Studio Blog

ProPlugger an All-American Business

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:19:00 GMT

Our latest Adobe Business Catalyst project is ProPlugger. ProPlugger is a classic, homegrown, American business, dealing in lawn and general landscape repair, weed control, and bulb planting. This labor of love has grown out of one man’s passion, to be an up and coming presence in the lawn care industry.

ProPlugger needed a total reinvention of their website to match the expanding vision and scope of their company, and to also support their new, fledgling product line, all while staying within a very conservative budget. While the constraints were tight, if one has the right finesse and knows their platform well, it’s amazing what can be accomplished!

Aesthetically, ProPlugger is re-envisioned as a cleaner, warmer, more professionally inviting, version of it’s former self, while functionally it is a total e-commerce re-design. The business has entirely re-envisioned itself, and in doing so, has moved completely away from the standard paypal e-commerce check-out to an integrated payment gateway solution. This solution incorporates the content and theme of the site within the payment gateway and allows for SEO keyword rich content on blogs.

Adobe BC’s CMS - Content Management System – makes this site entirely manageable by the client. With Designtech Studio and Adobe Business Catalyst, the client stands ready to take control over their business, as they bring their new vision fully into the online marketplace.

Khristian A. Howell Design Implementation

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:21:00 GMT

Designtech Studio has just completed a website design implementation into Adobe Business Catalyst for noted designer and fabric artist Khristian A Howell. Khristian and her design team re-envisioned their original website – already a successful e-commerce site - in preparation for a feature piece, and marketing push on www.Fab.com.

To bring their site into BC functionality, we have converted their ideas into a liquid layout in Business Catalyst, which is now their new homepage. In the process, we’ve upgraded the old blog into a news-oriented blog format, as well as added a new blog called “saturate”, that will feature trends and style-oriented posts. This enables Khristian to drive marketing using two separate blogs with separate interfaces.

This new homepage and blog layout includes BC implementation, such as content holders, dynamic menus, and modules, all of which can be updated and maintained by the client. This enables website flexibility of content, theme, and overall look, to meet the ever changing trends and styles in the world of design.

The new website is powered by a dynamic, flexible platform that gives her everything she needs to run a successful business, from e-commerce, to up-datable content and theme using CMS, to client maintainable BC implementation, all of which enables her to both stay on top of, and more importantly, to create, the latest trends.

Website Launched for a Community Acupuncture Clinic

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:04:00 GMT

As a recent transplant to the West Coast, Matthew Wagner, owner of Scappoose Community Acupuncture, found himself trying to create a new business in a brand new community. As a new business, Scappoose Community Acupuncture needed to both define itself conceptually as a business and clinic and create a marketing tool to drive sales. Practically speaking, Matthew needed branding to turn his business concept into a business reality, and a website with a robust platform that could translate this branding into sales by maximizing visibility and driving marketing.

To create the appropriate feel for the branding of a community clinic, we drew imagery from the surrounding area, incorporating themes and colors found in both the environment, colors and industry of the area. The final logo conjures images of the Columbia river and surrounding hills, and reflects the close ties of the city both to its environment and to its history of trade and shipping. This branding successfully incorporates the geography and heritage of the city with the natural colors of the area to create a website that is uniquely appropriate to the city. It is from this logo that we draw the color theme for the rest of the site.

To drive marketing for a new business, the Adobe Business Catalyst platform provides Matthew with a blog to address the specific needs and topics of the city, and generate direct interest in the clinic. As his patient base grows, Matthew has BC tools at hand to manage all of the new customers, from “customer management tools”, to direct e-mail marketing. Those patients that have fallen out of care are kept in the loop, (and closer to treatment), with e-Newsletters and sales announcements, and e-coupons that reflect the needs of the community.

As a new business, not only does the Scappoose Community Acupuncture website reflect the sensibilities of the community, but it also provides Matthew with easy to use, cost-effect marketing solutions to generate and maintain clients.

Alternative Health Care Website for Sale

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:43:00 GMT

We have a beautifully designed and developed alternative health care website for sale. This website includes all the interface designs, templates, and features already developed for the website. If you have features not included in this website, we can add new features and functionality in addition to the already developed website. For example, if you have events you'd like to promote, or resource library you'd like to add, we can do that! This website will be perfect for an acupuncturist, Chinese medicine practitioner, massage therapists, alternative health practitioner, herbalists, psychologists, or other alternative healers and health care providers.

Contact us today to discuss options for this website! You can see the fully functional website at: http://alternativehealthcare.designtechstudio.com

Redesigned Website for a Certified Public Accountant in Boulder, Colorado Launched

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:08:00 GMT

A newly redesigned website for Mike Conroy, CPA, LLC is now live on Adobe Business Catalyst website platform! Mr. Conroy is a Boulder, Colorado based Certified Public Accountant and Professional tax Advisor for businesses and individuals. Mr. Conroy contacted Designtech Studio to redesign his website to include a more user-friendly content management system, so he can update his website and blogs easily. He also wanted to include a way to contact his clients through email marketing. Visit Mike Conroy, CPA, LLC website.

This launch is a phase 1 of this website project. Designtech Studio will be utilizing the Adobe Business Catalyst platform and website features to enhance the website and to offer Mr. Conroy with more online business capabilities in the near future.

We concluded the phase 1 with an one-on-one online Adobe BC training with Skype screenshare feature. We covered the basics from how to edit his web pages, blog posts, to managing customer data through CRM and cases, to a discussion about what features will be added next.

You can visit Mr. Conroy's newly redesigned website at http://www.mikeconroycpa.com. Stay tuned for future enhancements of the website!

Boulder Colorado CPA Certified Public Accountant Starts Website Redesign Project with Designtech Studio

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:38:00 GMT

Mike Conroy, CPA, LLC (Certified Public Accountant), a Boulder Colorado tax specialist offers accounting and professional advising services to businesses and individuals. Mr Conroy contacted Designtech Studio to redesign and redevelop his business website. The ability for him to edit and maintain his own website content using Content Management System (CMS) is his goal for this redesign. He is also interested in modernizing the look and feel of the site, while maintaining the color scheme and his logo.

Mr. Conroy is an avid bicyclist and a runner and enjoys the outdoors that Colorado living offers. He has provided numerous photographs that he has taken in Colorado and elsewhere to display throughout the website.

Designtech Studio is in the process of creating interface designs for this project. The website will be developed using Adobe Business Catalyst for its great CMS, CRM, Blog, Email Marketing, and Secure Area features.

The redesigned website should be up and running in the next couple of weeks! Stay tuned!

Designtech Studio Begins Hospice Associates Website Redesign Project

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:03:00 GMT

Designtech Studio is happy to announce a new website redesign project for Hospice Associates, a hospice care provider serving clients in New Orleans and its local community. The founding partners of Hospice Associates have a combined experience of over 25 years providing hospice care. Designtech Studio will be designing and developing a new website using Adobe Business Catalyst.

Hospice Associates' current website showcases information about the company and its services, office locations, testimonials, links, and frequently asked questions. Although the current website has served the company’s need for some time, the website is not easily updatable by the staff, making it a static web presence that lacks value for its target audience.

The purpose for redesigning the website is to not only to better reflect the company’s vision and value through the use of colors and photo choices, but to be a useful resource for target audience of age group between 40 to mid 60s, with well organized and up-to-date information that integrates newer technologies such as social media and mobile phone access.

The goals associated with this website redesign project include:

Integrate color schemes and photos that better reflect the company
Incorporate social media such as Facebook feed and Youtube channel access on home page
Provide mobile-ready template for users accessing the website through mobile devices
Include easy to use website forms such as referral, contact, and request forms
Implement content management system for the staff to manage website content

Designtech Studio will be implementing the Adobe Business Catalyst website platform for this client. Check back soon for the update on this website and the redesigned interface!

Video Interview of Sumiyo Amano is Now Live on BC Gurus Website

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:56:00 GMT

Designtech Studio's creative director and owner, Sumiyo Amano was interviewed by Brent Weaver from BC Gurus to talk about the company, background in design and development, and involvement with Adobe Business Catalyst as a partner. The video interview can be seen on the BC Gurus website. Please leave us your comments about the video below. Also, if you're curious about Adobe Business Catalyst or you're a partner and need assistance with your projects, please contact us!

Business Catalyst Partner Interview Sumiyo Amano of Designtech Studio from BC Gurus - Business Catalyst Exp on Vimeo.

New Boulder Running Company's Heart & Sole Half Marathon Website Launched

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 04:13:00 GMT

Designtech Studio, Inc. just launched a newly redesigned website for an annual half marathon and 10k race called Heart & Sole Half Marathon & 10K organized by Boulder Running Company in the beautiful Boulder, Colorado. The client, Henry Guzman and Lesley Kinder approached Designtech Studio to redesign their race websites and to create a set of website templates that can be reused for other races they organize throughout the year. We're currently working on Father's Day 4K & Kids Run race website that will be reusing the templates. The Heart & Sole Half Marathon website is created using Adobe Business Catalyst, which is our website platform of choice. The benefits for using BC is that the client can easily update the content using its user-friendly Content Management System (CMS). The other race websites will be hosted under the same Adobe Business Catalyst (BC) hosting plan, so the cost for hosting is very reasonable as well.

The Heart & Sole Half Marathon & 10K website was designed with the idea of growth and flexibility in mind. This website design needed to be reused for other race websites without having to modify many areas of the site, we focused on simplicity in design without the "cookie cutter" look. We accomplished this by keeping the background of the logo area white and horizontal for other logos to fit in this area, swapping the color schemes using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), using BC's Content Holders for ease of content modifications, Web Apps, Dynamic Menus, and other great modules and features from the website platform, Adobe Business Catalyst.

Designtech Studio, Inc. always includes one-on-one Adobe Business Catalyst (BC) Training and Support in our project contracts, so the clients know exactly what to do to update and maintain their own website. Including training and support in our contracts not only give us the chance to empower the client and to have them become the webmasters of their own website, but offer us an opportunity to figure out the best way to train and provide support, best way to set up the templates and files on the website, and to know how long training and support may take for similar sites in the future. So, it's a win-win situation for both the web designer/developer like Designtech Studio and the clients.

Take a look at the Heart & Sole Half Marathon & 10K website we've created for Boulder Running Company. If you're a runner, you may want to register now and start your training too!

Thank you for reading. We appreciate your feedback on our recent website projects like this one and want to hear from you on what you're working on using Adobe Business Catalyst.

BC Gurus Interviews Designtech Studio

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:29:00 GMT

BC Gurus is a website dedicated to connecting and communicating with the Adobe Business Catalyst Certified Partners around the world. Brent Weaver, founder of BC Gurus offers insightful and useful information about marketing and selling BC projects effectively to customers, as well as conducts interviews with partners that have been using Adobe Business Catalyst for some time. Brent contacted us to record a video interview with Sumiyo Amano, the owner of Designtech Studio, Inc. in Boulder County, Colorado. The video will be available on BC Gurus' site within couple of weeks!*** Check back again soon to see the video interview!

Some of the questions asked during the interview were:

When the company was formed
What got me started in design and website work
How I found Adobe Business Catalyst
When I began using BC for my projects
What I like about using Adobe BC for my clients' website projects
What I would recommend to other BC certified partners
And more!

Look forward to hearing your feedback on the video. If you have any questions, please contact us. Thank you so much, Brent!

*** Update posted on April 19, 2011 - The video interview done by BC Gurus is now available to view at: http://bcgurus.com/_webapp_1481010/BC_Partner_Interview_-_Sumiyo_Amano_of_Designtech_Studio

Using Quick Reference QR Code in Your Website and Marketing Material

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 21:26:00 GMT

Cell phone users in Japan rely heavily on a technology called QR Codes (Quick Reference Codes) in their daily life. The cell phones equipped with scanning capabilities such as a built-in cameras can quickly scan the bar-code image that include small boxes and lines representing all types of information. This QR code technology was invented by Toyota automobile company in mid 1990s to easily and quickly scan parts and manufacturers information in their factories. QR codes quickly became popular among the Japanese public, especially the mobile users due to ease of use. DoCoMo, a large cell phone network provider in Japan spread this QR technology across Japan. Since then, the use of this technology spans from instantly receiving information about upcoming events, URLs, contact information, product information and more.

Instead of entering the data into your contacts list on your cell phone or on the computer, QR code technology lets you scan the information and instantly have the data translated to your smart phones or other devices. iPhone has numerous QR code readers and scanners for free through the iPhone Apps. The one that I like the most is called Bakodo (Barcode pronounced Japanese-style). Download the scanner for free and try the QR code below!

Yup, it's that easy. And this type of QR codes can be printed on your business cards, greeting cards, event announcements, posters, billboards, and so much more! Take a look at the use of a QR code image on a billboard design purely done in QR code.

The usage of this QR code technology can be very effective and useful. At Designtech Studio, we like technology that is simple, easy-to-use, effective, and functional. Try it out for yourself!

Let us know where you've seen this technology being used effectively in your area. I will be writing a post on how to get this useful technology on your business promotion on my upcoming blog post.

Incorporating MP3 audio player with Adobe Business Catalyst Web Apps

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:37:00 GMT

Recently, I was asked by one of my clients, Mondo Zen, to incorporate their audio recordings into the website with an easy-to-use MP3 player. The client is tech savvy and understands the technology and the content management system (CMS) that is integrated into the Mondo Zen website. And they wanted to use that skill to update these MP3 Player files. Designtech Studio, Inc. added a new feature using Adobe Business Catalyst Web Apps to upload the MP3 files, add titles, and descriptions for each file. The result was a user-friendly MP3 player that works perfectly. The audio player we ended up using for the site is Adobe Flash player. Unfortunately, Flash players do not work on iPhones, so we created a link for these audio files to be played on Quicktime player, which is an Apple audio and video player.

Now, the client can record workshops, interviews, retreat sessions, and Dharma talks, then go directly to the Adobe Business Catalyst Web Apps to enter the content and publish it to the live site. If the content needs to be secured and only be accessed by registered members of the site, the client has to select the particular membership and it is secured with a simple step!

Take a look at the new Mondo Zen's audio player and MP3 recordings.

Acupuncture Herbal Healing website picked as Top 3 Adobe Business Catalyst Websites of the Month

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:01:00 GMT

Thank you again Adobe Business Catalyst, for showcasing Designtech Studio's latest website design and development project, Acupuncture Herbal Healing as one of the Top 3 BC Sites of the Month of January 2011! This exciting news was announced through BC's Business Success email newsletters #32 to all the partners and subscribers around the world! Thank you for taking a look at this website created for a licensed Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine practitioner in Boulder, Colorado, United States.

Visit Acupuncture Herbal Healing website: http://www.acupunctureherbalhealing.com

Below is the screen-grab of the Adobe Business Catalyst's email newsletter where we were featured. To find out more about Adobe Business Catalyst and how Designtech Studio can help you build your online business, please visit our Adobe Business Catalyst Partner information page.

Designtech Studio is also featured as one of Adobe Business Catalyst's Showcase Partner on the BC website. Visit our showcased website, MondoZen.org and see how we've transformed their organization and their business by visiting Adobe Business Catalyst.

Oscellation Natural Supplements Company launches an Adobe Business Catalyst Ecommerce Website with Designtech Studio

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:44:00 GMT

Oscellation is an Austin, Texas based natural supplements company. They approached Designtech Studio regarding their website redesign project. Oscellation has conducted their business under the name, "Metabolic Therapies" for number of years, but they've decided to move forward with the new name "Oscellation". With the new name in place, Oscellation worked with an advertisement agency to create a branding strategy. With the focus for the new company in place, Oscellation came to Designtech Studio to produce the branding images that included logo design, packaging label design, website redesign, and website development. The previous website did not have content management system or online shopping features. Therefore, the site was not generating revenues and was not offering new information to their customers. Designtech Studio is a certified and showcased Adobe Business Catalyst Partner that focuses on website design and development and we are excited to introduce the newly redesigned Oscellation ecommerce website to the public.

The previous business model for Oscellation was to focus on catering to the wholesale customers. However, they decided to pursue the general public and direct sales for the new website. The new website needed to still offer wholesale customers with an easy way to order discounted priced items. In order to generate more customers to the site that previously knew nothing about these natural supplement products, Designtech Studio and the SEO copywriters and blog writers worked together to setup a blog tool that they is easy to maintain and publish. The blog section of Oscellation is a very active place on the site with multiple posts being published each week on the site as well as on RSS feed.

The eCommerce portion of the site needed to not only offer product info, but pricing for general customers as well as for the wholesale customers. The site also has bulk order pricing discounts. Here are some eCommerce shopping features included in the site:

Product Management Tool
Inventory Management
Discounts and Bulk Pricing
Wholesale and Regular Pricing
Weight and Shipping Calculation
Shopping Cart
Secure Check Out Process

The other parts of the Oscellation website includes website platform features such as:

Email Marketing
Newsletter List Subscription
Content Management System
Blogs and RSS Feed
Home Page Banner Ads and Slideshow
Latest News and Announcements
Testimonials Management Tool
Frequently Asked Questions
Literatures and Resource Library
Customer Account Management
Social Networking Sharing Links
SEO Friendly Design and Development Techniques
And more...

Read more about Oscellation's branding designs created by Designtech Studio on our next blog post.

View more images and a case studies for this project by going to the Website Portfolio Section.

Visit Oscellation.com to view the live eCommerce website.

Hidden Valley Farm eCommerce website picked as Top 3 Adobe Business Catalyst Websites of the Month

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:42:00 GMT

Thank you, Adobe Business Catalyst for featuring our latest eCommerce website project, Hidden Valley Farm & Woolen Mill as one of the Top 3 BC Sites of the Month! It was announced through BC's Business Success email newsletters to all the partners and subscribers around the world. Thank you for taking a look at this website created for a local sustainable sheep and wool farm in Wisconsin, United States.

Below is the screen-grab of the BC email newsletter. To find out more about Adobe Business Catalyst and how Designtech Studio can help you build your online business, please visit our website platform page.

Designtech Studio is also featured as one of BC's Showcase Partner. Visit our showcased website, MondoZen.org and see how we've transformed their organization and their business.