As a photographer based out of Dexter, IA (one hour west of Des Moines) Jill Gerling has managed to build a burgeoning base of customers around a common goal of capturing life’s most precious memories. In a word, she is one of the best there is in America’s heartland. Having had her as my own wedding photographer it was easy to see how painstakingly detailed Jill is about her craft and the importance of it in people’s lives. I was excited when she approached me about building a new website for her that acts as both a marketing tool and a customer portal for her numerous customers to review and order prints of their photos.

Developed parallel to a new business brand (complete with logo and stationary) the website echoes the new color palette and logo through clean colors and crisp web fonts powered by Google. To sum it all up, this website captures the spirit of why Jill is a photographer, it emphasizes the quality of her photos by careful placement all the while becoming an inviting place for the numerous couples and families she works with every day.

In use: WordPress, PhotoShop

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I’ve had the great pleasure of interacting with Jill Gerling on several occasions. She took my wedding photos, the first set of official family pictures we had taken with our son Gordon when he was six months old, and witnessed her practicing her craft for countless others. When I had the opportunity to create a new logo and business card for her I wanted to illustrate her focus on capturing families as they begin, flourish and grow, as well as her incredible versatility as a photographer with a keen eye. Above all, I have come to trust Jill and her brand had to convey this through a simple logo and inviting and cohesive colors.

In use: Illustrator, Photoshop

Fonts used: Vidaloka (Primary), Open Sans (Secondary)

Printing details: Printed by Moo on 16pt matte premium paper. Dual sided business cards with 5 backside varieties.

To aid business development, Nodaway County Economic Development (NCED), a not-for-profit corporation which is a public/private partnership approaches economic development as a team; which means listening to business, identifying needs, matching resources and following through to encourage capital investment, job creation and innovative business development. The work they do is incredibly important to the long-term economic stability of the Nodaway County community and it was my sincere pleasure working with their staff to create a unique, simple, and clean experience for prospective business tenants that not only showcases available business sites, but informs on community, lifestyle, data and facts, finance opportunities, and useful information about NCED.

In use: WordPress, PhotoShop

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Velvet Homepage PSD Template

Begin with the file and mold it into something unique – the Velvet framework can likely handle anything you throw at it with a little know-how. Obviously this is just the homepage but it should at least be a much better starting point than what currently exists for this particular theme. Definitely give the framework a try which you can find on Themeforest or the Kriesi website.

I get it, really I do; as an Apple developer myself I’ve come to loathe their control-freak design standards, their Steve-Martin-as-The-Jerk developer tool that is XCode, the cookie cutter and hugely over-priced approach to computer hardware, and about anything else that makes up the invisible part of Apple that only developer’s have learned to “appreciate”. What us developer’s think and feel about Apple is irrelevant though because these ambivalent practices are what preserves their end-game – ease of use, attractive products they’re always in control of, and efficiency in all things a user does on their devices or computers.

There are a few things I was confronted with as Apple unleashed their newest technological aphrodisiac on the world:

1. My laptop sucks and I needed to do something about it.
2. That retinal display on the iPad 3 looked kick ass.
3. My wife and I are having our first child in T-minus 8 weeks which = expensive little bugger in it’s own right.

iPad 3 was the obvious solution for quandaries number 1 and 2 – of course if money isn’t an issue. The iPad 3 is now right in line with my laptop processing-wise, has an incredible display, and 7 more hours of battery life. I’m not into waiting for technology to be replaced and thus discounted before jumping in – I fancy myself an early adapter which is what makes the fact that I just last year started investing in SSDs (solid state drives) all the more perplexing. Number 3 flat out can’t be ignored – I’d be an asshole if I did and I obviously won’t ignore the monetary implications of a child with regards to my seething need for awesome technology.

Have a MacBook less than 5 years old? Don’t buy an iPad

Some people are just flat out going to buy what’s new – if it weren’t for my kid’s impending arrival I would have as well in the blinding light of their announcement in early March. My intent is to encourage people to look at more cost-friendly and powerful alternatives, namely Solid State Drives (also referred to as SSD or Flash Memory).

Spruce your old MacBook up with an SSD

SSD’s are superior alternatives to mechanical hard drives that offer holistic improvement to a computer, whether it be laptop, desktop, or server. They don’t have moving parts at all – think of them as really big, awesome USB drives that you just put inside your computer.

• Shockproof – these are a must-have for laptops
• Save and open beefy files much faster
• Blistering read/write access for files and programs
• Utilize programs such as InDesign, PhotoShop, llustrator, Premiere, etc. much more fluidly and without finger-tapping time waste.
• Smaller capacity and more cost/GB, but more efficient energy consumption. You may get 30 minutes more out of your laptop battery with one of these bad boys.

Ghetto-Hamster Wheel Speed Test

You can plainly see from the video though that moving around and doing all the things you do on an iPad – web browsing, check email, view and edit photo albums, access apps, etc. – are done just as well if not better on the 2007-08 MacBook with a high-performance SSD.

$600 (32 GB iPad3 Model) or $160 (128GB SSD for MacBook) – that is the question!

I venture a guess anyone reading this is inquisitive enough to appreciate the numbers and understand them. With the SSD you get everything you need and more in your MacBook and likely add 3-4 years to its lifespan + let’s not forget that typing on the iPad makes me want to hurl said iPad at puppies. A totally avoidable occurrence. A laptop will always have more utility than a tablet like the iPad. One can live without an iPad but how many iPad owners don’t also need a solid laptop at their side? None.

The master marketers at Apple always leave me astonished from a branding perspective but when you have some time to look closer there is always an alternative and the gleam melts off. Apple makes fantastic, solidly built computers that last a long time. My workstation is a tricked out PC, my meeting-with-clients computer is a MacBook so I have appreciation for technology in general.

Buying and Installing an SSD

I have two different solid state drives. A 240 GB Vertex 3 in my workstation (eh its alright, wish I would have gone with Crucial) and a 128GB Crucial m4 in my 2008 MacBook Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz. To get started do the following:

1. Plug your SSD into your computer first – via empty port or through a data transfer kit. Update the firmware before you proceed so you know your SSD will be good for a while (in terms of firmware). The Vertex 3′s were notorious for shitty default firmware that caused blue screens, updating the firmware completely resolved the issue.
2. Backup up your important files and system image to an external hard drive.
3. Shut down your computer.
4. For Desktops: you’ll need a 3.5″ adapter bracket – some come with one, some don’t. Just be sure you factor in a 3.5″ adapter when installing an SSD on your desktop. I’ve got 4 drives in my computer, the SSD and three other mechanical 7200 RPM HDD’s. Clearing the primary HDD is very important to the process – be sure that is done before reallocating the operating system to the SSD.
5. For Laptops: Back up files as normal. You’ll also want to reformat your hard drive prior to installing the SSD so its completely clear for security reasons. When that’s done power off, remove the primary drive and replace it with your 2.5″ SSD.
6. Hook the SSD up, power on the machine, and boot from your operating system disc – this applies for both OSX and Windows operating systems.
7. Follow the directions to install your operating system on your new SSD then you’re good to go!

The point of all this

For the love of God use what you have for its duration and make calculated improvements before you start looking at an overly-hyped, expensive piece of technological artwork as a legitimate alternative. Let’s be clear, its not – it’s shiny and sexy, nothing more. SSD’s are a thing of beauty just like the iPad but without all the flashy circus around.

Here are some of the links to get you familiar with what New Basecamp is and its differences to what 37signals is calling Classic Basecamp:

• http://basecamp.com/transition
• https://basecamp.com/one-page-project
• http://basecamp.com/new

The Good

1. The new user interface design style is a welcome guest to the party. Classic really is beginning to look dated and so bringing things up to speed was important for them to stay competitive and keep ahead of said competition. Rule.fm definitely had a leg up on them with regards to sheer beauty in the look of their interface, this new design of Basecamp eliminates the advantage Rule had over them. Moving about the app will remind you of sifting through a stack of papers, and at least from a visual perspective its got a nice lightheartedness about it that contrasts well for this reason: Basecamp in general is easy to use, it always has been and is the solution to ACTUAL paper sifting, thus it makes for a nice design friction.
2. The single page home design for projects lets you do almost everything from one place without navigating elsewhere. At its roots it is pretty well thought out and succeeds.
3. I would kill to have Text Documents in Classic. Writeboards were never approachable for my customers so I dig the new approach. To give a quick rundown, Text Documents are live notes that people can collaborate on without having to upload new versions of a Word Document (which was the primary way to do so in Classic if you didn’t use Writeboards). So they’re especially good for planning out website outlines / content creation and keeping them up to date as the project progresses.
4. Calendars are more overarching now and you can view a single calendar now that displays ALL your projects and you can even add events that aren’t part of a particular project – nice touch. Color coding the projects was a given and subscribing to iCal remains intact.
5. Daily progress is a great way to view, via a dynamic timeline, what’s been going on since the beginning of your project. This wasn’t a must-have for me but its a nice touch  that gives more visualization to information than Classic.
6. Drag n’ Drop file uploads. All the cool companies are doing it and 37signals simply adapted it for Basecamp. Just drag files into the upload area and it’ll take care of the rest.
7. Built in Search. Classic didn’t have this at all and while I never really needed it because I only ever manage a few projects at a time, I can see where this will be a huge boon to big companies. Its appropriately accessible from the top right at all times and has the hallmark responsiveness of 37signals.
8. You have to use an up-to-date browser!!! I can report that it doesn’t work on iE8 and lower. All you’ll be greeted with is a screen that says upgrade your browser. I applaud them wholeheartedly for forcing this on people because it needs to happen – every company needs to do this. There are still people out there that are cripplingly afraid of technology who refuse to upgrade their browsers or do anything of that sort because they’re afraid they’ll mess things up. They’ve set the entire web revolution back five years or more because of it – what if we could focus on new technology rather than making things work with out of date browsers and i’m glad 37signals has taken a stand. Seriously people, upgrading browsers is free, do it.

The Bad

1. General navigation flow.  In reality my first impression was that when I was in a given feature section (AKA To-Do’s, File, Discussions, etc.) I was on an island by myself, with no concept of where other things were. Not having some sort of static navigation similar to what Classic had is a huge oversight in my opinion.  If I could slap them across the face for this I would. I find the navigation to generally be clunkier than I thought they were capable of making it, I didn’t think this sort of work flow was in their DNA at 37signals. Whereas Classic is very clear about where you are and what you can do, the navigation in New is so minimalist and the navigation points are so lightly indicated that its created a convoluted mess by comparison. For example, when I click on To-Dos there’s no way to directly jump to, say, Text Documents or Calendars when I’m inside. To do that you first have to return to the main screen by clicking the project name and then go into Text Documents. One click too many and that adds up to a ton over the course of a year of projects. Its just unnecessary and even though New may be faster under the hood, missing the basics on something as simple as navigation makes it feel slower to me.
2. No personalization. I use Basecamp for a lot of customer support and having the personalisation with company logos in Basecamp Classic is important for me so I’m looking forward to them addressing that. Right now it frankly sucks, it should at least do what Classic did and it doesn’t at v1 launch.
3. Time tracking. This is not a feature I personally use but from the sounds of it this is a mega-omission on their part and has already made the new version unusable for many businesses that rely on Basecamp.
4. Mobile-hostile. Yes technically it’ll work on your smartphone and tablet but for me the design that I applauded above doesn’t really translate that great to a touch environment. Mainly because there’s a lot of simple text links and very few big buttons to push. You can use it on your iPad but its frighteningly close to unusable on a phone. I’m sure they’ll address this but as of launch day on New v1, its rot-gut terrible.

Verdict

I have to agree with many of the posters at their Signals vs. Noise blog. If this was their first iteration of Basecamp, it wouldn’t be near the success that Classic made 37signals back in in the early 2000′s. I feel like this was just a classic case of there being so much success that they just couldn’t stand it and had to do something drastically new because they were getting bored, its a downfall of creatives and nobody, including me is immune to it – we love to create. I would have rather seen 37signals add something like Wikis to Classic, freshen up the UI, and make the mobile version more robust than jumbling up the workflow, the navigation and launching New Basecamp without all the functionality of Classic.

I’m 100% certain that over time everything will be adjusted and things will settle down but for now I’ll be sticking with Classic.

Where do I start…

First off there aren’t many pages in this website so the meat (aka important stuff) is in everything. My goal with this entire rebranding and website relaunch was to better convey exactly why I do this and why I’m just different than most designers. Plus I’ve done a lot of work over the last year and I want to share it with people because I’m excited to do what I do – I’m lucky as hell to make a living in design, be able to live in a smaller community, and work with fantastic people every day. I’ve been in this business long enough now to understand how you can apply the old saying ‘There are lots of ways to cook a goose’.

You can fry it, bake it, boil it, rub it with your hands really fast (? lol), okay now I’m just stretching for stuff. The point is, there are many ways to design something but whether that design is successful is an entirely different story.  How has it added value? Have you seen more business as a result of the design? Are you perceived more positively than you were before the design was in place?

The answer should be yes to all of these.

My type of design is simple: do less than your competition and get to the point quicker than they do.

Highlights of the Redesign:

Branding

This is a breakdown of the re-branding and messaging. Complete with the color scheme, fonts in use, and a mock-up of my new business cards. Waiting till I officially move in April to order them =).

Customer Support

Anyone I work with will have access to my BaseCamp system and can now access it directly from my website. Just click below or you can click on the ‘Login’ link in the website’s main navigation.

Portfolio

This is a constantly revolving door of the stuff I do. You can view the entire portfolio or you can filter by types which include: web, design, and painting.

What’s the deal with the background images?

I’m a sentimentalist by nature and the background images are of places I’ve been that were an integral part of my development as a creative. You’ll see a lot from the Vorarlberg region of Austria, as well as Bregenz and Vienna because these places are frankly where I found my footing as a designer during my final year in college. See a minified version of them all below:

I’m very excited to share my new website with you and look forward to its evolution.

Since 2008 I have been the chief designer of everything that has the Midland GIS logo displayed on it. My work for them has ranged from business cards, handouts and folders to traditional print advertisements and conference marketing materials. As such I have developed a set of internal design standards for the company which has the following:

• Myriad Pro font face
• Images are only displayed if they have a purpose, otherwise white background applies
• Background images are generally not used
• Blue, dark blue, white, and orange (for highlights only)
• H1 headings (Myriad Pro Light)
• H2 headings (Myriad Pro Bold)
• Body content (Myriad Pro Regular at #333333)
• Letter spacing (-25)

In use: Illustrator, InDesign, PhotoShop

I was approached by St. Gregory’s Church in Maryville, MO to assist them with designing their new church directory. Having been part of their community my entire life I was happy to oblige. Work on this included cover and back design as well as content layout and a unique historical timeline.

In use: Illustrator, InDesign, PhotoShop

St. Gregory’s School in Maryville, MO is the top private Catholic school in Northwest Missouri. With an emphasis on higher academic standards their students are well positioned to take on the challenges of higher education with a solid background in Christian faith. As an alumni of St. Gregory’s School it was an honor to help build them a website that will serve to help them do their excellent work for years to come.

In use: WordPress, PhotoShop

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