Vance Bell - Web Design, Web Development and Online Marketing

Bridget Foy’s Restaurant Website Relaunch

Vance Bell — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:58:44 +0000

The Bridget Foy’s restaurant has been a staple of South St. since well before I arrived in Philadelphia in the early 90s. I’ve always appreciated their tasty menu—from the calimari appetizers and burgers to the mahi mahi, grilled tuna and eggplant napoleon.

Recently, Bridget Foy’s completely remodelled their two upper floors to create a new private party area for up to 100 people. Flat panel TVs, music equipment and a private bar are just some of the new features of this great space.

Be sure to drop by for Restaurant Week, January 17-30, 2010. Get a 4-course dinner ($35), lunch ($20) or something from special weekend brunch menu.

Services Provided:

Mag+ Beautifully Envisions the Future of the Portable, Digital Magazine

Vance Bell — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:19:09 +0000

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Mag+ is a conceptual presentation by Bonnier R&D created to explore the translation of print magazines to handheld digital devices. While it illustrates only one possible vision, it is a compelling one that highlights many of the opportunities available to future reading technologies.

By making intelligent interface design decisions, they show how the engaging user-experience of the traditional magazine can be successfully maintained with digital material.

To say the least their ideas are sexy. I look forward to the day when the Kindle goes the way of the dinosaur and richly-designed multimedia content is available for a sophisticated device such as this.

Follow the discussion at the Bonnier R&D Beta Lab or on Vimeo.

Philly Dog Training Website Launch

Vance Bell — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:42:03 +0000

Training animals takes a special combination of kindness and patience—Marisa Scully of Philly Dog Training is endowed with generous amounts of both. Scully is a certified dog trainer and behavior specialist providing puppy training, basic obedience training, behavior modification, as well as solutions for aggression, anxiety and more.

Marisa works with all breeds and ages of dogs. Whether you have just brought home a new puppy or young dog or are looking for guidance on selecting a new family member, Marisa can help make the transition successful. Even if you have tried training your dog unsuccessfully in the past, often it just takes someone with her understanding and expertise to learn what makes your dog tick.

Philly Dog Training serves dogs and their owners in the greater Philadelphia area.

Services Provided:

Gillian Grassie Website Relaunch

Vance Bell — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:10:05 +0000

Gillian Grassie is a harpist/ singer-songwriter with a unique talent for jazz-inflected, indie pop. Classically trained in both harp and voice, Grassie is no Irish ballad singer. As Grammy-winner Marc Cohn once wrote: “It’s rare to hear a young singer with such control and understated soulfulness, and even more rare to hear a harp provide such a deep percussive groove.” Much like a fine wine might be said to have a hint of oak and currant, her music recalls greats like Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos, while foregrounding Grassie’s own innovative style and melodic capabilities. On her two independently released albums, the 2005 EP To an Unwitting Muse and 2007’s Serpentine, Grassie proves herself both an intelligent lyricist and talented harpist—turning the often understated instrument into a beautiful lead, which admirably takes the place so commonly occupied by guitar or piano.

This coming year Gillian will be traveling around the globe meeting musicians, learning how new media is affecting their creative process and distribution, and even playing a few gigs (we can hope). But before crossing the “big pond” for her first stop in France, she needed a new website that would help her communicate with fans, friends and family back home, and document the upcoming journey with all its discoveries, big or small. We call it Lifestreaming these days. It’s a way to weave together the threads of one’s social media life—uniting Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, MP3s, blogging, email and more in a single place your audience can find it. Elegantly simple, extremely effective.

So, when you can, take a look, not so much at my work even, but how it allows Gillian’s musical life and talent to come through online.

Services Provided:

Strategic consulting
Project management
Web design
Web development (CSS, XHTML & PHP)
Information architecture
WordPress installation and customization
WordPress theme customization
Training

Ron Plocek Website Launch

Vance Bell — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:01:32 +0000

The American outdoor writer and memoirist, Patrick McManus, once wrote there are two best times to fish: when it’s raining and when it ain’t. From my experience as a child growing up on the lakes and streams of the Pacific Northwest, I would have to agree fully. Anytime is a good time to grab the tackle and leave for the quiet, peaceful company of a winding brook.

Well, almost.

While the trout might like a black gnat hand-tied fly presented promptly at 7:05AM during a slight downpour as I hang over the water, one hand white-knuckling a small Aspen tree—that was never my preference. Red & White spoons cast into a shady pocket of fast water in the hot Noon sun, or Mr. Worm and his Bobber at dusk on a clear mountain lake, did the trick just fine as I recall.

Ron Plocek, a former SoftOrigins colleague of mine, and extremely competent bass fisherman, probably has a completely different idea regarding acceptable technique, and that’s just fine, since he sure lands the lunkers.

Services Provided:

Project Management
Web Design
Web Development (CSS, XHTML)
Logo Design

Stephanie Churchill Website Launch

Vance Bell — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:55:17 +0000

Stephanie Churchill is a talented yoga instructor and massage therapist based in Philadelphia, PA. It has been a pleasure to work with her on several projects including her Totally Zen health and yoga blog and e-commerce store.

Stephanie wanted her personal site to reflect the simplicity of her yoga practice and spiritual outlook. We settled on a spare, almost modernist, design approach, incorporating a wonderful series of photographs showing Stephanie practicing various yoga poses.

If you would appreciate a personal approach to your yoga or wellness practice, contact Stephanie through her website today!

Services Provided:

Web Design
Web Development (CSS, XHTML & PHP)
Project Management
Information Architecture

Center City SIPS Banner Ad Campaign 2009

Vance Bell — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:17:40 +0000

Given the weather today I can almost believe it’s summer—and once again Center City District is planning their SIPS Happy Hour events. From June 3rd through August 26th, 2009 participating bars and restaurants throughout Center City, Philadelphia will be offering summer drink and food specials.

Every summer the Center City District promotes these events through regional publications and websites, such as Philly.com and Philly2Nite.com. This banner ad campaign was designed in the visual style of the events’ print advertisements to form the final piece of unified media campaign.

So, support your local establishments and take advantage of this great way to enjoy your summer. If you see me walking back to my table with a curacao margarita shaker, feel free to say “Hello!”

Services Provided:

Banner Ad Design
Image Optimization

Download the full campaign sample sheet (PDF, 423 KB) and take a look up close.

A & M Berk Website Launch

Vance Bell — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:56:20 +0000

Well, it’s tax time again! While most of us are busy sorting receipts, downloading 1040s and various schedules, I’ve been helping A & M Berk Tax Services move their business online. A & M Berk specializes in individual and corporate tax preparation, back taxes & prior year returns, tax refund loans and small business accounting. They have served the Philadelphia area for over 60 years – and do so now from four convenient locations.

Regardless of what the IRS might tell you, tax preparation is painful. So why not end the suffering by calling A & M Berk and speaking with their staff of trained tax professionals. You’ll be glad you did — and heck — you might even find out you owe Uncle Sam less than you feared.

Services Provided:

Project management
Web Design
Information architecture
Web development (XHTML & CSS)
Web hosting

Nocella Roofing Website Launch

Vance Bell — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:31:49 +0000

Have you seen the average small business website? If so, then you know the horrible state they are usually in—poor design, broken links, missing information, bad HTML, no search visibility and little traffic to speak of. Well, as a independent business person myself, I’ve made it a point to seek out projects that directly benefit other small business owners. Nocella Roofing is the latest example.

Nocella Roofing has been roofing homes and businesses in the Philadelphia area since, well, model T Fords lined Broad St. As you might imagine, their roofing expertise and understanding of Philadelphia’a unique construction requirements are second to none. Furthermore, owner Ray Nocella is true roofing innovator, holding patents for several winter roof ice abatement products and roof drainage systems. Recently, Nocella Roofing has even been developing environmentally beneficial and energy efficient green roof projects.

So when it was time to move the family business online, Ray and I first discussed the overall plan and strategy (like all good tradesmen), before getting down to work. The first fruits of our collective labor—a newly designed website—launched and immediately began to generate new business leads. Next, we’ll execute the rest of the online marketing plan and build that site into a solid, long-term vehicle for business growth.

Services Provided:

FreedomPay Website Launch

Vance Bell — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:33:08 +0000

Mid-sized companies and larger corporations often find it necessary to revisit and tune their branding, identity, and messaging—not only to better appeal to customers and clients, but to increase their recognizability, fuel customer loyality, and inspire employee identification. This was no less the case for FreedomPay, the Newtown Square, PA based provider of cashless payment management systems and processing solutions.

To tackle this project, I teamed up once again with the very talented John and Amy Saal, the creative pair known as UNTUCK design. The result was a soup-to-nuts reworking of FreedomPay’s corporate identity, marketing collateral and corporate website.

Services Provided:

Project management
Information architecture
Web development (XHTML & CSS)