We’ve just wrapped up a website redesign for Better Together Baking, just in time for their debut at the Fancy Food show. Holy cow! The transition is pretty remarkable, if we do say so ourselves!
Needmore Redesigns the Better Together Bake Shop
WordPress
The Black Sea Movie
Our dear friend Brian Padian is set to start production on his film, The Black Sea Movie. See how you can support the project.
Our dear friend Brian Padian (Big Black Dark) is set to start production on his film, The Black Sea Movie, in just a few short months. Perhaps you would like to support the film or keep up with the process on Facebook.
Needmore Designs for J&R Group
J&R Group owns and operates a number of properties in the Portland area. They came to us to create a website with a youthful and visually interesting approach.
WP Engine Hosting Blues
A week ago, we walked into what can only be described as every website owner’s worst nightmare, the dreaded malware warning. Warning: Visiting this site may harm your computer! How could we have gotten to this point?
We have had a website for over 8 years now without such an incident occurring. Then, a couple weeks ago, we made the decision to move the Needmore website to fancy, fully hosted hosting package at WP Engine. (We were seduced by claim of lightening fast, secure hosting.) Their motto is: The buck stops with us and we take that responsibility very seriously. These are big words, but unfortunately not at all what we experienced when our website was hacked.
Vignette’s Website Goes Forth
We’ve just launched a new website for Vignette Brand Communications.
We knew we were in for a treat the first time we stopped in to meet the Vignette team; we’ve never been to a studio with such genuine warmth and as many smiles (the adorable baby was a bonus). This group is top notch. Brands need communication — these are the people you want telling your story.
Sonny
We are upgrading client websites to Sonny (WordPress 3.3) this week. We think some of the new features are rad, especially the responsive admin area. Don’t just take our word for it, check out all the new features.
Software’s Degree of Change
Drupal and WordPress are similar, but different, pieces of software you use to power your website. We used to build sites with both, but lately our focus has been exclusively on WordPress.
Perhaps surprisingly, one of the biggest reasons is the pace at which the software is developed.
Average time between major Drupal revisions: 2 to 3 years.
Average time between major WordPress revisions: 2 to 3 times per year.
Degree of change between Drupal revisions: large changes, breaks compatibility.
Degree of change between WordPress revisions: small changes, rarely breaks much.
Cost of moving from one Drupal version to the next: very expensive and time-consuming.
Cost of moving from one WordPress version to the next: simple, often trivial.
When you see this pattern emerge, and you care about supporting your clients moving forward, it becomes difficult for a web designer to recommend Drupal without a very good reason.
A Fresh New Website for Midlothian Dermatology
As the Northwest sun finally joins us in the last month of summer, it seems completely appropriate that we would put the final touches on a new website for Midlothian Dermatology, located in Midlothian, Virginia. (Fact: Midlothian is the inspiration for the town of Middlesex, Virginia in Donnie Darko.)
Completely unsatisfied with dermatology websites that currently existed—”I want something different…I want design!”—Dr. Bohannon-Grant approached us to create a clean, minimal website with personality. We took the office’s passion for their work (they were, after all, just voted Richmond’s best dermatology office), art, and design to heart and created a site that is clean and modern with a friendly, upscale, artistic flair.
The end result is a far cry from a typical, sterilized doctor’s website (but, of course, has all the necessary accouterments: downloadable forms, easy access to information, easy to update). Midlothian Dermatology now has a site that reflects their honest, engaging office atmosphere and personality.
We’ve Redesigned… Responsively
Design Patterns for WordPress Websites
A design pattern is a general reusable solution to a commonly occurring problem in software design. Read on for our thoughts about how this concept can be applied to web design... and why.
It’s important to have more than one field of interest, especially on a professional level. You never know when the concepts of one discipline will be useful in another. While software programming and web design aren’t exactly opposites, I’ve always felt that web design could benefit more from some heavier programming concepts. What we need are more design patterns for our web work.
