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Back in the 1980s I was part of the team that built IBM's first catalog on the Web. Very few catalogers or retailers had Web sites then, so “How do you go about this?” was more than a legitimate question; it was like trying to craft a customer-friendly masterpiece while in a very dark cave.

Having virtually no guides to follow, we took the prudent path and created an electronic version of the print catalog, attempting to make each online page as much as possible like a spread in the book. Less then stimulating, perhaps. But the site looked professional, was up, and customers seemed happy to have another way to get information…and sometimes even buy.

However, it didn't take long for this clone approach to get as dated as fruitcake in March. IBM learned, as did most of the others new to Internet design, that simply duplicating a paper catalog in electronic form was not the way to go.

Pretty quickly we were all doing the flip-flop as well as any politician. Vowing not to look anything like the print catalog most of us had so painstakingly copied, we would (only for economics' sake, of course) use as many of the same photos as possible. But the site had to completely stand on its own.

So new-look Web sites began to appear. Some home pages were as crowded as junkyards; others were oh-so-simply designed, with just the word “Enter” and little else, that they were quiet as graveyards — and often just as active.

Little by little catalogers started to suspect that Web design should be interactive, and that customers shopped online because they could do things like search for particular products, see what items looked like in every available color, and enjoy any editorial goodies the site provided. Yes, we were definitely learning from our customers and improving.

We just forgot one rather important thing: a consistent brand image. Without it, all that hard-fought brand building pops right out of a potential customer's mind. Some of us are doing it well; others need a bit of improvement.

Here are a few examples.

Gumps messes up by having red headers and footers (big ones) on its home page. See any red in the print catalog? Nope, not a trace. Everything is quite lovely in pale greens, but none of it has any connection to the Web site. Granted, color can change from issue to issue, but just make sure the Web site and print book always coordinate.

Touch of Class, never one of my favorites graphically, still deserves kudos for its unswerving imagery in print and online. Brown is its color; old-fashioned is the approach and its two main selling methods speak the same language.

OK, you've spent what feels like eons getting the perfect cover. Then you neglect to put that image on your Web site's home page. What's the logic? Remember the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? Today it's worth a couple million.

Soft Surroundings not only uses full-bleed photos of models in warmly romantic settings to reinforce the print catalog's image, but also uses a photo of the book's cover as a visual enticement to shop its online catalog.

Look, your image should either be pretty svelte (that is, devoid of extra anything) or zaftig (kind of plump with lots of extras). Unless you're a movie star going for an Oscar nomination, you can't be both.

Care-a-Lot Pet Supply has a relatively uncomplicated print cover, featuring a we-can-all-get-along cat and dog lying together on the cover. This “heartwarming” photo is complemented by a couple of simple copy blocks. Sadly, though, Care-a-Lot's Web site appears to belong to a totally different company. Multihued blobs of products bounce all over it. Frantic color is splashed everywhere and the poor Care-a-Lot logo — the only item that remotely coordinates with the book's cover — is so tiny it's totally lost. This is not good, as your first thought is that you've arrived at the wrong site.

The Design Within Reach catalog has a product cover featuring one of three starkly shot articles, each stacked dramatically on top of the other. The cover appears again on the home page, but much smaller and captioned with “Request a catalog.” About half of the home page is devoted to one similarly styled and photographed product, while the bottom half displays six other offerings, all clearly arranged as very secondary to the main item. Thus the whole effect echoes the print catalog without becoming a carbon copy.

Where on Hello Direct's Web site are the marketing techniques from its print catalog? Where have all the people gone? Why is the home page, and most of the interior pages, just pictorial lists of products? Why is it hiding those great endorsements about seven layers deep?

Some of the things that always have made Hello Direct feel like more than just another discount electronics catalog are the pictures of happy people, the customer endorsements and some of the best copy in the business. If you look very hard, you still can find some of those gems in the electronic version. But only if you really, really work at it.

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KATIE MULDOON (kmuldoon@muldoonandbaer.com) is president of DM/catalog consulting firm Muldoon & Baer Inc., Palm Beach Gardens, FL.