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web site design

Jul 17
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Atlanta Photo Workshops by Dean Stevenson Launches Web Site

By adult education, Atlanta, Atlanta Business, Dean Stevenson, photographer, Photography school, web site design

I met Dean Stevenson many years ago when I was taking classes at Showcase School of Photography. He is the best photography teacher that I have ever had. I never missed the opportunity to improve my knowledge and skills with a camera when he was teaching class. Sometimes I would get on the waiting list to take his classes, but it was worth the wait. Over the years I ended up taking every class that he taught until there were no more left.

I also had the opportunity to work with him professionally assisting him in a wedding shoot. I could see his work ethic up close. No detail was overlooked and the job was a success.

For years, Dean’s dream has been to open his own school of photography in his own studio space, and now that dream is a reality as Atlanta Photo Workshops opens for business.  Dean has designed several photography classes based on his experience teaching literally thousands of students. He has rewritten several of his core classes to be even better than before.

Students have the choice of taking 5 week courses that involve weekly assignments, a fieldtrip and critiques. Or, they can take a intensive lecture-based class in one day. Students also have an opportunity to have personal tutoring with his one-on-one courses. Large groups and photo clubs can hire Dean for seminars.

Courses include:

I built the web site for him and am proud to give back to the teacher I owe so much too. Thanks Dean. Best of luck with your photography school. Check out the site at www.AtlantaPhotoWorkshops.com
Feb 14
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FinancialConnex.com Launched

By financial advisor, web site design

I built the basic structure of FinancialConnex.com a while back, but it took many months to get the content added and approved by lawyers. In the theme of full disclosure, I am a client of Financial Connex and a friend of Mark Koppelmann who has been handling my finances and investments for several years.

Before him, I had been through a quite few advisers in my investment career, and I felt that they were lacking. Mark has been the best by far. In a nutshell, he is trustworthy and can explain the small print to me in a way that makes sense. I know in the past some of my advisers set me up with real dud investments that probably benefited them more than it did me. I never feel that way with Mark Koppelmann. I feel like I am in good hands and highly recommend Financial Connex.

Feb 06
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New Web Site for Honey Do Done!

By Atlanta Business, handy man services, web site design

Anyone with a “significant other” understands the importance of a “Honey-Do” list. This is the one that hangs on the refrigerator or next to a calendar of short and long-term projects that need to be completed. The more one get’s done on the list, the more honey one gets… or at least that is what is implied.

That might have been the inspiration for Honey Do-Done, a handyman business in Atlanta that can handle practically any job from small to large. Shane, the owner of the business, has a lot of experience doing many different types of odd jobs. I personally think this company provides a way for local husbands to get out of the doghouse… which coincidentally he can build for you too.

I built a basic web site for Honey Do-Done, and we will be adding to the site in coming months when he gets more project photos taken.

Dec 19
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Moving Away from Internet Flash

By Adobe Flash, Apple, Graphic Works, iPad, iphone, web site design
Flash sites don’t work on mobile devices
image from firstain.com 

We tell our clients, a lot can happen in a couple of years on the internet. Standards change, new browsers are released, new trends appear. All of these elements can date a web site quickly.

One of the biggest trends going right now is the movement away from Adobe Flash to create web sites. In the past, our clients requested Flash-based animated splash screens or whole web sites created using this technology. The big problem is that Flash sites are not easily indexed by search engines… I call them “stealth sites” because they can often fly under the radar of most search engines.

Some of the Flash sites required more bandwidth and faster processors to play smoothly. This was not usually a problem on desktop computers, but now more consumers are becoming dependent on smart phones to browse the internet. Flash is not currently supported on some popular devices such as iPhones, iPads and a number of other mobile device platforms. When one realizes the millions of mobile devices, the Flash problem is hard to ignore.

What happens when these web sites appear on these non-Flash enabled smart phones depends on how the site is built. In some cases, the user is redirected to an alternate non-flash site that has been optimized for smart phone use. In other cases where the issue has not been addressed, the user sees blank holes in the web site design or nothing at all.

Web designers are embracing non-Flash technology such as HTML5 which plays internet video natively without additional plugins. We are also using clever custom code to restore animation and graphic effects back to web sites. The upside of this is that these technologies will also work on smart phone browsers.

I personally believe that market share wars are being fought on the internet with many competing companies vying for control of our computing devices. Control equals dollars at the end of the day. Just look how far Google has embedded itself into our daily lives. Can you imagine the web without them? Didn’t think so.

Apple has famously drawn the line by not supporting Flash on their iPhones and iPads. Steve Jobs claims that this is because Flash web sites can require extreme band width and processing power which can put a strain on networks and drain phone batteries quickly. These are valid points, but really, it all might come down to control of market share and user experience.

Apple has its own platform for applications that it sells on its “App” Store, iTunes. If a competing technology such as Flash was allowed to run on Apple devices, Apple would lose the money it makes through the sale of Apps because consumers would have an alternate source for Apps. Hundreds of Flash App stores would pop up… guaranteed. Just as important to Apple, they might lose control over the user experience. For example, Apple does not allow pornography or obscene products to be sold in their store. They would not be able to control that with Flash Apps. Also, buggy or unsafe software  could cause stability issues.

While I have complained in the past about the lack of Flash support on iPhones, I applaud Apple for following their own path to give their consumers the best possible experience possible on their devices. Web designers and consumers can find creative alternative and life after Flash.

For non-Flash web site design, contact me at masqueman@gmail.com

Dec 02
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Graphic Works Atlanta Launches a New Portfolio Web Site

By Atlanta Business, Graphic Design, Graphic Works, web site design

They say that a cobbler’s children have no shoes. In the case of our web site at Graphic Works, we just had “old shoes”. After months of collecting new samples of our recent graphic design projects, web site designs and photography we were finally ready to unleash our promotional web site.

We designed this web site to be Flash-free and to work natively on Apple iPhones, iPads and other mobile devices that do not support Adobe Flash.

View the new Graphic Works web site at www.GraphicWorksAtlanta.com

Nov 05
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The Wedding of Angie and Eric

By Atlanta, photography, web site design, wedding

The big wedding day had finally come for Angie & Eric Scissom. I had met these two earlier in the year when I took their engagement photos. Now we were back in the same exact place for their wedding ceremony and reception.

Click to view Angie and Eric’s Wedding Gallery Web Site

It was an outside wedding, and the temperatures were anything but typical for mid September. It seems that summer wanted to hang out like a drunk who doesn’t know when to leave your house party. It was over 90 degrees that day and extremely humid. I soaked 3 shirts, and I felt a few pounds lighter when I got home. I was hoping not to get heat exhaustion.

I tend to go into high gear when working a wedding especially if I do not have a second shooter with me, and I try to be everywhere at once. To make  a long story short, the wedding went beautifully, the reception was wonderful and the spirits of everyone involved were high. Here are a few of my favorite photographs from that day.

Oct 21
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New Web Site for an Atlanta Tennis Coach

By Georgia, Kristoffer mellstrom, Marietta, portaits, tennis, web site design

My good friend, Kris, needed a simple web site for his freelance tennis coaching job. He asked me a year ago and waited patiently for me to get to it. I promised I would do it this week.

I took some photos of him playing tennis on a beautiful fall day, and I designed the web site for him. If you are ever in need of a tennis coach in the Marietta, Georgia area, give check him out at www.TennisKris.com.

Oct 14
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BannerstandExpo.com and Presentech.com Get a Major Update!

By Atlanta, Presentech, service burea, trade show, web site design

Presentech Advanced Print Solutions is an innovative service bureau in Atlanta, GA that specializes in small and large format color printing. I have personally used them for over 15 years (man, I’m old!), and they have constantly improved their service, products, machinery and lowered their prices. I never worry about them delivering stellar results that my clients will love. They provide some of the best values in the country for trade show displays which is a market they have been concentrating on for the past few years.

They have 2 different web sites that I have produced. www.Presentech.com has all their products and services, and www.BannerStandExpo.com concentrates on trade show signage and displays. Both web sites cater to different markets, with the latter planned to be self-serve e-commerce. I recently added 50 pages to the trade show display sections of both sites and reorganized all of the products that they offer. This was a huge improvement in ease-of-use for the end-users.

Oct 11
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Product Catalog and Web Site for Effective Environmental Systems

By catalogs, EES, Graphic Design, Graphic Works, web site design
View EES Product Catalog PDF
EES, Inc. (Effective Environmental Systems) is one of my oldest and most favorite clients. I feel like I have grown up with them and you would be hard pressed to find a nicer group of people.
Dan Ritter, the owner of the company, is an ex-marine and very patriotic, and our first catalog design for them reflected this with a red, white and blue color theme.

After years of success using this marketing, it was time for something noticeably new. Our latest catalog design features a green and blue color palette and elements from nature. We wanted to evoke a feeling of the fresh air you’d find outdoors. After all, the main products that they sell are air fresheners and industrial strength deodorizers. View the EES catalog PDF here.

We revamped their website with the new graphics theme for continuity. Visit them at www.eesatl.com for more information.

For graphic design and web site design services, please visit www.GraphicWorksAtlanta.com

Oct 11
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Another Tree Care Service Web Site

By corporate photography, tree care service, web site design
Visit the Maters Tree Care for Atlanta, GA

I had just completed the web site for R&L Tree Experts, LLC a few weeks ago, when I was approached by The Masters Tree Care Service to work on their web site.

This was not coincidence since the owners of both Atlanta tree care companies are brothers. Many of the services provided by each company is the similar and in cases of large jobs, they can combine resources and manpower.

To save them production costs, I reworked the previous web site to look different and changed the text where appropriate. It was a win-win situation for everyone. I was able to provide a second web site at a great discount.

Both of the tree care companies do great work and I have recommended them to my friends.

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