http://websales.waterwayscruises.comA calendar-based cruise ticket sale system - built from the ground up, it uses ADO.Net for maximum performance and scalability.  The straightforward order process is praised for its user friendliness.  Its apparent simplicity belying a plethora of features:

• • Creation of scheduled Cruise Series w/individually assignable -
• • Ticket types and prices
• • Entrée selection per ticket type
• • Cruise enhancements
• • Gratuity & other required fees
• • Promotional codes
• • Photography, maps & other resources

Sales system also supports the sale and redemption of third part gift cards like GivEx or ProfitPoint in addition to credit cards.  All transactions are perfromed by secure web services.

Account system allows for Concierge or other Agent booking/tracking, and a call center override mode allows unlimited flexibility in bookings.  Admin access rights allow roles-based authorization.

Sales tracking and manifests manages inventory, individual order requirements, as well as kitchen production sheets and sales figures – all through the administrative backend.

http://www.waterwayscruises.comThis site is a skinned on a PHP CMS by Seattle’s Montana Banana. I’m responsible for much of its graphic design, consulting and project management. 

I’ve enjoyed a long, creative career w/Waterways Cruises acting as their IT staff, webmaster and primary graphic designer for all types of media.  Waterways has a very active marketing & sales department and a desire to leverage the latest web technologies for their staff, clients and marketing efforts.

For CRM activity, the web site hosts email sign up forms, client RFP questionnaires and is at the receiving end of actively managed PPC campaigns through Google Adwords.  Additionally, all print media also serves to funnel new contacts online where various channels lead to live sales persons (via LivePerson chat, phone or email) or into opt-in client database for subsequent email campaigns.

The resulting effort succeeds in engaging a wide range of potential new customers, while qualifying them according to their interests and connecting them with the appropriate sales persons via their preferred communication technology.

http://www.pontiseafoodgrill.comThis site was designed by Tatu Digital, and I develop its content presentation, maintain its Flash and XHTML.  Working closely with Ponti’s marketing director, we’ve evolved a print and online ad look borrowing from the site style while adding some extra polish & shine.

Ponti is particularly active in email marketing and enjoys a large subscription base for their regular Constant Contact email campaigns.  They’re also active on FaceBook, Twitter and localized restaurant-oriented sites like seattle.citysearch.com.

Using Constant Contact, like my other clients, requires the creation of graphic templates in Photoshop.  Email copy is written, photos chosen (sometimes), and a process of composition, image chopping and XHTML/CSS modification occurs for each campaign.  Constant Contact allows click tracking features only if the email code is XHTML valid, and of course, many email clients still execute CSS unpredictably.  The result of which is a “retro tech” XHTML template which borrows from web 1.0 layout conventions, but displays consistantly in a wide variety of email clients.

Like other clients of mine, Ponti also employs Google Analytics to track user behavior and goal pages (reservation request form) reached.

http://www.piuskb.comPius was a new company with no more “identity” assets than a logo - and even that was abandoned during the site design process.  Their showroom floor was under construction, and customers milled around as I helped them set up their computer network and QuickBooks point-of-sale/accounting system.  The store owners spoke multiple Chinese languages (but little English). . .  It was clear what challenges awaited.

First off was to conservatively define an identity – Company colors, look and feel.  Being conservative here was important because if the web site struck too boldly in any direction, its look could become quickly outdated as more marketing collateral was added over time.

Second was the language barrier.  Pius serves an international community of construction contractors with varying degrees of English literacy - best to keep it visually descriptive.  Towards this end, much onsite photography was done under less than ideal circumstances.

Enter Photoshop, with its ability to custom-warp geometry corrections for lens distortion, correct for color temperature from various light sources, and hand touch other light factors.  A series of mouseover galleries were created that allow effortless browsing of store inventory.

http://www.classiccatering.comEvery webmaster eventually finds themselves in this type of scenario. . .  Before you sits a nice person (old friend/new client, doesn’t matter) who’s asked you to create or update a web site for them.  Great news. . .  except for the fact that they’re busy being successful, have little or no graphic assets, photography, site copy and no time to actively invest in the site.  You’re on your own and often with budget that’s rather modest.

Classic Catering simply wanted to update their old 1990’s web site (think, animated GIF’s). The have some company assets which are simple, and. . .  well, classic in appearance.  So we sat down with a memory card of snap shots, a logo and business card and “agiled” our way through some design decisions.

The result was a simple site that reflects their existing marketing assets.  There’s a nice Flash slideshow gallery, and a sincere tone throughout.  Classic is a relatively small (but successful) family-owned catering company, and I hope their site reflects that.

The site code employs the latest XHTML/CSS techniques – including SEO friendly “trifecta” image links - and should be a breeze to update when that day eventually arrives.

http://www.lobstershop.com If you don’t have any specific memories of Internet Explorer 6, 5, 4. . .  allow me to share mine.  In the early half of this decade, the world’s most widely used browser (by much wider margins than today), was somewhat of a basket case with regard CSS rendering.  Oh, you could try and be a “good webmaster”, employing CSS whenever possible.  But you’d also have to manage a dual code base – one for IE, and one for everyone else.  Fortunately, the situation is much better today.

This site was designed and built just prior to the salvation brought by IE 7. It employs tables for layout (essential for email campaigns, even today), yet conveys a certain architectural quality to its design that echoes faithfully the atmosphere at Commencement Bay.

Light years ahead of its predecessor, design-wise, my own photography was combined with a good archive supplemented by the excellent food photography of, Ilya’s Photography.  The Lobster Shop was nothing short of rebranded by virtue of its new web site design.

Like many past clients, the Lobster Shop doesn’t have a need to maintain or develop their web site.  As my career takes me deeper into the complexities of application development, I’ll miss the experience of working directly with business owners brainstorming their “new” identity.