Sneak peak at Restore North Shore web site

Here is a sneak peak at the new web site I am creating for Restore North Shore, a Chicago home remodeling company.

The site is designed around a palette of cool muted colors. This allows the photographs to pop through and take center stage as they really do most of the talking about the capabilities and quality of workmanship the company offers. The site features a simple slide show on the home page and more detailed portfolio sections within.

The framework of the site is completely built and I am just awaiting copy…

new chicago web site

© 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.

Professional website

DVD folder design

Interested in how we can give your collateral material a more branded and polished look? Checked out our Branding Services.

©: 2011 Chicago web designer

Changes in Facebook Feeds: Chicago Web Designer Tip of the Day

Here is the Chicago web designer’s tip of the day.

Facebook  has recently introduced quite a few changes, some are easy to see others not quite so.

The default for feeds appearing on your home page are those Friends and pages you interact with most. To change it to all your friends and pages do the following.

© Chicago web designer

What color is Chicago Snow?

It is hard to escape the abundance of snow in the Chicago area at the moment. Ask most people what color is snow and the answer will be white. Ask a graphic designer and the answer will be, “white but also  think soft grays, delicate lilacs and even dramatic blues.”

As a web and graphic designer color is one of my favorite “tools” Here are the colors I see in snow.

©2011 Chicago web designer

Business Owners, are you using Google Offers?

Moving my web design company to Chicago a few months ago has kick started a re-optimization of my web site to better serve my new Chicago location.  I have also created my business  profile in a number of local business directories such as Yelp and Merchant Circle to build  a local reputation.

In my quest for relevant directories I came across Google Offers today,  a FREE marketing tool which works in conjunction with Google maps.  If you would like to take advantage of this, here is the Chicago web designer’s tip of the day.

  1. List your business on Google Places using your Google account login information. Company name, address, telephone, email and category are required fields. Optional fields include hours of operation, photo upload e.g logo,  description, and even a video upload.
  2. Verify your business. This is easily done by an automated phone system – the quick way or via a PIN sent to the business address. Once verified your business will appear on Google maps.
  3. On your main Google Places Dashboard click “Offers” and select +add  new offer
  4. Complete the offer form and hit submit.
  5. Once your offer is live you can edit, pause or delete it.

Here is the offer I created today: Free website review

Enjoy!

©2011 Chicago web designer

Happy Christmas from the Chicago web designer

As much as I embrace American traditions some of my British traditions have yet to fall by the wayside. Every Christmas I make a “Christmas cake” which is a rich fruit cake ( I can hear the gasps from here..but when made properly they are quite yummy) covered in marzipan and iced with royal icing.  This battered old  Father Christmas (Santa) always sits atop. See here for a previous years cake

Merry Christmas from the Chicago Web Designer!

chicago web designer xmas

©:2010 Chicago web designer

12 Months of Web Design

As the year rolls to a close I like to take a look back at the projects I’ve worked on over the year. On the work front it has been a busy year which has been amplified by relocating from St Louis to Chicago.  Moving is such hard work but I am loving Chicago!

Websites have dominated the work load over the last 12 months but we have had a fair number of logo and branding projects too.

Here is a showcase of 2010 web sites

January: zoefeast.com

February: stroco

March: hardscapestl.com

April: Fair Market inc

May: Breeze Law

June: Peter Meder & Company

July: Burns Recovered Support Group

August: Clinical Ophthalmology

September: Zagros Robotics

October: Eye of the Chicago web designer

November: Spring Willows farm

December: Solon Gershman, nearing completion!

©: 2010 Chicago web designer

Eye of the Chicago Web Designer: Creativity is Genetic

The holiday season started early for me today when I was presented with a fabulous homemade advent calendar lovingly designed and constructed by my 12 year old daughter.  Creativity is without doubt a genetic trait! She has no interest in web design and wants to be an architect. She has inherited her creativity from me but  is a spitting image of her Dad .

She will be highly annoyed that I have featured her on my blog but here she is with her wonderful gift. Today’s treasure was a packet of ice cubes, I’ll keep you posted on what’s behind each door.

©: 2010 Chicago Web Designer

Blushing: The Chicago web designer

It is my objective to provide exceptional service for my clients and getting a recommendation like the one below on Linked In makes my face break out into a wide grin … and maybe even blush a little!

“Zoe has that rare combination of broad vision and tactical expertise, especially when it comes to careful listening. She is able to form the concept into a distinctive message, and then follows through with outstanding execution. Really knows her business. Zoe is as much an astute advisor as service provider.”

Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Good Value

Peter Meder

I worked with Peter earlier this year on a web and branding project for his Chicago based headhunting company.

Thanks Peter, for taking the time to write such a flattering recommendation.
2010 © Chicago web designer