I recently to be able to help build a new info site for Adbase, a ~200 page product resource for my FTJ.
Last week we launched an info site for Found Folios, a new photography sourcebook set to hit the market with its first issue this September. Found’s books are unique in that they’re published monthly rather than once a year and each issue targets a specific market segment. Traditional creative sourcebooks are bulky annual monoliths (think: yellow pages of photographers) that make these sleek, targeted books look like an attractive new option for the industry.
I’m a big fan of Oxygen Design’s minimal, typography-oriented design featuring big, bold headlines and dramatic use of whitespace. While we were building this site I came across Smashing Magazine’s Top 10 web design trends in 2009, and realized that FoundFolios.com scores a 5/10. Is the glass half empty or half full? Either way, the effect is nicely realized and sets a terse, clear voice for the brand.
Stephen DeMarsh and I just launched a new website for Change for the Environment, a cool new environmental charity aiming to raise some funds for tree planting. So far they have a bunch of retail partners in Toronto, Trenton and Belleville who have either agreed to host dropoff spots or have worked directly with CFTE on this worthy project.
My part of building the site was to create xhtml/css markup matching Stephen’s designs, build an interactive map to plot the various donation locations and integrate a WordPress blog into the core of the site. I used the the Google Maps API to build an entirely JavaScript map application and location database, complete with pagination, IP-based geolocation, search geocoding and distance sorting.
Jan 11
So I just completed my first week as a full-time software developer at Adbase, and I think it’s going pretty well. Adbase sells a database of marketing contacts to photographers and illustrators. They have been filling this niche for a little over a decade, and seem like a fairly solid fixture in the industry. My role is to squash bugs and develop new features in their database and web application tiers.
Jan 10
Marketing communications wiz Lindsay Renwick has created her own blog, where she plans to discuss the finer points of writing for that field. I know from experience Lindsay’s uniquely effective writing style, and I’m eager to hear what she has to say about the subject.
We used a free WordPress theme (Cutline by Chris Pearson) and a handful of community WordPress plugins. Easy as pie!
Dec 17
A few weeks back I was asked to rebuild The Fremantle Corporation’s website in a way that would make it easy for staff members to make changes to the online product catalog. After comparing the usual suspects (WordPress, Joomla! Drupal) and factoring in my own experience on previous projects, we decided that Drupal’s unique mix of growing popularity and powerful administration tools made for a winning combination.
I got to work migrating the page content and coding an xhtml/css Drupal theme to present it all.
Oct 6
Today was a big traffic day! Michael Warning and I have been quietly working away on Walloper. Our first product in the line is a collection of TTC Wall Decals which we thought were somewhat cool, in a personal, local kind of way.
Well after sending off a handful of emails this morning, we were promptly written up in BlogTO, Spacing and the grandaddy of all blogs, Boing Boing. Whew! That represents a lot of unique visitors in what has become our official launch day, and a great kickoff to a new project.
2008-10-07 Update: The National Post has written us up, too. Thanks!
2008-10-08 Update: Torontoist wrote us up – thanks guys!
Sep 25
Went live today with Walloper, an ecommerce website built on top of Drupal and Ubercart. Walloper will serve as a home for our new line of vinyl Wall Decals, designed to be easily applied to smooth surfaces which come in a variety of modern designs. Think monochrome murals, without the work.
Site design and TTC Decals concept by Michael Warning.
Sep 10
Stephen DeMarsh, a local visual artist and graphic designer, asked me to help him build out some new designs he had for his portfolio website. Together we built up a brand-new website with a bunch of fresh content that we are pleased to announce launched yesterday!