Images are key to good design
Just because you are not an artist or your business does not include a portfolio of photographs or illustrations, doesn’t mean you can’t make good use of images in your web site. In fact, carefully selected images will make a website sing. The images you need can be found at any of the reputable stock companies on the internet, such as Big Stock, iStock or Shutterstock to name a few. Using stock images is affordable and easy. Take this site I recently put together for Ann McCarten.
Read MoreCompass: Before and After Website
If your website is three years old or even older, chances are you aren’t taking advantage of all the changes in the internet now available. Social networking buttons, forms, built in seo, clean formats, non-flash banner sliders and slide shows are just some of the new features you can get included in your revised website for much less investment than before.
My new client was ready to learn content management. He called me on a recommendation from a developer who was getting out of the web design business. His site needed substantial reorganization and redesign. Look at the old site and see if it looks like a site you’ve seen recently.
It is obvious to most people who know my client, that he does not look like the picture on this page. It was elongated to match the image on the right. Centered text, lines around boxes and a hidden menu are just a few of the glaring problems we identified and changed in the new site design.
Client offers volunteer opportunity
My friend and client Fredia Woolf of Woolf Consulting just sent me a letter inviting us all to participate in a innovative social venture. Read her proposal about generosity and how we can continue to give it all year long.
“Dear Friends,
We’re off to India in a couple of hours, but didn’t want to leave before sending you my best wishes. At this time of year, a spirit of generosity pervades. Malls and online shopping carts are filled with gift-buyers, cards and good wishes are sent, food is prepared and shared, and, both religious and secular people generally partake of the good cheer. And yet it is hard not to think of the gap betwen the haves and the have nots in our world today. Not only those who lack money and a job, or education and clean water, but even those among us who are “privileged” and materially comfortable, who are have nots when it comes to time, personal relationships, or peace of mind.
Read MoreNuFit Now for Health!
NuFit Now’s Delaney Taylor is one of my excellent trainers at Get In Shape For Women in Framingham. She has a side business helping people get healthy through eating well and getting exercise. She travels to her clients homes and works them out while consulting with them about their diet.
Delaney asked me to help her design a new website, logo and business card. A WordPress template fit right into her budget and we quickly found one that suited her energetic spirit. Perugi Design helped her come up with the company name NuFit Now which was available for a domain. This wasn’t easy considering the number of fitness clubs in the country. The letters made for an easy font logo but she wanted some sort of nutrition icon with the type. Once the logo was approved, it translated easily into business cards which she ordered from Moo.com.
Delaney learned the WordPress dashboard quickly and is happily adding nutritious recipes and advice to her blog. Check it out at http://www.nufitnow.com.
Share Read MoreBartleby’s New Site Design
One of my colleagues at Business Networking International (BNI) wanted to update his website: Bartleby Scriveners. Bob helps people with the written word. Many of my clients need his help, as content and words are important elements in web design and marketing. But, while Bob is very good at writing, he needed help in organizing and creating a new look for his brand. It also has to be done within a budget.
I recommended using a WordPress template or theme from WordPress.org. Choosing the right theme out of the thousand or so is a critical first task. Not only do I look for layout, but I look for good typography and flexibility within the theme. The themes come prepackaged and may look exciting on the whole, but the nuts and bolts don’t fit.
Read MoreWebsite for Gatlin Law
Yesterday, I published a WordPress website for a client who is a new partner at Michael Gatlin Law in the Saxonville neighborhood of Framingham. Julie Ladimer wanted the site to be updated and reflect the skills that she and Michael bring to the company. She also wanted to be able to manage the content and blog herself.
We picked out a theme on WordPress.org and got started. The old site included useful content, but was not interesting and looked out of date and unprofessional. The new site has a beautiful banner photograph (made by layering a transparent color image over a duotone of the same photo in Photoshop), contemporary menu buttons and additional pages and content that help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Take a look at the after picture and see if you agree that the new WordPress site reflects the professionalism of this law office!
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