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A Sample of Launched Web Sites
Bald Mountain Medical Pharmacy - Print
| Case Study
Bald Mountain Medical Pharmacy is a small, local pharmacy located in Lake Orion, Michigan.
This is a simple site, more of a brochure site to allow prospective patients to find a local pharmacy that is personalized to suit their needs.
We continue to provide web site maintenance services and additional design services for Bald Mountain Medical Pharmacy.
The
Gosselin Group, Inc. - Case
Study
The Gosselin Group, Inc. is a woman-owned civil engineering and surveying consulting firm located in SE Grand Rapids, Michigan. The firm undertakes civil engineering and surveying services for both public and private sector clients
The president of The Gosselin Group, Deb Gosselin, wanted a design that was both feminine and technical, without being "girly". We worked out a design and color scheme that was right up their alley, which we feel represents the civil engineering field, while still maintaining a feminine and aesthetic look and feel. The site includes a custom blog.
We continue to provide web site maintenance services and additional design services for The Gosselin Group, Inc.
Cambridge
Partners, Inc. - Print
| Forms
Cambridge Partners is a property management group that owns six apartment communities in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.
While we did not handle the initial design of the web site, we did take over maintenance in April of 2006. In addition to updates and new content, we also provide design of some of the literature and forms used on the site. One of the additions is a customized property location map using the Google Maps API. This map provides users with the full functionality of Google's mapping system, while also having the added benefits of customized pointers to Cambridge Partners' specific property addresses and custom information windows, including links to the property websites and images for each community.
We continue to provide web site maintenance services and additional design services for Cambridge Partners, Inc.
Lake
Orion Family Dentistry - Case
Study | Forms
Creating the website for Lake Orion Family Dentistry was both one of the biggest challenges I have faced doing a freelance website, while also at the same time one of the most fun. It is a large site as far as small business sites go, having a large amount of information simply for the purpose of providing the patient with a value add.
Dr. Keith Allain, the owner, does everything he does to the inth degree
and his website is no exception. Every aspect of the business is included
on the website, from the staff, to technology, to services to the fun
side of the practice. Information is provided on dental practices and
issues, and patient information forms are made available online.
The site is custom, the graphics created based on the existing print materials that were already in place for the firm.
We currently provide web site maintenance, development and have just completed a site-wide re-design.
The
Office Grapevine - Case
Study | Logo
| Forms
The project for The Office Grapevine was a great experience, as this was a full identity branding package, including a logo, web site design and development, stationery and forms design. I became very personally attached to this project, and was intimately tied to the design and its outcome. This one was definitely a labor of love, and we are very happy with the results.
The logo went through several iterations during the design process before it was narrowed down and solidified into the final selection, and that dictated and became the hub for the rest of the design. The web site fell into place around the logo theme and colors, and has a great sense of elegance and flair that is both creative and professional. Because of the highly graphical design, minimal extra design elements were added, and font usage was kept to a minimum, even the Flash menu is very subtle and not too 'flashy' so as to not overwhelm the visitor.
We continue to provide web site maintenance services for The Office Grapevine.
West
Michigan Chapter of ARMA - Case
Study
As a member and the volunteer webmaster for the Western Michigan chapter of ARMA, it was an interesting and somewhat challenging project to re-design the website for the chapter. Obviously, cost was a major concern. As it was a volunteer project, external and costly scripts and software could not be integrated into the website, and due to the wide variety of our users, the site had to be widely accessible.
The coding of the site was also heavily optimized to increase search engine and human accessibility, as well as ease of maintenance. The lines of code were reduced by 70%. That is a significant reduction in bandwidth, enabling the site load faster.
We continue to provide web site maintenance, design and web hosting services for the West Michigan chapter of ARMA.
Robert Edwards, an IT project manager, needed a website to showcase his skills, projects and resume. This site, while being on a much smaller scale than the typical business website, still required the same attention to detail and high level of professionalism that would be required of any business even though it is a personal site.
By using a full-flash splash page, we created a level of interest and fun, before leading into the meat and potatoes content of the site. This one remains one of my favorites, perhaps because of the colors and the stormy skies. We continue to provide web site maintenance and web hosting for Robert.
Lemon
Grass Thai Restaurant - Case
Study | Logo
| Print
I was so excited to create a website for one of my all-time favorite restaurants! Located on Centerpoint Parkway on the General Motors campus in Pontiac, Michigan, Lemon Grass gets a phenomenal lunch crowd from the surrounding businesses and of course from GM itself. Having a menu available online where customers could browse through the available dishes prior to ordering has been of enormous benefit to the restaurant and to their clientelle!
In addition to having the full menu available online, along with photos and descriptions of the dishes, we made an Acrobat PDF menu as a downloadable item for repeat customers to be able to print and save. We continue to provide web site maintenance and web hosting for Lemon Grass.
JoHo
Technologies, Inc. - Case
Study | Print
JoHo had an existing site that was just a single page brochure site that they needed expanded to provide more details about their company and their services. Working with the existing logo, we created a Flash banner to provide animation and interest while keeping the rest of the site simple and clean.
Also integrated into the home page of the site is a very simple What's New script, where an individual at JoHo can login to a secure web page and create news items to have posted in the News box on the main page.
We continue to provide web site maintenance services for JoHo Technologies as well as print design services.
Ancestry Helper is a site geared towards those looking for help in researching their family history. They provide custom genealogy research as well as full family trees.
We created a very simple site, with classic and beautiful photographs to highlight the services provided by Ancestry Helper. The colors are soothing and classic, also reflecting the ancestry theme.
We continue to provide web site maintenance services and additional design services for The Gosselin Group, Inc.
Florida Keys Preconstruction - Case Study
FLKeysPreconstruction.com is the #1 resource for information on Florida Keys real estate, development, and preconstruction in the Florida Keys, located in Key Largo, Florida.
Holly Hight, the owner of Island Equity Real Estate and FlKeysPreconstruction.com, has been a client for a long time. Working with her on this project was a great pleasure. By allowing Merlee Designs to have creative freedom over the changes to the parent design, both visually and in technology, we have achieved a greatly enhanced website.
Statistical Surveys, Inc. - Case Study
Statistical Surveys, Inc. is a provider of market data solutions for the Marine, Manufactured Housing, RV-Motorized, RV-Towable and Trailer Industries in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Flash front page, bold graphics and colors, and visually defined sectioning all add to the colorful and visual aspects of this website. Trying to avoid being a "boring" data and statistical type site, Statistical Surveys wanted images to portray their target industries, allowing clients to identify with the site. Ease of navigation, via visual buttons to the main categories at the top, and a section menu on the left, the site makes it accessible and usable to the visitor.
This was a great project to work on, as the team from Statistical Surveys were clear about what they wanted, were on target with their deliverables, and eagerly participated in the creation of this site.
CDL Candles - Case Study | Print | Forms | Logo
CDL Candles is a new start-up that was looking for a unique and professional image to go forward with right from the start. The company makes candles by custom order, allowing the customer to customize their candles to their own tastes.
The website as a start, is small and intimate, with plenty of room to grow as does their business. The design again incorporating Victorian swirls and lines to co-oridinate with the logo. The primary black and white color scheme with deep red accents allows for brightly colored photos without having the comptetion of the site design to distract from the products themselves.
The windows in the banner represent the warmth, coziness and feeling of home that a candle-lit room can inspire.
Camp Run-A-Pup - Case Study | Logo | Print
The project for Camp Run-A-Pup was a great experience, as this was a full identity branding package, including a logo, web site design and development, and business card and brochure design. Along with this, the difference was in the style of the project, which was definitely outside of my usual box! It was however, a ton of fun, and I think it turned out great. The client however, is extremely happy with it, and that is what matters most, as it was exactly what she was looking for.
The logo started out from an original sketch provided by the husband of the client, which was then scanned and digitized and worked into the current logo. From there, the design for the web site came together, and we ended up with a coordinated package that uniquely brands Camp Run-A-Pup, a "Bed and Biscuit Inn"!
We continue to provide web site maintenance services for Camp Run-A-Pup.
TTL Images Photography - Case Study | Logo
TTL Images was looking for a /portfolio site where they could showcase their photographs in an aesthetic, efficient and cost effective manner. Although not all websites are suited to being created in all Flash, a purely /portfolio site is one that is. If a budget allows, a parallel site that is in HTML can be created as an option for those who don't want to view or cannot due to bandwidth limitations can be created as well.
By customizing a pre-existing templated Flash site, the cost factor of having a pure Flash site was minimized. We continue to provide web site maintenance for TTL Images.