She wanted to go for a clean design with all of the focus on her material. She also wanted a very easy system to work with and update, to fit in with her busy schedule, which is why WordPress was a perfect fit.

I helped her make the transition and since then, have been her go-to person for any issues or changes that she’s wanted to make. Whether it’s something simple that she can’t quite get her head around, or something a little more complex that she just needs to hand over to a developer, I’ve been there to help her with her every need.

The website allows her to show of images of her work as well as a run-down of the services she offers, and resources for potential brides. She also proudly hosts reviews from couples she has worked with in the past.

She also has an accompanying blog, that matches the main site in style, and gives her a personal touch, that helps set her apart as an expert at what she does, and allows prospective clients to see a little of the personality behind the face before they even engage her services.

However, the time came when she realised that they needed overhauling and some unification to carry the brand through between the different sites. So she got in touch with me.

We worked together to establish a list of all of their existing web properties and which ones needed to be overhauled. We went through several design ideas to find the perfect fit for them, which would allow a lot of customisation, while retaining the power of features like post formats, custom backgrounds and a WordPress multisite setup.

Over the next few months we set about designing the sites one by one and transferring them individually to the new server. The staggered transition helped ensure that everything was in place on a site-by-site basis without being overwhelmed and allowed Basia and her team to focus on a single task at a time.

The new suite of sites is connected by a common navigation bar that highlights which site in the suite they are currently on. The suite also has a number of commercial features such as an events calendar, blogs, e-commerce sales and portfolios.

The network has allowed Plant Kingdom Communications to capture the best of today’s technologies to reach a wider audience and offer a uniform and modern branding style.

After getting in touch with her, I helped her by answering all of her questions and concerns about what moving to a self-hosted site would mean, as far keeping her custom domain name, her images, content, and the appearance of her site.

Once we discussed all the details and developed a plan for transitioning her site, I set about making the transfer to her new server. The transition went very smoothly and the site was just as she had left it on wordpress.com, except now with the ability to install plugins and modify her theme.

Having met with the project manager, we settled on a layout and general appearance to reflect the company’s new look. The website was designed from the ground up by The UK Edge, with graphics being provided by Kawasumi’s marketing agency, Doubletake Studios.

Essential components of the website include individual pages for every product in their product line, complete with pictures, product information and ordering information, as well as a cross-reference lookup, which allows users to enter a competitor’s product code and have the equivalent Kawasumi product returned to them.

Kawasumi also use their website to host informational videos about their product lines and are looking to expand upon the content available on the website, so that their sales reps can put the right information in front of their clients (both existing and prospective) at the drop of a hat.

Reedu launched ReeWrite.com a few years ago and built up a group of committed readers, but she decided it was high time for a cosmetic change. After sending out a tweet for help, trying to make some changes herself, she decided to hire me instead to make the changes she was looking for.

We settled on a new theme for her site (using the Genesis framework) and proceeded to make some modifications to the theme so that it fit her needs precisely. She was very happy with the results and with her ability to call on me whenever she needed to make changes. She now retains me as an “as-needed contractor”, helping out and making changes whenever the need arises.

As such, the visual impact and technical capability of the site has to match the expectation set forth, so I went with a punchy design, with a clean slider at the top of the page, showcasing my newest tutorials. Below that is an easy-to-read display of my tutorial archive, where the emphasis is on the content. Nonetheless, each post is dressed up with an image and also shows the social impact of each article, with tweets and Facebook shares being shown beside each post.

Each individual post is displayed with enough color to keep the page aesthetically appealing, while stopping short of being distracting. The sidebar shows information in a clean and unimposing manner and allows me to add little things that I want to put in front of my readers.

Do It With WordPress is growing all the time and the visitors continue to be impressed by the appearance and functionality of the site.

Ashley had a few particular requirements, including the dark design. I worked with her to provide a site which put the emphasis strictly on her art. Although the site also has other essential elements, like her biography and a contact page, the front page consists of Ashley’s 25 latest creations. Each image becomes completely opaque as it is rolled over, so that even though the images all touch one another, each one can be visually isolated.

Ashley’s portfolio is a striking representation of her eclectic artwork and a prime example of how WordPress can be used to create all manner of websites.

Simon Tickett is a Sales Representative at Mercedes-Benz of Tampa and approached me about putting together a website which would allow him to establish a web presence which reflected his professional character as well as allowing him to interact with the whole, both globally and individually.

I provided Simon with a sharp black design, with a slider front and center on the front page, to allow him to display images of the latest Mercedes / AMG vehicles on offer. I also set up a news section, where he could update the world on the latest Mercedes-Benz news and interact with them one-on-one through the comments.

Simon also wanted a section where his customers could leave feedback, and following his approval, could post them to the site without the need to do any coding or editing any web pages. I also set up a biography page, contact page and links page, to round out the website and ensure that he is on the other end of the line when someone is looking for a new car in the Tampa Bay area.

It was a very bright and attention-grabbing design, while remaining very minimalist. It enabled me to beautifully display the sites I had created as well as advertise the variety of services that I offer.

While the site is no longer online, having been replaced by this site, you can get an idea of what it looked like from the screenshots below. ]]> http://www.theukedge.com/2010/10/20/websites-by-the-wandering-brit/feed/ 0