So this recent project I completed is actually a personal website of mine that I have been wanting to finish up for some time now and I finally got it done.  The Wine Balancer is a very simple ecommerce website currently selling only one product, a Wine Balancer.  A Wine Balancer is basically a piece of wood that is cut at a certain angle which blanances a bottle of wine giving it the effect of being “gravity defying”.  I personally make these balancers myself out of Oak using a drill press and a chop box and then hand sanding and staining them.

The website features some awesome photos taken by Yasmin Khajavi of YKVision Photography in Portland.  Here are the rest of the plugins being used on the site:

And here are some screenshots from the website:

We recently finished up a new website for KHI Construction to highlight their commercial side of their business.  The site is www.khicommercial.com and came out very nice.

The website was a collaborative effort and the design was put together by Jessica Geary with Flora Fauna Designs.  The design was then given to us and coded up from scratch using a blank WordPress theme.  The whole site is powered by WordPress and is using a number of plugins listed below:

Plugins used on KHI Commercial site:

• Custom Fields Template – used for custom fields
• FancyBox for WordPress – used for the nice Lightbox effect found on the site
• Fast Secure Contact Form – Easy to use contact form
• Google XML Sitemaps – Easy sitemaps that are search engine friendly
• Login LockDown – For Security purposes, allows us to lock down the login after X number of failed login attempts
• Login Logo – Customize the login page for the client back end access
• My Page Order – A must have for WordPress sites – allows us to order the menu items
• NextGen Gallery – powers our photo gallery
• No Self Pings – so we don’t constantly get notifications about comments, new posts, pingbacks, etc
• Print Friendly and PDF – a nice plugin that generates a printer friendly version of the site
• Subscribe to Comments – lets users subscribe to post comments by email
• Viper’s Video Quicktags – Makes it easier to embed videos from Youtube, Vimeo, etc. into posts
• Widget Logic – Allows us to control which pages widgets appear on

Here are some screenshots from the site:

Last month I finished up a site for Stefan McGuire with A-Team Home Inspections.  The requirements for the site were relatively simple: A static website with a brouchure like style that highlights core services, shows testimonials and provides a way for prospects to contact the client.  After further digging we agreed that it would make sense to install a photo albums section that the client could update themselves.

Here are some screen shots from the website:

The photo gallery uses an API from Google’s Picasa Web Albums to source the images which allows the client to upload new images whenever they want.  It is really a slick plugin if you do not need something very robust and just need the ability to manage a photo album.  Visit http://code.google.com/p/pwi/ to get the code to integrate Picasa Web Albums into your website.

For the lightbox plugin we used the Fancybox plugin which use jquery and allows for iframes, images, videos from Youtube and more.

Check out the whole A-Team Home Inspections website and let us know what you think!

I recently completed a very simple but elegant website I did for Dorio Cafe & Taverna in NW Portland.  First off, if you havn’t been to Dorio I highly recommend you pay a visit.  The authentic Greek food is amazing and if you are a fan of Gyros, Calamari and Hummus, this place is a must.  Further, the location on NW 23rd is right in the heart of everything NW Portland and they have a great atmosphere with a full bar.  I look forward to trying them out during the warmer summer months as it looks like the place to be.

Back to the website.  They wanted to feature some images of the food but not overdo it.  Thus, we implemented a nice Jquery Carousel slider on the home page that rotates images of the food.  The menu page is very simple and clean and offers the various menus for lunch and dinner with an option to view them in a jpeg format without having to download a PDF.  The raves page has a link to a review from OregonLive and their Urban Spoon page.

Overall the clients are very happy with the website.  It gets the job done, has a nice elegant feel and does not over-do it like so many restaurants have the habit of doing. Visit their website for location, menu info and more at http://www.dorionw.com

Here are some screen shots from the website:

I recently wrapped up a design project for YKVision.com and wanted to take a short post to brag about it.  The website, found at http://ykvision.com, was built on a WordPress platform so that the owner could make updates and add photos to her blog.  This was a perfect setup because photographers are constantly uploading images to showcase their work.

The actual design of the website was coded by Jessica Kirkpatrick with Flora Fauna Graphic Design.  The design is great, giving the site a classic photography look and appealing to those soon-to-be weds.  The mash-up of elegance and old school photography look gives the site a great feel.  Below are some screen shots and if you want to check the site out yourself visit http://ykvision.com.

I just wrapped up a long running project with Buss Precision Mold, a Clackamas based injection mold company.  Buss Precision Mold came to me in dire need of a new website.  Their old site not only was outdated but was for the most part non-functional with broken links and numerous other problems.  The minimum requirements for their new site included a news page they could update themselves, several galleries showcasing their work and a scrolling sideshow controlled by mouse movements on the home page.  To check out the site visit http://www.bussmold.com

Fire Table

I just wrapped up a project with Aztec Artistic Productions here in Portland and am pretty excited

about the website.  Aztec contacted me after having worked with a designer who about a quarter

of the way into the project jumped ship and left them hanging.  They were using a WordPress template and wanted to be able to edit all the content on the website themselves.  Using the gallery feature of WordPress we were able to create  full site that really highlights their work.

If you are ever interested in any waterfall sculptures or backyard fire pits I would highly recommend you check out the Aztec website and give them a call.  Their fire tablesare perfect for even a small back yard and use clean burning propane making them excellent for entertaining.

For more information check out www.aztec-apl.com

So I just finished a new website, www.honestpt.com, for a client here in the Portland area.  The entire site was designed from scratch in collaboration with Mike Seng (www.mikeseng.com), a Portland based copywriter.  The concept was to come up with a very clean and inviting design that made people feel comfortable with the idea of a personal trainer.  Often, when we think of personal trainers, we think of intimidating muscle men.  Not the case with Honest PT.  The sites relaxing and organic colors are inviting and do not scream “More Protein!”.  One of the sites features is a “Health News” page that can be updated by the client to provide training and eating tips.