preferable that you keep a local (on your computer) copy of all the files on the server.
  6. Back up your email regularly to an archive folder on your computer. You only have a maximum of 1GB of server space per email account. The reason, the email service is not intended to be used as a backup.
  7. Never reveal the password of your hosting account, and never send it by email.
  8. Please note, Evolving Media does not keep any client passwords on file for security reasons. If you lose or forget your password, please follow the steps when you select “Forget your password.” If you still can not reset your password, please submit a support ticket, and we will reset the password.
  9. Activate a service like SiteLock to provide added security to your host account.

 

If ever you have any questions, please call Evolving Media at 613-482-1159 or log in to the Client Care Portal and submit a Support Ticket.

 
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