Sandbox Development and Consulting Inc. » Graphic Design

WalkIberia (WordPress CMS/bbPress)

jzelazny — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:20:00 +0000

url: http://walkiberia.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

Custom Web Design
Custom Graphic Design
XHTML/CSS programming
WordPress theme creation
Custom PHP programming
Custom jQuery programming
Custom bbPress Theme

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress, bbPress, PHP, jQuery

front end:

The client wanted something with a lot of different content areas on all views. This site has a lot of moving parts: slideshows, carousels, tabs, custom views for home, category views, bbPress theme, etc.

back end:

For ease of use, the forum and site login is single sign-on. There are a few custom admin panels for ad management as well as to specify what goes into the featured slideshows. There are also a number of custom functions that make all the moving parts dynamic so the client can easily feature, change, move around the content in all views.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

After this site was completed – I duplicated it to another domain (Portuguese): http://passear.com which was the first time I used the Portuguese build of WordPress. WordPress is still easy to use – even it not in your native language!

ManKind Studios (WordPress CMS)

jzelazny — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:52:54 +0000

url: http://mankindstudio.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

Custom Web Design
Custom Graphic Design
XHTML/CSS programming
WordPress theme creation
Custom PHP programming
Custom jQuery programming

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP, jQuery

front end:

The client wanted something very simple and clean which allowed them to easily add new content both in a slideshow on the home page and throughout the other pages as well. The client also wanted a custom logo – which we provided.

back end:

There is a custom admin panel to control the home page slideshow as well as the home page audio file. Other than that – this was a very simple site. They wanted to easily include Topspin widgets on their sites we I made sure they could use WordPress widgets in order to easily place everything with a simple drag and drop.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

I wish I lived closer to these guys. I would love to spend a day with all that equipment!

Innovate! 2010 (WordPress CMS)

jzelazny — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:29:31 +0000

url: http://www.innovate100.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

Custom Web Design
Custom Graphic Design
XHTML/CSS programming
WordPress theme creation
Custom PHP programming
Custom jQuery programming

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress, PHP, jQuery

front end:

We worked with the client to understand the design needs, created a design, then turned that into a WordPress theme (XHTML, CSS, JS, PHP).

back end:

There are a number of custom admin panels, custom fields, custom shortcodes, etc to make this as easy to use as possible. All of the sidebar elements pull in content dynamically, and there is a lot of really cool functionality built into the UI as well as the backend to make this extremely easy to manage.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

There are some really great jQuery pieces that can be seen as the site develops in the next month or so after launch (early 2010)

Pypeline (WordPress CMS & bbPress Forum)

jzelazny — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:00:08 +0000

url: http://www.guidewiregroup.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

XHTML/CSS programming
WordPress theme creation
bbPress theme creation
Custom PHP programming
Custom jQuery programming

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, WordPress, bbPress, PHP, jQuery

front end:

The client wanted an easy to manage site with a forum – completely designed from the ground up. We provided them with a completely custom design for an integrated WordPress/bbPress site.

back end:

The main goal with this site was to make a single sign-on web site for the client and their users. We tied in bbPress, added some jQuery functionality (scroller, etc) – and used everything we could to make sure it was easily managed.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

I love working with bbPress and WordPress together and enjoy the simplicity of this site.

Marry Bop Dump (Custom Framework/Application)

jzelazny — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:10:26 +0000

url: http://www.marrybopdump.com

SDAC Inc. provided:

XHTML/CSS programming
Custom AJAX functionality
PHP programming
Custom PHP framework

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, jQuery

front end:

Since this was a startup web site started by me and another colleague – I had complete control over everything with this project. I started by creating the logo and header and then the rest of the site design fell into place. For the front end – I wanted something bold, bright, and stylish. I needed something that had definite ad spots, a focus on the main rating system, and something that would be quick and easy for anyone to enjoy.

back end:

I used a custom PHP framework which allowed us to have a templating system, clean URLs, the ability to easily store and retrieve data without the hassle of managing hundreds of columns, as well as a lot of jQuery functionality to reduce page refreshes and to increase functionality. Our focus was on simplicity and reusability. There are four main components of this project: user management, photo upload/display, rating, and administration. Each component is completely customizable and uses jQuery whenever possible to make the user experience as easy and straightforward as possible.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

Having to build something like this from scratch – logo, layout, CSS/HTML, PHP/MySQL functionality was both fun and exciting and I look forward to adding more functionality to this site in the near future. Stay tuned!

Shopplr (WordPress Theme)

jzelazny — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:42:27 +0000

url:http://www.shopplr.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

XHTML/CSS programming
Custom web design
Custom logo design

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, PHP, WordPress

front end:

The client wanted a design similar to her other site Mapplr. After receiving a color palette and custom icons – I put together a logo, and site design that had a similar feel to Mapplr while still having it’s own look and feel.

back end:

There is not anything too fancy with this site on the backend. I added a few custom functions – but nothing major.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

This was a pretty straightforward project but I built on the existing codebase of the sister site – Mapplr.com. Sometimes it ends up being quicker and easier starting from scratch.

PressItForMe (Logo, Web Design/Layout)

jzelazny — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:16:38 +0000

url:http://www.pressitfor.me/

SDAC Inc. provided:

XHTML/CSS programming
Custom logo design
Custom web design

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, Pligg

front end:

The client wanted a custom logo, custom button (for Digg like service), and web design. I worked with the client to choose the palette and then created the logo around the button that would be used on the site and new WordPress plugin. I created the basic layout (header, footer, navigation, basic content area, AJAX comments/related links, who voted area) and the client then created a Pligg theme from it.

back end:

I did not do any work on the backend for this site – but I did have to make sure that the button HTML and CSS worked with the Pligg voting system.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

This was my first experience with Pligg and I always enjoy learning something new.

SDAC (WordPress CMS)

jzelazny — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:25:05 +0000

url: http://www.sandboxdev.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

XHTML/CSS/JS programming
Custom graphic design
Custom web design
WordPress theme customization
Custom AJAX functionality

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, JS, WordPress , PHP, jQuery

front end:

When creating a web site for my own company – I wanted to make sure the color palette was consistent with the previous designs for brand recognition. I also wanted to make the design as clean as possible and easy to navigate so prospective clients could easily find information and see what we value for layout and web design since those are services we offer as a company.

back end:

Just about every content area within the site is editable by the WordPress admin. I wanted to make something easy to keep up to date and not have to edit any template files when updating text or other content.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

Designing your company web site – which specializes in web development is tricky. It took me a long time to figure out how I wanted to present content, what worked, what would be a lasting design, and what would be something I could live with for some time since I am extremely picky. I also used the grid pattern for a background which was based on the unreleased theme for Mac OS 8.5 which I always admired.

Jewssip (WordPress Theme)

jzelazny — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:13:50 +0000

url: http://www.jewssip.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

XHTML/CSS/JS programming
Custom graphic design
Custom logo design
Custom web design
WordPress theme customization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, JS, WordPress , PHP

front end:

The client approached me wanting a theme for their new Jewish gossip site and did not have anything specific in mind. There are spots now (as of September 2008) for ads which will be filled in the next few months in the header and sidebar. The logo was designed by a talented graphic designer that has worked with us in the past.

back end:

There is nothing really fancy about the backend as the client likes to keep it simple.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

Note: I am not responsible for any content on this web site.

Protege K9 (WordPress CMS)

jzelazny — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:25:51 +0000

url: http://www.protegek9.com/

SDAC Inc. provided:

XHTML/CSS/JS programming
Custom graphic design
Custom web design
WordPress theme customization

technologies used:

XHTML, CSS, JS, WordPress , PHP

front end:

The client approached me with a blank slate. I put together the color scheme, layout, and graphics. The site needed to be clean, masculine, and easy to navigate. The client plans to have 50+ pages on the site so they also wanted drop down menus.

back end:

In order to make this as easy to use as possible for the client, I made use of a number of WordPress functions so that they could control the site for the most part by working in the WordPress admin. All the content on the site can easily be manipulated by using the WordPress admin. The menus are dynamically be generated from WordPress pages (any new pages will be added as soon as they are created, same goes for any deleted pages) and make use of custom menu CSS and javascript in place. The site is set up to use sidebar widgets so the clients can easily add new functionality as the site grows. The site also uses the “blog” functionality for their news section.

lessons learned/random thoughts:

The front page image was created inhouse by a talented graphic designer that does some work for me. He took four separate images of dogs in different settings/lighting and cut them out so they could be placed on one background and I think he did a great job!