The Making Of … A 404 Error Page

The little things are the big things

It might not be a significant page in the same way that a pricing or contact page is important but if a visitor to your website lands on your 404 error page because a link is broken then it’s important that you turn a potentially frustrating experience into a positive one. Google and I spent ages brainstorming ideas for something funny and then it came to me …

Ever since Daisy started barking at the phone when it rang and attacking the post when it dropped through the letterbox I’ve referred to her as my Head of Security! She also loves to steal paper as it comes out of the printer and if there’s a page missing she’s bound to be close-by chewing it up! So, the idea to have Daisy shredding the wrong ‘page’ was born.

Over to Daisy to tell you how we created the photo

“Mum said she had a really important job for me. I’m her Head of Security which is really high up so I came as soon as she called. She was throwing all these little bits of paper on the floor. What the fudge?! She’s a neat freak and hates mess so I knew something unusual was happening.

“I started sniffing the paper and it got stuck to my fur. Then I got bored and noticed that Mum had her camera in her hand. Whenever Mum has her camera out I sit down. (I learned that from ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ training because she’d take my photo while I was waiting. It’s a thing now.)

“Mum said she’d made a rookie error and forgot to bring any treats. Whattttt? We had to improvise with little bits of prawn cocktail crisps soaked in tea. Fur real.

“I sat and looked as pretty as I could (despite being covered in annoying bits of paper) but Mum said it looked too posed…

“But I wasn’t interested in doing anything other than trying to sit and stay nicely to get a treat. So Mum hid some tiny bits of crisps amongst the paper for me to forage for.

“Little Poppy Pipsqueak always wants to be playing with the same thing as me. She doesn’t like doing her own thing so of course, she had to join in. Pesky little sister…

“I asked Mum if we were really allowed to make all this mess? Normally she’s picking bits up off the floor as soon as we move. I wondered if she’d finally learned to be more dog and ‘live in the moment’?

“All of a sudden, Mum sat on the floor looking very pleased with herself and told me I was really clever and brilliant and she couldn’t have asked for anything better. But I wasn’t impressed because there was a bit of paper stuck on my nose and I couldn’t quite reach it with my tongue. But I was happy to finish whatever this thing was that we were doing because the soggy crisps were a letdown.

“I left someone with opposable thumbs to do all the clearing up, obvs.”