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.

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.

Welcome to the third group of websites that have been redesigned by GetCreative. Each before and after shot shows the progression of a client’s website…amazing what good design can do for you! The amount of change that each site undergoes varies depending on the specific needs of each client. I hope you will enjoy these transformations.

Before

After

This is the second splash page design I have done for dmfoto. A few years ago we came up with the above ‘Before’ design (see the original here), and this winter they decided to update the page again. The new look is softer and really focuses on the images, which of course is the point of a photography website. Check out the splash page design in action to see the rollover effects and pops of color live.

Before

After

This design was done for Kidd’s Cleaning & Restoration Services. The blue, red and yellow are signature colors of the company that they wanted to portray in a clean, professional manner. The logo was also original to the business and was not altered.

Before

After

The Blue Ridge Photographic Arts Society (BRPAS) is a local arts group dedicated to fine photography. As a member of BRPAS and a supporter of the arts, I donated the time spent on this project. The logo is also my design, picked as the winner of a BRPAS Logo Contest. Each month the winning image of the Monthly Photo Contest is displayed prominently on the Home page of the site to showcase the various artistic talents of the group.

Before

After

I first designed Vance‘s portfolio site a few years ago. As his career has progressed we have made a few updates to the site as well. The current site is slightly more polished and contains more well-organized content. A rotating head shot grabs your attention on the Home page, followed by recent news and updates. Other pages showcase his acting resume, writing skills, photos and head shots, and various social media contact information.

Which is your favorite website ‘makeover’? View Part 1 and Part 2 for more!

Please vote for your favorite design, and feel free to leave comments and suggestions.

Enter the Contest

Traditional web icon’s are .ico format, though .jpg , .gif  and .png are widely accepted formats now as well. They are usually 16×16 and 32×32 pixels in size as well as 16- and 32-bit colors, and will be displayed accordingly depending on where they are used. One .ico file can contain multiple size and color formats of the same icon, in the same way a .gif can contain multiple frames.

To include an icon in your site you must first create the .ico file. There are various online applications available, such as Converticon, favicon.cc Generator, and FavIcon from Pics. If  your logo does not translate well to such a small image, it is best to create a simplified version or another basic symbol that represents your company. The icon should be named ‘favicon’, as this is the name recognized by most browsers. You should then add the following line of code to your website inside the <head></head> tag: <link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”favicon.ico”>. The final step is to upload both the icon file and your updated html page to your server. Refresh your browser page and your new icon will appear!

If your site doesn’t have an icon, what are you waiting for? If you have questions or would like help creating your icon, just send us and email.

A valuable aspect of your website is how well people respond to the site and remember it later. One of the best ways to distinguish how well your site accomplishes these important attributes and more is a critique. While it is great to have your mom, significant other and BFF take a look at your site and provide feedback, it is unlikely that any of your favorite people will be as honest and free with their critique as a total stranger. Not to mention, it is likely that those closest to you have inside knowledge about your company and/or website and will view the site with a well-intentioned but unavoidably biased eye. Lucky for us, there are a number of websites that offer solutions to this dilemma.

1. Please Critique Me

Pleasecritiqueme.com is a site run by a team of designers in North Carolina. They began critiquing sites via Twitter, but the 140 character limit soon became cumbersome and lead them to create this site. The designers have put together a careful list of critique guidelines, and each critique is made public on their blog. The critiques themselves are very well thought out and helpful; each one offers both positive feedback and constructive criticism, as well as any first impressions or general notes about the site. In addition to website critiques, Please Critique Me offers reviews of print designs as well.

2. Five Second Test

Fivesecondtest.com offers “simple usability tests that help you measure the effectiveness of your designs.” The concept is simple and effective; when you visit the site you can make either a memory test or a click test. In a memory test the subject will spend five seconds viewing a screenshot of your design and when time is up write down five things that they remember. With a click test the subject will have five seconds to click on different areas of the site and when time is up label each area that they clicked on. Non-paying visitors to the site can receive up to five responses to each test. There are varying payment options as well, which allow you to see more results from your test.

In addition to creating tests with your designs, you can also earn ‘karma points’ by taking others’ tests. Karma points allow you to view more results on your own tests. Want to see the site in action? Take our test here! There is also a sister site to fivesecondtest.com, Navflow. Navflow.com “helps you improve your conversion rates by analysing how people navigate around your websites and applications.” Both sites are great resources for designers and business owners who want to see how their sites are perceived by others.

*Note: According to Angry Monkeys, the creators of fivesecondtest.com and navflow.com, significant changes to the two sites will be occurring at the end of July. Check out their blog for more info.

3. Not Pixel Perfect Yet

Not pixel perfect yet is a group of web designers from Czechoslovakia who have created a Facebook page where they conduct public website reviews. You simply submit your site via email and if chosen, the team will review your design and post their critique on the Facebook page. The advantage to this method of critique is the presence of not only the Czech team of web designers, but any other Facebook users who frequent the page as well. Community discussion can be a valuable tool when seeking an accurate perception of your design.

*Note: An obvious limitation here for those of us not well-versed in Czech is the language barrier. However Google Translate or the Chrome web browser will quickly eliminate this issue.

Constructive criticism and feedback are vital aspects of creating a well received and easy to use design. In addition to receiving helpful advice, critiquing others is also a great way to learn how you can improve your own work. This article cites several elements of a successful critique, including what not to do when providing feedback. By navigating and understanding the work of others, you can learn to look at your own designs with more objectivity and obtain a better understanding of your viewers’ experience.

In this spirit of Spring, I bring you a blog post full of cheerful color. Today, I have for you a collection of colorful logos, some of which made the cut with clients and others that have sat quietly on my hard drive, waiting for their moment to shine. Until today. Today they are let free to glisten in the sun and catch your eye and all the other wonderful things logos are meant to do. Some will look familiar, as they sit proudly in the headers of various GetCreative designed websites, while others are new to the public eye. Contact us for logo design information and pricing. Enjoy!

Here at GetCreative I have worked with clients that have all manor of ideas and knowledge (or lack thereof) about their websites. Sometimes the easiest clients are those whose own careers are furthest from the realm of web design, so they are a blank slate for me to draw my ideas upon. On the other hand, a client who knows the ropes a little better may have a better appreciation for the creative process and all that it involves. No matter what the background of my clients, I follow a general Web Design Process for getting us from Point A, the clients’ interest in a website, to the ultimate Point B, a successful and effective website designed and executed by yours truly.

Getting to Know You
The first step in my relationship with any client is getting to know them: their personality, their tastes, their business, their product/good/service, and more. At this point said client and I may become Facebook friends and I’ll do a little light stalking to find out their favorite bands and check out any status updates over the past week. (Just kidding, we have a strict no-stalking policy here at GC. Unless of course you want to friend me or become a fan. But I still won’t stalk you. Probably.)

Not only do I want to have an idea for their aesthetic tastes, I want to ensure that our personalities are well matched to work on such a large project together. From here I learn as much as I can about my the subject of my client’s website. In most cases this means getting to know their company in terms of size, goals, target market, and what they expect from their website. A site with the goal of educating customers, for example, is quite different from a site that aims to get customers to take action. It is important to have a clear view of the end goal early in the design process, to avoid extra steps or setbacks down the road.

Putting the Pieces Together
Creating a website is much like putting together a puzzle…and it is much easier to navigate puzzle pieces when you have them all in front of you, rather than scrambling to find a match that doesn’t exist. For this reason I gather as many elements of the website together as possible before beginning my design. In terms of collecting pieces, the first step is to review what the client has so far. If there is a logo or color scheme already being used, then I will incorporate these into the website to maintain a seamless and comprehensive marketing theme. If we’re starting from scratch, then I will often draw color ideas from the physical location of the client’s business and create an industry-appropriate logo to bring it together. Next we will discuss photography: does the client have photographs s/he would liked used in the site? Will I be taking and editing photos for the site? Would stock photos be more appropriate? Whatever we decide, I will collect a handful of images for possible use in the design. Collecting the textual content for the site is usually the responsibility of the client; they know their company much better than I, and are better equipped to put it into words. I do, however, offer copy writing and editing for clients who know what they want to say but have trouble getting it down in print. There is also the question of Web Hosting and domain purchasing to consider; I offer Web Hosting & Maintenance packages to all clients, but those who have pre-paid for their domains and/or hosting are not obligated to switch to my server.

Once we have these pieces roughly decided upon, it is time to organize them. Together the client and I will decide how many pages the site should be and what they will be titled. We then divide the content accordingly, creating a site that is easy to navigate and progresses logically. The layout of the site becomes the frame for our puzzle; it must fit all of the necessary information and graphics in an aesthetic and resourceful manner. Elements of the layout generally include a clear header that introduces the client’s company, a navigation bar that does not distract from the content but is easy to use, a footer with credit and contact information, the main content area for text and photos, and auxiliary content areas for highlighted text and photos.

At this point in the process I am busy creating a layout (in Adobe Photoshop) to showcase each important aspect of my client’s site with a design that reflects their style. I design sites at 1024×768 pixels in order to ensure that the highest amount of viewers will have ideal viewing conditions. During this time the client is often putting together text for the page content. I communicate largely via email and  phone with my clients; after an initial meeting to brainstorm ideas (optional) or a photo session, physical meetings are usually unnecessary. This is convenient on many levels, as it allows each of us to go on running our businesses uninterrupted as the design process continues.

Once a mock-homepage has been approved by the client, I move on to the HTML and CSS coding of the website (with Adobe Dreamweaver). As soon as an actual web page is created I will provide a temporary URL (example: getcreativewebdesign.com/yourcompany), where the client can keep track of the progress of the site. I start with the homepage, which gives the client time to finish up content edits for the remaining pages, and decide on any additional elements…

A Little Something Extra
Any well designed website that makes good use of each of the pieces mentioned above will come together in an effective and sufficient website. For clients that really want to go the extra mile and guarantee a memorable web browsing experience, there are additional elements that add another degree of usability and appeal. Custom photo galleries, interactive calendars, forms, e-commerce solutions, Content Management Systems (CSM) and blog designs are just a few examples. (See our Services page for more information on these components and more.) These elements are usually part of the original contract but are sometimes upgrades or add-ons later in the design process.

As I continue with the layout of each page, the client can request changes or edits at any point in time. When both parties are happy with the website, there are a few more technical steps to complete before the site goes live. First I run a browser check to ensure that the site is viewing properly in all major browsers. If there are any conflicts (particularly with Internet Explorer), I will revisit the code and tweak the page until it is ideal across all targeted browsers. I then install a tracking code to monitor the traffic the website is getting. Clients receive emails at the beginning of each month with details about who, when and how often the site is viewed, as well as which content is viewed and how visitors are finding their site. Once these tasks are performed, it is time to publish! I will upload the site to a server and within hours there is a new face on the world wide web.

Follow Up
Once a website design is complete and uploaded live, there are further steps that can (and some that should) be taken to result in higher page rankings and search accuracy. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a broad term for a number of steps that can be taken to improve a website’s performance. By creating each of our sites up to W3C code, an important factor in search results, we set our clients up for success from the beginning. A helpful tool to enhance results is a sitemap, which can be either an HTML or an XML page. An HTML sitemap helps human users navigate a website and quickly find material within the site’s content. An XML page is written for search engine robots, which crawl the sitemap to ensure proper indexing of all of the site’s content. Sitemaps are submitted to individual search engines; in addition to submitting a sitemap it is also beneficial to submit (or re-submit) a site to the major search engines after making major changes. Search engines only crawl sites for changes every so often, so submitting a site lets them know to crawl it immediately to index changes.

Website maintenance is another factor to consider. No matter what the industry, chances are each website will sometimes need to be updated with new text and/or photos. Announcements, price changes, new locations or services…all of these and more are occasion for a quick website update. Twelve of these minor changes are included per year in the monthly Maintenance Fee my clients pay. More intricate changes, such as a new page, swapping photos in a custom gallery, layout changes, etc. require more time and effort. These advanced changes are generally handled at an hourly rate. Or, some clients may want full control to edit text and photos at any time. For this we offer a CMS solution for a low monthly rate, so that small changes can be safely made by the client directly.

Online Marketing is another strategy for boosting a website’s traffic. Creating a presence on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and more can be a good business move if handled properly. There is also online advertising to consider, with services such as Google AdWords, Facebook, and more, as well as keyword placement in the textual content and inside the code of a website. GetCreative offers all of the above follow up services at affordable rates to ensure that each website is an efficient and reliable tool for our clients.

While this may seem a lot to take in, rest assured that it is a smooth and easy ride from conception to execution. As web professionals GetCreative has and will continue to tweak the process to best fit each of our individual clients. If you have questions about any of our methods or practices, or are interested in working together, please get in touch.

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.