This project represented a huge undertaking of both redesign, and re-coding of their site.  We started over, from the ground up, and re-did everything.

This new site is built more aesthetically pleasing, and is much more user-friendly, focusing more on what’s important – the cars.  The work Automotive Perfection does is top-notch, and they wanted a website redesign to represent that top-notch clientele.

This change in their business model also allowed us to completely redesign their website, removing the element of paying to download games locally to a PC. Their new business model allowed us to simply link to the Apple iTunes App Store, and let the purchasing happen there.

The client requested this new site to be simplistic, web 2.0, and one single page.  The result was a web 2.0 feel, utilizing many newer technologies (including CSS3 and jQuery), and has the entire site’s content on one page, utilizing jQuery to scroll up and down the page in a smooth, appealing manner.

The new site incorporates a contact us form directly on their homepage, a live Twitter feed, links to the iTunes store, a scrolling iPhone image rotater containing images from the game, a CSS3 menu including dynamic shadows for the menu items, rotating client testimonials, and Twitter & Facebook links.

Our work on this project included archiving the existing website, mocking up a few variations of the new design, incorporating client feedback, and eventually building the website from our mockup.  We provide ongoing maintenance to the site, as well.

Without getting too much detail, we were able to come up with a design concept, based solely on what we knew about Transparent Financial.  The artistic direction we took was entirely our own, from the layout, to the color scheme.  Only the content was provided to us, via the previous website.

We mocked up the site, and the clients were immediately in love.  Once we turned it into a website, we added some more features to it, and expanded it a bit to where it is now.  The site launched December 7th, 2009.

]]> http://www.mjjdesigns.net/transparent-financial/feed/ 0 http://www.mjjdesigns.net/presto-iphone-application/ http://www.mjjdesigns.net/presto-iphone-application/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:00:44 +0000 Mike http://www.mjjdesigns.net?p=312 Presto is an iPhone application that allows the user to easily send updated contact information to anyone (or everyone) in their address book, instantly. It can also be used to send someone else’s contact information, instantly, wirelessly. No more writing down your phone number, and handing it to someone new you meet.  Simply use Presto, and they’ll have your entire contact information instantly.

MJJ Designs was contracted not only to build the website for Presto, but also to design the graphics used in the application itself (examples of the app icon, an app page and the site itself can be seen below).  The company wanted the site to look similar to an iPhone, and to utilize a similar functionality. Visitors to the site can click on any of the highlighted icons to visit the sections of the website, just as they would touch an iPhone icon to use the app.

We created an iPhone image in Photoshop, added some clickable icons to emulate the iPhone functionality, and an AJAX window popup to show the content of each section.  It’s a straightforward design with a simple concept – one that the company has been thrilled with.

His concept for the site is fairly simple – users register, select if they’re a director or screenwriter, and they get automatically listed on the site, under their respective category.

We developed the site utilizing PHP, and MySQL.  The backend was written as a registration and profile system, where users can sign up, and modify their profile at any time.

When it came time to decide how to allow people to contact members of DirectItAll, we thought about personal privacy first, and technology secondly.  Initially, the owner wanted to simply display e-mail addresses on the site.  When we explained the spam implications of doing that, we came up with a more secure idea.  When a user clicks “Contact this Director” or “Contact this Screenwriter”, a form loads, with the destination person’s e-mail address hidden in a form variable that is virtually unspammable. This allows users to contact each other, securely.

In a future version, the owner has cited that he’d like to make an online messaging system available, similar to Facebook’s messaging system.  We’ve already begun working on this part of phase two.

Their previous website was built in the late ’90s, and drastically outdated.  They contracted us to rebuild their site, refresh their look, and build new features in, that the previously wanted but didn’t have.

We began with an overhaul of the aesthetics of the site, keeping their existing logo intact, to maintain their brand.  When it came time to write the code for the site, we built in some simple ad rotation on the front page (which cycles through their available services, two at a time), and a “coupons” section, which displays the current month’s coupons.  The owner of the store has the ability to easily update those coupons, which automatically update month to month, on the website itself.

This is the second version of the site.  Its predecessor was more simplistic, focused more on content than intriguing design.  This new design allowed us to have the flexibility to customize the site to the owner’s needs.

The site is built with WordPress as a backend blogging application.  We provided the customized theme, modifications, and education on how to use the new features implemented into WordPress.

Since the redesign, traffic to the site has increased by 120%, and revenue generated has increased by 60%.

The entire site is written in PHP, with a MySQL backend database. It was all hand coded in Notepad. The graphics and logo were made in Photoshop CS4, sliced in Illustrator CS4.

This is the second design for MovieSnobs, which added a third column, improved the appearance and functionality of comments and added new features to the review pages.

The site was created based on simplicity, and the need for the owner of the company to be able to add images to the gallery without knowing any HTML or code skills.

The site was built in PHP, utilizing core code from the ZenPhoto project to power the gallery. This allowed us to complete the job much faster than if we were to write the code 100% from scratch. The site focuses more on displaying the information in a clear and concise manner than having advanced site features. The end result is stylish, yet not overbearing on the visitor.

MJJ Designs designed a Javascript based game from scratch to power the heart of the website. This site was designed in Photoshop CS, and coded using a combination of AJAX, Javascript and PHP, with a MySQL backend database. Other services include updating games on a monthly basis, e-mailing thousands of players on a monthly basis through a custom designed mailing list, and determining the actual center of the missing ball. MJJ Designs also painstakingly removed the ball from each of the game images using Photoshop CS and an extreme attention to detail.