The Mystery Guest Web Design - General Business


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General Business The thing I love about web design is that it is not in the slightest bit industry specific. No matter what you do, a website can be useful, and as a result I am no stranger to variety. The examples below include a graphic designer, a greeting card wholesaler, a snail farmer, a cricket club, a bridal shoe shop, a culture hub, an insurance company and a newsletter.	If you are looking for an example of something particular the 'Features' section under each title summarises the main techniques used on the site. The text goes into more detail regarding the design ideas behind the sites, and the screen shots link to the actual site so you can have a look for yourself.
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Scoop Media - www.scoopmedia.com.au
Features: Flash '1-page' design, 3D Flash, Flash galleries, Collaboration
Scoop Media is a Sydney based graphic design company and this site is a great example of a collaborative production between me and my client. The client came to me with a static representation of the site and lots of ideas, and it was up to me to take these ideas and turn them into a functioning website. The spinning oval was my first journey into simple 3D Flash and provides a unique twist on the slideshow idea without compromising speed or usability. The galleries feature buttons that control the presentation and allow the user to switch from automatic to manual. The most important thing here was to make the navigation as intuitive and easy to use as possible. Although the general design is unique the use of a familiar interface (play/stop/forward/reverse symbols) allows visitors to quickly associate the functions with the buttons and start navigating through the galleries with very little inconvenience.

Cards Only - www.cardsonly.com.au
Features: Registration System, Content varies depending on visitor status, basic online ordering, Frames based navigation
Cards only supplies retailers with high quality greeting cards and the site was created to allow retailers to browse the catalogue, get pricing information and place their orders online. While the site was mainly aimed at retailers it was also important that members of the public were able to browse the catalogue as well, without having access to prices or the online ordering facility. To make this possible I set up a registration system whereby retailers submit their details via an online form. The information is emailed to Cards Only and the retailer is then contacted and given a password. The next time the retailer visits the site they can then log in using this password. If a site visitor is not logged in no pricing information is displayed next to the images and the 'Order' button is disabled. Once the retailer has logged in the prices appear next to the images and they can access the order form. The ordering system is based on the shopping cart design where retailers can browse the collection and add card packs to their order form at any time. When they are ready to make their order they are presented with a completed order form on which they can make any further selections or quantity adjustments.

Snail Farming in Australia - www.snailfarming.net
Features: Standard Frames based navigation, basic online ordering, content based on visitors settings
If you don't know already, Sonya Begg is Australia's number 1 snail farming expert and this site provides an opportunity for her to bring her knowledge to the world. The site is very visually pleasing and simple to use, allowing easy access to the information provided. A simple online form is used to take orders for the 'Snail Farming in Australia' book. When the form is submitted a notification is sent and the customer is automatically sent a confirmation email with instructions on how to complete the order. A small amount of Flash is used to bring a bit of life and good feeling to the pages without getting in the way of the content. This site also adapts automatically to the visitors screen resolution by displaying the most appropriately formatted version of the menu.

Unlimited Amusements (Order Form Only) - www.unlimitedamusements.com.au/rockit/ AND click 'Bookings Page'
Features: Flash based order form, dynamic database integration, admin section
Unlimited amusements hires out equipment for parties and special events and one major part of this is their Rockit jukebox and karaoke machine hire. The site was already established and I added an order form for these machines. The 5 page form is designed within Flash to give it a more smooth and contained feel as it is all on the one web page, rather than being a succession of different pages, as with regular html forms. Even though the form is Flash based, afamiliar interface was used - that is grey submit buttons, check boxes and radio buttons. The hire prices vary depending on location and these details are all stored in the database. The form then adjusts the prices displayed, depending on the options chosen by the person making the order. Admin are also able to change the prices of the various items at any time.

ánimo - www.animo.com.au
Features: Online forms, PDFs, Updateable Calendar, Exchange Rates.
ánimo is a two part website representing both business interests of my client, ánimo being a word describing the sentiment behind the business as a whole. London Accommodation - This part of the site serves to promote a flat in London available as rental accommodation for visitors to the city. The site uses two navigation menus. Down the left are links specific to the flat itself such as a tour, bookings, availability and a form for enquiries. Along the top are links for more generalised information such as public transport, UK weather, Exchange rates etc. By keeping these two menus separate and distinct 11 different links can remain on the page at all times without being confusing. The availability section features a ca lander showing available dates for the flat. This can be adjusted by my client from an admin section. LMA - Leadership Management Australia is a company who provide various employee training programs and this section of the site serves as an online brochure for the organisation. The site uses a standard left hand menu for easy navigation through the information.

Bankstown District Cricket Club - www.bankstowncricket.com
Features: Completely owner-updateable, message board, JavaScript remote control
The Bankstown District Cricket club is quite a well respected club, being the home of such names as the Waugh brothers, so it was quite exciting to be the one to give them an online presence. The site was intended for the long term and therefore the main requirement was that it could be maintained from season to season without any reliance on a web designer being present. To make this possible I made almost every part of the site completely updateable via an admin section that can be accessed from any web browser. The process of updating was designed for even the most non computer savvy person and is as simple as saving a microsoft word document as HTML (.html instead of .doc) and uploading it via a form in the admin section. Statistics, reports and other information can all be updated this way. In addition, current season photos can be easily added to the photo gallery, allowing the site to remain completely up to date. Another goal for the site was to create a central community for members of the club, both past and present, wherever they are in the world. Enter the Message Board. One of the great functions of the web is to unite like minded people from anywhere in the world and give them a place to have a voice and Message Boards do just that. Bankstown cricketers from all over can discuss anything, contact each other, find long lost friends etc etc etc. As far as navigation goes on the BDCC site people have two choices - there are standard links at the top and bottom of each page enabling access to any page, or there is a pop up remote control which can remain open at all times and control the content in the main browser window.

Eternity Bridal Shoes - www.eternitybridalshoes.com
Features: Photo gallery
The Eternity Bridal Shoes site is an example of how the physical location can be represented by the site. The shop itself looks great with lime walls lined with wedding shoes and a gorgeous old church pew in the middle. I was able to recreate this look on the site by taking a photo of the store interior and using it as the centrepiece on the home page. I then used the colour of the store as the main background colour. The main purpose of the site is to allow people to browse their collection of shoes so I created a simple html photo gallery. The index page contains thumbnails (small photos) of each shoe and visitors can click on any of them to view the larger image and the particulars. Visitors then have the option of returning to the index or advancing forward or backward through the gallery. This is a very standard way of presenting images on the web, the advantage being that it is very likely that most visitors to your site will be familiar with this technique.

Being Me - www.beingme.com.au
Features: 3 panel layout, standard HTML and images, fast loading & simple, PDF downloads.
Being Me is a Sydney based organisation providing innovative yoga coaching to individuals and business. The easy navigation and colours used serve to represent the professional & friendly nature of the company and the healing nature of yoga. The site is a traditional brochure site providing background information on the company, details of the courses, testimonials from past clients and other information.

National Risk Services - www.natrisk.com.au
Features: Logo Design, Frames based navigation, form-to-database
The NRS site is one of the first sites I designed and features a standard 2 panel frames based navigation system where the links along the top control the content in the main window. The brochure request form submits the information into a database table (MS Access). I then developed an admin section from which this information can be accessed.

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