Words from a Happy Client

I want my clients to be thrilled to bits with the work I create and when I get a recommendation like the one below ( also on LinkedIn) I know I have succeeded.
Logo Design for Chicago Business Quadra

“Quadra Applications & Technology, Inc. hired Zoe & her firm Indigo Image to design and develop our new company logo. Zoe’s strong business, technical, and multi-industry experience, coupled with her creativity and customer focus, was truly remarkable! From the onset of the project, Zoe outlined the process steps, project timelines, and cost estimates which in all cases were spot and exceeded all of our expectations. Additionally, Zoe went above and beyond her role as lead logo designer and provided critical Web development and integration advice to optimize the quality and user experience of our new site (www.quadra-ati.com). We look forward to engaging and collaborating with Zoe and her team at Indigo on future projects and customer initiatives. It is not easy to find resources that can combine technical expertise, in-depth business knowledge, creative ‘out of the box’ thinking, with a strong passion around quality and customer satisfaction!”

John White

Quadra Applications & Technology

Re-designing a Website: 5 Things to Consider

There comes a time in the life of every web site when a re-design is in order. This can be driven by a new brand image,  making better use of advancing web technologies or simply the need to provide a better organizational structure.

Needing to re-organize was the driving force behind a design shake up of Creative in Chicago, a craft and home decor blog and the outlet for my personal creative endeavors.

When I first started this blog  I opted for a quick and easy Blogger template,  simply adding a custom header and working with the template designer to add a unique background and set the blog layout.  It was fully functional but not the most appealing site in the world, but as I had no idea if it was something I was going to write on a regular basis, I didn’t want to invest a load of time in setting it up.

Creative in Chicago

As it turns out the blog now has over 200 posts with over 30K visitor a month and was in dire need of a shake up, so it underwent a redesign . For regular blogging I generally recommend using WordPress but because I did not want to spend more time than necessary, I decided to stick with Blogger.

redesign website

During the redesign process I wanted to address

    1. Look and Feel
      The overall look and feel of the blog was very bland and I wanted to punch it up a notch but still let the content of the site do most of the talking.
    2. Reorganization/Navigation
      The posts in the blog had all been categorized but I wanted to refine the categorization process and then use it as a navigational structure, making posts and topics of interest much easier to find.
    3. Readability
      To enable visitor to quickly scan new content from the home page or a category page I wanted to move from the full post to a summary post format.
    4. Advertising
      The site receives around 30K visitors a month and I wanted to explore the advertising opportunities available for generate revenue from the site.
    5. Responsive Design
      Around 20% of the traffic comes via mobile devices so it was important that I provided a site that was optimized for those visitors.

 

Look/Feel and Readability

In re-designing a site I wanted to keep some semblance of the original site so not to completely alienate my readers with something totally new and unexpected.  I kept the background patterns and type face of  “Creative in Chicago” the same but completely reworked  the header, creating a little more pop with the use of color and simple design elements and also integrated social media icons and RSS feed subscription.

I also moved away from the full post format on the home and category pages. Instead the reader is now offered a summary of each post with an thumbnail picture. It is much easier to see at a glance the content of the site.

creative in chicago blog

Reorganization/Navigation

Although I had been using  categories to define content there lacked a definite structure which I could use as navigational tool.  I reassessed and ended up with five main categories : Art – Crafts projects – Decorating – Free Stuff – Garden projects and within these categories I defined a number of sub categories. For example the category Decorating has five sub categories: Before and Afters – Painting – Decorative Accents – Wall Art Ideas- Windows .  The navigation bar was reworked to include these main blog categories, with  drop down elements for the subcategories. A search bar  was also prominently placed.  Posts that were buried deep within the blog are now much more accessible.

 

creative in chicago website navigation

Advertising

I decided to incorporate Google Adsense into the site and allotted a spot high on the sidebar for placement.  I wanted a position that would work both well for click throughs but not to be too invasive for my readers.  I am also experimenting with in-line advertising through infolink. Both are working nicely!

Responsive Design

Fortunately Blogger makes this really easy and it is as simple as selecting a pre-made template to display when anyone accesses the site with a mobile device.

In Progress: Website for Chicago Home Builder

Here is a sneaky look at a new web site we are working on for a Chicago custom home builder.

The client has provided an abundance of photos and we have been spoiled for choice when it comes to selecting which ones to use. During the defining stage of the project we discussed color palettes and the idea of taking inspiration from a slate roof with copper gutter was born.
New website for Chicago builder

The project is in development stage of our process and should be live in a few weeks.

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”.
AED battery exchange

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

The site is definitely a step up from their old one

aed battery website chicago