Launched today is a new website and a new business venture for Lamira Martin – Hold Your Memories.
Lamira creates keepsake heirlooms from loved ones clothing.
We created a full ecommerce website which not only explains the process but allows users to purchase a package to commission a one of a kind keepsake.
Congratulation Lamira on your new business venture!
So I thought it would be fitting on the 20th of the first month of the year to announce that 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of Indigo Image! I am so thankful to all of my clients who have helped me reach this fantastic milestone.
When I founded this company, my core objective was to help small businesses create a presence online. 20 years on, you no longer need to tie up your phone line to visit a website ( who remembers the horrible days of dial-up! ) but with the swipe of a finger on your hand held device, a website is accessible whatever your location. The tools and techniques of creating an effective internet presence have changed immensely but I am still true to that original objective, Indigo Image is Your Creative Partner!
I have just launched a new collection of fabric “Prairie Beauty“
This collection of 13 patterns was inspired by the floral and foliage found on a prairie. I have been working as a habitat restoration volunteer for the last year or so at Cuba Marsh, a forest preserve in the Chicago area and during that time I have seen so many beautiful plants and had to put paintbrush to paper.
Most of the designs stated off as watercolors which were then scanned and pulled into Photoshop where I waved my magic graphic design wand and turned them into repeating patterns.
The collection is available through Spoonflower where they can be purchased in a large variety of fabrics or as ready made item such a duvet covers and table linens.
Media Mentions: Daily Herald – The Creative Side of Volunteering
This week marks a 700+ mile move for web design company, Indigo Image. We are relocating from Chicago to Lancaster Pennsylvania.
This is not the first time we have moved. We relocated from St Louis in 2010 and quickly established a healthy client base here with clever re-optimization of our website and lots of strategic networking. Moving has never meant we abandon our clients. Although face to face meeting are a lot harder we go the extra mile with email and phone communication – our move from Chicago from St Louis saw no loss of clients and we strive to have the same success with our move to Lancaster PA.
We are looking forward to meeting business owners in Lancaster looking for a creative partner they can truly rely on. From web design to graphic design, internet marketing and hosting services, we provide the small to medium sized business owner everything they need to have a successful internet presence.
Is your web site built to adapt as your business transforms?
All of the websites we create are robust enough to accommodate this need to change, whether it is something as simple as updating a logo, adding a new service or taking advantage of new internet technology.
Here an example of what I mean.
This site we created for Interior Design 2 Go has undergone design and “call to action” tweaks and “under the hood” tinkering
This is what the site looked like when it was first launched.
and here it is today.
It has a new logo, accent color, home page layout and does a better job at illustrating the service being offered.
As a graphic designer I have always been drawn to patterns and this fascination ultimately led to a fantastic job designing anti counterfeit patterns for currency. It was the ultimate in technical design – the patterns had to not only look good but offer serious anti counterfeit protection too. Working in the security printing industry opened my eyes to all the secrets a design could hide and a new fascination was born!
Over the years I have been dabbling in these “secrets”, albeit on a much larger scale that you would typically see on a bank note and have brought the first round together in a new web site – Secret Messages for Kids!
The site offers 4 types of secret message, all with easy to follow instructions and plenty of fun!
It has been designed to appeal to kids with bright colors and hand drawn cartoons.
We recently launched a new website for a Naprapathy doctor, Dr Daryl Newman – www.chainreflex.com
Based in the North Shore area of Chicago, Dr Newman offers unique treatments and programs to help patients move better and feel better. Naprapathy is a non invasive method for treating and managing pain, everything form back aches to carpal tunnel and Dr Newman combines treatment with custom exercises unique to a patient’s problem.
He also offers customized fitness training – Chain Reflex, and wellness programs including weight loss, pre and post natal and sports nutrition.
Given that most people do not have a clue (me included when I first met Dr Newman) what naprapathy is, we approached the creation of the website based on how treatment could help specific problems. The home page features a slideshow with distinct patient scenarios leading to targeted call to actions. We also included a section titled “How can we help you” with more scenarios such as ” I am in pain and looking for relief”. As the visitor delves deeper into the site a better understanding of what naprapthy is and what to expect are gained. The site is sprinkled with an amazing set of testimonials that speak volumes of the skill Dr Newman offers.
The design is clean and uplifting reflecting how patients feel after a treatment session. It is built on the WordPress framework which will allow Dr Newman to easily update, he is also going to be writing a regular blog – a great way to market a site.
It is also completely mobile friendly.
Visit it a www,chainreflex.com
If you are planning on starting a new business in 2014, getting up and running online is probably a high priority. With budget concerns, many business owners will be willing to do as much as they can themselves. Here are some money saving tips to get started.
I came across this stunning animated gif yesterday. The planet is literally breathing. It speaks for itself but to learn more from it’s creator visit at http://uxblog.idvsolutions.com/2013/07/a-breathing-earth.html
How much traffic is my website getting from devices like ipads and smart phones?
While you may not know the answer, I can guarantee it is more than you were getting a few years ago. A quick look at the statistics for our own web site shows a 100% increase in the amount of traffic we are getting from mobile devices in just the last 12 months. A personal site I write, creativeinchicago.com, derives 40% of it’s 35k monthly traffic from mobile devices. Numbers like these are difficult to ignore and there is no doubt that mobile access is a growing trend that is here to stay.
What does my site look like on mobile devices?
There are quite a few online tools that have popped up that emulate how a site will look on a particular device and while they can’t guarantee how you site will behave on any given device they do provide a quick snap shot. You can test your site on a simple emulator HERE . It will show you what your site looks like in different window widths, which is a simple but effective simulation technique – to see which window size corresponds to which device click on the device sizes button.
A responsive website will adjust itself depending on the size of the window (or type of device) as shown with our site. This means that the site will be easy to use and offer the user an optimum experience regardless of what type of device they are using to visit from.
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A site which is not responsive will not adjust as illustrated in the site below. The simulator will display horizontal scroll bars in this case.
Most tablets and smart phones will actually shrink the website down to fit their screen instead of making the user scroll horizontally so the simple simulator used above is not accurate in that respect.
A more rigorous simulator to try is Mobile phone simulator .
Here are the same two websites plugged in.
The responsive site has adjusted to offer the user and optimum viewing experience but the unresponsive site offers tiny text and unreadable navigation. These can be magnified of course but the site makes the user really have to work to see it.
Can my website be converted to a responsive web site?
To behave responsively a website needs to be coded in a unique way. In many cases the existing design can be used, as in the case of a recent responsive conversion we carried out for ruthellenhasser.com. We made almost no changes to the overall design of the site but completely revamped the code powering it
I am ready to move forward with a mobile friendly website
If you are looking to move forward either building a new website that is mobile friendly or converting an existing web site to behave responsively we are here to help. Call 847 607 8679 to get started today.
