Portfolio

Stickle Steam

Stickle Steam is a manufacturer of industrial steam products that's been owned by the Stickle family since 1907. Their goals for the site were modest, but important: They wanted a site that spoke about their history, provided product details, housed product manuals, and of course, had a good look-and-feel.

After meeting to understand more about their products and business, it became clear that their depth and range of product lines demanded a three-tiered site architecture. Using their company colors of red, white, and blue for the site, I focused on a split menu where the top level nav is situated in the header and deeper information is in the sidebar with pop-out menus as needed.

To save on development time, Stickle Steam provided the copywriting in adherence with the site architecture. While some of the content is yet to be fleshed out, the design is flexibile enough that we could release it now and let it grow over time.

Finally, it's a site I'm really proud for the quality I was able to provide at a high value for them. For their part, Stickle Steam was a model client who enabled me to provide that value through a trust in my creative direction.

Visit the Stickle Steam website »

Services & Tasks

• Web Design
• Graphic Design

DB Services

Owner Kevin Hammond came to me in December 2008 seeking a new logo and business card for his FileMaker database development company, DB Services. However, after many long discussions, it became apparent that DB Services had a larger problem: They were getting plenty of business leads from the web, but he needed to improve the quality of those leads to secure larger projects.

I worked with him over the next nine months to re-imagine what his business could be and how design could support his goal of securing larger projects. Working with Gamma Code for web development, we launched DB Services' new website in September 2009. The launch included an entirely new information architecture, copywriting, content strategy, and logo. I have also extended DB Services branding to new business cards and stationery.

Since the launch in October 2009, the site's bounce rate has decreased, users are sticking around longer, page views are up, and with a few tweaks here and there, his leads are coming in strong.

Visit the DB Services website »

Services & Tasks

• Brand Strategy
• Web Design
• Content Strategy
• Information Architecture
• Graphic Design
• Copywriting

Circle City Athletics

Circle City Athletics is Indianapolis' largest organizer of adult sports leagues and social activities. Their website serves as the primary touchpoint for league participants, where they manage schedules, post announcements, pictures, and other information. However, their site was tough to navigate, not performing well in the search engines, and the visual design had aged dramatically. CCA also wanted their site to gain online sign-up functionality that their old site could not manage visually.

I performed keyword research to identify opportunities for improved search engine results, edited copy, and re-skinned the site to improve the aesthetics and navigability. Since the re-design, their overall visits are up 20% while their bounce rate has dropped from 37% to 20%.

Visit the Circle City Athletics website »

Services & Tasks

• Web Design
• Content Strategy
• Copywriting

Enduring Investments

Enduring Investments is a start-up investment firm offering inflation-market expertise for large funds. To get their firm off the ground web-wise, their needs were modest, only needing a small web site to give them a public presence along with a subscription-based blog. While the site was small, the design challenge was large: How do you create a site that feels hip and modern, yet appeals to Chief Investment Officers entrusted with 10-figure pension funds?

My starting artistic direction was finding an image that connoted the idea of something "Enduring". I searched through hundreds of images, came up with a couple solid directions, but after many hours concepting, felt strongly that a large format picture of New York City at night was the right direction. An added benefit to a large image is, when combined with a fixed header & footer, the photo enables a flexible site that can be viewed on both large and small screen resolutions.

Visit the Enduring Investments website »

Services & Tasks

• Web Design
• Graphic Design
• Copyediting

StonyCreek Golf Club

StonyCreek's previous site was built in the early 2000s with a flat site architecture and a look & feel that had become visually "dated". As part of StonyCreek's business goal to increase their number of adult golfers in their 20s and 30s, they wanted a more colorful, non-scrolling website with online tee time registration and an email newsletter sign-up.

My art direction included a move towards large images that conveyed the feeling of a golf course: Open spaces, greenery, and sweeping scenery. I designed a photo tour of the course and lobbied for a twitter-like microblog that well suits the daily activities around a golf course. The short posts keep golfers aware of events and course news, giving viewers a reason to return to the site while taking advantage of technologies that younger adults commonly use.

(And along the way, I also shot many of the images on the site.)

Visit the StonyCreek Golf Club website »

Services & Tasks

• Information Architecture
• Web Design
• Graphic Design
• Copywriting
• Photography