SolarWinds is a developer and marketer of network management software. Based in Austin, TX, the company sells downloadable software products that maintain, monitor and troubleshoot IT networks. As the designer for the SolarWinds/Cisco minisite, I was responsible for visual design of all pages. Specific tasks included iterative wireframe designs and bridging SolarWinds and Cisco brand standards.
After overcoming some epic server-related obstacles, the refreshed Peace Corps has finally launched. Over the next few days I’ll describe the design, development and marketing phases for this project, but in the meantime, check out the new site at www.peacecorps.gov.
Denver-based MicroStar Keg Management provides kegs to brewers around the globe. The site design and code was rebuilt to work seamlessly with the company’s order processing system.
Work performed: design, XHTML, CSS, ASP
Work performed: information architecture, wireframes, UI, interaction design, visual design
Since 1984, Smash Records has been a Washington, D.C. institution for punk music and apparel. In addition to stocking independent titles, the store specializes in rare and out-of-print recordings.
Work performed: information architecture, wireframes, design
I’m still dying to see the Peace Corps’ website refresh go live (there are still a few hang ups), but I thought I’d throw out a little teaser in the meantime. In addition to updated XHTML and CSS, the new site design will be more in line with the agency’s overall design direction. By eschewing the Peace Corps’ familiar palette, I was able to introduce warmer patterns that bring an international flavor to the site. Below are a few of the images that will be used as the site’s background.
The Mongolia Travel website highlights unique tours throughout Mongolia. When completed, the site will feature reservation booking, travel blogs, and photo galleries.
Work performed: information architecture, design, technical project management, XHTML, CSS, XML, PHP, CMS implementation, SEO
The Partly Cloudy WordPress theme is customized for bands who need seamless multimedia and tour date integration with the WordPress admin panel. The theme is currently under development and will be released under Creative Commons licensing with full template files and a layered PSD.
Work performed: logo design, site design, XHTML, CSS, PHP, Flash
After years of struggling with client-side support for video formats, I finally have a clear favorite. With over 98% penetration on users’ computer systems, Adobe Flash ensures that visitors to the Peace Corps website see our videos. The video player is an adaptation of Jeroen Wijering’s FLV Media Player, which was chosen for it’s playlist, skinning, and plugin capabilities. Out of the box the player includes basic controls and functionality, but with a bit of tweaking, becomes a magnificent tool for any website.
Before the video player was upgraded, maintaining the Peace Corps video library was an absolute headache. In addition to supporting multiple file formats in varying bitrates (we still had measurable dial-up traffic), transcripts for each video had to be displayed for Section 508 compliance. With the FLV player, closed captioning could be imported from a TimedText XML file. Sweet!
In lieu of adding icons to the player’s main toolbar, an expanded view shows user options in a more descriptive manner. Once the main video is complete, additional videos are recommended.
Here are a few drafts that led me to the final design.
The Peace Corps Challenge is an interactive game aimed at sparking interest in volunteering among youth. The game gives children the opportunity to work in the fictional village of Wanzuzu as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Kids must work with local villagers and Peace Corps members to solve eight different challenges facing Wanzuzu.
Work Performed: information architecture, user flows, interaction design
website design and development, search engine optimization, electronic marketing and email campaigns, custom content management, blog, and mailing list implementations
