Web design & Graphic design services
We offer a comprehensive suite of web design and development services, as well as branding and print design. Scroll down for detailed info about each service
Web Design
- Visual Design
- Art Direction
- Graphic Art Production
- Design Conception
- Moodboards & Wireframes
- Content Creation
Web Development
- HTML & CSS Coding
- Search Engine Optimization
- WordPress Development
- Content Management Systems (CMS)
- Online Shops / E-Commerce
- Classified Ad Development
Branding & Print
- Logo Design
- Business Card Design
- Letterhead Design
- Brochure Design
- Poster Design
- Flyer Design
Web Design & Development = Form + Function
The Form
The design, or look and feel, is the first thing viewers encounter when they visit a website; it is the first impression. As such, it must be, well.... impressive. It is of the utmost importance to have a visually impactful, memorable website that actually sticks in the minds of its viewers. The ultimate goal is to have viewers come back to the website and to share it with others, and the visual appeal helps facilitate that process.
It's more than just superficial; visual impact can also be a deciding factor when a viewer is comparing a website against its competitors. A professional, visually appealing website says to the viewer that this company or individual cares about reputation and quality.... values that are likely passed on to their customers. This is the "FORM" parameter in the "form + function" equation.
First impressions are extremely important when competing online. When we design our websites, we don't skimp where visual appeal is concerned. We treat the design of our websites with as much importance as the actual functionality and purpose of the website.
The Function
An effective website is more than just a pretty face; it's also a marketing tool used to gain exposure and consumer loyalty. As such, a beautiful website must also perform a function; it must engage its audience - pique their interest in what you're offering, and entice them to explore and learn more about your company, product, service, organization, etc. The "FORM" is what captures the viewer's attention and keeps them from immediately clicking away from the site, while "FUNCTION" is what gets them to actively come back to the site, share it with their friends, bookmark it.... and ultimately convert from a general consumer to a loyal customer.
Websites today are very different from just a few years ago, and unrecognizable from websites a decade ago. Social media has become an essential aspect of web development, as well as considerations concerning search engine ranking, search engine marketing, cross-browser compatibility, mobile-readiness, and anticipated future development standards changes. This is the "function" parameter in the "form + function" equation.
Web Development
Web development technologies and standards are constantly evolving - becoming more complex and encompassing, while new development techniques and features are simultaneously introduced; and the frequency of both is always increasing. In order to develop functional websites, it's vital for web professionals to keep up with changing technologies - the languages and techniques used to code a website, and bring the design to life. We strive to keep up with the most current coding standards, which ensures the longest possible life span and relevancy of our websites.
Core web technologies and services we utilize:
Other technologies and services we use:
- Google WebFonts
- Google AdSense & AdWords
- mySQL Database
- Twitter Widgets
- Facebook Widgets
- Pinterest Widgets
- Flickr Widgets
- PrettyPhoto
- Galleria
- Simple Pie
- Dreamhost
- Rackspace
- Hostmonster
- Amazon Web Services
- Sexy Bookmarks
- Flash - XML
SEO & SEM
(Search Engine Optimization & Search Engine Marketing)
It used to be all too easy to get a site ranked at the top of page 1 in a Google search, regardless of the integrity of its code or relevance of its content. But today, not so much. Google, and other search engines, have developed complex ranking algorithms that are no longer easily manipulated by simple key-word saturation or comprehensive meta tags. Although increased difficulty in attaining search engine ranking may seem like a bad thing, it's actually a wonderful feature because it allows priority to be given to honest websites/businesses who have earned their ranking through the proper channels - by means of quality content, popularity, seniority (and often times paid advertising). Without these complex methods of ranking evaluation, search results would be inundated with non-relevant websites, while the gem you're looking for is buried 20 pages back. Without this functionality, search engines would be completely useless.
Although Google keeps their exact ranking recipe a secret, analysts are able to recognize ranking patterns, which are then taken into consideration in the process of web development and SEO/SEM strategies. We make a point of keeping up with changes in ranking and SEO analysis, and apply these trends to our websites.
Social Media Integration
Social media participation has grown into an integral part of online marketing, and is a necessary component to compete online today. No matter what industry you're in, or who your product or service targets, social media participation is an invaluable tool for increasing exposure and gaining customers, clients, fans, patients - whoever your consumer is. The reality is that companies can't afford to ignore social media marketing anymore, especially when the competition is most likely already exploiting the benefits themselves.
We recommend, at the very least, active participation on your own blog, Facebook, and Twitter, and to maintain an up-to-date LinkedIn profile. For the more socially inclined, there are tons of other sites, such as Pinterest, FourSquare, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Dribble, Digg, Reddit, and many more. There are also niche social sites that focus on specific topics, such as fashion, wine and spirits, photography, design, films, etc.
Do you have to spend hours every day engaging in social media participation? No, but the more you use social media, the more effective it is. You should update the three big ones - your blog, Facebook, and Twitter - at least a few times per week. Social media can greatly increase your consumer-base, but you do have to make an effort. Just having an account on Facebook or Twitter doesn't do anything for you - you have to actively participate. In an ideal world, every business entity and organization would have their own social media person, but we know that's just not feasible for most. If it's just not possible to actively participate in social media on a regular basis, you may want to consider hiring a social media firm or freelancer to handle this area of online marketing for you. The benefits will far outweigh the cost.
There are also plenty of books and publications on the subject of leveraging the benefits of social media marketing. We highly recommend all business entities to take a couple of hours to read up on just how beneficial social media marketing can be.
Regardless of how you use social media, we provide tools to integrate your social activity into your website - this creates opportunities for cross-promotion from your website to your social media sphere, and vice versa. With our websites, we provide different levels of social integration specific to each individual project - everything from custom blog development, to Twitter and blog feeds on your homepage, to Facebook widgets, to share links, to setting up automatic social updating, and more.
Web Standards
Since the advent of the world wide web, web development technologies have transformed innumerous times, and continue to morph as new methods are created, become obsolete, or simply evolve into something different. One might wonder how to know what is current, what has been outdated, and what technologies are acceptable within today's internet. That's where "Web Standards" come in.
Web standards set rules for developers to create websites that adhere to the most current coding definitions, syntax, and practices. We stick to the web standards guidelines defined by the W3C, ensuring the highest level of development integrity. We base our development methodology on current and future design standards, ensuring maximum viewer compatibility, and extending the life and validity of our websites.
Web standards are not legally binding rules, such as those that govern the practices of General Contractors, Real Estate Professionals, or Attorneys, for example, which are required to obtain practice licenses. However, there are groups in existence pushing for the legal standardization of practice and requirement for licensing for web developers. And if (or when) these initiatives do become law, the standardizations put in place as guidelines today will become requirements for all web developers.
Detailed info about web standards can be found at: W3C, Web Standards Project, and World Wide Web Foundation
The Basics of Our Custom Websites
Over the years, we have developed and perfected a web design and development package that maximizes form and function, and includes the necessary social networking and SEO features necessary to produce a truly effective website. We include all of the vital elements needed to launch a purposeful website, whether it's a brand new endeavor or a revamp of an existing site. By combining award-winning design with social networking, search engine optimization, and streamlined development techniques, our websites are not just pretty faces; they're effective marketing tools. Check out our base features below.
Design & Development
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Custom Site Design
Includes color palette, graphic art, page layout, global navigation, content organization, and imagery.
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Hand-coded Content or WordPress CMS
We offer both hand-coded, HTML5/PHP websites, and WordPress CMS websites (content management system websites).
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CSS3 Features
CSS3, the current standard for formatting web content, includes interactive features previously obtainable only with heavy scripting or vector animation. These features include animated rollovers, transitional rollovers, content rollovers, toggles, and much more.
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Custom Email Forms with Optional Anti-Spam CAPTCHA
Forms are useful for gathering important information from your viewers. They can be used for applications, quote requests, general contact, and more.
Our email forms include optional reCAPTCHA (anti-spam verification code) or image-based human verification, form validation, database storage, custom autoresponder, and custom error/success pages.
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Interactive Slideshow
Interactive, animated slideshows, or image rotators, are a great way to liven up a websites homepage. A little motion animation is an easy way to add interactivity, freshness, and aesthetic appeal. And with today's coding capabilities, image-based slideshows can actually enhance your search engine ranking.
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Interactive Gallery / Portfolio
Where photo galleries or portfolios are needed, we utilize mobile-friendly systems that function on iOS (non-flash).
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jQuery / Ajax Widgets
These widgets and plugins add a little more functionality and interactivity. Examples are popup form calendars, tool tips, image rollover transitions, transitional drop down menus, "lightbox" photo galleries, content sliders, and much more.
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Professional Stock Photography
Quality photography is extremely important for web design purposes. Great photography adds a layer of integrity and credibility in the eyes of your viewers. Royalty-free photography works great for header slideshows, and general purpose imagery where professional photography is otherwise unavailable.
Social Networking
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WordPress Blog
Our base web design/development package includes a custom designed WordPress Blog that integrates seamlessly into the site. WordPress Blogs are one of the best search engine marketing tools in existence, and they're 100% free!
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Embedded Social Network Links
Every blog post includes "share links" to a user-defined list of social network sites. This lets your viewers share your blog posts across dozens of social sites with a click of a button.
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Blog Feed on Homepage
Displays latest blog posts on homepage. This adds fresh content for your viewers, and increases your search engine ranking. Sites that are updated frequently are ranked higher by Google than those that are not. And every time your blog feed updates your homepage, it registers as an update to Google.
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Blog-to-Twitter Feed
Twitter is one of the most popular social networking sites in existence today. Even so, not everyone has the time to blog, tweet, and update their Facebook page all day. That's where the Blog-to-Twitter Feed comes in. Your blog can be setup so that it automatically updates your Twitter account for you. Every time you publish a new blog post, it is copied as a new Tweet. It's the perfect way for busy people to maintain or enhance activity on Twitter. Your Facebook page can also be setup to automatically update your Twitter account.
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Twitter-to-Website Feed
If you're already active on Twitter, you can have your recent Tweets displayed on your homepage. Like the Blog-to-Twitter Feed, the Twitter-to-Website Feed registers as activity to Google, increasing your search engine visibility.
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Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest Widgets
Your activity on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest (and other social media sites) can be displayed on your website, either as direct content, or in non-obtrusive slide-out bars.
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Share, Tweet, Like, Pin buttons
Displays an array of share buttons, including Like (Facebook), Pin (Pinterest), and Tweet (Twitter).
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Global Social Network Links
Quick links to the most popular social network sites allow your visitors to easily follow or join you on the social networks that you use. These generally consist of links to your Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, and LinkedIn accounts, as well as your blog RSS feed, but are not limited to just these.
SEO & Marketing
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SEO (search engine optimization)
We optimize every website for search engine recognition using "organic" methods. This includes effective meta tag creation, priority HTML tags, file names, keyword filtering, Google-friendly coding practices, and more. We use tried-and-true methods of attaining search engine optimization, primarily where keyword association is concerned.
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Mobile Ready Content
We design within the constraints of the major mobile operating systems, iOS & Android. Mobile-specific alternative websites are an additional option.
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Search Engine-Friendly Navigation
We create search engine-friendly global navigation in the form of pure CSS or jQuery/CSS coding. This ensures that your sites navigation links and file names are recognized by search engines.
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Preferred Coding & Formatting
We develop our hand-coded sites with clean, un-bloated, CSS-formatted HTML code, which is favored by search engines. We also use global headers/footers for easy expansion of the site.
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Custom Server Error Pages
We design your error pages to match the website for cohesive, complete design. Custom error pages are favored among search engines, and create another opportunity for keyword exposure.
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Google Analytics
Google Analytics is arguably the best website stats application in existence. The main reason it's so great is that it's made by Google, for Google. You will see detailed information about every aspect of activity on your site, from link referrals, traffic comparisons, key word searches and suggestions and much more.
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Google AdWords & AdSense
If you're interested in paid marketing, beyond that of "organic" SEO alone, we can setup Google AdWords (pay-per-click advertising) for you. And, if you're interested in having paid Google ads displayed on your site, we can setup Google AdSense.
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Design Awards & Showcases
We submit our qualifying websites to 50+ design award and showcase galleries. Award-winning sites and those accepted into showcase galleries are viewed by thousands of people across the nation, creating a surge in traffic to your site, and exposing your site to a wide range of potential clientele. In addition, every win or entry gets a link back to the site, which can result in dozens of backlinks. And because the more backlinks a site has, the higher Google ranks it, this can increase your search engine ranking exponentially.
Online Shop E-Commerce Websites
We work exclusively with WooCommerce for online store development. WooCommerce is an external application that integrates into the WordPress CMS platform, merging website, blog and online store into a single, streamlined entity.
Outlined below are the key features included with WooCommerce and our custom developed online stores.
Online Store Base Features:
- User-friendly interface - even for non-techy shop owners
- Allows you to update and manage your website, blog and online store in one place
- Comprehensive SEO features are built-in and hassle-free
- SEO-friendly URL's
- UPS, USPS, FedEx and custom shipping rates available - International couriers also available
- Can accept credit cards and/or PayPal payments
- Customer accounts are built-in
- Unlimited products and categories
- Multiple photos per product
- Product photos are automatically resized at upload - no need to pre-size photos to specific dimensions before uploading
- Product photos can be enlarged using a "lightbox" popup or "zoom" feature
- Product Reviews feature included
- Discount Codes feature included
- Upsell and Cross-Sale Products feature
- Related Products feature
- Optional inventory / stock tracking
- Featured product option - displays featured items in user-defined areas within site
- Digital products
- Product groups
- Product variations (colors, size, etc.)
- Sale or announcement banner option
- Integrates with MailChimp - shoppers can check or uncheck a newsletter signup box at checkout
- Can integrate with QuickBooks POS
- Built-in dashboard sales reports
- Growing number of extensions to increase functionality
Additional Options Available:
- Product wait list - notifies customer when an out-of-stock product becomes available
- Subscription-based products
- Measurement pricing - calculate product price by unit of measurement
- User-defined donation costs - allows customer to enter a dollar amount to donate
- Role-based pricing - define different prices for different customer roles
- Advanced coupons - gift certificates, store credits, coupon vouchers
- Deposit-based payments - allows users to purchase store credits that they can use at different intervals
- Product bundles
- Table-rate shipping
- Customer/Order CSV import suite
- Product CSV import suite
- Membership / Group sales
- Swatch display - changes the standard drop down menu for product variations to a swatch display
- Local pickup option - allow customers to purchase online for pickup
- Product comparison feature
- Shipment tracking information
- License key product add-on - for selling software licenses
- Product image watermarks
- Bulk stock management
- Review for discount - give a discount code to customers who leave a product review
- Facebook page integration
- Currency converter
- Affiliate program
- Product video tab
Recommended for use for/where:
- Boutiques and small to medium sized online stores
- A easy, user-friendly admin panel is preferred
- Budget is an important factor in setting up the online shop
- SEO (search engine optimization) is a high priority
- An in-house web designer or developer may not be available
- Recommended for all levels of techy know-how: from the technology-repellant, to those with advanced knowledge of web development, and everyone in between
Who Uses WordPress E-Commerce?
- Anthropologie, www.anthropologie.com
- Urban Outfitters, www.urbanoutfitters.com
- Akne Mechanic, www.aknemechanic.com
- Wolf & Mal, www.wolfandmal.com
- La Isla Swimwear, www.laislabrand.com
- EvokeNZ, www.evokenz.com
- Icon Dock, www.icondock.com
- Paper Whistle, paperwhistle.com
- Moletta Design, www.mollettadesign.com
- Talinka & Co., www.talinkaandcompany.com
wordpress cms (content management system)
You may think of blogs when you hear the term "WordPress". But, in recent years, WordPress has evolved into a full-fledged Content Management System with virtually unlimited customization capability.
We've worked with several CMS platforms throughout the years, and find that WordPress offers the most flexibility and user-friendliness. It's important for our clients to be able to easily maintain their CMS website once it's developed, and we feel that WordPress is, by far, the most user-friendly platform. WordPress also includes key features, such as built-in SEO, search-friendly url's, easy photo uploads and resizing, and a comprehensive blogging platform.
With WordPress, virtually any type of website can be designed and developed - corporate, magazine, blog, online store, portfolio, classified ad, real estate and much more.
Print Design, Marketing Media & Graphic Design
In addition to web design and development, we offer unique designs for all manner of printed materials. From business cards, to billboards, to online banner ads... we do it all.
First impressions are important when addressing customers and potential clientele. Business cards, letterhead, brochures, and other printed media are crucial components in every business endeavor. These materials must make a positive impact on their viewers, and leave a lasting impression. The last thing any company wants is to have their business card tossed into the trash without a second look. Clever, unique designs that leave a memorable impact on their viewers are far more effective than the run-of-the-mill templates available at any print company. Our print design services can help you connect to potential clientele and viewers through unique, professional, and effective media.
Here are some examples of our most common print design services:
Business Card Design- Letterhead Design
- Envelope Design
- Brochure Design
- Postcard Design
- Folder Design
- Flyer Design
- Vinyl Sign Design
- Billboard Design
- Banner Ad Design
- Door Hanger Design
- Rip Hangers
- Rack Card Design
- Invitation Design
- Labels & Stickers
- Booklet / Catalog Design
- Poster Design
- Table Tent Design
- Hang Tags
- Note Card Design
There are many options and variations of print media, including cuts, folds, sizes, paper weight, coating, and more. Please contact us for more information about our print design services and costs.
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