Steve Campbell, co-founder of My Docs Online, contacted me a while back about a complete redesign of their company identity. As usual, I started with the logo (You can check out the logo redesign process here) and shortly after, moved on to redesigning the website. I'll never forget one of Steve's first comments to me about the original website design: "We don't think our website is old school, we KNOW it's old school!" too funny. TRUE at the time, but funny. ;) So, I knew my plan of action was clear: carefully redesign their website without shocking long-time clients by the completely updated look. Incorporate a modern feel to match the new logo, implementing current trends in web design to reflect their place in the market as a top competitor- bringing modernism and their long-lasting reputation together.
The old My Docs Online logo:
The NEW My Docs Online logo:
So, I got to work on the new design. I knew right away that I wanted to use a custom Flash Banner for the home page, and I'm so Glad Steve was on the same page from the start. They're a huge trend right now for a reason: Flash banners are AWESOME for getting a lot of information across without making people feel overwhelmed, and they can be used to help present the company's biggest selling points in an entertaining and effective fashion, when designed in a sort of tabbed format. And since Flash also gives developers the flexibility to build interactivity into any Flash component, this also gives users the ability to control which points they want to see and when (if developed effectively, of course). This makes any website even more user-friendly because it's just fun and more intriguing! So professional stock photography, catchy taglines for each selling point, and custom controls (pause/play, skip to a slide) and transitions all came into play for this project.
The home page design, incorporating the current trend of using a Flash Banner to communicate the company's best selling points:
concept 1a
concept 1b
concept 2a
concept 2b
Once Steve and his team decided on the new look, I got to work on the development phase of the Flash component. Aside from developing the visuals, I also wanted to build it in a way that the client could easily update himself; an XML file was developed and utilized to accomplish this part of the task, which included the amount of time each slide was displayed, image paths to read in, and all titles and captions to be displayed. So all of these are now accessible to the Client for easy updates to the content the Flash Banner displays... Images, titles, captions, timing of each slide- it’s all there for him to update whenever he wants to. A great time-saver for both of us, and ultimately, a huge money saver for him to be able to make changes himself!
the final design, live on the all-new My Docs Online website:
See the Flash Banner and the rest of the new design in action at www.mydocsonline.com and read what Steve has to say about the new look here, on the MDO blog. (Thanks for the shout out!)
Steve and the rest of the My Docs Online team were so easy to work with, it was awesome. Thanks to them for the opportunity!!! Best of luck with the new look. :)
1 comment:
Hi Sarah - reading your summary of what happened with the redesign was a pleasure and we couldn't be happier with the results.
One other thing that you and I may not have discussed was that we had actually started a redesign a year earlier with another designer but after several months and lots of money that effort was abandoned. That particular designer did not embrace the modular approach to the redesign that you guided us through. Your approach allowed us to move through the process at a pace that was comfortable both to us and our clients.
Thanks again for your great work.
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