Roundpeg Goes Green
Over the past month, the Roundpeg team has been working with Mr. Tom Barrett on a new site for his company, Green Water Infrastructure. GWI is on the cutting edge of sustainable technology, and helps communities save money by 
developing efficient water conservation systems. Needless today, it was very exciting working with Tom on the website.
Mr. Barrett has a wealth of information on green technology and as a sought-after public speaker, knows how to effectively communicate ideas. One our challenges was to find ways to organize the information, and present the content in a way that would allow Tom to engage the visitors to his site. Rather than simply uploading Powerpoint presentations, we took select sides and asked Tom to write blog posts on specific topics. This allowed us to add some strong visuals to his blog, and break up the content into manageable pieces.
Tom had lots of exciting visual aids from his time spent giving presentations on the subject We were able to leverage those tools to provide context to the abstract concepts of economic conservation. We had the opportunity to work with a variety some of our favorite tools, as well as a few new ones during the site construction.
To increase engagement, we offered visitors the opportunity to download the entire presentation, using if they provide their email, allowing Tom to being building an email list of individuals interested in sustainable technology. To collect this information, we used the form-building tool Formspring. The tool allows us to build robust, useful forms on a website with a few simple clicks.
One of our favorite discoveries during the site construction was Slideshare. The service allows someone to upload a presentation and instantly creates a sleek, professional slideshow. What’s more, Slideshare allows you to easily embed any of your uploaded slideshows to your website.
We also found MobileMe to be extremely helpful as we transferred large files back and forth.
One of the biggest lessons I learned building this site was how many free and inexpensive tools are available to help small businesses look bigger.
Make sure to check out the new Green Water Infrastructure website when you get the chance!
Animoto – Cool Image Display
At Rounpdeg we are always looking for new tools to add features to the websites we design for clients. The criteria:
- Easy to use – Even though our skill set has grown and we can usually figure out how something works, we won’t use plugins and features which are not easy to use. Why? Because most of our small business clients come to us for web sites which they can maintain. It doesn’t do any good to end up with a simple website, with the most interesting feature something we can not edit
- Free is great! But not all our tools are free. We often try free versions, and if they add value, we will upgrade, and offer our clients the opportunity to use our subscription, or get one of their own
- Compatible with Wordpress. We stopped designing traditional static websites two years ago, and have never looked back. The plugins have to work flawlessly with Wordpress, or we won’t work with them.
So in our quest for new and cool plugins, I have one I think is going to be a favorite. It is called Animoto. It converts simple photos to a cool interactive slide show. Check out the video I did with images of my husband’s art.
The thing I liked best, was how quickly I was able to put this together. Of course I am hooked, and will probably pay for the upgrade so I can create longer videos, and even some without the Animoto logo. But in the meantime, this is really cool!
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
I Don’t Love Hearts and Flowers!
About two weeks ago I was looking for a ” heart” image for a Valentines Day promotion I was designing for a client. I went to Google as I often do, and searched for “heart” images. Finding one I liked, I clicked on the link to take a closer look.
Unfortuantely, the link took me to a porn site, which launched a virus on my computer. We spent several hours trying to delete the virus, and finally gave up. We called Hans Soine, who came by and picked up our computer. Several days later ( It was after all New Years Eve) he returned, with a clean, virus free computer in hand.
Fortunately, we back up our entire system, so nothing was lost, except some time as we were battling the virus, but it could have been much worse.
Tough Lesson Learned: No more “free images” from Google, we are going to stick to downloads from sites we trust!
And from a design standpoint, the flyers turned out really cool. I couldn’t find a heart I liked, so I ended up creating one of my own!
This event is for people of all ages. If you have any questions or want more information on the event talk to Sunny Moon!
Local HVAC Company Gets Web Face Lift
With a little help from Roundpeg, Make it Mowery has relaunched their website – www.makeitmowery.com.
The new website provides visitors with a more organized view of their wide product and service line. The addition of a blog offers visitors information on new trends as well as the ability to see what other consumers say about their experience with Mowery.
“Mowery is well known in the local community because we’ve been in business for 40 years,” says owner Chip Cochran. “While we wanted a fresher look, we did not want to reinvent ourselves so completely that our customers did not recognize us.”
An additional benefit of the redesign was the migration to a Wordpress Platform. With the installation of the “All in One” plugin, the site is performing well on search engines and the members of the Mowery staff can keep the content fresh with small, regular updates.
To learn more about Make it Mowery and to see the new website please visit: www.makeitmowery.com.
Happy Holidays from The Roundpeg Elf Crew to You…
At Roundpeg we have worked hard to develop a unique brand, which extends well beyond our logo. Our brand is about positive energy, creativity and collaboration. These three elements are conveyed in the words and images we choose, as well as the way we present ourselves in social media and face to face networking events.
It is important to create credibility with our brand, so clients trust us. At the same time, we know that while we are serious about what we do, we do not take ourselves seriously so our brand incorporates this lighthearted part of our personality, too. As we were designing this year’s holiday card, Lorraine challenged me to create something which would reinforce the brand, with standard colors and fonts, but would also let people see the fun part of our personality.
This is often a challenge for small business who work hard all year long to build their brand image, then compromise on their holiday card. They buy “stock” business cards, which do not convey any sense of who they are to distribute to all their clients and strategic partners; missing an important marketing opportunity.
I enjoyed creating our holiday card this year, because after we redesigned our website, the door was open for creativity and a bit of fun. For the front of the card, I created a hand drawn snow flake , colored in our standard blue and teal so it resembles wrapping paper. Combined with a red ribbon on our hand wrting style font ( Complete in Him) the card has a “hand drawn feel” . The text, “If BIG business ran the holidays”, speaks to our bias for working with small businesses.
The back side of the card was inspired by a JibJab Elf Dance of the Roundpeg Crew. It gave me the brilliant idea dress all of the team in elf costumes, including Clyde the Cat and Bonnie the dog. Playing off this idea brought humor to the card in a style consistent with our brand.
Happy Holidays to everyone! I look forward to working with you in 2010!
Triple I
We recently created a new identity for an insurance company, Innovative Individual Insurance, which offers an “Ala Carte” menu of services.
The logo was designed by playing with the letter “i”. The design uses all three i’s to create an interesting layout. The logo came together pretty quickly because our client gave us a good starting point with his vision of what the company was about.
The initial concept was designed first in black and white. We prefer to have a client select the design, and then look at colors. Once the design was finalized then the colors came into play.
The blue and green we selected give the logo a modern, bold, vibrant feeling. The blue is strong enough to use for text, and the yellow/green really makes the logo pop. The color is very vibrant on paper and on the screen.
What do you think?
Cliffe Metal Website Redesign
by Erica Gardner
When we first met with Cliffe Metal they were looking for a new web site which met several criteria
- Easy to update - As a manufacturers representative, their product line changes frequently, as they add new principles to their lines. They were frustrated by the amount of time it took to update the site – sending changes to their designer, and waiting for her to find the time to make the updates.
- Improved SEO - The lack of fresh content, conversion forms, and key terms was clearly keeping them off the first page of Google.
- A fresh look consistent with their professional image. The red, white and blue theme made the site look like 100 other sheet metal firms, all with logos that dated back to the formation of the company.
We started with a redesign of the their logo and color scheme. Moving away from the “patriotic red, white and blue, we encouraged them to consider colors in a metallic family and stronger fonts.
We recommended a transition to Wordpress to address their update issues. The site now includes a blog where they feature pricing and product availablity updates, along with other company news. This ability to share information as it becomes available was impossible with their original site. And given the volatile nature of raw material pricing, this gives them a unique competitive edge in the marketplace.
We designed the website to showcase the specific metal products they sell. We selected theNextGEN gallery to offer a better solution for displaying their products than simple pasting images of different sizes onto each page. We also added a sidebar to feature links to their top suppliers.
Using the All in One SEO plug in, along with new content, we have begun to improve their visibility on key terms. It will take awhile to move up the rankings, but they are on their way.
Business Cards – The Face of Your Business
At Roundpeg we have been talking about business cards a lot lately. Obviously, we design cards for lots of our small business clients, but also we have been working on updating our cards as well. With the launch of the new website, we added a fresh handwritten font as an accent to the site, and wanted to bring that same font into our cards.
I love the 
new look Taylor came up with. While still true to our brand, the handwriting gives the cards a friendly, more personal feel. I also love the switch to the blue background, after 6 years of teal, it is a nice change, without changing to core look of our brand.
This is challenge for many small business, how do you keep your look fresh, without losing the equity you have built up over time.
And while we are on the subject of business cards, here is what Melinda, one of our interns had to say on the subject.
Tonight is my third networking event and I am still feeling nervous but excited. One thing I am amazed by is the creativity and design skills that go into these business cards I’m getting. I have never had a business card printed with my name on it BUT by the time I do… I hope I get something cool.
I am pretty sure Melinda has some cool cards in her future. And if you are looking for inspriation, here is a link to a blog featuring 50 Creative Business Cards of 50 Graphic Designers which Melinda found.
Logo From Sketch Pad to 3 – D
I recently finished a logo design for a new restaurant called Chef JJ’s Back Yard. It was fun working on this logo because Chef JJ has been a long time client of Roundpeg’s. As their business has evolved, from personal chef to full-fledged restaurant, so have their logo designs, all of which were created by Roundpeg. The new logo includes s his some of the elements from earlier versions, but has a distinct, more modern feel and edgy font choice. This version was designed, knowing a 3 – D version would eventually be created for the building signage.
After the design was finalized, a local artist, who creates both decorative and functional pieces constructed from a range of materials including: steel, bronze, iron, wood, glass and tile created his interpretation of the logo in a 3D metal version sign of Chef JJ’s logo. The sign now hangs in the entrance of Chef JJ’s Back Yard. It’s really cool to see something transformed into a 3 dimensional piece after seeing it only on screen or on paper.
A bit about Chef JJ’s Backyard – Located in the heart of Broad Ripple, the indoor and outdoor retail living space creates an open feel that will allow clients to enjoy the grilling experience, nature and a view of the river. The Back Yard blends grilling and outdoor living with the farm to form concept using only fresh, local food sources to create a very unique dining experience. We are looking forward to a few company events at JJ’s.
And the artist, Andy Ball, ( Lorraine’s husband) will have his first local exhibit at the Indianapolis Art Center just a few blocks away from JJ’s. So stop in to see the sign, then head up the Monon, for his opening on September 11 and then wander down to see his other work at Chef JJ’s
Roundpeg Designs New Website for Solid Foundation Investment Properties
We recently worked with Solid Foundation Investment Property (SFIP) to design and build a brand new website. They previously had no website or branding, so I worked with our graphic designer, Taylor, to come up with a brand new design. It is always fun starting from scratch because that is when the best ideas comeout.We were fortunate, because our client was very open t o our ideas and suggestions
SFIP is a professional residential redevloper, so we wanted the new website to look clean and classy. The website is very unique because we created buttons on the sidebar that link to the blog categories. Taylor created the buttons based off of the new logo. I think this gives the website great color without over-doing it. We also wanted to showcase previous and current projects that SFIP is working on. This will allow future clients to see the kind of work SFIP does.
Overall, this web project was fun to work on and the client was extremely happy with their new website!
