maryfranwiley.com » Web Design

Mobile Site Design

maryfran — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:55:14 +0000

I created a mobile application/site for YarnCon, Chicago’s own fiber nerd convention.

In keeping with the style of the logo & the current site, I changed it up a little using scraps of yarn as design elements and to create the map of the Chicago neighborhood where the event takes place.

The site was created in Flash and Illustrator CS4, and you can see a demo here.

Direct E-mail Campaign

maryfran — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:28:33 +0000

The client, a long standing bar in historic Geneva, Illinois (where they filmed much of Road to Perdition), was looking for a way to connect with the younger crowd that is currently growing in the suburbs of Chicago.

The e-mail design, a template that can be edited monthly to update customers of current specials, and to give them exclusive coupons (because really, if someone is going to send you an e-mail, they oughta send you a coupon!).

This was designed in Photoshop and built in Dreamweaver CS4.

Make-up artist portfolio

maryfran — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:17:59 +0000

Latoya wanted to portray a sleek and modern feel when she showcased her work as a freelance make-up artist for MAC cosmetics.

I chose pink, grey and white because they complemented her photographs and differentiated her from a crowd that typically uses all black for their backgrounds.

I bundled up the flash and gave it to the client, but after a hard drive crash, I no longer have the original flash files. The site has been replaced by a blog.

Built in Fireworks and Flash CS3.

Online Presence

maryfran — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:47:49 +0000

Ed Wiley and Associates is a small business consulting firm located outside Chicago and they specialize in web development and database systems (pretty intense stuff that I don’t always understand).

They needed an identity as well as a web presence, even though they have an established customer base. I designed the site to be clean and sophisticated so that it would appeal to the target market of small business owners.

The site is run using XHTML, CSS, a wee bit of JavaScript and will soon have a WordPress blog as well.

Center for the Arts

maryfran — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:19:40 +0000

This was a submission to recreate the website for the Division of Fine and Applied Arts at the College of DuPage. The goal was to create a feeling of a cohesive art community while the school finishes its NSAD accreditation. The site needed to be creative, modern and friendly as well as easily updated.

I designed the site to be managed using WordPress as opposed to using commented HTML files and extensive directions on how to update content.

The site uses CSS to handle all of the image rollovers & swaps, and just a little bit of flash to handle an audio file that showcases the chorale program at COD.

Design Firm Blog

maryfran — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:12:44 +0000

Create, Inc is a design and marketing firm that was started in the fall of 2008, and I have been working there since January of 2009. After the website was completed, the staff decided that they should implement all of the strategies that they advise their clients to take, including creating a blog.

The blog has a featured posts section to highlight recently completed projects.

The site is currently under development and is expected to go live in June 2009. It will be powered by WordPress.

Blues Music Blog

maryfran — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:02:25 +0000

When the noted blues musician Bill Dahl found out that his column was being cancelled due to budget cuts in traditional media, he was looking for a way to extend his current website with a venue to write his CD reviews and other industry news.

I created a WordPress based blog that makes use of custom fields for featured posts and integrated his Amazon Associate account with the site to make referencing music easy. The site is brand new as of May 2009, but if you are looking for a good read, or you just want to see more of my mad design chops, check out Bill Dahl’s blog.

The site was built with XHTML, CSS and WordPress.

Informational Site Design

maryfran — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:16:18 +0000

Fundwell.com is an online provider of the CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) certificate, and was in need of an overhaul of their 10+ year old front-end presence.

The client wanted their logo prominently featured on the home page and also wanted to use only those colors in the design of the site. The logo had to be re-created from a 150px by 150px gif file so that it could be used and featured.

And, although this site was built less than a year ago, the client has redesigned the site, so a link is no longer possible, however if you google them, rest assured that the site I build had no tables.

Built to be accessible with only XHTML & CSS.

Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver CS3 were all used in this project.

Idea Studio

maryfran — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:51:11 +0000

A small knitting store in the Chicago suburbs was in need of a site redesign. I am a fan of do-it-yourself projects, but it breaks my heart when places I shop have bad websites.

I created this site to appeal to the wide variety of clientele that frequent a yarn shop – everyone from teenagers and college students to your grandma. I wanted the site to be easy to use, easy to read and free of clutter.

The site is built around WordPress so that the client can update the site themselves.

Designed with Photoshop CS3 and built in Dreamweaver.