bighouse news | the blog of bighouse graphix

Conjunction Junction : websites gain new functions.

Steve — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:05:19 +0000

Cue the Schoolhouse Rock classic “Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?” You can probably finish the rest of the song, but just in case here’s a refresher.

Function has been the keyword around the Bighouse office lately. Everybody wants connections. Our clients want to connect to their customers via Twitter, Facebook, click-throughs and conversions, email sign-up fields and contact forms. It’s nice to see that the sites we’ve built are continuing to be used and relevant and we’re more than happy to help them stay that way.

We’re designing dynamic websites that our clients can easily manage. We’re also continuing to monitor the traffic on sites we maintain – and the reports help us to find ways to improve SEO and get better Google or Bing search results. Because helping someone find you more easily and keeping your audience up to date – well, it just makes business sense.

So, don’t forget folks: The web is for forging connections and occasionally for hooking up words and phrases and clauses and making complex sentences like: I’d like to have some of this thing or that thing that’s in your online shopping cart; it’s lovely.

Redesign Fever!

Steve — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:20:04 +0000

Not a week passes by at Bighouse Graphix without a conversation about updating or tweaking an existing site. Heck, we want to do this with our own site now and then, and you better bet we could give you a list of websites we’d love to get our hands on too.

It’s too tempting to wipe the slate clean without giving any thought to the current site. But before reaching for the eraser, the smart thing to do is to really review the site goals and call to action, measure google analytics and determine the real problem. In some cases, just a few smart changes make all the difference.

Lisa Lancaster, a veterinarian in Denver, Colorado asked us to design her website a few years ago. As a mobile veterinarian Lisa needs her website to provide her clients enough information that by the time she gets to their door they have a good idea of who she is and what she can do. Bad communication in this case means a lots of wasted time.

The website we created about 3 years ago had beautiful photos of Lisa with the horses she has cared for, a lot of equine related info and elaborate online forms for her clients. Now, several years later, her business focus has expanded to include small animal care and some new holistic therapies. Along the way, Lisa also discovered that her online forms weren’t providing her with the information she needed. Worse, the forms often confused her visitors. So, the website that Lisa loved three years ago needed to grow and change along with her business.

Because we know that it’s not about how pretty your website is, it’s about relevancy and convenience, we completely understood Lisa’s request. We audited her current site, studied site traffic and usability. We looked at what information on her website was proving useful and what was getting in the way. We re-adapted the site structure and design while keeping the consistent look of the brand that we had developed for her. We shifted the focus from strictly equine services to also include small animals. By simplifying her online forms, strengthening her brand imagery and really pairing down what was important on the site, the end result was much stronger.

Take a look for yourself, Lisa’s new website is www.lancasterequine.com

The big man comes to Bighouse

Steve — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:09:30 +0000

Barack Obama visited Savannah this spring, spreading the word about good graphic design and our nation’s need for improved font choices, better website interfaces and quality printing. He stopped by Bighouse Graphix to shake hands with our very own Steve Mousourakis, a hard-working local small business owner who is creating positive change in our local economy.

Wait, what?

Yeah, most of that didn’t actually happen. But we are proud to say that the printed booklet we designed for the Savannah Technical College arrived last week and it features Obama’s press conference and visit to the school. The President chose to stop at Savannah Tech because of the excellent training programs offered there, particularly the YouthBuild program, which puts at-risk students through a combined GED/construction program. Here at Bighouse Graphix we’ve been working on print projects for Savannah Tech for some time and now seeing them featured on national news like this, well, it makes us proud.

So we showcased the historic visit with rich color photos in an 80lb classic laid navy coil-bound cover with custom 60lb ivory velum dividers and bronze foil-stamping featuring the Presidential seal.

The other day, when the samples came in, we photographed the big man right here in the studio… ok, fine, just the printed booklet.

You have the power

Steve — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:30:39 +0000

Have you ever hid under the covers late at night with a flashlight and a comic book? Or waged imaginary backyard warfare versus evil forces while dressed in a homemade costume?

If so, take a deep breath and let the lengthy exhale cleanse from your system the anxiety of being a closeted dweeb. Your secret fetish for the four-eyed arts is safe with us.

The truth is, however, you’re not as alone as you may believe. To roughly paraphrase a fictional purveyor of justice “you have the power.”

Still don’t believe? Set your Web browser to the blog I Have the Power Art and your expectations to “stunned.”

If you were a kid in the 80s, you undoubtedly recognized the blog title as the call-to-action mantra of comic book and cartoon-icon He-Man. Those same kids who were raised on cheesy 80s television are all grown up now and many have become artists — some more so than others.

Gallery 1988 and their Masters of the Universe Tribute Show is a prime example.

The California-based gallery is currently displaying and selling Masters of the Universe-inspired art work; ranging a gamut of mediums and styles. They vary from Warhol-ian-type screen-print portraits and epic oil-on-canvas battle scenes to painted-wood renderings of He-Man getting a haircut. Or his nemesis Skeletor getting a root canal. And when we say all other styles and interpretations in between…we mean it.

What keeps us up at night? The great design of nefarious villains. Good thing we’ve got a flashlight and a good read.

www.ihavethepowerart.blogspot.com

New Thunderbird Inn website launched

Steve — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:59:37 +0000

It’s hip, it’s here, the Thunderbird Inn has a new website. With a hip neon sign beckoning you to the Thunderbird Inn, we felt it only proper to back it up with a hip new website. With bright vivid colors and retro theme, we feel it fits the bill pretty well. A few of the custom features bighouse graphix integrated into the site are the ability to click a button to switch the theme from night to day (go ahead and try it, you know you want to), an events calendar and a custom reservation sidebar.

The Thunderbird Inn is not your traditional spanish moss, historic Savannah brick, run of the mill hotel. Reasonable rooms, cool folks, moon pies, a swanky room to sleep in and personal service set it apart from any other hotels in Savannah.

http://thethunderbirdinn.com/

Name the joint, win $2500.

Steve — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:37:49 +0000

Need a an extra fistful of benjamins? Our good friends over at VSAG are sponsoring the Name a Restaurant Contest where you get to be the star and take home the cash, $2500 to be exact. Think hip, bold, Asian influenced with an American style appeal. On-the-go or sit down, this restaurant will be LA’s place to eat and be seen eating. Take a chance, who knows, when it’s shown on Food Network, you can smile and take a bow.

And remember, thats bighouse graphix, 219 West Bryan Street, Savannah GA 31401. Fine imported beers, cold hard cash or just a simple thanks will do. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, anyone can enter. Contest ends October 31st.

www.namearestaurant.com

Cooper Hunting contracts bighouse graphix for new product branding

Steve — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:58:28 +0000

When competing for attention on the shelves of big box stores, timid is not an option. If the consumer doesn’t grab your product within the first 3 seconds, they probably never will. Package design is often your one and only interaction that you have with potential clients.

Cooper Hunting Industries has contracted bighouse graphix to help brand their flagship product, The Chameleon Blind. The Chameleon blind is a portable, hunting blind that can be setup in less than 5 minutes, allowing a hunter to setup anywhere and in no time.

By incorporating the use of a bright and contrasting color palette along with bold fonts, this box design screams for attention. Custom illustrations provide for easy, at-a-glance setup instructions. Package design, sales slicks and a trade show exhibit are just a few of the branded pieces that bighouse graphix was responsible for.

Have a new product you are launching or one that just isnt quite getting the attention it deserves? Give us a jingle.

Savannah Story Spinners gets a new website

Steve Mousourakis — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:46:15 +0000

Bess Chappas currently travels the country promoting her children’s books. Since her retirements, she has been telling stories professionally to both children and adult groups across the country. She has won Honorable Mention for an article in the Writer’s Digest contest and has authored the CD, “Savannah Ghost Stories” and the children’s book, “Kiki and the Red Shoes.”

She wanted a simple website that would allow her to sell her CDs and books along with the ability to post upcoming events and articles. Building on a wordpress platform, we were able to achieve both goals fairly simple by incorporating a simple blog into the site. This allows Bess to easily make updates, add new pages, post new articles and add new items to her store.

www.savannahstoryspinners.com

Soaring into an office near you

Steve — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:03:12 +0000

The falcon is one of the fastest animals on the planet and also the namesake of the Lowcountry’s newest IT business, Falcon Worx. bighouse graphix was more than happy to work with the Falcon Worx gang from the ground up on the image and voice of their brand.

Falcon Worx specializes in comprehensive hassle free managed IT services, computer network services, hardware and software upgrades and repair, data backup and IP surveillance systems for small to medium sized businesses in Savannah and surrounding areas. Any sized business can benefit by Managed IT. Let them show you how outsourcing your IT to one vendor can cut costs, increase productivity and reduce risk for your business. From server upgrades to virus protection, you can reduce downtime and keep working. They take take care of your network and you get work done. Unlike most IT support vendors, they take a proactive approach rather than waiting until it’s broken. It’s like getting a full support tech staff at one flat monthly rate, no surprises, 24/7/365. We even created a custom calculator that can show you just how much you can save, Take a look HERE.

With the Falcon Worx brand, one goal was to make them standout from the rest of the already overabused color palette of blues, greens and greys one might often find in this somewhat misunderstood service industry. With colors such as red and black along with the bold headlines and attitude of the website, Falcon Worx is not your regular IT company.

www.falconworx.com

8″ of wood for a night she will never forget

Steve — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:31:14 +0000

With Fatwood Kindlin’ firestarter sticks, you can start fires in no time. It’s true, these 8″ hand-split firestarter sticks start quickly with just the touch of a match, no mess, no chemicals, no hassle. So for that special evening when you would rather get cooking quicker or just want to get that fire going faster, use our Fatwood Kindlin sticks, she will love you for it. So forget the fuss and get on with the fun, with Longleaf Lighter Company’s Fatwood Kindlin’.

But seriously, we had a real blast working with this client. bighouse was excited when called on to help rebrand this product from top to bottom. From logo, packaging, content, web presence and social media, we hit the ground running at the opportunity. This ecommerce site had challenges written all over it, featuring flash, PHP, javascript you name it. Because Kindlin’ is sold on both a wholesale and retail level, the site had to be developed to cater to both end users and reflect two pricing structures.

One of the most important things that the client required was control of their own site, allowing them to make edits and replace or add items, change pricing, etc. This was accomplished by using Wordpress as our CMS platform and Cartweaver for the shopping cart features. The site even features ecommerce integration with the clients Quickbooks account, allowing automated order processing and hassle free online sales. Sales can be viewed in real time, batched immediately, providing a hands-free, no hassle ecommerce experience. And of course to get the product out quicker to their customers, shipping integration with the fullfillment operation helped round out the entire site.

So give the site a visit and tell us what you think.