Logix: Inside the Studio

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.