Todd Relaford

Todd Relaford
toddrelaford.com/portfolio/
[email protected]
call/txt: 678.429.4144
Landing Pages
WeatherBlink
This page serves as the top end of a user funnel designed to encourage prospective users to download and install
WeatherBlink. The product mounts on the user’s browser as a toolbar or extension, providing an array of useful weatherrelated utilities.
FreeWildernessPro
FreeWildernessPro provides outdoor sporting resources at a click, and at no cost to users. Like WeatherBlink and other
Mindspark products, it includes an Ask search field, providing a monetization channel which keeps the product free.
RoundUpRadio
Inspiring prospective users to download and install a free product can be trickier than it seems, especially due to
malware concerns and the stigma associated with toolbar products. I compose the design and copy on each page using
the target audience’s visual language to allay reservations, promote engagement, and reinforce the brand.
EasyHomeDecorating
For several years, I’ve relied heavily on A/B and multivariate testing to optimize my designs, and have developed a good
sense of what the consumer will respond to. Elements of the most beautiful designs often do not resonate with target
users, and must carefully be adjusted to both satisfy their expectations and establish consistent visual brand identity.
Banner Ads
AudioToAudio
This utility is designed for non-professional audio file
conversion, and appeals mostly to younger users. The
ad is often served on media-heavy pages, and needed
to be eye-catching, in order to attract the attention of
readers.
Zwinky
Zwinky, a virtual world, includes an avatar creator
using a vector illustration style. Partner networks
requested ads that would appeal to young women
interested in fashion, so I used photo imagery and a
design style different than that of the actual product.
CrazyForCrafts
While there is a common visual language among most
crafting products, consumers are very sensitive to the
colors and imagery. I created several variations based
on the same ad layout, arriving at this test winner.
TranslationBuddy
This product provides users with resources to help
translate, read, write, and speak in many languages.
My goal here was to give it a fun, friendly face,
differentiating it from typically drier competitor tools.
SafePCRepair
This banner is designed with the less-savvy computer user in mind. Colors and messaging were chosen to convey a
clear, simplified concept, while reinforcing a sense of trustworthiness and user-friendliness.
YourLocalLotto
Several designs were created for this ad campaign, most of which contained bright color schemes and illustrations or
photos that did not include people. However, the highest CTR was achieved by the somewhat stark version below.
PopularScreensavers
This is a strictly image-based product, and I’ve found that solitary, border-to-border imagery attracts users better than a
depiction of several examples. The Flash version of this ad includes fluttering butterfly wings, and a gently scrolling
background effect.
InboxAce
InboxAce is targeted at users who are looking to consolidate their email activity in order to save time and maximize
efficiency. This high performing ad owes its success to the high legibility and overemphasis of the descriptive logo.
Despite the pervasive myth that red shouldn’t be used for buttons or calls to action in advertising, this button achieved a
higher click through rate than several other colors I tried.
Logos
Mindspark Catalog of Products
Mindspark has created a library of over eighty “core” products, each filling its own unique niche. The variety of target
demographics is immense, and has provided me with a fantastic opportunity to explore many different styles. In the
development of each logo, I focused on using visual motifs that speak in the visual language of similar products,
asserting a memorable, iconic representation of the brand. Despite the considerable number of characters in each
product name, the logos are also designed with legibility in mind, because they are mostly used in applications that have
very little real estate to spare.
Application Installers
FilmFanatic
The installer for each Mindspark product represents the
last section of the user funnel. It is also the place where
the greatest user falloff occurs. I’ve managed to balance
the many legal and compliance requirements with
product benefits by establishing an informational
hierarchy and emphasizing the more attractive features
of the product.
EliteMediaPlayer
With the help of several test iterations, I identified issues
that were responsible for users not completing
installations. The resulting redesign addressed these
elements by adding an additional step to the install
process, giving the user a visual representation of their
location in the process, and minimizing informational
clutter. Also, users are now reminded that the product is
“fast and free” on each step, and the preferred CTA has
been “sweetened” visually. The overall softening of the
installer’s design helped, as well.
Emails
MyScrapNook
Email marketing for this scrapbooking resource seems
to perform better when the design and content is
centered around subthemes, such as weddings, friends,
holidays, or children. Readers tend to respond more
favorably to this product when the email is visually rich
and features are defined separately, each with its own
CTA.
MyFunCards
A simple headline, “It’s Free” badge, and a call to action
are really all that is necessary to promote ecards as
holidays near. Because readers are likely to make a
decision to delete or commit to action in a couple
seconds, the entire written content has been minimized
to a handful of words, and iconic imagery that relates to
the holiday is leveraged to quickly establish context.