25 Mar 2011 . . . I truly can’t thank you enough for all the work you have done for me and my company. I was looking over the site last night, and I was really amazed. I am very happy with how it turned out. —Tad Teeters
Tad Teeters wanted me to redesign his existing website. His business was growing, he was launching new products, and now needed a shopping cart to handle the increased volume. Other design elements on his Wish List were a slideshow, news feed, and newsletter signup form.
For the new-and-improved Musclebasix, I used the framework for My Product by Elegant Themes and, ultimately, completely customized the entire layout by inserting a slick uBillboard slideshow and dynamic content on the HOME page pulled from the shopping cart.
My Product by Elegant Themes, modified for the website, Musclebasix
Also added were new pages featuring athletes who use Musclebasix products as well as a blog for news and updates.
Musclebasix
Small business website
WordPress theme modification
Dynamic drop-down menu
uBillboard slideshow
Tabbed HOME page content
News feed
Newsletter signup
WP eCommerce shopping cart
TimThumb thumbnails
Image highlight rollovers
Fancybox
WP page navigation
Encrypted email
Secure contact form
Custom favicon
19 Dec 2010 . . . After all these years online, it was time to redesign Sweet Solutions and bring the site into the 21st century. —Patricia Petro
I wanted to start blogging about web design and needed a CMS like WordPress that would allow for easy updating and maintenance.
The challenge was to come up with a layout that would not only be functional and have the design elements I wanted, but would also be attractive enough to make a positive and professional first impression.
Elegant Themes was the answer. Their themes for WordPress have a solid framework with all the design elements needed for a website. It was just a matter of deciding which elements I wanted to use, moving them around to best suit my needs, and customizing the look of the layout.
Lumin and Deep Focus by Elegant Themes, modified for the website, Sweet Solutions
For Sweet Solutions I used the ET themes, Lumin and Deep Focus, with a little help from several other ET themes, ePhoto, eStore, Minimal . . . Oh, what’s the point of listing them all? I mixed and matched where and when I wanted, and what you see here is the final result.
Sweet Solutions
Small business website
WordPress theme modification
Custom title
Dynamic top menu with rollovers
Slide-in/out search form
Image highlight rollovers
TimThumb thumbnails
Thumbnail popups
Feedburner
Tabbed blog excerpts
Portfolio gallery
WP page navigation
Fancybox
ET contact form
Custom favicon
06 Dec 2010 . . . I LOVE it! Beautiful! Thank you so much for all of the time and energy you put into my website. Everyone loves it. You are very talented . . . It has genuinely been a pleasure to work with you. —Deb Strain
When artist Deb Strain asked me to design a placeholder page for her retail business, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
While I was working on a design for her new wholesale site, Saltbox Wholesale, Deb sent me dozens of images of her fabric patterns. The fabrics were stunning and elegant. I had used one of them, a vibrant dotted red, for the background on the wholesale site, and I knew I wanted to showcase several different fabrics (in cool blues and greens) on the placeholder page. It would give visitors a good taste of Deb’s designs and might entice them into wanting to come back for more once the actual site was launched.
With CSS and a style switcher script working their magic, visitors can simply click the thumbnail fabric swatches and, voíla . . . larger views of the my client’s beautiful fabrics appear as backgrounds on the page.
UPDATE: This layout is no longer online. In Oct 2105, five years after it was launched, Deb asked me to redesign as a landing page with links to her Etsy shop and wholesale site, Saltbox Wholesale. The style switcher was no longer needed, but you can view a demo of the original page here. On the demo page, click on the thumbnail fabric swatches to see the switcher in action.
Deb Strain
Artist placeholder page
Custom design
Style switcher script
Interchangeable backgrounds
Eight (8) background images
Eight (8) different stylesheets
Custom thumbnails
Image highlight on hover
Encrypted email
Custom favicon
22 Nov 2010 . . . The website looks WONDERFUL!!!!! I’ve shown it to several people, and they love it, as do I. Thank you for all of your hard work. —Deb Strain
Artist Deb Strain wanted a new, completely different look for her existing, outdated online store—something “simple,” yet “professional looking,” that better reflected her current style of artwork.
Using the Minimal theme by Elegant Themes, I put the new website into WordPress and completely customized the look of the layout.
Minimal by Elegant Themes, modified for the website, Saltbox Wholesale
The rich-and-vibrant red dotted background is one of my client’s fabric patterns. With red and black accents, and tan (pulled from the dots) for the content area, it is a perfect backdrop for her colorful artwork. The artwork itself is featured prominently throughout the site—on all pages, in the slideshow, and in thumbnail pop-ups for larger-than-life views of her products.
A shopping cart was installed, styled to match the site, and linked to PayPal. With the products added, Saltbox Wholesale was ready for business.
All in all, the website looks like a warm and friendly place to shop . . . and my client can manage the whole thing easily herself from within the WordPress admin panel.
Saltbox Wholesale
Artist online store
WordPress theme modification
Custom title/banner
Custom HOME page
Dynamic drop-down top menu
Slideshow with custom images
Image highlight rollovers
WP eCommerce shopping cart
Product gallery
Fancybox
WP single page navigation
Breadcrumbs
Secure contact form
Custom favicon
14 Jan 2014 . . . You designed my website several years ago, and I am so pleased. It has been easy for our customers to navigate, and orders have come through very clearly to us. I have even been able to delete items that were sold out. Thanks Patricia! —Deb Strain
