AroundMainLine.com Prelaunch
8.16.08
Typically, I don't mention work-in-process on this site, but this one time I am making an exception. Recently, I've been asked by Sarah Lockard, CEO and Publisher of aroundmainline.com, to spearhead design and production on her new site—an online magazine dedicated to the Philadelphia Main Line area and surrounding region. Lockard comes to online publishing with unparalleled enthusiasm, dedication and many years experience in television, print publishing and advertising. As a life long Wayne, PA native, she has a great love for this area and Philadelphia's western suburbs—and it shows! Aroundmainline.com will offer interesting feature articles, reporting and resources highlighting Main Line businesses, events and people in a fresh, fun, quirky and visually stimulating manner, while reaching an important niche audience that has long been ignored by other regional publications.
Look for upcoming aroundmainline.com launch information throughout September. Early visitors can sign up on the placeholder site below for an invitation to a special Fall Around Main Line launch party.
Services Provided:
- Strategic consulting
- Project management
- Information architecture
- Web design
- Web development
- Web hosting
- Email marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Search engine marketing (SEM)
BONGO Agency Site Launch
7.15.08
There's a brand new beat in town and its name is BONGO.
BONGO is a hip, new agency founded by three experienced ad men—Frank Tolkacz, Michael D'Antonio and David Thompson. Moving away from the concept of a small agency as a glorified design house providing production services, BONGO's mission is to offer big agency expertise in brand development, advertising, public relations, interactive and marketing—while emphasizing agility, flexibility, and, above all, detailed attention to your brand. It's a savvy business model and one I think will catch on quickly. Afterall, why deal with an impersonal Big 10 agency when you can get the same strategic expertise, creative, and marketing vision from a company that actually cares for your business like it was their own? Yeah—I don't know why either.
These guys are great to work with—so take a look, and if you're seeking results, give them a call.
Services Provided:
- Strategic consulting
- Project management
- Information architecture
- Web design
- Web development (standards-based XHTML and CSS)
Totally Zen Blog Relaunch
6.6.08
Totally Zen is a blog dedicated to yoga, healing, relaxation, and natural living—maintained by Philadelphia yoga instructor and massage therapist, Stephanie Churchill.
After a couple initial attempts collaborating with other designers and developers, Stephanie was referred to me by another client. We started the project by discussing the pros and cons of her previous blog theme and software. Much was good; some was bad; and a number of key features were missing.
We rebuilt everything from the bottom up: giving the blog a new theme, developing a new architecture for the site and its content, installing a new blogging platform, adding a list of new features, and quite a list of other things.
Have a look at my blog post for all the juicy details.
Services Provided:
- Strategic consulting
- Project management
- Web design
- Web development
- Information architecture
- WordPress installation
- WordPress database and content migration
- Blog theme design modification
- Copyediting
- Training
Center City District Sips Happy Hour Banner Ads
5.25.08
It's almost Summer again! The Center City District is organizing a series of Sips Happy Hours June through August for thirsty downtown Philadelphians—great happy hour deals at participating bars and restaurants throughout Center City.
Center City District markets these events through regional publications and websites, such as Philly.com, Philly2Nite, Philadelphia Weekly and WISQ. This set of banner ads will support the Sips Happy Hour and get the word out to Philadelphians. Each graphic was designed in the visual style of the events' print advertisements and other collateral to form the final piece of unified campaign across all media.
A cold drink with friends on a hot Summer's day is a nice thing! Maybe I will see you there!
Services Provided:
- Banner Ad Design
- Image Optimization
Download the full campaign sample sheet (PDF, 525 KB) and take a look up close.
Hudson International Group Website Redesign
4.25.08
Hudson International Group is a national consulting and engineering firm headquartered in the Philadelphia suburbs. Their specialty is litigation support and insurance investigation with deep expertise in engineering, environmental studies, architecture, construction, science and business.
Hudson International Group needed to update and expand their online presence while maintaining their established branding and its relationship to their printed collateral. For this project I teamed up once again with Donnelly Creative Services who provided key web design and creative services. The new website was rebuilt from the foundation up and will provide Hudson International with a strong basis for future search engine optimization and direct email marketing efforts.
Best wishes to everyone at Hudson International Group who worked hard to make this project a success!
Services Provided:
- Project Management
- Information Architecture
- Web Development (Valid XHTML and CSS)
Prime Image Website Redesign
4.15.08
For over 20 years Prime Image has engineered and manufactured professional electronics for the broadcast industry. Their gear is used by the majors, including ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC. Prime Image has a superior product line, but wanted our assistance to position it clearly in a unified voice.
We started with their most public marketing effort—their Web presence—reworking it strongly to reflect their proper market position. Marketing messages, product descriptions, were strategized and developed or rewritten on deadline.
The site launched on time and ready for a major tradeshow!
Services Provided:
- Marketing Strategy
- Information Architecture
- Copywriting
- Copyediting
Center City District Gallery Night Banner Ads
An Evening of Art for all Philadelphia
3.24.08
Center City District organizes great events in Center City, Philadelphia. This time it's the April Gallery Night. Spend the evening of Friday, April 18th exploring Center City District's galleries with special exhibitions and complimentary cocktail receptions from 5-8:30 pm. It's a wonderful opportunity to see Philadelphia culture in action.
Once again I was pleased to be able to support Center City District's online marketing of this event by designing a set of banner ads for use on regional event and media websites. Each banner ad or header graphic was designed in the visual style of the event's print advertisements and other collateral to create a unified campaign across all media.
Hope to see you there!
Services Provided:
- Banner Ad Design
- Image Optimization
Download the full campaign sample sheet (PDF, 460 KB) and take a look up close.
Dambuster Deicers
Innovative Roof Deicer Products
2.22.08
Dambuster Deicers are the brainchild of regional businessman and roofing professional, Ray Nocella. These patented deicer products were created with one purpose in mind: to stop winter ice from forming on roofs and causing expensive water damage to homes and commercial buildings. Their innate simplicity, easy of installation and effectiveness was a great foundation upon which to build a wide variety of online and offline marketing vehicles geared to drive direct sales and generate high levels of supplier/distributor interest.
Bringing a new product to market can be a serious challenge. All successful product launches are a sustained, collective effort. An enthusiastic entrepreneur must allow his or her vision to be shaped into a sellable product and/or brand by dedicated professionals working in several areas: marketing, design, development, copywriting, business and public relations. This product launch was fueled by four agency-level, independent professionals. Joanne Hoffman of Hoffman Studio provided creative direction, marketing strategy, brand identity and collateral design. Michael D'Antonio of Michael D Marketing & Communications provided account management and marketing research. I provided strategic planning, Web design and development, pre- and post-launch search engine optimization, direct email marketing services and Web hosting. Copywriting was executed as a collaborative process with important final polishing offered by veteran Philadelphia wordsmith Mark Ellis.
Download the Dambuster Deicer Product Sheet (PDF, 252 K) for information on their current product offering.
Services Provided:
- Strategic Consulting
- Website Design
- Web Development (valid XHTML/CSS and PHP)
- Direct Email Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Copywriting for Search Engine Optimization
- Copyediting
- Web Hosting
Center City District
Center City District Restaurant Week 2008 Banner Ads
1.27.08
For many years Center City District has organized the Center City District Restaurant Week event where participating Center City restaurants offer a "price fixed" multiple course meals to their patrons. It is a great chance to try out those new restaurants you've been thinking about. I usually get to a couple every Restaurant Week.
I've worked projects with the communications team at Center City District over the last five years (including leading them through three complete redesigns of their Web site). Recently, while working with SoftOrigins I completed a series of banner ads to support the 2008 Restaurant Week event. Although banner advertising has undergone evolution over the years, it is still an effective way to promote an event, Web site, or special offer. All banner ads where designed to work with the event's print advertisements and other collateral.
Services Provided:
- Banner Ad Design
- Image Optimization
Download the full campaign sample sheet (PDF, 1.19 MB) and take a look at a few banners as they appeared on regional Web sites.
Happy Holidays
and Season's Greetings
12.24.07
Over the Holiday break I had some free time and decided to create a Holiday e-card to send to friends, clients and colleagues.
Sending out the email allowed me an opportunity to test Campaign Monitor's HTML email validation tools. Later on I'll be bloging my in depth review comparing the email testing and validation tools offered by Campaign Monitor and MailChimp.
View final eCard (Front)
View final eCard (Back)
Season's Greetings everyone! And Happy New Year!
Fertility and Gynecology Associates
Success in a Nurturing Environment
12.12.07
Recently Fertility and Gynecology Associates approached me to redesign and rebuild their Web site. Located at the Pennsylvania Hospital (with a satellite office in Willow Grove, PA), physicians Leonore Huppert, M.D. and Maria Pia Platia, M.D. provide advanced reproductive and fertility care.
In completing this project, I provided project management, Web design, front-end Web development, copy writing and editing, and finally, hosting services.
Online marketing support was provided through a third-party service and resulted in dramatically increased Web site traffic and new patient phone inquires and appointments.
A series of header graphics were created to enliven the presentation of the site and convey special marketing messages.
Donnelly Creative Services
A Business Built from the Client Up
11.15.07
This Fall Michael and Tom Donnelly, co-founders of Donnelly Creative Services, asked me to help them redevelop and expand their online presence. They could have managed it themselves, but since we've been collaborating on Web design and development projects for the better part of a year now, it seemed the natural thing to do. Michael Donnelly took creative lead, while I was happy to execute the front-end development, hosting set-up, and share copywriting and information architecture responsibilities with Tom.
These two gentlemen are trustworthy, talented and committed to their clients. I can't think of better attributes for a service business—marketing or otherwise.
Innovation Philadelphia
Cultivating Philadelphia's Creative Economy
10.02.07
Last Summer SoftOrigins was selected to complete a redevelopment of the Innovation Philadelphia Web site. Founded in 2001, Innovation Philadelphia collaborates with Philadelphia region economic organizations to generate new ideas and programs to highlight and grow the knowledge and technology sectors of Philadelphia's economy.
Innovation Philadelphia selected the regional design firm Untuck to execute a new logo and general site design theme. SoftOrigins provided project management, technical strategy, information architecture, front- and back-end Web development, host provider vetting and training services culminating in the successful launch of the new site. In addition, a fully custom, integrated Web application allows Innovation Philadelphia staff to maintain their site in a flexible and efficient manner.
The site and its supporting applications were built utilizing current techniques and technologies including tableless CSS/XTHML, .NET 2.0 and MS SQL 2005. A new blog was provided via an implementation of Community Server 2007 with custom theming.
Everyone at SoftOrigins appreciates the care and effort the dedicated staff of Innovation Philadelphia gave to this important project.
S. T. Hudson Engineers
A family-owned business with 100 years of history
08.30.07
When I was asked by Mike and Tom from Donnelly Creative Services to help rebuild a site for S. T. Hudson Engineers I knew I had to do it. Hudson has a great reputation in the Delaware Valley and beyond for marine engineering projects such as the new USS New Jersey pier in Camden. In fact they've been building on the regional waterfront since the days when one drove to work in a Model T Ford.
After siting down with the Hudson team for a few strategy and planning sessions, we tore into the project and produced a new 65 page site highlighting Hudson's emerging brand and key service areas. The site includes greatly expanded content, a new portfolio section, a slideshow of key projects, and a local search engine.
For the search functionality, I deployed an old favorite: XAV's Fluid Dynamics Search Engine (FDSE). This Perl-based engine runs well on almost any Linux server, can be easily customized, and is a great value for medium-sized sites that want to control their own search application.
Everyone at Hudson is very pleased with the results. I wish them all the very best.
I'll Buy No Wine, Unless Online
eCommerce solutions for wineries and more
06.15.07
Recently our team at SoftOrigins launched the US Wine Traders site. US Wine Traders (a SoftOrigins service brand) specializes in online marketing, interactive design and eCommerce solutions for wineries. As you may have heard, over the last several years state regulations on the sale of wine to consumers have been greatly relaxed. Today, wine aficionados can order that special bottle or case online—winery direct—instead of wading through the poor selection at many a local liquor store.
Among US Wine Traders' offerings is an attractive, simple and feature-rich shopping cart, order tracking and inventory management system. We've even included support for split destination shipping, gift wrapping, flexible case discounting, age verification and more.
Aesthetic Violence
The Image of the 20th C. and Beyond
05.25.07
Our electronic scholarly journal, Other Voices, is currently developing a special issue on the concept of aesthetic violence of the past century. The issue will be published in Spring/Summer 2008. In response to our call for papers, we've received a large number of strong submissions. Some questions we will attempt to address include: Which is the relationship between aesthetic violence and ethics? How is aesthetic violence experienced? At what point does violence inhibit any aesthetic experience? How might aesthetic violence relate to a confrontation with political violence? How does aesthetic violence operate as a critique of violence?
Check out our original call for papers for a full description.
Other Voices is an independent, award-winning, electronic journal of cultural criticism published at the University of Pennsylvania. Founded in March 1997, Other Voices regularly publishes provocative essays, interviews, roundtable discussions, lecture transcriptions, audio lectures, multimedia projects, translations and reviews in the arts and humanities.
Still going strong, the journal receives over 100,000 unique visitors a year.
Cultural Recycling
Culture Redux
05.10.07
In May 2007, Other Voices published its long awaited special issue on "Recycling Culture" guest edited with the help of Tina Kendall and Kristin Koster.
The issue features essays by Walter Moser, Marilyn Randall and David Scott Diffrient; interviews with David Wilson of the Museum of Jurassic Technology and artist Robin Hill; reviews and more!
This issue also represents the launch of our recently redesigned site as well as the Other Voices announcement blog.
Approaching "The End"
The Photography of Paul Romano
03.07.07
For several years friend and colleague Joshua Schuster and I have contemplated writing a quirky little book. Based on the photographic series "The End" by Philadelphia artist and graphic designer Paul Romano, the volume is an aphoristic rumination on the concepts of temporality, irreversibility, delay, kairos, and now-time (Jeitzeit). This Spring we finally started writing.
Paul Romano is a Philadelphia-based artist and graphic designer. He received his BFA from the University of the Arts and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Over the last fifteen years he has completed award-winning designs for children's software and toys, greeting cards, and more recently, the music industry. His design practice is often closely related to his work in painting, photography and printmaking. He can often be found at www.workhardened.com.
If you are interesting in hearing about our progress on this book project, drop me a note.
