Imagine Yoga Studio Web Design – Recent Work

October 19, 2012 by
Imagine Yoga Studio

Web Design Recent Work

Client: Imagine Yoga Studio

Package: Custom Website

Client Request: Shannon and Laura requested a website based on “Imagine”, the song by John Lennon. The studio is located in a trendy area of Portland and they wanted to cater to that specific semantic of people. In addition to the basic plugins, they also requested their website tie into MIND BODY, which is a payment and scheduling booking software.

The Final Product: I was able to create a website brand that exemplified a high-end style. This included use of negative space and simple yet elegant imagery. The website includes embedded pages from the MIND BODY website and integrates seamlessly into the pages of the website. Shannon and Laura expressed that they were extremely pleased with the final outcome of the website.

 

Filed Under: Recent Work

How Important is a Web Designer’s Portfolio?

October 18, 2012 by

Web Designer’s Quality vs Quantity 

I often get an email or phone call asking me for a sample of a similar website that the client is asking to be designed.  And I will of course send them a link or a mockup for the kind of website they are looking for. But really, How important is a web designers portfolio? The portfolio is a great way to show off your skills, in a variety of different styles, but even if that portfolio had every kind of website, from a bulldozing company to a fine restaurant, are you really looking for a clone of a website that was already created for someone else?

Yes, a web designer’s portfolio is important, but maybe not in the way the you might think. Lets say for example that I designed superheroes instead of websites. And in my superhero portfolio, I had various kinds of superheroes with an array of unique outfits, superpowers, and gadgets. Now lets say you wanted me to create a superhero for you; a superhero that was similar to other superheros, but unique and reflected your personality.

You could check out my portfolio and look for a superhero that was similar to what you wanted. You could even select several samples from my superhero portfolio and say you wanted a little bit of this, and a little bit of that from what was available. And that would be all well and good, but wouldn’t you end up with  a superhero that looked similar to another one?

Okay, so in regards to website design, there are structures that will be similar throughout all websites. There’s a place for your logo, menu navigation, a place for content, maybe an image slider, etc… Then what differentiates one web designers portfolio from the next, and what are you looking for in a web designers portfolio other than a site that represents the kind of website you want?

Easy. You are looking for style and quality.

You want to make sure the style of the designer represents your comfort level for your business. If for example the web designers style uses a lot of vector art and has cartoon element websites, you have to determine if that’s a style you want represented for your business. Does your style and the web designers style mesh?

Just as important is the quality of the work you are seeing. Most people can tell quality. In some ways its intangible, but we can all tell a product that was bought at Wal-Mart versus one that was bought at Sears or Macy’s. The same applies to quality in design. To some it’s in the eye of the beholder, but you will need to determine if the web designer’s skill matches your expectations to create a unique website based on the quality of work he has represented.

Alas. You don’t want a website designed just to look like a clone from within a designers portfolio. And most web designers are not going to have a website sample that is going to be just the one you want. But you can estimate the overall worth of a web designer by the style and quality of the websites represented. Web designers create websites based on what you want your website to look like. So if you judge their style and quality to be up to your standards, then the question is answered.

 

Filed Under: Blog, My Opinion

MassageGOTO Website

October 18, 2012 by
mgotoport

MassageGOTO Recent Work

Client: MassageGOTO

Package: Integrated Website (Classifieds)

Client Request: MassageGOTO  requested that I create a Classified Ads website for people wanting to find a massage therapist locally. The website had to be turnkey and require very little maintenance.

The Final Product: Using the Google Maps API, I was able to utilize and create a classified ads website that offered free and paid ads. Using the Paypal gateway I was able to tie in the shopping cart directly to Paypal.

Testimonial: ”Thank you so very much for the wonderful job you did on the website. Working with you was a pleasure and I’m really impressed with the outstanding workmanship on our project. Great Job!” – MassageGOTO

Filed Under: Recent Work

Enhancing Health Massage

October 18, 2012 by
ehm copy

Enhancing Health Massage – Recent Work

Client: Enhancing Health Massage

Package: Custom Website

Client Request: For this website Brandy requested something with a Hawaiian theme yet without the loud colors typically used. She wanted a contact form and an intake form for new clients, and she wanted to integrate the Groupon scheduler into the website. In the website questionnaire brandy indicated that the feel of the website should be soothing yet reflect her business.

The Final Product: Brady was more than happy with the final result. I was able to integrate an image slider for upcoming promotions, and the Book Now button works seamlessly with the website. I included all the typical plugins including a contact forms, a sidebar quick question form and an intake form; as well as a location map. The website is simple yet elegant.

Perks: The website is showcased by Howling Dog Themes in mid 2012.

Filed Under: Recent Work

Nadya Massages

October 18, 2012 by
nm copy

Nadya Massages Website – Recent Work 

Client: Nadya Massages

Package: Custom Website

Client Request: Nadya wanted a website that reflected her personality and was very specific about the colors and content. She wanted lavender colors in a floral interface.  Also she wanted to have her customers to be able to book appointments directly from her website. In addition, Nadya requested an intake form for new clients that would be sent to her via email.

The Final Product: I designed a visually flowing website incorporating a custom header in place of a logo, with the background and key elements using a lavender color scheme, with floral elements. I was able to incorporate the Groupon scheduler directly to the website, and included multiple sidebar widgets that included a fair amount of information.

Client Testimonial:  “After some price comparisons on the web I decided to go with Portland Pdx Web Design. Tom’s approach, price, and availability to start on my project was exactly what I was looking for. Let me say that I could not be happier with the final outcome. Five out of five stars!!” -Nadya Kielhorn

Filed Under: Recent Work

Image Editing for your Website – How to

October 16, 2012 by

Images on your Website

After your website is up and running there may come a time when you need to edit your images to fit in a specific area or to edit your image to increase the contrast and generally make it look better. There are several free online tools that can make this task a little less daunting. But first there are some things to understand about your images for use on the web.

Images are comprised of pixels, hundreds of thousands of tiny squares of color. The picture you take with most cameras nowadays have are way too large for use on the web. You can still upload them, but for the sake of saving space on your server and fast loading times, it is imperative that you decrease the file size. Most images you take with your camera will be between 300-600 DPI or PPI; That’s Dots-per-inch or Pixels-per-inch (which for all intents and purposes are used interchangeably). But for the web these images only need to be 72-100 DPI. Most of these free imaging programs will only have one option, and that is too save your image at 100 DPI. So that takes care of the size issue for you.

When sizing an image for the web, there are two elements to be concerned with…the width and the height of the image. On your website this will be listed in px or pixel dimensions. Some images like for that of an Image Slider like the one on my front page requires a specific sized image (ie.  840 × 270). The first dimension is always the width and the second is the height. When using these online image editing tools, there is usually an image resize option. When resizing the image, make sure that you do not crop the image to less than both the width and height.

Cropping is a matter of resizing your image by cutting out everything but the part of the image you need. Many online image editors have a selection or cropping tool that will allow you to outline the area you want to keep and then click the crop link. This will automatically resize the image to that cropped space selected. The only problem with this, is that the area may be too narrow or too wide and the results will show the image as skewed. When uploading and inserting the image into your website, if for instance the image is too narrow, it will still expand to be the width of the required area, and this results in your image being blurry or pixelated and in some instances being stretched so that it fits the height and width requirement, and overall looking very shoddy. So make sure when cropping your image that it refects the width and height values required.

Free Online tools for Image Editing:

Pixlr Free Online Photo Editor

PIXLR is an online imaging tool that has two online applications. The first is the Pixlr Editor which is my favorite because it resembles Photoshop in form and function. This image editor has options for adding a drop shadow, cropping/resizing, and can save files in a transparent PNG format. The second application is called the Pixlr-o-matic, and gives you multiple options for changing the color spectrum of your image.

Online Image Editor

The Online Image Editor does have some very simple options like resizing, adding borders, and cropping; and while very easy to use, has its share of adverting banners that can be a tad much. But it does the job and that’s what counts.

 

In Conclusion…there are many other free online image editors on the web, just Google them. Once you’ve made your changes on these websites, simply use the Wordpress uploader and insert them into your website pages. They should now look better, take up less space, load more quickly, and be just the right size.

Filed Under: Blog, Merchants, Neato, Web Design Essentials