Spices and Imports Web Site Design
I recently completed a web site for Mediterranean Spices & Imports, an essential oils importer from the US that provides 100% pure organic and wild grown essential oils that are distilled and packaged in the Albanian countryside. The company promotes economic growth and prosperity for the people of Albania by creating an essential oil distribution channel into the US.
The product page is under construction but when it’s done it will provide useful information about all their essential oils such as the Latin name, description, therapeutic uses and combinations with other oils. A feature that was new for me this time was the flash intro on the home page with their mission statements fading in and out over shots of the Albanian countryside.
DNL Builders Web Design
DNL Buildersweb site is finally up and running the way I wanted it to. This web design project came from a simple business card redesign I did for DNL builders. I saw what they had and asked if I could “massage” it a bit. DNL and their clients were so happy with the results they asked me to do their web site as well.
DNL Builders is a full-service construction company in Sonoma County and the greater Bay Area that specializes in Custom Homes, Custom Remodels, Project Management and General Contracting.
One of the features of this site that I am really excited about is the gallery page using spry tabs in Dream weaver CS3 in order to display multiple projects on a single page. I used the rollover feature to be able to quickly scan through each project without having to click on every thumbnail. The other feature I managed to figure out on this web design project was building the navigation tabs in CSS and making the tabs active for each page shown with a glowing house behind each word.
This web design project was very personal to me, not only because DNL is a great clients but because Darrel and Nicole Lancaster are close friends as well. My goal was to create a site that reflects the quality of work they provide to their clients in custom homes and I think I did it.
One thing I know for sure is that if you take care of clients there will be plenty of work, even in this economy.
Broken FM Web Redesign Project
I finally put the finishing touches on a web site redesign for Broken FM, an alternative Christian Radio station here in Santa Rosa CA and heard online all over the world.
I got an email last week to redesign three buttons but I figured it would be easier to just redesign the entire web site. It took me about three days to complete the redesign, one for design, one for the web template and one very long day to build all the web pages.
This project got started a few weeks prior when I designed a 6′ banner for Broken FM for the Rock of Ages festival they were attending in Calistoga CA. After getting the redesign bug I took the banner and used it as the basis for their new site. I was able to take the vector elements apart and create those three buttons as well as the one for the “listen now” and “DJ page”
The original free graphic came from Vector Room and the font I used for the logo was called “Chicago House_trial” found at Abstract Fonts, one of best free font resources out there.
New Life Birthing Servives Web Site for Claudette Claudette Coughenour
My wife and I are getting ready to have our fourth child at home in the next couple of weeks with the help of our amazing midwife Claudette Coughenhour of New Life Birthing Services. Having a home birth is an amazing experience and would recommend Claudette to anyone thinking about home birth in Sonoma County.
I started out by creating a blog for her mainly to post birth stories, including the birth of our third daughter. The next step was to set up her web site with the same information that was a bit easier to navigate and link back to her blog. This site was created using a free template I found online and is temporary until I redesign her site from scratch after our son is born.
Violence Free Web Design
Violence-Free.org is web site I just completed and is up and running for the purpose of collecting signatures to help protect the community from violent crime. I needed a site up and running ASAP to get the word out in time to get my signatures printed out to give to the Judge in charge of this case.
I managed to design the logo, set up facebook, twitter, the blog and design the web site from scratch in Photoshop CS3
Broadway Quilts – Web Site
Finally a new project for a quilting shop located in Sonoma California to put up on Envisionary Design created for Broadway Quilts. I had fun creating the custom navigation bar with the stitching texture. Not only do they have over 2000 bolts of fabrics, books patterns and quilts but they also offer a variety of fun quilting classes.
BSR – Builder Supply Resource Web Site
I am pleased to unveil my latest web site design for Builders Supply Resource – BSR today. BSR has extensive experience in the construction and home design industry and partners with contractors and homeowners to bring a wide range of finish products for remodel and new construction.
One of the things I wanted to do with this web site was to make it simple and easy to navigate without having to scroll down to get to the bottom. I did this by spending a lot of time up front researching websites that worked well without scrolling before I started on the design.
I also wanted to stay away from a boring link filled page I broke up the space with image rollover links to each product category. I also didn’t have a lot of links so I filled up the space with really fun looking rollover buttons.
My ultimate goal when designing a web site is to own it, which means I continually ask my self “would I be happy with this site if it were mine?” if the answer is no I keep working it until the answer is yes. For BSR the answer is a definite yes!!!
Bathroom Key Web Design
The best part about creative ideas is making it a reality and Bathroom Key is one of those random ideas that came to me one day at coffee shop restroom. I was sitting around working on my third cup of coffee when nature called for the billionth time, so off I went to beg for the bathroom key from the Batista. With my prize in hand and the urgency in my step I went off to answer the call. The bathroom key came with it an attachment, a large bulky object chained to my key to make sure it was not lost and second to discourage me from stealing it and using it to open up my own public restroom some were else.
I have seen so many of these interesting bathroom key attachments over the course of my life that I finally decided it was time to start yet another blog called Bathroom Key. The blog is dedicated to posting and writing about this prolific form of urban art found in many bathrooms around the world. So I went looking ob flick for more pictures and found plenty to get me started with my new venture, Bathroom Keys.
In terms of design I wanted to take my blogging/web/design/photoshop/html skills to the next level and create a truly unique navigation bar for it. I created the background tile in photoshop which I used as my repeating background image for my bathroom motif. Next I made the biggest bathroom key attachment I could fit in an 800 pixel wide seen precariously propped up between the handle bar and the toilet tank cover. What bathroom would be complete with out magazines, so I created some covers at fake magazine cover to be used as my navigation bar buttons. Once I had the design the way I wanted it to look I chopped it all and imported it in blogger with linked them to my favorite social networks.
This of course is just the beginning, there will many hours spent writing, promoting and tweaking the layout so that one day Bathroom Keys will become popular and viral (in a good way). And hopefully encourage a new breed of photographers to go out and catalog the vast world of bathroom keys.
Kitchens By Ken Ryan – Web Site Design
I finally finished a new web site called Kitchens By Ken Ryan for Ken Ryan an expert in kitchen design, manufacturing and construction in Novato California. I designed this web site using Illustrator CS2 and then went on to put it all together in Dreaweaver, a very cool program indeed. The gallery is almost done but I found that Photoshop CS2 has a nice feature that allows me to quickly take a batch of photos and create a custom gallery in a short period of time. It creates HTML pages that gives me the flexibility to further customize my code to fit the needs and design of my layout in Dreamweaver.
They also wanted to add client testimonials so I created a Blog for them with the same look and feel as the rest of the web site to make it easy to add content.
