News

2022: a weird and wonderful year

Will 2023 be weird or wonderful? For KZ, 2022 was both. Some of us finally met each other for the first time because we’ve been working virtually since the lockdowns of 2020. Project/account manager Ceejay and developer Hector met each other and everyone else at a backyard BBQ for all staff in May. Creative strategist Libby met her coworkers at the agency’s AGM in September—but she didn’t meet marketing specialist Morgan till our holiday lunch in December. Their biggest surprise: everyone’s heights. (In video meetings, everyone looks the same size.) Our New Year’s Resolution for 2023: More in-person meetups for…
Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) – What you need to know

What is it? At one point or another everyone has opened up their inbox and has found unwanted emails. Sometimes called junk email or unsolicited bulk email (UBE), the Canadian government is implementing a new law, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), to crack down on unwanted emails and texts. This law will have a major impact on businesses, because now businesses and organizations will need to prove they have consent to reach out to new, existing, or potential customers using electronic messages. CASL will take effect on July 1, 2014. Non-compliance will result in penalties for each violation that can reach…
Social Media and Online Marketing Trends for 2012

It seems that social networks and the Internet in general have been playing an increasingly important role in our lives. While the online world hasn’t completely displaced our real-world connections, we certainly rely on it as a way to socialize, follow news and events, shop, find information, and otherwise live digitally. As we said in our year-end review of web design and development trends, we welcome new industry developments but are mindful to take them with a grain of salt. With that in mind, this post outlines some of the trends and developments we’ve seen in the realms of social…
Web Design & Development Trends of 2012

As web designers and developers, we trust our core design sensibility to create websites around principles of taste and usability. But we also love seeing new ideas and new current website trends. In this post, we’ll run down some of the web design and development trends we found captivating in 2012. 1. Single-Page Websites Navigating through single page websites is faster than clicking through multiple pages. You can easily browse through text and media by scrolling, sliding, or flicking – whatever you do on a touchscreen. For some examples of visually stunning single-page designs, check out Smashing Magazine’s post on…
Building an Internet that Includes Everyone: Accessibility Camp Toronto

Over the weekend the Kobayashi Online team had the pleasure of attending and sponsoring the second annual Accessibility Camp Toronto. Held on November 17, 2012 at OCAD University, this “un-conference” gathered accessibility experts and those hoping to make websites and applications that everyone can use. The basic goal of accessible web design is to create online content that’s more usable to those with disabilities. But one of the great side effects is that it can also improve the overall usability of a website for all users. Accessibility practices range from general design best practices like structuring information logically to writing code to communicate with…
Prepare for WordCamp Toronto with Our Guide

Planning on coming to WordCamp Toronto? A great attitude and a willingness to learn will go a long way. But there are also some other things to bring that will make your time more enjoyable. To find out how to be prepared by reading our guest blog post on the WordCamp Toronto website.
Bad Design Sometimes Hits the Mark, But That’s No Excuse

Sometimes bad design can be good. Ahem, sorry, let’s try this again: Bad design can meet the client’s objectives. But even though bad design sometimes hits the mark, we think there’s no excuse for bad design. And furthermore, you can incorporate whatever trickery that make horrible designs work into something that’s truly elegant and beautiful. We were thinking about this lately after reading a lively Reddit thread in which a designer complained that his nightclub poster was rejected because it didn’t look like a typical – presumably garish – nightclub poster. The discussion around this example turned towards a problem…
Around the Office: Fontsmith at 10, an HTML5 Doodle, Eyeing Social Media, more

Around the Office is a weekly group blog that shows what the OnlineFriendly.biz team and Kobayashi Online have found interesting, funny, poignant, or otherwise notable over the past week. Eva is impressed with the minimal and clean site Fontsmith created to celebrate its 10 years creating custom fonts. In addition to the great website, Fontsmith has published a limited edition box-set of booklets it has produced over the past decade. What better way to celebrate beautiful fonts and 10 years in type? As further proof that Daveed appreciates HTML5 on a deeper level than the average Web surfer, he drew…
Shopping’s Better When Sharing: 5 Ways to Make E-commerce Social

Our innate desire to socialize has helped make the Internet a platform where people share information and their life experiences. The social nature of the Internet is something that institutions like governments, universities and businesses, cannot ignore. Having been a by-product of this network revolution, e-commerce businesses have much to gain from taking a decidedly social approach to businesses. First off, consumers have made online shopping an opportunity to socialize — not unlike going to the mall with friends. As we’ve pointed out before, even if your e-commerce site doesn’t have a community of its own, the opinions and advice of…
Why e-commerce? 3 Reasons Why an Online Store Makes Sense

E-commerce can be a great standalone business, or an addition to your existing sales. There are numerous examples of companies that have successfully used online retail to their advantage. The Thorpes of Gosforth Fireside Shop, an English store that supplies everything to do with fireplaces, is a great example of a traditional company using the Internet for develop their online business. As a BBC report explains, this store has been able to use its unique selection of products to drive online sales and build interest in order to get people to see the store for themselves. Many professional services have…
Design, Layout, Functionality: the Basic Elements of Web Experience

A great webpage is more than just the product of good code. Think back to the last time you navigated a website and found the information, product or service you were looking for. [Updated January 2018] If this was a positive experience, chances are that a lot of thought went into creating a site that looks good and provides you with what you want in the simplest way. This type of site uses design, layout, and functionality to create an effective user experience. The approach Kobayashi + Zeitguys takes is a thoughtful one, ensuring that before any design starts, we…
Kobayashi Online gives Hair Dynamix a corporate identity makeover

Hair Dynamix is a top-notch salon and spa in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood. We’ve known them for a while, having redesigned their website years ago. And when they decided they needed a corporate identity refresh, we were very happy they came to us again. This corporate identity makeover involved creating a new logo and reworking marketing materials What resulted was a new, unified impression across its business cards, brochures, signage, and monthly email blasts. Why go to these lengths? It all serves to communicate what Hair Dynamix is all about. For the past 30 years, Hair Dynamix has been a family owned…