My Portfolio.
See below for a selection of my web work, either created as a freelancer, or at my time as chief designer working at Wessex Networks.
Click on the large title links to see details of that project.
Shirted Ape
Claire Ellams – owner of Shirted Ape – wanted an eCommerce site to sell Shirted Ape t-shirts. The design had to be clean and not get in the way of the wide range of signature t-shirts.
I decided to use hosted service Shopify as the solution. This was perfect for the budget, and for a non-bespoke solution its ease of use is second-to-none. Key features of the site:
- Great looking – it really suits the product and the look-and-feel of the photography.
- Very easy to use and update across all areas of the site – products, shipping cost and page content.
- Provided training videos to ensure that the website administrator never gets lost.
- Table-less XHTML/CSS templates.
The Recruitment Place
Whilst working at Wessex Networks, I was chief designer, responsible for the recruitment site The Recruitment Place's design and XHTML/CSS templates. I also oversaw the entire development process. The site had to look clean and maintain their current branding. Key areas of the site include:
- Totally Bespoke CMS created from the ground up.
- Ability to browse jobs by location or by sector
- Option for the user to perform a loose or highly-focussed search of jobs.
- Users can upload their details and attach a CV on the site which in turn sends a HTML email to the client.
- SEO friendly URLs/links
- Photography was sourced by us.
Succour
The design had to suit the strong visual identity which the readers of Succour are accustomed to. I chose a bold black and white theme to compliment the print-based publication. It is a strong design not afraid of corners, rectangles and flat shapes. It really gets back to basics. The design was then templated and integrated into Shopify – a simple-to-use hosted shopping cart solution (a site where you can buy products online). Key features:
- Very strong design that maintains total functionality.
- Easy for the client to use and update across all areas of the site – products, shipping cost and page content.
- Provided training videos to ensure that the website administrator never gets lost.
- Table-less XHTML/CSS templates.
Hannah Forward
Hannah Forward's illustrations and other works have a definite and individual style; it was important the design of the site never intrude or overpower her work, but instead frame and compliment it. I worked closely with Hannah to create the design which is functional, easy to navigate and aesthetically suitable.
I chose to use Wordpress as our CMS – Hannah has previous experience in using this and I knew it could meet all her functional requirements. I met all of Hannah's requirements, some of which required hand-coded customisation and plugins:
- Easy to use and update.
- A gallery/picture viewer module which she could use to add pictures to each page/post.
- Have dynamic menu highlighting.
- Easily embed YouTube videos into each post/page.
- Multiple sections/category pages for each type of work.
- SEO friendly URLs/links
Fleurs
Whilst working at Wessex Networks, I was chief designer, responsible for the eCommerce site Fleurs Florist's design and XHTML/CSS templates. I also oversaw the entire development process. The site makes great use of high-quality photos of Fleurs Florists' flowers and plants. Key areas of the site include:
- Totally Bespoke CMS created from the ground up. Administrators can easily add/edit/delete products and view orders.
- Seamless integration into payment gateway Protx. This included custom payment templates.
- HTML email sent to both customers and Fleurs. Fleurs email was designed to be printed out for delivery drivers all on one page.
- SEO friendly URLs/links
CETLD
Brought in as developer and consultant, I encouraged the CETLD Management to invest in a site re-design. Their old site design was not living up to expectations and was not returning as expected. Our roles involved:
- Assessing the situation and getting up to speed fast.
- Creating a rough design showing what the website could be like.
- Pitching the site redesign to the management and asking them to release funds.
- Meeting with design and development agency CogApp to initiate the re-design.
- Ensure the speedy progress of the design implementation.
Nutrition Lifestyle
Whilst working at Wessex Networks, I was chief designer, responsible for the brochure site Nutrition Lifestyle.'s design and XHTML/CSS templates. The site implements various SEO techniques to ensure it improves page visibility on search engines such as Google. Key successes included:
- Sourced photography.
- Top in Google for specified search term 'Horsham' + 'Nutritionist'.
- A sister site has been created optimised for 'London'+'W1'+'Nutritionist'. This site is cross-linked with the original Horsham site.
- Extra care paid to SEO related code e.g. keyword density, title tags, heading tags, CSS text-to-image CSS replacement techniques etc.
Business Rates
Whilst working at Wessex Networks, I was chief designer, responsible for creating the Joomla powered site Business Rates.'s design and XHTML/CSS templates. Joomla was the correct solution for the budget and type of site – quick to implement and the usage learning curve is relatively small considering the amount of flexibly and power it provides. The design remit stipulated a close tie with their current site style, which was designed by Preview. Key areas of the design and build include:
- Full integration into Joomla
- User editable pages, blogs and navigation
- Photography sourced by us.
- Created assets and imagery.
- Re-wrote content to make more SEO friendly
Currently, I am only available to work evenings and weekends.
Complete websites start from £1,200. My standard rates are: £240 per day & £30 per hour.
I also create Graphic & Logo Designs. Please Contact Me for further information. View my Portfolio.