We’ve done a fair number of site overhauls recently where the goal was to make significant functional changes without affecting the look and feel of the site more than we had to.  Sometimes, the brand is working but the site owner is ready to step it up a notch in terms of technology.  That’s the case with Pelicano Restaurant:

Jeff and Shelly wanted to be able to easily edit the site themselves, and poise themselves for additional marketing flexibility, but were still really happy with the site they co-designed with Keleigh and Sabrina as the restaurant opened.  They think it looks a lot different now, testimony to their attention to detail.  The best compliment we’ve received is no comment at all; even the Pelicano customers who are quick to remind us that a menu posting is a day late have been silent.  Is it possible they don’t see the difference?  We hope so!

We helped Lewis and Clark Historical Association, the group behind the bookstore at Fort Clatsop, put their inventory online a number of years ago, but weren’t ready to dive into online transactions.  When you’re a private entity working within a National Park, things aren’t quite as simple as they are in the non-governmental arena.  Going through a new design process at the same time made time line prohibitive AND they were happy with the basic design, so we kept it!

Goodwinds recently purchased Avia Sport, leaving them with half a dozen domains, two shopping carts, a blog and a small handful of essentially non-functioning sites.  Most of these online resources were diluting the market more than feeding one another.  Principals Roger Holeman and Amelia Cook had a long talk with Keleigh about the direction of the company and the three made a plan for how to best leverage online resources for the long haul.

What you see above is the Goodwinds Blog, which got a new header and sales tools in its sidebar that lead back to the Goodwinds e-commerce site, which gets its new, similar header very soon.  The Avia sites will soon re-launch with a similar look that is designed to transition customers with Avia brand recognition to Goodwinds.  It’s a bit of a complex tumble of dominoes–and a lot of fun to watch it roll out as expected.

This site started its life as a template.  We changed the header to include the Willapa Harbor Helping Hands logo and made a flower out of the cancer ribbon.  We also adjusted the page templates a bit to accommodate presenting the WHHH material well.  Beyond that, building the site was as simple as creating web site text out of existing print materials, finding some appropriate stock photography, and putting it all together.  A final pass to do some light search engine optimization and we were ready to launch.

Another of Keleigh’s “working too late brainstorms”, this site was knocked out in a couple of hours after Keleigh received an email from Cathy saying she was running for County Commissioner.  The look and feel came from a “theme”, a WordPress template, and the text and photos came from the email from Cathy.  It’s grown a bit since, as the campaign team has added their magic, but is a great example of how a good-looking site doesn’t have to take a lot of time & money to get started, or web experience to grow and change.

Tides West Community Association worked with Karl to customize a theme and make it their own.  The end result bears little resemblance to the original theme; the function and spatial layout of the theme remain.  This made it quick (read “inexpensive”) for Karl to develop a full-featured site for the group that they could maintain on their own –without breaking their bank.

It sure looks like a custom site, doesn’t it?  Look closer.  Keleigh drew the logo based on font specification and design concept from the site owner, and also turned it into a background tile.  Karl chose a theme with the appropriate color palette and function, added the text and images from the client, give him a brief tutorial on WordPress by phone, and whoosh!  A site was born on a tight budget.

This project is a great example of how quickly we can get things done when everyone does their homework promptly.  We met with Terri on a Tuesday and Blair had her site all but finished Thursday afternoon.  Terri still needed to send us some text and photos, which she did, and that same day, the site was ready to go live.

Our team has plans for improvements down the road, but the Park was able to get their online presence going before the busy summer season made it impossible for Terri to even think about planning a website.  And it was super-affordable, to boot!

Meanwhile, Keleigh re-drew the Park’s logo, as the original art had been lost and they were also in need of some business cards.  Bundling this project with the website made it easy for us to create all the logo art files at once, which made it less expensive for the Park.

Congratulations on your new site, CranberryRVPark.com!

Dennis Oman Realty is under new ownership… complete with modern branding and a fresh website! Keleigh collaborated with owners Angela and Stu Simonson to create a contemporary, surfboard-centric design package. Blair created a clean new website, implementing the latest look and feel. Stop by their new site to browse new listings, calculate your potential mortgage payments, explore local links and more. Angela and Stu know what it takes to be on the cutting-edge of the real estate industry… and we were stoked to make their vision become reality!

~Blair

The Beach to Chowder Challenge, in its 32nd year, has had a little page as a part of funbeach.com for the 14 years or so that site has been active.  We’re delighted to report it now has a home of its own on the web:  www.beachtochowder.com.

The mighty group of volunteers who have headed up the event for much of its existence added a certified half marathon last year, which has made it attractive to even more runners.  You can download their brochure and registration form online, or pick up a copy here in our office, or at the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau.  Artist Don Nisbett made it easy for us to look good designing that one!

~Keleigh