The approach all started with the logo, and the church’s slogan, “Your Church on the Corner”. From the beginning, it needed to be friendly, approachable and easy to read for a variety of users at many different computer skill levels. To achieve this, we used a mix of both colors and soft grays, avoiding straight black and white. This keeps the contrast down, softening the entire image, creating a more friendly and comfortable atmosphere to the site.

Furthering the user friendly atmosphere, we kept the layout simple, using a featured post section, along with two columns, and the ever present sidebar. This makes finding the information you need quick and easy, and the featured post adds a bit more focus to the stories St Alban’s wants to share with the community.

On that note, we also added links to Facebook and Twitter, and set up both social media platforms to update whenever new posts are added to the site, allowing people of all ages to stay informed using the latest technology.

The main design element is the rounded corners. Avoiding sharp angles as much as possible, the site flows from one section to the next, never abrupt or jarring. It also resonates with the slogan, “Your Church on the Corner”, creating shapes reminiscent of streets and maps. In one version of the logo, the lines come together to serve a dual purpose, forming both a map to the church and the image of a cross.

The result is a warm and inviting website that is easy to browse and return to on a regular basis.

Let’s start by jumping in the Way Back Machine and heading all the way back to November 2009. The fine folks over at Fancore Podcast called me up with a small request: a complete overhaul of their website! Previously, Fancore Pirate Radio was just a podcast, with the occasional news piece or comic review, but the Fancore Crew had greater ambitions, and that’s why they had called.

Jonny's Final Word Blog Icon

The news site called for a huge upgrade to the system, including a few new tricks I had yet to master. First and foremost, it was changing from a podcast/blog to a news site, which meant completely redesigning the whole flow of the site. Instead of a main blog column, the frontpage now sports 3 columns (soon to be 6) for each of the main categories of news and reviews. But along with that, there now needed to be a place for several blog icons, as several of the Fancore writing staff wanted their own space to voice their opinions. For that we added the nice graphical column along the left side, with awesome blog icons for each writer.

And of course, the podcast wasn’t going anywhere, so that needed to be included as well. Previously the podcast was the main focus of the site, so when you got to the frontpage, it was the first and foremost thing you wanted to see. Now, the podcast is still there, but alongside so much other content, we needed a way for it to stand out. We decided to go with a dynamic header area for this, using images rather than words to indicate when a new podcast has been uploaded.

Overall, the new site has allowed for more content to be viewed in a single glance, allowing users of all kinds to find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily. If you’re into movies, comics or anything genre, check out Fancore Daily.

The Emerald Planet Logo in one of it's various forms

The direction for this identity project was clear from the start; GREEN! Now, that doesn’t just refer to the color… although there is a lot of green in there… it also refers to the motifs carried throughout the identity, in particular, the leaf.

The Emerald Planet business card is full of vibrant color, while still cutting down on ink usage and helping the environment!

Whether it’s a leaf growing out of their environmentally conscious reusable bag logo, or one of the many that populate the website, or even on their letterhead and business cards, the idea that Emerald Planet is alive and growing runs throughout their identity. And I know, that’s something that every “eco-identity” these days has going for it, but with Emerald Planet it means so much more. This motif also refers to the company’s ability to help your organization flourish, but to do it in a responsible, ecologically sound fashion. You could go with any number of fundraising suppliers, but with Emerald Planet, you’re not only helping yourself, you’re helping the ENTIRE PLANET! What more could you ask for?

Now, a couple years, and several projects later, AWS Creative has built a custom Wordpress theme for the blog and podcast, from the ground up! Not only that, but this new theme now matches the great logo we created for them about a year ago.

This project was a long time coming, but now that both Geek Out Online and Geek Out Loud have launched with the new look, we’re proud to say it was worth the wait!

One challenge when creating this site was the client’s request that users be able to rate each episode of the podcast on the site, allowing new users to browse the more popular episodes. Using a pre-made plugin, we  modified it to fit in with the overall theme of the site.

The identity is simple. Bright but edgy colors, mixed with crisp, bold shapes makes for a very pleasing brand. And of course, a good helping of AWESOME, namely in the skull and headphones, makes this identity a stand out among podcasts, which for the most part, lack anything but a logo.

AWS was responsible for everything from the logo, to the website, to promotional material, and upcoming in-store signage!

*This brand is still under development*

Of course, it’s not that hard when the existing logo and wordmark work so perfectly for a company, but there’s always room for improvement. AWS updated the logo by keeping it’s simplicity intact while making the logo more unique. The key was in the addition of a new font for the workmark, and the always classy letterpress styling of the logo. These changes informed a great deal about the new direction for Altmus Pro.

The second aspect of the redesign was to make the company seem more friendly. In order to accomplish this, a mascot was introduced into the visual identity of the company. This little guy on the left makes for a much friendlier environment when browsing the website and reading brochures. Think of him as a guide to the technical world of product development!