Today I will be highlighting two new sites: Plastic Surgery Associates and Central Virginia Neurosurgery. Both of these projects were in collaboration with Bill and Susan at Dayrich Enterprises, as well as their designer Stan.

First up is Plastic Surgery, which went live this summer. The site is a big improvement on their older site (as witnessed here), and includes a lot of updated information in addition to the updated look. The site was built in Flash and has an overall soothing look to it. Each page fades in when loaded, which adds to the serenity of the design. The neutral background and text colors are highlighted by numerous bright, high quality photos.

The site contains a lot of text and photo content for viewers and potential patients. Each of the procedures offered by Plastic Surgery Associates is described in detail, and a Before & After photo gallery shows real results from real patients. Biographies of each physician as well as detailed payment information and a contact form are also available.

Next up is Central Virginia Neurosurgery, a site that was completed in December. CV Neuro was formerly a part of Centra Health and has recently become an independent practice. To commemorate their independence, we put together a new website for the company. The royal combination of blue and gold gives the design a feeling of maturity and reliability. It was important to the client that they be pictured on the site, to show that they are personally invested in their clients. The design is a balance of professionalism and personalization, to reflect the mission of the company it represents. This website was also built in Flash, and was completed with the cooperation of Dayrich Enterprises.

Visit each of these sites today to see more of the design and execution of each website. Click here to visit Plastic Surgery, and here for CV Neuro.

The Vintage Junkie is a local business in Lynchburg, VA featuring the artistic talents of Amy Calandra. The Vintage Junkie boasts a gorgeous collection of re-purposed vintage jewelry and accessories, and is Amy’s second business venture. (We are currently discussing a new look for her first company’s website, Light of Mine Designs, as well.) Working with a fellow artist on this project was a nice change from some of my more business-oriented clients; Amy’s input certainly influenced the creative design of the site. Click through to see how this artistic collaboration turned out!

Amy came to me with a vision for a “shabby-chic” website with a “vintage, faded feel” to it. The soft colors and textured background contribute to the look that Amy had in mind. The header font was Amy’s choice directly: an eclectic display font that mimics the construction of her whimsical jewelry. Many of the graphics in the header of the page are original creations, while some are stock illustrations that I altered significantly to fit the personality of the site. Photos of Amy’s jewelry are placed throughout the site, providing both colorful visual interest and a preview of items available for sale. Behind the scenes, The Vintage Junkie is setup with a Content Management System that allows Amy to quickly and easily update the text and photo content of each page.

The main aspect of this website is the online store, where vintage pieces are available for purchase. The site is hosted on a secure server for accepting online payments and includes an integrated e-commerce storefront where products are sorted and sold by category. Above is a sampling from the section of Necklaces, where the subtly textured background of the main content areas of the site can be seen in better detail. For ease of use, the store is maintained and updated by the owner and each product can be customized down to the last detail, including weight, photo, description and quantity in stock. This detailed management allows for smooth transactions for shoppers and accurate inventorying for the owner.

Like what you see? Stop by our online website portfolio for more samples of or work. Or, visit The Vintage Junkie Shop and get some of that holiday shopping done early!

Emily Shaffer is a fabulous up-and-coming actress in New York City, and the girlfriend of GetCreative friend and client Vance Barber. I’ve known Emily for a couple of years now and always enjoy hanging out with her and Vance. I was flattered when Emily came to me last month for website help, and excited to get started! She is such a talented actress with a great sense of style and an eye for design. I found that working together was really fun and easy, I hope Emily would agree. Read on to see the design and execution of Emily’s awesome new website.

Emily’s primary concern for this website was getting her presence out on the web in a way that really represented her as an artist. She first described her taste to me as “hippy western eclectic earthy artsy”, which sounds like a tall order. In reality I enjoyed the opportunity to work with a client with a softer, more artistic outlook. One of the best parts of my job is the wide range of clients and the many types of work I get to create for them. In fulfilling Emily’s aesthetic I knew immediately that I wanted to tackle ‘hippy’ and ‘western’ with a subtle but effective textured background pattern. Using one of my favorite background resources, I came up with a few variations until we decided on the beige and tan pattern pictured above.

The fonts used for this project were key in pulling the design together. While the two header fonts are very different from each other, they both lend themselves well to a modern design with definite antique tones. The rough serif typewriter font with the clean and skinny sans-serif had just the right ‘eclectic’ feel to it. I used Font Squirrel’s @font-face kit to make these decorative fonts web safe for all to enjoy. From there the teal and orange color palate was selected to tie in an ‘earthy’ feel.

As for ‘artsy’, I think we would have been hard pressed to avoid ‘artsy’ with Emily’s talent on display. The main photo collage is a selection of Emily’s photography work, and glimpses into her acting career are abundant throughout the site. The Look and Play pages showcase Emily in action, from headshots to sound bites.  The Create page in particular showcases Emily’s artistic talents in baking and sewing.

An element of this website that I am most pleased with is the fully CSS photo gallery on the Look page. As seen above, the gallery has a hover feature that enlarges each photo. When clicked, the image becomes full size for even closer examination. The gallery is so light weight and cross-browser compatible, making it a winner in my book.

Be sure to check out Emily’s portfolio to see her impressive range of talents, as well as my first foray into the “hippy western eclectic earthy artsy” realm of web design. See the live site here: www.EmilyShaffer.me

Psst: Stay tuned next week for a closer look at the CSS Hover Gallery, as well as the source of my favorite background pattern maker.

James T. Davis open its doors in downtown Lynchburg more than 70 years ago. Today, the company continues to be at the forefront of the paint and interior design industries in our city. The company has continually evolved into the modern paint resource that it is today, and they needed a website to reflect that. While their previous site was at one point informative and efficient, the company decided they were overdue for a ‘fresh coat’ in terms of web design.

I joined forces with Dayrich Enterprises for this project, as they handle marketing and branding for James T. Davis. Consistency across all advertising media is important to the image of a company. One of the first elements of the old site to go was the color- we updated from a color palette of teal and soft red to brighter and more eye-catching shades of blue with red and white accents. Red was a necessity to maintain previous branding efforts by the company, but my contacts at James T. Davis preferred an overall blue website. I worked through a few design ideas before we settled on one predominately blue design that successfully incorporated red as well.

The company offers many products and services, and so the website is built to accommodate a large amount of text and photo content. The site redesign was an ideal opportunity for those at James T. Davis to update the content of their site, which was largely outdated. The new text and photo content is organized into about 30 web pages, which are displayed in a drop-down navigation menu across the top center of the site. There is another sub-navigation menu in the top right corner of the site for accessing general information pages. To help visitors to the site stay oriented, there is a breadcrumb at the top content area of each page.

The FAQ page features a question and answer section that allows customers to interact with employees, asking questions and gaining tips and tricks to help complete various paint projects. Visitors can specify between paint and design inquiries, and their question will be answered publicly by an appropriate expert at James T. Davis.

Photos used in this site are a combination of stock images and pictures of the interior and exterior of the building provided by James T. Davis. As a finishing touch to this clean and modern design, I included a small Flash animation in the Home page slideshow. The moving butterfly draws attention to a product that James T. Davis takes great pride in: their eco-friendly Perfection line of paints.

That wraps up my preview of the new James T. Davis website. See these details and more on the live site: www.jamestdavis.com.

Last month I had the pleasure of working with the wonderful leaders at St. John’s Episcopal Church here in Lynchburg. St. John’s is modern parish located in a beautiful church off Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg’s Historic District. Such a lovely establishment deserved a website to reflect their rich history while showcasing the efforts they put into modern conveniences for their parish members. Read on to see the results below.

From a new logo to a customized photo gallery, the St. John’s website received a complete makeover. As a site with 20+ pages, St. John’s had a lot of content and some of it needed to be reorganized. Instead of one long navigation menu, I added drop-down tabs to eight core menu items. Working with Bill Watson and Gayle Rhodes, I worked to create a design that would fit their vision of a clean, modern site with few distractions to take away from their purpose as a church. Wine red, olive green and a golden yellow are accent colors on a bright white background.

Functionally, Gayle wanted from the new site the ability to make changes to the content herself. I set them up with a Content Management System so that updating the ‘Upcoming Events’ section frequently would be no problem, as well as making more permanent changes to the website text over time. Having their own CMS in place allows St. John’s to have updates made immediately and on their own schedule, without having to outsource them to a web designer.

Above is a final screenshot of the finished Home page. The large banner under the navigation menu is a rotating slideshow, showcasing various programs and projects at St. John’s.  Working with Bill and Gayle has been a pleasure, and I hope that the St. John’s community will benefit from the new look and functionality of their online presence.

What do you think of this new website? Click here to see it live: stjohnslynchburg.org.

I first began working with Argus Computer Services back in May of 2009. As noted in this Before and After post, the company was in need of a website update. Both the design and functionality of the site were outdated and in need of attention. Argus is located in Midlothian, Virginia and specializes in computer repair and upgrades for small business and residential clients.

Background
Argus owner John Yeager was referred to me by my friends at dmfoto, who are a client of John’s as well. Working with a friend of a friend as well as a computer guru made my job with Argus a great experience. John knew that his strengths are on the technical side of things and left me with creative freedom to come up with a good looking and functional design for his company. In January of this year we added a Preferred Vendors page to the site, and in October John came to me with a request for a more attention-grabbing Home page, and so the site has seen a few changes since it’s launch in 2009. Overall, John has been great to work with and clearly knows his field of computer maintenance and repair. Proof of our very techie relationship lies in the fact that we have never met in person, but have instead swapped numerous emails and phone calls, as well as online meetings with remote access to view and share ideas.

The Site
When creating the design for Argus I had a few welcomed challenges. While in the process of updating his site, John had a lot of details to add to the site in terms of text. All of his services for Residential and Commercial clients are carefully organized and presented to make the user experience a pleasant one. Argus is also a retailer for new and used computers and parts, which needed to be included in the site in addition to an interactive spot for client Testimonials.

Argus came to me with a developed and recognized logo that would remain unchanged. To integrate the logo I took the green and used it as a strong accent color throughout the site. Additionally I chose a neutral tan color along with white and black to be the main color focus of the design. I used defining borders and clean lines to keep the site industry-appropriate. For the photographs on the website we purchased professional stock images.

To see the final result, visit ArgusComputer.com. A big thanks to John Yeager for being so easy to work with and to Dave and Daniel Marks at dmfoto for the referral.

Vance Julian Barber is an actor in New York City and a long time friend of mine. Since High School he has been bringing laughs and entertainment to every social occasion that brought us together. From hilariously inappropriate creations in the “graphics” class he had with my husband to the filming of the Jackass knockoff Random Acts of Stupidity, Vance has always been an entertainer. In addition to his great sense of humor, Vance is an all around good guy and valued friend of ours. He is currently working and auditioning in New York in hopes of making it big in the acting industry. So, when Vance came to me for a website I was thrilled to be able to help him out.

Background
Vance has years and years of acting experience, going as far back as high school and through his undergrad at West Virginia University. His BFA in Acting separates him from a lot of up and coming acting hopefuls in the industry, and his hard work ethic is admirable. He has a varied and distinct resume, with experience ranging from stage and commercial acting to hosting a podcast and playing the saxophone. In terms of website, Vance was looking for something clean and modern that would really put the focus on his work. The site has undergone a few changes since it’s first launch, but the message has stayed the same. One of the major goals of the website is to be a complete resource of Vance’s resume, current projects, head shots, contact information and more. Essentially, a stocked briefcase of personal and professional information that any potential employer can quickly and easily access at any time.

The Site
Vance knew from the start that he wanted a clean, dark website with splashes of color. A black-to-gray gradient makes up the simple background and gives the site a little dimension. We added red as an accent color to break up the various sections of the website, and it is also a color that plays well into the images on the site. The home page began as an introduction from Vance and four of his head shots, but after a few months we made the switch to one large head shot to fill the top of the page. I like the strong statement that this image makes…it is a powerful first impression of the website. The home page image is followed by news updates outlining Vance’s current projects. The site also contains a resume and contact information, as well as a multimedia page with a photo gallery, video clips and publications featuring Vance’s work. Visit the website to learn more about Vance and check out the design in detail.

Baker’s Kitchen is a Wedding and Special Events Bakery in Richmond, Va. As a wedding photographer in Richmond I have had plenty of opportunities to sample the products of local bakeries, and rarely does the chance for free cake get passed by. In the past it was not uncommon for the creators of these towering fondant-covered confections to remain unknown to me- until I started planning my own wedding. Then I asked brides everywhere about the details of their vendors that I found enjoyable (and those that were not so enjoyable too, in order to avoid them). Baker’s Kitchen was a top answer from brides whose cakes were a treat to both look at and devour. It was not until November 2008, when my sister-in-law tied the knot, that I became more familiar with Baker’s Kitchen.

Watching Adam’s sister Gina plan her own wedding just months before ours had numerous perks. I heard her rave about her favorite vendors, including drool-inducing tales of hour-long cake tasting sessions and flavor combinations galore. And I also heard her rant about others, like the bridal shop where the cost of alterations totaled more than half the price of the actual dress. Her cake, though, was one of the more pleasant planning tasks, and the outcome, as you can see above, was a lovely and delicious treat. So, when selecting my own wedding cake I did a Google search for Baker’s Kitchen and ended up at a website that looked nothing like the tales of grandeur and tastes of heaven that I was expecting. Thus my designer urges kicked into gear, and I offered to transform the online presence of the company to match the light and airy consistency of their cakes.

Background
(What? You thought those two paragraphs of bridezilla ramblings were background? Nope, here comes the technical stuff.)

As we all know, the cake industry has recently undergone a trendy transformation from boring-cakes-your-Aunt-makes to Holy-Cow-is-that-life-sized-dog-with-a-wagging-tail-really-edible?! Baker’s Kitchen is that kind of cake company, though with less of an inclination for pyromania than Duff over in Charm City. They craft beautifully shaped and decorated cakes for all occasions, and they needed a website to showcase this talent. Recently purchased business cards were the color inspiration for the website, though I had a few other ideas to start with (see above).

One of the main elements of this website would be photo galleries capable of both organizing and showcasing cakes of all varieties. I created a Flash gallery for this purpose, with click through navigation. Another important factor was photo editing; the bakery had a huge number of photos that could be used, many that needed editing and some that were of too poor quality to be used.

The Site
The main target market for Baker’s Kitchen is brides and other event planners, the majority of whom are women. I wanted a look that was light and whimsical but that would speak to non-brides (including, gasp! the occasional groom) in need of a cake as well. Thus the varying shades of blues and yellows accented with the dashed stitching borders was born. The white and brown accents create enough contrast to keep the text easy to read and also avoid any harsh black elements.

When sifting through the photos I recognized a number of the cakes from weddings I had photographed with dmfoto. So, I called up Daniel and had him send me copies of Baker’s Kitchen cake photos, all of which are gorgeous and make up the main wedding cake photos on the website. This made my job of photo editing much easier, and allowed me to focus on the non-wedding cake galleries. There are four Specialty Cake galleries: All Occasion, Children, Groom and Dessert Cakes. Photos on the Supplies and Contact pages are all courtesy of Baker’s Kitchen, and photos on the About page are all stock photos.

Overall this site was both fun and challenging to put together. One face-to-face meeting and a lot of emails with the employees at Baker’s Kitchen and ta-da! A new functional and in my opinion very beautiful website. This site remains one of my favorite that I’ve designed to date, and I can only hope that the wonderful and talented folks at Baker’s Kitchen agree! Have any questions about the design? In the market for a cake (who isn’t??) and want more info? Leave me a comment and I’m glad to help. And, here are a few more mouth-watering delicacies for your enjoyment.

]]> http://getcreativewebdesign.com/blog/bakers-kitchen/feed/ 4 http://getcreativewebdesign.com/blog/client-profile-all-about-family/ http://getcreativewebdesign.com/blog/client-profile-all-about-family/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:33:00 +0000 Elise Spontarelli http://getcreativewebdesign.com/blog/?p=8

AAF provides at-home care not only for the elderly, as I first imagined, but for many diverse people at different stages of life. They are available to care for those with both short- and long-term illness, pregnant women both during and after pregnancy, and even individuals who could merely use some company in their daily routines. The range of service is adjusted depending on the needs of individual clients, whether you need help with housekeeping or a live-in caregiver.