Busy Boy

Around June or so, my friend Scott Priddy had asked me to design the website for his new company, Honest Project. That turned into designing the software he and his partner had been working on.

In September, Scott hired me full-time and I’ve been doodling in Photoshop and coding HTML/CSS around the clock ever since.

What is Honest Project?

We make the home construction process less risky, and more efficient for all participants; lenders, home owners, builders, even sub-contractors and vendors. They will all have access to the software, bringing much needed transparency and clarity to the construction industry. I could go into more detail, but would rather show you pretty pictures.

---

The home page was designed wanting to sell the fact that Honest Project’s objective is to serve the construction community, not just one particular part of it. We want all participants to find value in the solution.

---

To further our commitment to community, I designed and developed the Honest Project Community site (built with Wordpress). All of our training  documents, release notes, as well as industry-related articles will be posted here. Eventually, the Community site will expand to include project portfolios, displaying information on Honest Project participants and projects they worked on.

---

Finally, when users login to the actual software, they’ll find a clean and open layout that allows for a large amount of content without feeling cluttered.

We’re looking for lenders and builders, so if you know of anyone involved with home construction, please send them my way and I would be happy to demonstrate the software for them.

Wish me luck on the new job!

Independently owned and operated, CarpentryAustin.com needed a way to stand out among their competitors.

Carpenters aren’t exactly known for their marketing expertise, but CarpentryAustin.com owener, Les O’Rourke, has been a welcome contradiction to this assumption. I love having a client that shares ideas that actually are helpful and make sense. It was a perfect, open discussion on how to draw traffic to the website and turn that traffic into customers.

It started with a re-design of the CarpentryAustin.com logo, which I thought the client would immediately resist. On the contrary, he actually supplied the inspiration for the angle in the new logo. The more I worked with Les (no pun intended), the more I realized, instead of applying his creative eye used for his unique carpentry, he was now applying it to the web design discusions.

Take a look at the site and see just how creative a carpenter can be.

The original website I designed for Amplified Heat was received well, but the band didn’t have the time needed to maintain the website and edit their own HTML.

In addition to allowing the band to have a content management system through Wordpress, a hub has been created that brings the band’s fans together from different websites like Flickr and MySpace. Access was allowed not only to the band, but also to their publicists, allowing for up to the minute press releases.

The true benefit of the re-design will be determined by time and the client that now controls the content, but I feel that Wordpress will be a great tool to bring them closer to their fans.

If you have a family, business or band that you think could benefit from a stronger web-presence, contact me and I would be happy to discuss your options with you.

I finally had time to do a complete overhaul for my portfolio/blog here at Stubby Studios. I’ve been working very late nights on various projects and tutorials.

Leave a word on what you think of the new look. Thanks.

Go check out the latest Stubby Studios creation, Amplifiedheat.com.

I had a few IE6 problems with PNG images. I tried Supersleight and other remedies, but nothing was working for me because of the PNGs being used in the navigation. Then my friend Tim Thompson turned me on to Unit Interactive’s PNG script. The navigation images and all other PNGs are now displaying properly in IE6 and the links are functioning. Check it out the next time you have to use PNGs. It was the most effective solution for me and a very light script.

Amplified Heat has always been a favorite for my wife and I. Back when I was still playing in other Austin bands, we would frequently play shows with them. I’m proud to have now built their new home on the web.

The band is a power trio of actual brothers. Fans of 60’s blues rock will like them. Fans of loud and rowdy music will love them. Check out the website and buy a CD or at least send them some love.