Jack Barber / Website Design

Spring/Summer Roundup 2018

Spring/Summer Roundup 2018

I'm off on my summer holidays on Friday - we're heading to Keswick for a week in the wonderful Lake District, meeting up with old friends and enjoying Keswick Convention.

With that in mind, I thought it was high time I wrote a quick roundup. I've worked through loads of projects this year, but never have time to write much about them. Here's a quick rundown of the last few month's highlights.

In no particular order....

Spicule

My brother works in IT too. It's pretty difficult to define his 'job' - he really has several, including working for NASA. One of his projects is spicule.co.uk - a company which specialises in data processing.

In July I re-designed their site, bringing it up to date, shedding Wordpress (in favour of Perch Runway) and generally tidying everything up. You can checkout the site here:

https://spicule.co.uk

Screen Shot 2018 07 13 at 10.16.54


PAT Testing Whitby

Websites don't need to be complicated to be effective. Blair Hankin approached me in June with a requirement for a simple site to advertise his new business, providing PAT testing services along the North Yorkshire Coast.

I designed a simple site for Blair, including a logo he could use on social media and other advertising. I also helped him get registered with Google My Business so his company is displayed on Google Map search results and is easier to find online.

https://pattestingwhitby.co.uk

Screen Shot 2018 07 18 at 20.32.43


Folly Gardens, Whitby

Just finished today, another simple site for a local campsite. This was a re-design, replacing an old site which was looking tired and wasn't mobile-friendly.

I had a very limited budget with this project, so designed a single page static site, using content and images provided by Folly Gardens.

https://follygardens-whitby.co...

Screen Shot 2018 07 18 at 20.32.50


Spiders Clothing

Spiders Clothing is a well-known company here in Whitby. They've been selling quality mens and womenswear from their shop on Golden Lion Bank for decardes.  Earlier in the spring I designed them a brand new site.

It's built using Perch, and a responsive 'blocks' template, meaning Garry and his team can create complex page layouts easily and quickly. I designed the site using ideas borrowed from old newspapers. It's predominantly black and white with a few subtle details here and there. I was really pleased with how it ended up - and I'm sure it'll only get better as the Spiders team add more content.

https://spidersclothing.com

Screen Shot 2018 07 16 at 09.53.59


Whitby Galleries

Another re-design for an existing customer. This site is built using Perch Runway, making use of the 'Collections' feature which powers the Prints and Originals sections.

They've received some great feedback from both artists they represent and customers. They've also been delighted with how easy Perch is to use and have been busy adding new stock and updating the old content which was transferred as part of the project.

https://whitbygalleries.com

Screen Shot 2018 07 18 at 20.34.04 


AGAP

One of two projects for clients in Switzerland this time. The Association of Graduate Analytical Psychologists is based in Switzerland, but represents Jungian psychologists based around the globe. I designed a simple site to replace their ancient website, which lends itself to the text-heavy content they need to share.

The site was built using Perch Runway, and features a secure members only area containing restricted documents.

https://agap.info

Screen Shot 2018 07 18 at 20.32.11


Freihof by Debbie

My second Swiss project was for Debbie, who has recently opened a restaurant near Lake Zurich. This site came about through my sister-in-law, and it was great to work with Debbie and her husband and create a new website for their business.

https://freihofbydebbie.ch/

Screen Shot 2018 07 18 at 20.33.00


Christian Motorcyclists Association

The Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) got in touch a number of years ago to discuss building a new website for their organisation. Fast forward through the longest project I've ever been involved in and the new site is now live. It's built using Perch Runway with a secure member only section.

I also built a bespoke Perch app to help them manage their member database and provide relevant downloads as CSV files to particular members through the front-end of the website. I also built other apps to enable CMA Branch officials to add news and event information to the site (without direct access to Perch).

The other added complexity was that the site required a flexible email forwarding system which allows the administrators to easily create any number of email forwarders and assign any number of users to these accounts. After a bit of head-scratching I worked up a solution which has been highly reliable (so far!).

https://bike.org.uk

Screen Shot 2018 07 18 at 20.32.22


Our Family Adoption

A new adoption agency got in touch in the spring to discuss designing a new website for their up-coming launch. The site is built using Perch, with a 'blocks' template, enabling the team to create complex layouts with lots of images.

https://ourfamilyadoption.co.u...

Screen Shot 2018 07 18 at 20.37.03


Triangle Software

I worked on a couple of smaller projects for Phil at Triangle Software throughout last year, and early this year I re-built their main marketing website using Perch Runway.

Again, the 'blocks' templates give them flexibility over page structure, without having to look at any code.

https://trianglesoftware.co.uk

 

Coming Next...

  • I've nearly finished an online booking system for a local holiday cottage lettings agency - should be live soon!
  • I continue to work with Re-Leased, building a complex multi-region (UK, USA, AUS, NZ) Perch Runway 'blocks' template for their marketing site
  • I'm speaking at this year's Staithes Festival
  • I'm re-writing a CV listing site for a customer - should be launched in August/September
  • The Robin Hood's Bay Tourism Association website is being re-built, it's going to be great!