Web Site re-design for Chicago Suburbs Business: AED Battery Exchange

Launch today is a freshly re-designed website for AED Battery Exchange aedbatteryexchange.com. Located in the far north suburbs of Chicago, they are leading the way in re- celling batteries for Automated external defibrillators and wanted a web site which truly matched their innovative product.

Also on their want list was a professional looking site which was easy to navigate and appealing to their target audience.

We created a very clean look and feel, the home page featuring an eye catching Call to Action banner to “Find your AED battery”.

They batteries were categorized in terms on manufacturer and featured images which can be enlarged so the user can clarify the correct battery.

The site is definitely a step up from their old one

New Logo for Quadra

There is something very satisfying about redesign projects.  We were contacted recently by Chicago based Quadra Applications & Technology, who were looking for a new logo design. They already had a new website in the works and felt the time was right for a revamp of their identity- their main request was  something that looked more professional.

In redesigning a logo it is not uncommon to work from some element of the old logo, whether it be the color palette, style of font or icon.  In the case of Quadra we adopted the cube of their original logo, reworking it to encompass a sphere and connective framework. Teamed with a modern open typeface the new logo is much more fitting for the IT market they serve.

and here is the logo on the new website www.quadra-ati.com

New website for Solon Gershman Inc

Launched today is a re-designed web site for Solon Gershman Inc, a St Louis commercial real estate company.

We completely reworked their old site, creating a fresh new professional look which is easier to use and consistent throughout. The home page features a slide show of properties with easy access to property search tools and the latest company news. The  site  integrates data from a 3rd party property listing service and offers the site visitors a seamless experience.

Just in case you were wondering here is what the old site looked like.

©: 2011 Chicago web designer

Is your brand image consistent?

I am working on a couple of branding projects at the moment, one is creating everything from scratch ( see the start here)  and the other is a brand consistency project.

Is your brand image consistent? Do your customers have the same experience however they interact with you. From visiting your web site, to paging through a brochure or even receiving and invoice, all these interactions offer an opportunity to convey your unique message. Lack of consistency creates confusion and sends conflicting messages to your clients.

For example your web site projects an air of professionalism and trust through design, a well thought out color palette, fonts, imagery and excellent copy. Does that image carry through to your brochures, folders,  flyers or whatever other marketing pieces you use, or have they been hastily put together with no thought as to what they communicate?

Here is brand consistency in action, from web site through to presentation folder and DVD labeling the client is getting the same message.

©: 2011 Chicago web designer

A Teenage Chicago Penthouse, in my Basement!

Who doesn’t love a before and after comparison, I do them for web sites quite a lot, ( here here and here)  to showcase how a few design tweaks can make a huge impact on the appeal of a site. But today I am going to show you how I used my graphic design skills and tools to transform a very dingy, quite disgusting Chicago basement room into a light and airy teenage “penthouse” hang out.

My canvas for this room was horrible wood paneling which has the texture of drift wood but nowhere near as pleasant. I primed then painted everything white, it took 3 coats before it looked good.

Then came the fun bit.

To be certain the skyline idea was going to work in terms of scale and look/ feel, and what colors looked best, I did a little Illustrator and Photoshop mockup.

First I designed the skyline in Illustrator. It was then imported  into Photoshop and superimposed  a photograph of the wall I intended to paint. ( I used the multipy function and distorted the illustrator graphic to fit the wall dimensions) After a bit of color tweaking, playing around with different shade of gray we settled on a simple black and  gray color palette.

Because of the rough nature of the paneling my initial plan to carefully tape off and paint the skyline failed so I ended up painting the whole thing free hand. If you look carefully I did not stick religiously to the illustrator design but it was enough to point me in the right direction. It turned out pretty well.

I have a bit more work to do on the furniture on the other side of the room… more painting which I will share soon!

© 2011 Chicago Web Designer

Integrating a New Logo into a web site

A few weeks back I showcased a new logo for Prefix Technologies. The logo has now been seamlessly integrated into their web site.

Switching out an old logo with a new one can sometimes pose a few challenges.

For example

• The footprint is substantially different, wider or taller, and the allotted logo area can’t accommodate.
• Color issues. Too much or too little contrast, color clashes.
• Look and feel – is the look and feel of the logo in keeping with the rest of the site.

In this particular logo switch we had an issue with color contrast as you can see below, the new logo just did not pop against the background.

Adding a dynamic star burst solved the problem.

©: 2010 Chicago Web Designer

New Website for Zagros Robotics

There is something very satisfying about a web redesign project. Take a look at this site we seriously revamped for Zagros Robotics.

This is the before

and here is the after

The site not only looks more appealing and easy to use but has the advantage of some major under the hood improvements too.

The original site incorporated a shopping cart (PDshop.net) and while this had been well configured in terms of categories  it was embedded into the static site with frames (yikes!…. a SEO nightmare). The shopping cart software was the basis of our redesign. We created and implemented  a unique template and used the custom page feature within the software to add all the “static pages” of the site. The frames were stripped away leaving a site that is much more friendly towards the search engines and is also a lot easier for the client to manage.

The end users win, the client wins and the search engines win! Success

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

New Web Site for Clinical Ophthalmology Inc

Launched today is a new web site for Clinical Ophthalmology Inc of St Louis.

We completely reworked their old site,  creating a fresh new look which is easier to use and offers the site visitors lots more information. The site also features a text size adjustment tool to help those who need a larger print to read.

Just in case you were wondering this is what the old site looked like.

2010 ©: Chicago Web Designer

Top 5 Reasons for Redesigning a website.

We hear ” I need my web site redesigned” quite a bit these days.  While there are many reasons here are our top picks.

1. I need my website to look more professional.
   Looks are everything and online you have just a few seconds to make that all important first impression. A well designed fast loading web site can do wonders to encapsulate your expertise and reach and engage your target audience.
2. We need our content reorganized.
   If your site visitors are having click through page after page to get to the information they want, you are making then work too hard. A web site with intuitive navigation and well organized content = “a don’t make me think visitor”
3. My web site is not doing what I want it to do.
   Whether you want your site to act as a lead generation tool,  a portal of information, or a selling platform, it is important to guide or funnel the site visitors exactly where you want them to go via “call to actions”
4. I need to add some additional functionality
   Want to add a blog, additional pages, links to your social media networks? A well thought out web site will always be able to accommodate additional functionality without a complete redesign but sometimes there comes a point  when a redesign is the best options.
5. I want my site to perform better in the search engines.
   The structure and design of a web site  bears a huge relation on how well a site performs in the search engines and a skilled web designer will know how to optimize all elements that make up a web site, for best search engine results.

Now lets take a look at these  in action with three before and after web redesign projects.

Peter Meder and Company

We addressed all 5 reasons in the redesign of a web site for Chicago headhunter, Peter Meder and Company.  The new site has a much more professional look/feel and immediately imparts the nature of the business.   Visitors have easy access to the current position searches which is a huge time saver for both client and job hunter.

Bear Essentials

Content reorganization was the main driver behind our redesign of the Bear Essentials web site. We produced a much more appealing user friendly site with clear call to actions.

Tiger Tables

A more professional look was the order of the day for our redesign of Tiger Tables with clear call to actions.

Do you have a web site that could do with a makeover? We’d love to have an opportunity to talk with you.

Call us at 847 607 8679

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

New web site for Burns Recovered Support Group of St Louis

Remember this post ” Pro Bono Web Design” at the beginning of June? Well the web site for Burns Recovered Support Group is now live. Visit it here www.brsg.org

We went from an outdated this:-

to a slick, all singing and dancing this:-

A fresh new look and feel, the design of the site has  focused on getting the site visitor to where they want to go quickly and without making them think, via simple drop down navigation and bold buttons on the home page.  Built on the WordPress platform, the client is able to easily update the site, whether it is adding a new event or a batch of photographs. Burn camp 2010 is just three weeks away so stay tuned to see new photos of all the happy campers.

2010 © St Louis Web Designer

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