Crowl, Montgomery & Clark, Inc. | Marketing . Public Relations . Internet

May 10, 2012
by csirgo
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Online Document Publishing

Do you have a pdf document that you would like to display on your website? Quality online publishing goes beyond simply providing an option to download a pdf, or hoping your site visitor has a pdf reader add-on in their browser. CMC can display your document as part of your website in an animated slideshow/page turning format. The range of documents that can be embedded into a website is wide; in the past CMC has published everything from product catalogs to newsletters, portfolios and magazines.

Case Study

The Great Lakes Construction Company is a client specializing in bridge/paving/construction projects in the greater Ohio area. Our relationship began in 2006, during which time TGLCC has employed our expertise to produce print ads, logo development, a website redesign, and an update of the web design in 2012.

We also regularly lay out and produce a custom informational newsletter, The Great Lakes Way, for their employee base and the general public. It was originally displayed on their website as a downloadable pdf text link, but TGLCC wanted a more user-friendly way to present the newsletter to site visitors. They wanted to avoid the inconvenience of having to download a file while at the same time maintain an intuitive format that would match the experience of the printed piece. The final requirement was for the newsletter to present well on mobile devices and tablets. With these stipulations in mind, we decided to steer away from a Flash-based presentation and found several options with third party platforms. Having multiple options at our disposal kept us flexible when it came to meeting TGLCC’s requirements, and allowed us to properly embed the newsletter into the website while maintaining functionality in Apple based mobile and tablet devices.

February 20, 2012
by csirgo
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Website Redesign: Under the Hood

We are giving you a peek into our website design process by showing you the steps we took to update our own website, crowlinc.com.

Redesign Goals
In order to create a better overall web experience and incorporate the latest web trends, we found it necessary to overhaul our website.

Key points were identified to be incorporated into the new design.

mobile friendly website with social media integration
small scale CMS
more efficient site updating capabilities
staff photography

Strategy

Mobile Friendly

As difficult as it was to part with the flexibility and dynamic visual elements that Adobe Flash provides, it was decided that to reach the broadest possible audience, we would need to abandon Flash elements (unsupported on iPod, iPhone and iPad devices) on the website. Using a responsive CSS layout and scaling images, we created a site that responds to the width of the browser window, from a 240 pixel width mobile device to the largest desktop monitors. These changes eliminated the need for a separate, mobile-only site.

Social Media Integration
Embed the CMC blog and Facebook page recent posts, include direct links to CMC accounts with Facebook, Twitter, the CMC blog, and most recently, Pinterest.

CMS
Include a javascript CMS (content management system) that allows users to update information in real-time.

Easy Updating
Use PHP coding to streamline navigation and page updates.

Photography
Clear and interesting photographs catch the attention of readers, so we wanted to take advantage of PNG files and their unique ability to use transparent backgrounds. While GIF file format does allow for transparent backgrounds, PNG files are superior in variable transparency, file compression, and variable opacity control. It was determined that PNG support for much older browsers would need to be included.

Result

Design and Function
The site is now mobile friendly, while showing our excitement for the burgeoning social media universe, and displaying the latest web technologies and standards.

Now that you’ve seen some of the strategy used in redesigning and updating websites with current web technology trends, call us if we can help you plan your next website redesign.

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Online Document Publishing

Website Redesign: Under the Hood

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