Inside The Web Design Studio of Brandon Houston

Where to begin… It has been a little over a month since my last post and plenty has been going on in the studio, both internally and with client work.

The latest project that just launched this week is for Zimmer Air Services Inc. (www.zimmerair.com).  They approached Logix to redesign their existing website and update the content.  I’m very proud of the outcome of this project.  The new design of the site provides a lighter look than previously by using a bright, colourful background image of a grassy field with a soft blue sky.  The image nicely complements the company’s core focus on providing aviation services.  The structure of the site is held together with a content management system that allows the client to update every page with ease.  The site focuses mainly on their main services as well as providing a gallery that features photo albums and streaming videos.  As I mentioned, I’m very proud of how the final site turned out and the client was extremely happy.  Providing a content management system (CMS) has become a very popular request lately and I’m confident in saying that Logix can provide the perfect content management solution for any client.

The second project, which did launch over a month ago now, is the new website for the Chatham Girls Hockey Association (www.chathamgirlshockey.com).  This is another CMS-based website with a bit of a twist.  The website was set up to allow specific board members to edit only pages that were assigned to them.  This allows the member responsible for the Travel league to edit only the Travel page, and so on.  Access management was an important request for this client because there were multiple people managing the website and they wanted a way to keep things organized.  The site also includes a mailing list so that players and parents can keep updated on news within the organization.  Future plans are to include online registration for players.

Lakeview Greenhouses and Farm
(www.lakeviewgreenhousesandfarm.com) was a small site launched a couple months ago.  This site is meant as an online compliment to the company’s printed brochure.  The design and format stays in line with format of the brochure and presents basic information on the company as well as a message from the President and a simple contact form to get in touch with them.  It also showcases a view site photos from their brochure.  This was a relatively small website but shows that Logix can provide solutions for any project size.

The Links of Kent (www.thelinksofkent.com) is another small project recently finished.  This project wasn’t a full redesign, but rather a little freshening up of the existing website.  The new owners came to Logix to update the layout to match the new logo and brand colours.  Content throughout the site was updated as well.  The general structure was kept the same as this was just a small update to bring their customers updated information on the reopening of the course.  A photo from one of the course holes was used as an introductory image on the home page with a small paragraph welcoming visitors to the website.

On a final note, Sams Publishing’s latest book “Teach Yourself Flash CS4 in 24 Hours” was just released this week.  I again had the privilege of working with the fantastic authors as a technical editor for the book.  I’ve worked with Sams Publishing for quite a while now and they put out some really great books on web design and programming. Link

The latest project fresh out the door by Logix is a custom document manager for a local business.  Comiskey Insurance Adjusters Inc. contacted Logix to build a secure document manager to simplify communication between their office and the insurance companies they work with.

Built with PHP and MySQL, the document manager acts as a secure repository of client documents.  The entire application is secured behind an SSL connection.  The documents are also encrypted so they can’t simply be linked to from the web.  Logix worked with Chatham Internet Access (www.ciaccess.com) to set up the hosting and SSL for the client.  The reliability and strength of the CIAccess network offered the perfect place to host the application from.

Some of the features of the application include:

• Secure file upload/download.
• Large size document management.
• User access management allowing the admin to assign files to a specific user.
• Automatic email notification of new files uploaded.
• Area for detailed file notes and information.
• Advanced search by file, claim and policy numbers.
• And plenty of other tiny features…

The most important feature of the application was its ease-of-use.  Logix established a proper workflow and simple menu system before beginning the programming phase of the project to ensure every aspect of the application was fast and simple to use.

The final product, which just launched this week, was received very well by the client.  Looking forward to many more projects like this in the future.

February brought two more print design projects for Logix.  One is a fundraiser for the Myles Miracle Mission, while the other is a business seminar.

Myles Miracle Mission needed a poster designed for their upcoming fundraiser. The Walk to D’Feet the Burden of Cancer is a family fun walk taking place May 2, 2009. Visit www.mylesmiraclemission.ca for more information on how to participate.

The design was completed as full-colour, 8-1/2″x11″ poster.  It consists of a grassy path with someone standing at the top.  The title of the event was sunken into the grass and detail was added to make the grass appear as if it were growing around the words.

Chatham-Kent Economic Development needed a flyer to promote a session on March 25, 2009 focusing on improving employee service skills and establishing strong brand identities. The session takes place at Smith & Wilson Estate Wines.

The flyer is a 2-sided, full-colour 8-1/2″x11″ promotional piece that was being distribuetd around Chatham-Kent.  The front provides general information about the seminar and the back details specific aspects that will be covered.

By Kevin Gray (www.bykevingray.com) is a recently launched website for an American magazine writer.  Kevin’s work has been featured in numerous magazines and has taken him around the world.  Logix has been working on the programming alongside Kim Eddy who handled the design.  The site itself is fairly simple and easy to navigate, featuring Kevin’s past magazine articles, biography, and a blog.

The real power of the site is in it’s back-end.  Every page is managed by a custom Wordpress installation.  The unique setup of the Stories and Publications pages allows Kevin to manage each category on a single page, upload the PDF of his article, and insert the rollover images that appear to the right of each article name as you pass your mouse over them.  The site is also set up to allow pagination on the article pages so the client is able to show 6 articles at a time on each page.

It was a fun little project to work on and allowed us to show again how versatile Wordpress can be as a content management system.

There are a lot of new developments on the horizon for 2009.  The first project I would like to introduce you to is our newest website launch:

Parks Blueberries (www.parksblueberries.com)
Parks Blueberries is a fairly well-known local supplier of blueberries.  Not only can you enjoy picking your own berries, but they have a fantastic store and bakery.  I highly recommend stopping by when they re-open for the season in April.

The Parks website is a customized Wordpress-based site.  The Wordpress CMS has been modified to support a newsletter system and several other small features.  As with any Content Management website built by Logix, the staff was trained on how to update the content and manage the newsletter system.

This year also brings technical editing work of another Flash book.  Sams Press will be releasing their newest edition to the Teach Yourself series titled “Teach Yourself Flash CS4 in 24 Hours”.  I have begun working on the technical editing and look forward to seeing its release later this year.

The new year also brings new Flash and design work for Rolling Stone Magazine and Us Weekly Magazine as well as working heavily with a few other design studios on contract work.  And that new Logix website?  Yeah, it’s still coming don’t worry.

To anyone reading this blog, I wish you all a happy new year!  Take care for now.

November was filled with brochure design projects for various clients.  It was an exciting month that offered a lot of variety.  Never a dull moment in the studio.

The first brochure was a venture into the world of architecture courtesy of Joseph Storey.  Storey was an architect from Chatham-Kent that was involved in the design and building of over 1000 buildings throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s.  His office was responsible for building most of the prominent buildings in Chatham as well as the popular Pines Chapel.  The brochure was designed to act as a walking guide to over 40 of his accomplishments in Chatham.  Inside, the brochure outlines several of his works and provides photos.  The centre of the brochure contains a map with addresses pin-pointing the locations of the buildings.

I’ve personally taken the drive around town to view the buildings and they are amazing.  Many of the buildings still in use include the Post Office, Union Gas, Chatham-Kent Civic Centre, and the Kiwanis Bandshell in Tecumseh Park.

The brochures are being distributed throughout Southwestern Ontario as a tourism tool for Chatham-Kent.  J. W. Storey’s work represents a great contribution to Chatham that a lot of people are currently unfamiliar with.  Everyone knows his work and the Joseph Storey Architectural Conservancy’s plan is to ensure everyone is familiar with the man behind it.

The second brochure is for Great Life Wrap N’ Vibes.  Great Life is a newly opened health and fitness spa in Chatham that differentiates itself from other fitness centres by offering a specialized system they developed.

They have an established location in Sault Ste Marie and just opened the Chatham location this month on Wellington Street, downtown.  Great Life will have a website launched within the next few weeks at www.agreatlifeforyou.com so check back with them if you’re interested in finding out more about them.

The third brochure is for DKN Technology Canada.  This Canadian distributor sells vibration technology platforms for health and fitness.  DKN is a company manufacturing and selling their platforms around the world.  These are the platforms that Great Life utilizes in their fitness program.  To find out more about them check out www.dkncanada.com.

Next month is small business month in Chatham-Kent and Logix was contracted to design the flyer showcasing the month’s events.  The main topic this year is on marketing and selling to women.  The flyer that was designed is two-sided, full colour, 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet.  The imagery chosen was meant to highlight the key topic.  The client was very happy with the final product.  Copies will be distributed throughout Chatham-Kent.  Click on the image to the left for a larger version.

Logix has helped integrate an online shopping cart and content management system into the existing Birdie’s Nest website.  The shopping cart was put in place to feature select products from the store online and the content management system allows staff to easily update content pages and products.  The backend of the shopping cart system provides advanced report generation and sales tracking allowing them to track order trends, stock, and much more.

The integration is the first step in a full upgrade of the Birdie’s Nest website.  The site will eventually have a fresh new look and many other new features to allow Birdie’s Nest to sell their unique products to a worldwide market.  The initial online store is set up as a test-run for the client.  Future upgrades such as a customer newsletter system, updated photo gallery, and much more are in planning.

Check out the progress at www.birdiesnest.on.ca.

Well the past couple of months have been a busy period and because of that I’ve neglected the blog.  I’m going to make an effort to post more frequently starting now and to roll things out I’ll go over what we’ve been up to.  I know you’re asking “Where’s the new website”, and it’s still in development but our clients come first and we’ve had no shortage of them lately.  Stay tuned a little longer for that one.

So what have we been doing with our time?  Here’s a quick breakdown:

E-Commerce: We’ve been working with Birdie’s Nest and Global Creations Jewellery to integrate a custom online shopping cart into both websites.  The final product will be launching shortly.  Following that we’ll be working on redesigning the look of the Birdie’s Nest site.  We’ve also been working with a couple other clients on setting up simple shopping carts for their website.  We’ve been using Magento Commerce fairly heavily for both custom and simple solutions and it’s working out great.

Rolling Stone Magazine (www.rollingstone.com) has contracted Logix for quite a bit of programming and web design work lately.  We’ve developed a few custom solutions for their website that have just been finalized and we’re very pleased with everything.  Working with Rolling Stone has been incredible.

Us Weekly Magazine (www.usmagazine.com) has also contracted Logix for several web design tasks.  Both Us and Rolling Stone is owned by Wenner Media.  They have some fantastic staff who are very friendly and fun to work with.  It’s been a great time so far and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with them.

Recently we helped Cheryl Smyth (www.csmythphotography.com) upgrade her website to a new service we’re going to be offering.  For a small setup fee and monthly hosting plan we will be offering simple content management solutions with approximately 100 pre-designed templates to choose from.  This solution is aimed at individuals and small businesses that don’t have a large budget available to hire a web design company for a custom design.  It allows them to quickly and easily start up a website.  It’s based off the Wordpress CMS which we’ve customized to suit our needs.

We have also had the pleasure of being sub-contracted by several other design firms both locally and internationally for web design and development work.  We offer our sub-contracting services for design studios that don’t have a full web design department but want to offer web design as a service.

We have also been working closely over the last little while with Beakbane, Saunders & Silverstein LLC, Baxter & Woodman, Blueline Bus, and the Chatham-Kent Safety Village.

Projects still in development are a website for the local band Southwest Dirt, Warne Construction, and a brochure design for the Joseph Storey Architectural project.

So to sum things up, we’ve been busy and it’s been a blast.  We’re looking forward to bringing many other things out in the next little while so check back.

Well the Logix team is on the road traveling to Tennessee and Alabama for a few days.  Looking for some relaxation and inspiration.  We will be back on Monday, June 1st.  Of course I wouldn’t go anywhere without my Blackberry and Macbook so email is not far away.  I’m hoping to take this time to refresh myself a bit.  An important thing I’ve learned in my four years of business is the benefit of taking time to disconnect.  Without a bit of a break you run the risk of burnout and that does nothing to benefit your business.  I always look forward to traveling as well because of the potential business contacts you can make along the way.

Look for us to be back next week and if you need to contact us we’re only an email away.  Maybe we’ll have some travel photos to post, maybe not.  Wait and see.  Until then, Cheers!