backgroundBruce Nyberg, Contractor, Inc., has brought to life the vision of architects and designers throughout Santa Cruz County and the greater Bay Area since 1971. |
challengeDespite decades of high-end residential construction experience, few high-resolution photographs were available of projects completed since the general contractor launched its original website 12 years earlier. |
solutionTo compensate, I highlighted two recently photographed jobs that showed distinct styles, “Modern” and “Mediterranean.” To illustrate the GC’s breadth, I created a “Previous Jobs” gallery from lower-resolution photographs and showcased current jobs on an “In Progress” page. To further expand the site’s graphical breadth and to emphasize the GC’s strong client focus, an image of a handwritten note of appreciation from a client became the centerpiece of a “Testimonials” page. |
backgroundStrogoff Consulting, Inc., guides architecture, engineering, landscape architecture and specialty design firms on mergers and acquisitions, ownership transitions, practice management and strategic marketing. |
challengeAlthough the website developed 14 years earlier had been updated several times as the practice evolved, its design appeared out of date on larger monitors and mobile devices. The site also lacked appeal to the consultant's design-oriented clientele. An entire re-design was overdue. |
solutionConsultants typically rely on text-heavy sites to convey the array of services offered, and they often use photographs of generic content or stock photos of business people conferring with one another while examining a graph. For this architect turned management consultant, I photographed buildings that would speak to his clientele, adding both visual richness and the unspoken message that he understands their businesses. I reorganized the site and reduced the text by over 50% without compromising the content. |
backgroundaecKnowledge, Inc., provides online continuing education to architects and other design professionals. A lot of the site's videos are of subject matter experts speaking about a narrow area of their expertise. |
challenge
The design of the original user-interface had held to the principle that there should be multiple ways to access the same content. On a relatively small site, this created a cacophony of distractions that made for a busy UI. In addition, the selection screens for the videos portrayed a collection of "talking heads" with little to entice prospective viewers. |
solution
Redundant access points that made the previous design look cluttered were eliminated. On the search screens, the head shots were interspersed with photos of buildings discussed in the videos and with color blocks highlighting quotes by the subject matter experts. On the home page, a slide show of high-resolution images and Latin music highlighted new content and leveraged the outstanding visuals of the online courses. |
background
Since 1999, Summit Professional Builders, Inc., has constructed high quality new homes, additions, alterations, historical restorations and commercial renovations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. |
challengeThe existing website was over 12 years old and lacked visual hierarchy. The design was outdated, and a fresh look was called for. The general contractor had over 700 photographs from which to choose, many of which did not portray the quality of the construction craftsmanship. |
solutionI curated the projects, eliminating older jobs that did not appeal to a younger generation of homeowners and culled the 700 photographs to 174 that best represented the construction quality and variety of the GC. Similarly, the existing text was edited, and compelling text for new jobs was developed from scratch. |