Client Website Launch: Keane Studios, LLC
Bill Keane, owner of Keane Studios, LCC, heard me speak at WPPI back in March of this year when Marilyn called me up on stage during her program in the Silver Ballroom at Bally’s (I should really write about that sometime – it was an awesome experience!). After the conference, Bill contacted me to totally revamp his online presence. Bill’s old site was very simple, and according to him, didn’t really suit the “look” he’d like to put forward for his studio. He also wanted to be able to take advantage of blogging, which he wasn’t able to on his old site.
Bill’s requirements were for customers to be able to order portrait sessions on the site and we were to make use of his “signature green” and current logo. Along with the signature green, we also introduced a brand new green – the lighter green that serves as the background (I believe it was called Wasabi). Bill was great during the design process, providing color swatches, paper design patterns and samples of other websites he liked. Combining this all together, the final look combines the colors, logo, textures, and all of the other provided suggestions into a designed based on layered arcs, stripes and slightly textured backgrounds.
The Shopping Cart
Not evident in the final design, there was actually an intermediate version of the Keane Studios website that took the old design and updated it slightly for a session of emergency ordering for prom portraits. The intermediate version was built over a weekend and orders were ready to be taken in just a few days. During this time, the groundwork for Bill’s final shopping cart was laid down and everything performed beautifully. After the success of the custom coding solution to collect session information from clients during the shopping process, the final version of the shopping cart involved tweaking forms for different types of photo sessions and print pre-ordering.
Over the life of the new shopping cart system, Bill has successfully been able to take orders online and coordinate photo sessions for the senior proms, graduations and senior portraits for four area high schools. Each of the past events is still registered in the cart system, so next year, Bill only has to “flip a switch” and he’ll be ready for Round 2!
The Rest of the Site
Of course, like all of my recent web design projects, Bill can easily maintain his entire site, which is very important. In a dynamic photo studio, forms and products change and evolve over time. The site is coordinated through a content management system complete with galleries, his blog, and as many pages of content as he can throw at it. Included with the galleries, he also has the option to show Flash slideshows. He can do it all without writing one single line of HTML code – which makes everything super easy.
Coincidentally, Bill and his wife will be attending the Blogging Workshop in Asheville on October 3 & 4. I can’t wait to meet them both face to face and really show them how to take the new blog to the next level!