The List: April 26th Edition

From clients…

Alpacaville is on Facebook! Just look at those sweet furry faces, too cute. Check out the new logo as well.

James T. Davis is having a Window Fashions Sale! The Hunter Douglas Window Fashions “Celebrate the Light” sale in progress…save now through June 17 with huge rebates on their best Hunter Douglas products.

For updates on local businesses and some great marketing info and tips, follow Dayrich Enterprises on Facebook.

The Junior League of Lynchburg is hosting its annual Derby Soiree fundraiser on May 5th. Get tickets online and enjoy an evening of fun, food, drinks and dancing. Plus a lot of great items up for grabs in the Live and Silent Auctions!

From the internets…

This is some sound advice for designers, from designers.

As soon as my allergies relent I’m ready for some time in the garden. This video is cute and great inspiration, and yes, sometimes my raised beds are almost that bad too.

English Muffin French Toast. This recipe has me drooling, and thinking of making it with homemade English Muffins. Yum!

Random favorites…

I’m pining for a wide angle lens. This one at B&H is a great price, but I’m debating it’s technical abilities.

On a related note, here are some great tips for using a wide angle lens. Hopefully I’ll put these to the test soon!

Hello Dolly is playing at the Academy of Fine Arts next month, and I can’t wait to see it!

Have a suggestion for The List? Let me know via email: ESpontarelli@GetCreativeWebDesign.com

The List: March 16th Edition

From clients…

Plastic Surgery Associates will be at the Lynchburg Women’s Show at the Holiday Inn Downtown Lynchburg tomorrow, March 17th.

Amber Grove has had a last minute postponement of the wedding scheduled for June 23, 2012. If any of you know of someone looking for a beautiful spot to get married, that is one of the prime weekends of the year at this lovely venue.

The Vintage Junkie will be at The Spring Bizarre Bazaar in Richmond, March 30- April 1. Great show with tons of wonderful vendors, click here for more info.

From the internets…

This is such a fabulous article by This American Life’s Ira Glass about the awesomeness that is RadioLab. A must read.

I was reminded this week of how much I love Paperless Post for online invitations. Old-fashioned formality with the convenience of the internet!

Check out our new Facebook Cover Photo. Need help with your own custom banner? Give us a call.

Random favorites…

I’m just letting the world know now, I want this to be my 30th birthday party.

Are you a knitter? I recently discovered Pickles and I can’t get enough of their great patterns and gorgeous designs.

I’m wearing this pretty dress in not one but two weddings this summer. It’s a crowd-pleaser!

Have a suggestion for The List? Let me know via email: ESpontarelli@GetCreativeWebDesign.com

LIVE Websites
Two new websites went live this month: GlobalExplorersOnline.com and and Claire Morra’s MoralPuppetry.com/DirtyDogJuiceGang.com. Click the images below to visit the new sites!

New Designs in the Works
This month we finalized the design for Light of Mine and began work for Alpacaville, LLC. We also started building the Pathology Consultants of Central Virginia website (design by Stan at Dayrich). Check out the designs below.

Office Maintenance
It’s tax season, so just like everyone else we are preparing all of our documents and rounding up receipts to send to our accountant. We also put in some new shelves in the office, and began working on a fancy office chair makeover (cell phone photos below). I’m doing some educational maintenance as well, and taking an online course by Harvard Professor David Malan called Building Dynamic Websites.

Looking at this list I feel better about my blog slacking- that’s a lot to get done in one short month! What have you been up to this February? We’ve got plenty more in store (and more blog posts, for sure) coming up in March.

A local restaurant incorporates brackets into their logo, as well as on their website.

Brackets have even been used in my own designs, such as this nav menu for Shear Image.

A collection of brackets turned sideways and displayed as typographic mustaches.

A colorful graphic pattern made entirely of curly brackets.

These brackets go beyond the screen and make a fashion statement as earrings.

Is there a design trend you think needs critiquing? Have a question about an element or style you’ve seen repeated over and over? Send an email to ESpontarelli@GetCreativeWebDesign.com.

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 List: Jan. 6th Edition

From clients…

New website up for Central Virginia Neurosurgery. More details coming soon in the form of a Client Profile, but in the mean time check it out!

Visitors at Club Infuzion are getting a shout out on their website, with photos on the new Patrons page.

Vance Barber’s podcast Ear Candy has a new studio and a new blog! Check it out for some musical goodness.

From the internets…

I love it when I understand nerd humor. xkcd is always good for a geeky laugh…and bravo for 1000 comics!

Speaking of nerdy, this website delights both the reader and organizer in me: Bookshelf Porn

And to fill your obligatory cute-baby-animal-photos quota: The Top Ten Cutest Photos of 2011

Random favorites…

I ordered these pretty glasses with a gift certificate from the holidays. Love them!

My personal New Year’s Resolution #1: Make the bed every day. So far, so good.

My personal New Year’s Resolution #2: Grow things. Right now, that includes paperwhites and cat grass in the living room bay window.

Have a suggestion for The List? Let me know via email: ESpontarelli@GetCreativeWebDesign.com

The List: Dec. 15th Edition

From clients…

The Halligan Bar has opened their NEW location in Short Pump in Richmond. Features of the new building include: a Fire trucks as the main bar, 2 full bars, outdoor seating, and  VIP tables on top of the fire truck.

Baker’s Kitchen in Richmond is now offering Wilton cake decorating classes! Contact Brandie for more information.

Check out the great new Flash website that Dayrich Enterprises in Lynchburg has put together for their company.

Listening to this PBR interview on the Dirty Dog Juice Gang show had me laughing and nodding along. Check it out here.

From the internets…

I have watched this hilarious video multiple times and can’t get enough of its brilliant hilarity. Thanks to @thesmitten for introducing me to “Leon, take your break at two.”

Need last minute gift ideas? This podcast has some great gifts for ladies, and this post covers the men.

These squishy cat feet make me laugh. The fluffy ones are the funniest!

Random favorites…

I’m getting in the holiday spirit by reading this collection of Christmas stories by Maeve Binchy on the Kindle.

Continuing with the holiday theme, I am making three of these cute letters in red and green to spell out JOY on our fireplace mantel in the basement.

Last but not least, I love all the giveaways that happen this time of year! Check out some good ones here, here and here.

Have a suggestion for The List? Let me know via email: ESpontarelli@GetCreativeWebDesign.com

It’s that time of year again! Time to send out Holiday cards not only to your personal friends and family, but to your business contacts. It is a nice gesture to wish your professional peers happiness during this season and good fortune in the New Year. This post contains a small collection of Holiday Cards designed by GetCreative for a few of our clients.

Show your appreciation for clients, employees and others this season with a custom designed card from GetCreative. Contact us by Dec 10th to get your design done in time for Christmas!

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!

The List: Nov. 18th Edition

From clients…

-NEW sites for two clients this month (can I use that as an excuse for my lack of blog posts?) Check them out: People’s Blues of Richmond and Vance Julian Barber

-Davis Paint now has a new and improved store locator on their website. Find the location nearest you!

-St. John’s Church in Lynchburg is celebrating their 100th birthday! There will be a family-friendly celebration on Sunday, November 20th (RSVP required). Happy Birthday, St. John’s!

From the internets…

-A work-a-holic friend says this is what he is looking for in a woman. So if you feel the same way (and have about 20 years on the girl in the video), give him a call.

-Today’s XKCD spoke to me. Support forums are part of a web developers life, it’s a fact.

-National Geographic’s Photo Contest has some incredible submissions; such amazing talent and beauty!

Random favorites…

-I didn’t waste any time trying out the new Amazon Kindle Lending Library. It is a breeze to use and I loved my first borrowed novel, Elizabeth Street.

-My contribution to Thanksgiving Dinner this year will be this decadent chocolate cake. Give it a try!

-A shout-out to the Gamecocks, who are having a good but very weird season. As VMI fans we’ll be glad to see them whoop up on The Citadel tomorrow.

Have a suggestion for The List? Let me know via email: ESpontarelli@GetCreativeWebDesign.com