The Faith Journey

The Faith Journey is a unique church in the Brighton, Michigan area. The first design of this website is to the left. It was a nested-tables design, utilizing Cascade Style Sheets. A calendar was integrated into the design so the client could easily update events. This is an original design.

As the church grew, so did the need for a more advanced website. The client chose a pre-made template and I adapted it for the client. In addition to the calendar, this design (right) included a blog, and a download section for the weekly sermons on MP3. The menu was made from an image map.

Testimonial:

"Kim has been a great help to us in getting our website up and running in a very short time. She is always very responsive to us and very quick in getting the job done. She designed the look of our site and we have gotten many compliments on it. I would recommend having Kim help you if you need a quality site done quickly!"

Labels: blog, calendar, CSS, downloads, former client, image map

7/11/2008

Wendy's Angels

Wendy is an independent dealer for The Angel Company, which carries a complete line of stamping and scrapbooking supplies. She offers home party workshops and book parties.

Wendy's website has four integrated blogs and an integrated flickr gallery to show off some of the creations that she and her customers have made. Wendy also has a Yahoo groups sign-up form, which she uses to collect email address and keep her clients informed about new products and specials.

Testimonial:

"I just have to tell you I am doing the happy dance. I was just contacted by a lady who saw my website, YEP you read that right, website (that YOU made), and asked for information about TAC and might be interested in signing up with TAC. WAHOO!!!!!! Look at all your hard work working for little old me. I thought you might like to hear about this. I will have to let you know what becomes of it."

Labels: blog, current client, email list, flickr, gallery

7/11/2008

Creagious Kids

Creagious Kids was a daycare and preschool in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Family owned and operated, Creagious was able to care for children 6-weeks-old through 12-years (for after school care).

This site relied heavily on Cascading Style Sheets for the look and feel of the site (notice the dashed line around the content). The site featured a flash menu, and a rotating mini-photo gallery at the top of each page, which changed pictures each time the page loaded or changed.

The client was able to easily update the site by writing entries in the blog and events in the calendar. Both applications seamlessly integrated into the design of the site.

Labels: blog, calendar, CSS, flash, former client, gallery

7/11/2008

Jenni's Western Drawings

Jenni is extremely talented with graphite pencil drawings. Her niche market is the rodeo fan.

This site was complete with a Paypal shopping cart, rotating mini-photo gallery on the home page, full-size photo gallery by category, and a featured drawing of the month. Jenni kept a blog on her site, writing each month about the featured drawing--her inspiration, the story behind the drawing, any special techniques used, and a special discounted price.

The second site design is shown above. The photo to your left shows a screenshot before the site was redesigned. Both are original designs by Dramatic Design.

Testimonial:

"Kim is wonderful to work with! She really makes you feel special like you are her first rated client. Thanks a lot Kim, keep up the good work!"

Doing a redesign can freshen up the look of a site and encourage new traffic to your site. If you haven't done a redesign in a while, it might be time to give it some thought.

Labels: blog, former client, gallery, original design, paypal, shopping cart

7/11/2008

Sandy's Journal

Sandy's Journal was created as a retirement present for her when she retired and was about to become a grandmother for the first time. The idea was for her to journal about her travels and new grandson. By blogging in her journal, she could keep in touch with the extensive international network of coworkers that she had established over the years. She would also have a keepsake record of her grandson's visits and milestones.

The site included an extensive guestbook, which Sandy's many coworkers and friends signed to wish her well. Each page also had a mini-photo gallery of rotating pictures that changed each time the page refreshed.

Labels: blog, former client, gallery, guestbook

7/11/2008

NBT Wear

NBT Wear was a custom order embroidery and design wear site, built with a complete shopping cart system.
Paypal was used for the third-party credit card processing system. The unique thing about this site was that each customer company could set up their section of the site with the products they wanted to offer and the site owner allowed shoppers to choose from those products, customizing with various sizes and colors. It was a rather complex shopping cart.

The site utilized custom graphics from Mitcher T Custom Painting & Design, who was one of the customer companies represented on the site. Other companies included the Hastings School District and Thornapple Valley Church.

This site was developed by modifying an existing template layout, using a table-style layout.

Labels: former client, paypal, shopping cart, template

7/11/2008

Lone Feather

Lone Feather's owner, Evelyn, is a Native American crafter who makes Dreamcatchers and Medicine Wheels, which are legendary to the Senaca tribe that she belongs to.

This site incorporates a printable order form and a simple catalog, as the client did not want to have an online shopping cart.

Lone Feather is an original Dramatic Design creation.

Labels: former client, order form, original design

7/10/2008

Kids First Learning Place

Kids First Learning Place was my very first paying design job after opening Dramatic Design. KFLP is a Daycare Center and Preschool right here in the small town of Middleville.

When I started this site, Kelly was operating out of her home, but had plans to open a large center once it was built. The website was a nice way for her to display pictures of the ongoing building process. This site incorporated monthly menu calendars, as well as the planned activity calendar.

The site was very profitable for Kelly. At one point, she told me that a family with four kids enrolled and their tuition alone would pay for her website for three years!

The screenshot above is actually a redesign for Kids First. It's good to freshen things up from time to time.

Labels: calendar, former client, redesign

7/10/2008

Sharon Walker Ministries

Sharon Walker Ministries is a former client's site. Sharon requested that I modify this template that she purchased online. It featured a flash header graphic that played a brief sound upon the opening of each page.

Sharon had me build several photo galleries into this site. I also integrated a calendar and a blog so that they worked seamlessly and appeared to be a part of the site, instead of third-party applications. We had a Verse-of-the-Day wiget next to her blog and sample chapters of her book that were downloadable.

Testimonial:

"Dramatic Design is an answer to my prayer. I wanted someone who understood "dramatic" in its highest form. Kim understood that in dealing with my personal level of dramatic excellence. She allows you to have a voice, and your own hint of creativity. Kim is patient, understanding, well equipped to handle difficult questions, and quite capable of creating a style just for the customer. I have enjoyed working with her, and look forward to other great dramatic designs she will create for us in the future! Excellent Job Kim, Thanks for everything."

Labels: blog, calendar, flash, former client, gallery, testimonial, wiget

7/10/2008

Prairieville Old Fashioned Farm Days

The Prairieville Old Fashioned Farm Days site was a unique one to create, as there is nothing else like what it represents. While the site focused on the Old Fashioned Farm Days, there were actually several events and concerts each season--and camping all summer long!

This site features hand-drawn artwork by Vicki Clough. She is an amazing artist and was able to capture the feel of this rustic environment perfectly.

Focusing on simplicity, the site features a simple drop-down menu for easy navigation. Also incorporated into this site was a calendar that could be easily updated by the site owner.

Labels: artwork, calendar, former client, simple

7/10/2008

P.R. Builders

Located in Hastings, Michigan, Paul and his team of builders are in the constuction and remodeling business.

The P.R. Builders website was built with a large, non-scrolling, non-repeating background, with the foreground being a semi-transparent base for the content of the site. The content scrolled, while the background (the house) remained still.

The photo gallery shown in this screenshot shows thumbnails of P.R. Builders' work. What you can't see in the screenshot is the dynamic slideshow that opens when you click on any of the thumbnails. It was a very nice effect.

This site also had a News blog, so the company could easily update viewers on projects, as well as advertise properties that were available to rent or purchase.

Testimonial:

I think that home page looks great! I think it goes along with a nice clean look. Not to fancy or anything but pretty simple and straight forward. Keep up the good work.

Labels: blog, former client, gallery, slideshow, testimonial

7/10/2008

All The Good Stuff

All The Good Stuff is a former client from the nearby Gun Lake area. Unfortunately, the store had to close, which brought the end of the website along with it.

I particularly liked the vibrant coloring of this site. It was very rich looking--much like the amazing fudge that was sold in the store! The full shopping cart enabled visitors to choose their product selections and checkout using a credit card through the third-party credit card processing site,
Paypal. Paypal has always been a safe and inexpensive option for small businesses and I recommend it highly.

Sharon comments, "Wow! Thanks Kim. I went to a site called [removed] because I thought they had the ultimate basket site - not anymore! You are doing a great job for me. I really love the corporate image and all that purple and gold is really impressive."

Sharon, the owner, also maintained a blog on this site. Since her in-store customers were fairly seasonal, she was able to keep them updated during the winter months about the new products in her store, as well as continuing to sell them fudge and other goodies through her online store.

We also utilized a sub-contracted photographer (Kris Foote) to shoot pictures of Sharon's wonderful products. The results of this collaboration turned out nicely.

Testimonial:

I would like to highly recommend Kim Smith with Dramatic Design for the construction of your wonderful web site. Kim took me under her wing after a long year of trying to get my web site up and running. Everything that could go wrong went wrong with the original web designer I used. I had Kim's business card in my file and decided to give her a call. We met. She understood exactly what I was looking for. When I told her I wanted a corporate appeal to the website, that is exactly what I got. Kim never gets frustrated with my indecision (that I know of anyway). I probably drive her crazy but she is understanding and compassionate and as long as I pay for these changes at her very reasonable rate, we get along fine. She knows how to take your ideas and put them in a simple format that makes the site very easy to use. Please feel confident in using Kim's services. She is highly skilled and I have appreciated her helping me through this process.

Thanks Kim, Sharon for All the Good Stuff.

Labels: blog, former client, paypal, shopping cart, testimonial

7/10/2008

Portfolio Expanded

I have decided to feature some of my client sites in my blog. So, in the coming posts, I will highlight sites and explain some features on each site. Please feel free to leave your comments!

Labels: client, feature, websites

7/10/2008

Happy Thanksgiving! There is a business-related blessing that we can all take advantage of on our 2004 tax return, which is coming up all too soon.

Susan Foster of Thornapple Financial Center writes on her blog:

"The IRS has passed a new mileage rate to be used from September 1st thru the end of the 2005. The business mileage rate for 2005 was set at 40.5 cents per mile and has now been raised to 48.5 cents a mile for the last four months of the year. What this means to you is that you will need to bring in two mileage figures this year -- one for the first 8 months of the year and a second for the last four months of the year. The IRS cautions that this is only a temporary mileage rate because they believe that gas prices will stabilize at a lower cost."

Thanks for the great information, Susan--and kudos for updating your blog with some great information we can all use!

Do you have a blog on your website? Remember that updating it often with pertinent information will keep your visitors coming back!

11/17/2005

It has been an amazingly busy couple of months for Dramatic Design with new clients and redesigns. I'll start by welcoming our new clients and telling a little about their businesses and sites.

Sarah and Warren Ulrich are the owners of Jessco Real Estate, located in Hastings, Michigan. They have just recently opened Jessco, but have been in the real estate business for quite some time. They really seem to love what they do and I can tell that they treat their clients with great care and respect. They would be a great choice if you're looking to buy or sell a home, looking for an investment property or a cottage to rent. Sarah and Warren have also earned a free month of Hosting and Maintenance for the referral of our next client!

DOD Transport (Deal of the Day) is owned by Jon Kobe. This is a brand new business, but Jon has been in the business for many years. He has an entrepreuneral spirit and decided to launch out on his own. He seems to be doing great so far--he had 3 new clients on his first day of business! Way to go Jon! DOD Transport is a transportation broker. If you need something shipped, Jon will arrange for it to happen--whether by truck or rail--in the least expensive way for you.

Our next new site is Soggy Bottom Labs. Paul & Sandy Spittka breed, sell and show labrador retrievers. Their puppies are very friendly and learn early on to love children and other animals because they are in an environment from birth with lots of children and other animals. Soggy Bottom Labs sell AKC registered puppies for pets, as well as for show. Sandy will be updating frequently to tell about the puppies and show pictures of new litters as they are born.

Creagious Kids isn't a new site, per se, but the owners, Dan and Jackie Thompson, have been so busy with a very successful business that they hadn't had time to work on their website. So, Elizabeth Crowder, Creagious Kids Website Project Manager, has taken on this project with enthusiasm and skill. Thanks to Elizabeth, Creagious Kids now has a great website, filled with content and a regularly updated blog, which is great for the parents. Parents can see what activities the children are involved with, upcoming news and events, and soon, they will be able to view and order pictures of their children from the photo gallery.

Another site that has been with Dramatic Design for a while, but again, too busy with business to work on a website, is Thornapple Financial Center. (This is such a great thing, that these businesses are so successful!) Kris has played a big roll in helping get this site up and running for owner, Susan Foster. The site opens with a blog to keep clients and visitors updated with frequent updates. This will be especially important after January 1, when all the tax deadlines start coming up. You can email each person at Thornapple Financial Center right from their staff profile pages.

Dr. Greg Randall and Hastings Family Dentqal have a great newly redesigned website. It is much more contemporary than their old site, with some JavaScript rollover buttons and a blog. That's right, Dr. Randall is blogging! Check out the dental advice and new products that Dr. Randall will review on his blog.

Also redesigned, The Faith Journey takes on a travel theme look. We congratulate The Faith Journey on entering into its second year of ministry in the Howell, Michigan area. Pastor Stephen Cottle will also be blogging, and we will hopefully be getting some sermons online that anyone can download and listen to on their iPod, MP3 player, or computer. Those who want to, can also burn the sermons to CD to listen to in their car or give to a friend.

We would also like to mention that Wendy's Angels has recently moved from wendysangels.info to wendysangels.com, which is a better fit for the site, since it is a commercial site. Best wishes to Wendy, as she supplies the rubber stamping needs of people in the Binghamton, New York area, as well as those of the WWW. Congrats on your new domain, Wendy!

Keep up the great work everyone!

10/15/2005

Some "behind the scenes" things have been going on at Dramatic Design lately...things that only current clients have known about until now. The client base for Dramatic Design has grown to the point that monthly billing was becoming a huge ordeal. So, instead of doing that manually, we now have an accounting program that helps with the task. Clients received their first look at the new invoicing system during the last billing cycle. The new accounting program will help free up more time for the important stuff--like designing websites, getting newsletters out, and keeping in better contact with clients.

One of the things we are trying to do is to get to know each client a little better. In an effort to do this, we invited them to have "virtual coffee" with us! Going for coffee, for most people, isn't really about the "coffee". It's really about the relationship...the conversation...getting to know each other. So, each client was sent a questionaire about things we would talk about over coffee. As an encouragement for response, Dramatic Design is doing a drawing among those clients that send the questionaires back. The prize is either a Starbucks Gift Card or a Dramatic Design Coffee Mug. There's still time to send your responses back in--the drawing will be held by the next billing date. Update: Congratulations to Captain Bill Muirhead of Spider Sportfishing!

New stat counters have also been installed on client sites that give some great real-time statistics, as well as reports that can be emailed weekly and/or monthly. Clients will be able to see where visitors are coming from, their general location, and length of visit--just for starters. The counters are invisible and don't interfere with the performance of the website in any way. Just another "special touch" from Dramatic Design to you...no extra charge!

We recently also attended a great marketing seminar geared toward small businesses. Tony Rubleski of Mind Capture Group was the speaker. He gave lots of great advice, but focused on marketing with "grabbers"--something that "hooks" your potential customer and gets them interested enough in your marketing piece to read the whole thing...instead of tossing it in the nearest garbage can. Thanks to the Barry County Chamber for offering this seminar to it's members.

Several new client sites are in the works, but the clients are extremely busy, so things are going a little slower than everyone involved would like. There are also several other yet unsigned clients "in the hopper", so to speak. They are also anxious to get moving, but have to work through some details first. More on those later...

5/03/2005

It's been a very busy 2005 for Dramatic Design already! Several new projects are in the works.

One of the new sites I've had the pleasure to work on has been Sharon Walker Ministries, which is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sharon has been a joy to work with and has a truly unique ministry. We will also be working on a second website for Sharon. One for her church's ministries. Look for details on Shekinah Rain Ministries in the near future.

Another new client is Susan Foster of Thornapple Financial Center in Middleville, Michigan. TFC specializes in tax preparation, accounting and financial planning. Work is in process for this site, but will have to move slowly...at least until after April 15th.

Kim Voshell of NBT Wear Screen Printing and Embroidery was recently featured in our local newspaper for her generous contribution of more than 300 t-shirts to a local elementary school. Each year, every student receives a t-shirt with the school name and logo on it so they can wear to show pride in their school. The generous contribution by NBT Wear has become an annual giving tradition. Thank you Kim for giving back to your community!

Additionally, Dramatic Design has started a newsletter for clients and other interested parties. The newsletter will focus on tips that will make your website better and things that will attract new and returning visitors. The first issue was on the topic "Getting Noticed Online". If you would like to receive these periodical mailings, please sign up by clicking here.

Welcome to any visitors that may have stopped by as a result of the flyer sent to all Barry County Area Chamber members in the most recent newsletter. If you have any questions about Dramatic Design, or would like to find out how we can help your business establish a very inexpensive, yet professional website presence, please don't hesitate to email or call!

3/06/2005

It's been a fun and exciting month for Dramatic Design. Lots of fun, new projects in the works.

Wendy emailed, "I just have to tell you I am doing the happy dance. I was just contacted by a lady who saw my website, YEP you read that right, website (that YOU made), and asked for information about TAC and might be interested in signing up with TAC. WAHOO!!!!!! Look at all your hard work working for little old me. I thought you might like to hear about this. I will have to let you know what becomes of it." This happened within only a week of posting "real" content on her site, which was a real encouragement for her.

I have been working with a couple of new clients on their blogs (web logs, in case you're not familiar with the term).

Lois has been blogging for a while, but has just taken a couple of big steps--her own domain and private hosting. She has purchased the domain SoCloseToReal.com (formerly "Ruminations of a Headless Horse[wo]man" hosted at the Blogger free hosting). We found a perfect picture to use on her blog. Special thanks to Dave Shields at Devilgas Photographic for the use of his artwork! Jeanette is a brand new blogger, but is very excited about keeping an online journal. We decorated her blog with yellow roses--one of her favorite things. Much of the site is still under construction.

Jenni also has some great new drawings posted. Be sure to check her What's New blog to read all about the Featured Print for January.

1/12/2005