Web Design (and Writing)
The following web site designs also showcase writing and content development. Most of these are close to or at 100% of the written content having been crafted by Creative Business Services to meet specific presentation objectives. Best of all, those objectives are effectively being met, even by wide margins and all time revenue highs.
DXair is the result of “outside the box” thinking long before the term got popularized. Back in the 1970’s an engineer pondered the idea, “There must be a better way,” after observing the shortfalls of conventional thinking concerning methods to control humidity in an indoor pool environment, plus the problems with installing, maintaining, and servicing the equipment. Innovative pool room dehumidification systems soon followed.
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!! Beautifully done and laid out!!!!
Chris Leonetti — DXair
Huckins Construction is a high end “third generation craftsman” remodeling company. A specialty of theirs is “aging in place” remodeling to empower people with limited mobility to live safely and independently in their own homes. The local market located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast has a high concentration of senior population. The design and content is carefully crafted to reach this market segment and has been very effective.
My revenue has doubled if not close to tripled. Steve has done an awesome job!!!!!
Nathaniel Huckins — Huckins Construction
The MVS (Machinery Valuation Specialists) machinery and equipment appraisals site is a great example of clean and simple design with an appropriate corporate essence. The presentation needs to convey the professionalism, experience, and credentials required in straightforward form without clutter or fluff. Unlike many of our designs, this example is light on our writing and is better described as proofing and editing of client supplied copy meeting the industry requirements. Exceptions are the Service Area pages where more writing liberty could be safely implemented.
The Alpha Prison Ministries web site has seen many changes since the original design in 2004. Prison ministry is not something most people know much or anything about and this content rich site offers intriguing insights. Alpha has a success rate of nearly 90% helping men to become productive members of society instead of burdens to the taxpayers. This breaks the cycle of crime and restores broken families. Writing quality is also demonstrated in the newsletters written and edited by me, Steve Chittenden, in addition to the site content itself.
I have had the privilege of working with Precision Piano Services’ owner Franco Skilan repeatedly since 2007 when I did a site overhaul with extensive redesign and search engine optimization (SEO) to help him showcase his genuine and rare expertise (and passion) for restoring and servicing the world’s finest pianos, especially Steinway and Sons. Franco is the kind of piano enthusiast and expert a fine piano owner can only hope to find…someone who doesn’t just service pianos but is called to do so. The most recent total revamping of his site not only accentuates his timeless approach amid a quick and dirty wholesale world, it emphasizes proper tribute to the legacy of his father Giovanni who worked side by side with Franco for more than 25 years before his passing in 2015, a heritage that very much continues to live on.
Video Content
Video content marketing is pretty much a necessity in today’s market. If you’re within reasonable travel distance of Grand Rapids, Michigan, video production can be included as part of your web design project. Reasonable is determined by a number of factors so it never hurts to inquire with us about video production. The promotional video here and on the Alpha Prison Ministries site featured above are examples of Paul and his team’s work, produced by his independent studio, Paul Matthew Media, and used with permission since he and his connections are part of the Creative Business Services’ resource pool.
Graphic Design
There’s a significant amount of crossover between web design and graphic design but not necessarily the other way around. Graphic design skill is very useful in web design but web graphics are terrible in graphic design. In this digital age, some of the detrimental side effects include things like the wrong software getting used for the wrong purpose and the buyer is getting played. Ask any print or sign shop owner about Photoshop artwork and watch their eyes roll back in their head as they answer.
These points are not just to assure you that we provide qualified graphic design, but the process can work in reverse when we’re building a web site. It’s not at all uncommon for us to recreate or replicate logos and other graphics so they don’t look so awful trying to use sub par files while building a site. The web sites above look clean and sharp because of these facts.
Here are a few selected examples of graphic design because although our primary service is web site design, graphic design skill paired with the determination to master the radically different discipline of effective web design is a winning force not easily reckoned with.
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Tri-fold flyers are very popular for good reason. They can be easily mailed, handed out, and displayed. They provide an economical means to promote, and they work very well if designed correctly. The flyer shown above illustrates how any photo or artwork can be woven into a keepsake. This “generic” version was created for dealers such as professional photographers to promote the service, and add their information to the back cover.
Being a graphic designer, of course I designed the logo for my own company so it makes sense to feature it as a logo design. Clean and simple are the most basic rules of logo design but the challenge is making it unique so it’s easily distinguishable from other logos. That’s why simple isn’t easy, a logo design should never be rushed through. Figure it this way, you’ll be using your logo for a long time, probably the life of your business. It’s important to get it right.
The example above shows the melding of art with technology. This client was paying tribute to his ancestor, a founding member of an Australian rugby team. Since photographs were limited, artwork was required to create this circa 1908 image. I commissioned my very talented daughter to create the color pencil sketches, then used digital imaging to fine tune the finished artwork.
Not every picture starts out perfect, but problems can be fixed through photo editing. The example above is a fall color scene taken in three, slightly overlapping segments. Not only are the colors dulled from the pictures being being too dark, there are some unsightly tar lines in the road that detract from the image. All three images were combined and corrected for a wide angle view, the vibrancy of the colors was brought to life, and the finished image was edited to draw the eye to the beauty of this fall color scene—and this was done years before AI editing! I also use examples like this to help coach clients on picture taking for more striking imagery in their presentations.
The above is actually a mock-up and not the finished vehicle graphics but this image was both for client approval and to assist the sign company. I am a former sign guy and did produce the files to use for the actual vinyl cutting. It’s also worth mentioning that I created the logo design and have done the artwork for all the needed materials like stationary, signs, ads, etc. This expertise benefits both the client and the vendor producing the materials, like these vehicle graphics.
Request Your Own Custom Proposal
This portfolio should provide a good scope of what we do without being overwhelming to review. Simply fill out our Request for Proposal and we’ll be able to create designs for you that help compel more people to do business with you.