CrownGA.com Website- New Design is Live

June 1st, 2010

The new website for Crown Communities Inc. has officially gone live. I have been working on this site for close to a year at Crown Communities Corporate Location in Conyers, Ga. This consulting contract has slowly bloomed into a elegant and professional site that incorporates a wide range of web technologies and current web standards.

First the use of warm colors and professional patterns makes this web design catch any viewer’s eye. The simple, user friendly navigation provides a better experience for the average web surfer, yet the use of graphic promotional banners and rotating images captures the viewer and leads him or her deeper into the websites inner pages.

I have integrated the use of Flash technology for the interactive community maps that help direct users to the areas of interest, while also providing a page with a list of the available communities for easier access. The website also uses many forms of javascript for various aspects of the website, the community pages themselves have a easy to use tab navigation and also integrate custom vector maps of directions for each.

Since this website has went live in late 2009 we have seen a drastic improvement in the amount of traffic to the site. Before the redesign the site averaged 4,000 hits per month, but since the redesign the site averages over 11,000 hits per month. Even though CrownGA.com uses basic search engine optimization, the website has seen drastic improvement in incoming hits and search results. This has resulted from the use of basic SEO utlilizing numerous facets from focused keywords to building a number of internal and external links.

Overall, I feel that the  final result of CrownGA.com shows that a great website and overall positive SEO results can be created without the use of paying high costs for expensive webdesigners and SEO companies. These results can be created with the help of a professional yet competitive web designer and the use of well directed search engine optimization.

CrownGa.com

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New Lemon Bee Fest 2010! Character Design and Promo Package

May 14th, 2010

This is the Lemon Bee Festival Flyer for 2010. I really enjoy creating the characters for this event, since this is my hometown and many dear friends take part in making this event happen every year. The event is located in Olde Town Conyers in Georgia, it takes place to provide a space for the local musicians and artists to show their stuff and mingle with others in the area.

I chose to showcase this piece because I think this is a prime example of character design. I have created new characters for this event for almost every year it has taken place, but this year I think the character is oozing with life and energy. Though, I am not downing my past attempts at nailing the intangible character of the Lemon Bee Festival, I think this one is just the best out of each of the previous examples.

This year I attempted to start from scratch and I researched the process of character design thoroughly, which is my usual process. I created numerous rough sketches in a rainbow of styles. Though, one of the last ideas I squeezed  from my head was this fine example of a lemon bee.

In my head I created this storyline for the Lemon Bee, his creation from two separate beings the honey bee and the lemon tree. Combining both aspects of each being, the honey bee’s determination and collective nature and the lemons sour taste, intwining into a being of sweet honey, hard work, sour taste, and a love for art and music. I envisioned the mister Lemon B as a being that was shunned from his colony becuase of his difference from the rest of the pack, but his indifference made him see the world in a different manner. His outcasting made him find a love for creating art and music for his colony to enjoy, while the rest of the colony was working he was creating art in all forms for all to enjoy. Though at first the colony wanted nothing to do with this abomonation to their species, after showing them the joys of art and music the colony finally realized that maybe some of their time could be used for enjoyment, instead of working hard without anytime to enjoy life and all it’s bounties.

I think this storyline and slow process of creating a living character within my own head helped to shape the tangible creation I sketched and then refined in Adobe Illustrator. This character embodies all that Lemon Bee is suppose to be about, art and music, enjoyement of life, getting together with the local colony, and much more.

Overall, I just wanted to let everyone in on the process of creating a character and my love for the act of creation in general. This year I think The Lemon Bee Fest is going to be the best yet, I enjoy watching it slowly bloom into what it is today and I am proud of our community for helping to make this beautiful gathering possible.

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Fresh Invoicing and time tracking

May 12th, 2010

I would like to introduce everyone to Freshbooks, a online invoicing and time tracking system that makes most self employed people jump for joy. I have been using Freshbooks for almost a year now and have come to enjoy the ease of use and see it’s potential for expansion. Using this system has made the whole invoicing process too easy.

The added connection to Outright, a free online bookeeping system, compliments what Freshbooks lacks. Making Freshbooks and Outright a online duo that can help save most self-employed business owners much time and hassle, plus being that they are both online no worries about HD failure and losing all your record keeping info to bad luck or an old computer.

Using Freshbooks has made the process of estimating, contracts, and bookeeping so much easier. I can add clients and keep track of sales in a simplified manner that’s saved me tons of time and energy. Try it out today and see how much easier your business can be run with the help of Freshbooks.

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Pumpkin City Website Now Up!

May 11th, 2010

PumpkinCity.net has been up and running for a few months now and everything is working fine! I created this website for a local band to help promote the band in all aspects. Along with this website I also created a EPK, Electronic Press Kit, for them in PDF format. These 2 major aspects of their promotional package has helped Pumpkin City create a professional image for their fans, sponsors, prospective venues and or record labels.

The director of marketing for Pumpkin City, Brett Reagan,  has stated that the promotional package including the EPK and website has helped them see vast improvement with both contracting new gigs and the range and locality of venues willing to book them for shows, some as far as DC and Ohio. They have been able to triple their shows since utilizing the EPK and website, while these necessary promotional outlets are also making it easier to maintain contact with their fans and keeping those fans updated with upcoming shows or promotions.

I also think the ease of use for sending the EPK, since it was created for easy emailing, has been beneficial to the band and it’s promotions. Though without the website the EPK would be a less productive tool, I see that the transition from traditional press kits to EPKs has helped create a positive influence on the music industry. Overall, nothing may be as impressive as a traditional press kit with it’s printed information and included CD, but the use of a EPK with it’s simplicity and ease of transfer through email has made it easier for unsigned bands to reach a wider audience within a professional avenue.

Overall, I am very proud of PumpkinCity.net and it’s corresponding EPK, it’s shows my creative skills in branding across media while keeping consistency within a professional manner, while also having a creating a noticeable improvement in the promotions of the band.

As always great looking design is required, but design that helps to create a noticeable advancement toward the objective is the goal of any designer in the end. Every business has objectives, and if a designer cannot help them to make strides toward those objectives, then those projects are wasted, along with the time and money that was used to create them.

PumpkinCity.net

PumpkinCity.net/epk.pdf

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Crown E-Blast Design

August 5th, 2009

This is a example design I thought would make a great post. This design was recently completed through my employment with Crown Communities Inc. This design was created for 2 main purposes, one to use as a e-blast the second to use as a template for a print ad. Developing the concept’s direction that the full committee would approve was somewhat stressing, but once a solid direction was found it was smooth sailing from there. This piece actually took a couple of different variations before landing on this exact layout, but the overall concept was there the whole time. 

I am pleased to have the opportunity to work at Crown and hope this design example helps to show my skills in corporate design, since my portfolio is full of niche business design examples.

 

Crown Augusta E-Blast

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AHSAE at the ATL Dogwood Festival Handout Design

May 7th, 2009

This was a flyer/brochure design for the Atlanta Highschool Art Exhibit at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival 2009. This project was a artistic project that I designed to highlight the artists of the Atlanta Highschool Art Exhibit. I tried to portray the feel and beauty of spring and the annual dogwood blooms along with developing the artistic spirit with the bright illustrations and subtle canvas and painting texture on the background. 

I enjoyed working with the coordinator Cheryl Myrbo, whose eye for detail and inspirational feedback helped to refine the project to perfection. 

This piece recieved some great reviews and delivered in it’s purpose to be both beautiful and educational at the same time.

Cheryl Myrbo 

ASHAE website

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JavaLords ID project- Death to Decaff!

February 24th, 2009

 

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 Officially my first blog post. Everyone bear with me.

This is a label design I created for JavaLords Coffee house in L5Ps Ga. This identity required research into the niche market of Little Five Points and how we could create a memorable logo and ID to use across multiple medias. 

The concept of the skull coffee cup was one of my first ideas and utilizing a pen and ink style for the logo was a natural decision. The client’s committee loved the idea, especially considering one of the members was a tattoo artist himself. 

I created the full identity package including logo, business card, shirt design, mug design, label template, brochure, menu, and website design. This project was very energizing for my creative process becuase of the client’s insistance of full creative license from my end, that along with great feedback helped to develop this intrigingly unique ID package.

Not only was the design of this project a great experience, but JavaLords also has some of the best coffee in the southeast. If you are ever in L5Ps GA, come by the JavaLords and try their organic, fresh roasted, fair trade coffee, it’s well worth the trip.

Plus, a trip to the Little Five Points is always memorable. Where else will you see punks, hippies, skaters, goths, and just about every other American subculture you can think of in one place? 

JavaLords Coffee House

Little Five Points GA

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