Posted on August 29, 2011

New website in progress for Chicago organization

We have just started a new project for a Chicago group, Catholic Joe.

The site will act as a portal for catholic guys and includes a blog and forum. Look for it’s launch in the Fall.

©: 2011 Chicago web designer

Posted on August 24, 2011

New website for Lincolnshire Academy of Dance

Launched this week is a completely redesigned web site for the Lincolnshire Academy of Dance.

The academy is about to move into a fabulous, brand new, custom built space and owner Brenda Didier also wanted to start things fresh with a new web site as well.

The site showcases a wealth of professionally taken photographs which capture the commitment of the students and the teaching ethics of the dance school, they taken center stage in the the look and feel of the site. The content from the original site was reorganized into a more logical architecture and a clean and simple navigational tool allows users to easy move around the site.

For ease of client management the site has been built on the WordPress platform.

We have already heard very positive feedback on the site!

©: 2011 Chicago Web Designer

Posted on July 8, 2011

Blogger in Draft has a new dashboard

WordPress may be the preferred blogging platform for many but Google Blogger is still hugely popular.
Over the years the administrative dashboard has changed very little but yesterday a much needed and completely new design to the dashboard for Blogger Draft was implemented .

I use Blogger in Draft for a personal blog I write “Creative in Chicago”

The overall appearance is a very clean and sleek design with a lot of the clunkiness of the old dashboard gone. A top navigation has been replaced by a left hand side drop down tool with intuitive little icons and a simple color palette is easy on the eye.

Here a a few screenshots

Dashboard Home

Post Page

New Post page

Post Page

Layout Page

As with any new release it will take a bit of getting used to, especially as I have been using the old interface for over six years. From what I have seen so far I like the direction Google has taken in this redesign.

Posted on July 7, 2011

We have a summer intern

Throughout the month of July we have a new addition to our office, a summer intern.

She is technically savvy and artistically gifted but comes to us with no knowledge of web design. However her eagerness to learn is energizing and the fact she has a blank slate when it comes to the world of web design is a plus, as we can point her in the right direction to how things should be done.

We have got her started on an HTML tutorial and she has dived right in, she is coding by hand which is the best way to learn.

Welcome aboard Chloe!

Posted on June 30, 2011November 6, 2015

Free Vector Pattern: contemporary design

A few weeks ago I had an email from a packaging designer asking if they could incorporate this winter theme vector in the packaging for a set of Christmas bowls. We exchanged a few emails and I agreed it would be perfectly okay to go ahead and use the pattern. I really appreciated the honesty of this designer ( Vibeke Star of porsgrund.com) requesting permission upfront to use the design! It makes a refreshing change from those who think it is not a problem to swipe stuff from this site.

So in celebration of all those honest designer out there here, is another pattern for you, a contemporary little number I like to call bubble alert.

Enjoy!

©: 2011 Chicago Web Designer

Posted on June 27, 2011

Syndication: Extending the reach of your blog.

You write to be read … correct? Here are a few simple tips to reach as many readers as possible.

Your Feed

Make it easy for readers to subscribe to your blog feed (RSS). This will ensure they see new posts promptly and don’t have to visit your blog to read them. Offer your visitors subscription options, e.g. via a reader or by email.

Automate Twitter

Set up your feed so that your Twitter account automatically tweets a link to your new blog post. This is easily done using Google’s Feedburner . To optimize the effectiveness of this make sure this is not the only use of your Twitter profile!

Automate Facebook

Configure your Facebook Fan page so your blog posts are automatically posted there. There are various ways to do this either using the Facebook Notes function or an app like Social RSS or networked Blogs. It is amazing how many additional readers you will get via this approach.

Automate LinkedIn

LinkedIn is another great social network which can be automatically setup to display your blog posts. Log in to your account and select > edit profile, scroll down to applications and click > add an application. You will be presented with various apps, if you have a WordPress blog select the WordPress, all other blog select Blog Link.

Syndicate your RSS where ever you can

There are many sites which allow you to syndicate your blog content e.g Technorati, Blog Catalog and even Amazon has opened it’s door for you to syndicate your blog to the Kindle.

Posted on June 20, 2011November 6, 2015

Coupons and money saving tricks for web designers.

Back in May I wrote a blog post “Extreme couponing for web designers” which listed FREE services and applications any web designer will appreciate. Today I am back with coupon codes and money saving tricks for domain names and web hosting.

Coupons for domain names

Without a doubt GoDaddy continues to offer the best prices for domain names and there are plenty of coupon codes out there to get an even better deal. For example the code cjc749fat will get you a .com domain name for $7.49 . The deals/codes changes on a regular basis but a good site with up to date information is fatwallet.com

Web Hosting

Here are some ways to can save on web hosting

What type of hosting account do you need for your web site? Most hosting companies offer a number of different packages and the more complex your website the more you will need from your hosting company. If you have a simple web site the basic hosting package will probably suffice… no need to upgrade for features and functionality you don’t need.
Before opening a new hosting account always do a Google search to see if you can find any coupons, for the company you wish to host with or the type of hosting account you need.
Committing to an initial 12 month contract as opposed to month to month, will generally give you a better rate and save you money in the long run.
Set up a reseller account, many hosting companies will give you a discount on every site you host with them.

Posted on June 10, 2011

Graphic Design: Set of Bird Prints

Here is a personal project I have been working on, flexing my graphic design skills and creating artwork for my Chicago house. These prints are featured on Creative in Chicago and anyone commenting on them gets a chance to win a digital set.

Posted on June 6, 2011

Wall art for a web and graphic design office

I am lucky to have a fabulous office with large windows, wonderful light and enough space “to swing a cat” or two. I keep the decor simple and modern and came across this fabulous wall art today that I think must adorn my walls soon.

I think any graphic or web designer would appreciate this excellent piece by Peppersprouts

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