Services & Expertise

Web Design, Development & Maintenance

Your Web site is the center of your entire Internet branding strategy. It has to be efficient and well designed to meet growing needs and become the hub of all your other online marketing efforts, including in social media.

Based upon the initial planning, I can craft well designed and engaging Web sites built on a solid technological foundations that will serve your needs for a long time to come.

Web design & development is something I’ve been doing for a long time. I’m very passionate about it and I can help you stay up to date with the rapid evolution of this medium. My sites are built for maximum flexibility so you don’t have to start from scratch down the line if your needs evolve (and they will evolve!). Furthermore, my technological choices are made based on the specific requirements of your projects and its features.

Here are descriptions of my Wed design and development services as well as the technologies I use to create the best adapted solutions for your needs. Again, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Web Design

My Web design services include the creation of all the visual elements of the project, from the logo and color scheme to each page’s layout. These are often based on the wireframes, site map and the initial strategic planning. The visual mockups I create are approved and signed up before I move on to the development phase.

As I also handle print design, I can make sure that the integrity of your brand is maintained across all the mediums where it might be used.

Web Development

All my sites are built following best practices and industry standards which maximize accessibility and their ability to grow with your needs without having to start from scratch every time. It also helps with natural or organic SEO which is very important…

Here are the client and server technologies I use:

• WordPress (content management system, see the WordPress services section for more information)
• (X)HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript / jQuery
• ColdFusion (rapid server-side development platform and language)
• PHP (server-side development language)
• MySQL (database management system)

Maintenance

I offer full site maintenance services based on a discounted yearly fee paid in advance. When signing a maintenance contract with me, you reserve a certain numbers of hours each month for keeping your site and its content up to date. This ensures that you can budget the cost in advance and that you do not have to pay my full hourly rate every time you have a small change to make to your site.

Hosting

I also offer hosting services to my clients on reliable servers which can make me a one stop provider for all your Web design services requirements. This can minimize the hassle of getting support from multiple vendors as I would be the one handling it all. Please note that I offer these hosting services only to my own clients for whom I’ve created a Web site. I do not sell hosting packages to everyone and will not host a site created by another designer or developer.

WordPress Sites Design

Creating a Web site on the WordPress platform can be the ideal solution for a variety of projects. WordPress has the advantage of giving you complete control of content updates (text, images, galleries, videos, mp3s, etc.) without the need to hire a Web professional for every small change. WordPress is a complete Content Management System (CMS) that is very easy to use. It is the ideal platform for:

• visual artists’ sites (artists-painters, photographers, scupltors, etc.),
• portfolio sites,
• sites for bands and musicians,
• sites for non-profits,
• projects with a limited budget or a tight schedule,
• personal sites and blogs.

The other main WordPress advantage is that, the site owner has great flexibility over the structure and the design of the site. The site’s design can be easily created or modified, either by using a pre-existing theme, or by integrating a custom design, without having to modify the underlying WordPress structure. This means that you can completely change the look of your site while keeping all the content and structure intact.

WordPress Site Creation Services

As with any custom built Web site, a successful WordPress site project needs to be carefully planned. Unless you choose to use an existing theme (free or not), it also needs to be designed, but, even a free theme will need to be customized to some degree. In all cases, WordPress needs to be installed, configured and secured correctly.

Here’s a list of the WordPress sites creation services I offer. Depending on your needs and budget, some of these services may not be required for your project.

• Strategy & planning
• Visual/graphic sesign
• WordPress installation and basic configuration
• Creation of basic navigation structure and pages
• Customization (visual and functional)
• Integration of custom or existing design or theme
• Installation and configuration of plugins (including advising you of the best ones to use for your project)
• Integration of social media features
• Securing WordPress installations
• Custom programming for additional non-built-in fonctionality
• Etc.

eCommerce

More and more people and companies want to jump on the eCommerce train and sell their goods and services online… with good reason! I will be happy to help you build your online storefront. Whether you have a single product to sell or need a complete eCommerce solution with support for multiple types of payment and shipping options, the technological solutions I use have the power and flexibility to meet your specific needs. I chose them because they are highly customizable and do not box you into one way of doing things.

The two main tools I use are Shopp for WordPress and Cartweaver for sites built with ColdFusion or PHP.

Planning & strategy

Whether it is online or in print, the key to a successful communication strategy resides in good initial planning. I’m here to accompany you through the project and help you define its goals and requirements so it meets your business needs as well as your clients or audience’s expectations.

At the start of a project, I work like an architect that draws blueprints before the construction of a new building starts. I have to make sure that the different componants of your content or message are prioritized according to the project’s goals.  The ultimate goal is for your readers or visitors to find the information they seek easily on your printed piece or Web site and that the site is easy to use and navigate.

Here are a few of the steps that may be required in order for your project to succeed.

Interviews & research

I always start a project by performing interviews with key people in my client’s organization in order to clarify your needs and requirements as well as those of your project’s audience. They can be performed in person or through a questionnaireyou can fill at your convenience.Following the gathering of initial data, I determine the scope, objectives and specifications of the project and, depending on the project’s complexity, I create different deliverables that serve as blueprints for the project.

Information Architecture & Prototyping

Information Architecture encompasses different activities that enable me to determine the best strategy for the project based on your business and your users’ goals. These activities can include a few or all of the following:

• Interviews with current or potential users of the site
• Creation of personas
• Competitive analysis
• Analysis of all data gathered from different sources in order to determine the specific goals and specifications of the project.
• Creation of navigation structure (site map)
• Creation of wireframes (low visual fidelity)
• Creation of functional prototypes (low visual fidelity, used to test information architecture and interactivity)

Deliverables created during this phase become the foundation of the visual design end development of the project.

Print Design

Beyond your online presence, I can assist you with the design of your print collateral. From business cards to letterhead or the layout of different types of documents, I’m here to ensure your brand’s integrity across the different mediums where it can be used.

Here’s a list of the different types of printed material I can create and the software I work with. If you have any questions or something you need done that is not listed here, please contact me as I can probably assist you with it anyway.

Document types

• Business cards
• Flyers and brochures
• Letterhead
• Enveloppes
• Posters
• Ads
• Magazines and other publications layout
• Word document templates

Available Software

• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Photoshop
• Serif PagePlus X3

Printers

If you need me to recommend a good printer, please do not hesitate to ask.