NoodleWave Close Case [-]

Challenge:

NoodleWave was in the process of opening a second restaurant in a new location. The client felt that this was the perfect opportunity rebrand his Thai restaurant. He wanted a website that best represented his business in every way possible. He also wanted to capitalize on the advantages of SMM and wanted me to help him build his brand online. The client has a website already but it was not representing his business accurately. It did show that it was a Thai restaurant but it was missing the whole contemporary look and feel. The main challenge I had to deal with was to somehow find a way to integrate the colors the client requested (orange, red, blue, yellow). I figure his current site had those colors and he wanted to somehow maintain that color scheme. This was definitely going to be challenging in figuring out to work with colors that usually clash with each other.

Process:

Before considering any type of design for the "new NoodleWave" I wanted to experience the restaurant, the food, the ambiance and the culture it created. It was a Saturday evening and the restaurant was bustling. Waiters were artistically moving back and forth from the kitchen to their intended customers. The interior was dim lit and filled with contemporary designs. From bamboos fixtures to sculptures of fish pinned up against the walls. The first thing I noticed wasn‘t any of the designs or the polite waitresses running around with smiles on their faces but instead it was the music. One thing I‘ve noticed is that music is something that really isn‘t taken seriously or even considered when trying to create an atmosphere. However these guys nailed it dead on. Familiar beats of Bhudda Bar played in the background of conversations going on while people laughed, ate and took pictures of each other. I ordered the Pad Thai and the Thai Tea. I was really impressed when the dish arrived. It was just a slop of food on my dish but they really made every effort to harmonize the ingredients, the dishware, the banana leaf the noodles were on and the thinly tangled ribbon of carrot all in a piece of art! Long story short it is the best Pad Thai I‘ve had so far. Having experienced the restaurant, the staff, the food, the customers and the environment I knew exactly what direction to take.

The conception:

Designers Block!

The contemporary interior design and music are the 2 elements I wanted to represent in the redesign. Because the original restaurant has been around and was able to capture good market share the restaurant is usually busy during lunch time on the weekdays and dinner time during the weekends. So I made sure that the photographer captured images right at peak time. I wanted the images to tell their own stories. Since the site was for a restaurant it was important to take high res pictures of all popular dishes. With a contemporary site and good music I complimented it with quality images of the food and the people. Now that I had a mental idea how I wanted the site to navigate, look and feel I had to figure out a way to use the colors the client requested. I searched the internet over and over for existing sites, templates, color wheels only to come up empty handed. I then thought of this effect in photography called "bokeh" this effect did capture an array of colors and if done right then it can be used as a pretty cool background. Time was short and I had to take what I can find. After some digging I managed to find a beautiful wallpaper that I believed would work. It had all the color the client wanted and it definitely gave a contemporary look and feel.

Creating the buzz

With the redesign complete my job was done and now my developer (Jorge) was busy putting the site together. My next task to build enough buzz online before the opening of NoodleWave 2 so that we can drive traffic from Facebook into his new restaurant without having to place ads in newspapers, grab up expensive radio and television spots or even doing a traditional mail out. I started creating an online dialogue with people who were becoming friends on Facebook. I would ask the question and then have people participate. In between these questions I would mention the opening of the new location. I didn‘t make it so obvious that we were advertising his new location but kept mentioning it so it was something people were looking forward to.

The End Result

The site was ready to go. The client had a really well designed "commercial" video that was made for his restaurant some time back when a newspaper was reviewing them. I ensured that we used that video as the focal point on the main landing page. The video had everything, from the food to actual testimonials. I also gave him another great idea that he would like to do in the future. In order to remain engaged with his customers online I told him that his customers would appreciate videos of him making some of his most popular dishes. This would drive his customers to participate and then share their experiences online with other folks. I figure, when you have a group of people talking and looking at pictures of food you will certainly have a few of them craving some good Thai food.

The website and Facebook announced the opening of the new location and offered customers free dessert for all. We continued promoting the new location on Facebook and encouraged people to sign up to the newsletter on the website so that they can receive coupons on their birthday. We successfully drove enough traffic to the new location that the client did not have to find other ways to gain more market share. Everyone was ecstatic with the redesign of the website and logo. Everything was done on time and within his budget.

Green Crescent Clinic Close Case [-]

Homeopathy is a practice that started in the mid 1700‘s. It‘s principle and foundations are found within nature. They say when a human body encounters an ailment it is particularly due to an imbalance of bile's in your system. To restore requires certain herbs and natural substances. Only recently homeopathy has gained acceptance by the general public. With organic markets and restaurants sprouting across the nation, people are really starting to focus on the benefits of Homeopathy. This is something our pharmaceutical companies are not too happy about. My dad was a Homeopathy doctor hence I was always fascinated by this practice.

Now that Naturopathy and Homeopathy are common household words this particular client is taking full advantage. He wanted to re brand his business and redesign his website. His old website was not engaging enough and was flooded with large amounts of content, causing his visitors to feel overwhelmed. He wanted to "fix" up his site and simplify is as much as possible.

Challenge:

After evaluating the website here are the problems I found and needed to find a solution.

• Way too much content
• No newsletter
• Site is not gathering vital visitor information through subscribe function
• Look and feel not current
• No clear direction as to what Green Crescent Clinic does and offers (perceived value)
• No where to set up an appointment
• Difficult using the website
• No real logo designed

Process:

Since Homeopathy is a natural practice it only made sense to give the new site an organic look and feel. I decided to incorporate images in order to offset the large amount of content the client wanted to display. I retained the colors and added some more shades and gradients. Since the customer had a list of testimonials I felt that it would be good to showcase them on the landing page. With an abundant amount of content I had to find a way to not overwhelm the visitor but to make it available in case the visitor wanted to read and learn more.

Result

The redesigned logo is clean and distinct. The site definitely has an organic and peaceful look and feel to it. The landing page now clearly defines what his business offers, what his mission statement is and contains a section to set up an appointment.

The testimonials are displayed in an animated format for easy reading and no extra scrolling. Forms and contact information are readily available and easy to get to. The content is now being displayed in an "accordion" format. In short, some of the content is displayed and if the visitor wants to read more they can simply click on a "+" button and it will display the rest of the content. They can also hide the content by clicking on the same button. I also had a custom developed newsletter built into the site.

The client can now access the newsletter function through a hidden link. He can write up the newsletter, remove and add email addresses directly from that page. I incorporated his logo and the colors of the site in the newsletter to remain consistent with his brand. I added links to Facebook and YouTube so he can incorporate SMM into his marketing mix.

RS Foundation Close Case [-]

Challenge:

The original site was very limited and basic in design. Rather than having a content heavy website I always felt it would ideal to use heart felt images to convey your message especially for nonprofit organizations. Content is definitely necessary for nonprofits because they want to be as transparent as possible since their target audience is the general public. However a strong landing page can say a lot with really having a lot of text right up front. The original site was heavy in content, lacked images, ease of navigation was difficult and there was no sense of direction. The client wanted to rebrand the organization with a new logo and a website. He also wanted a solution where they can make updates on their own and send out newsletters whenever they choose.

Process:

I recommended using WordPress for the backend with a custom designed front end. Since the client is based in Canada I only had the website and a zip file of images to work with. When coming up with the logo and website they wanted to ensure that it maintained a Canadian identity. They also wanted it to represent the following, safety, security, helping hands, nonprofit and relief work.

I was able to use the Canadian maple leaf and the color red in the logo. Now that the Canadian identity was taken care I didn‘t have to find way to incorporate a Canadian theme within the website. Before coming up with my own concept in terms of design and layout I usually spend a couple of hours surfing the internet for ideas. With ambient beats playing from my speakers I sift dozens of different sites. From travel, medical, school to nonprofits. Some sites are good for the use of content, while others are good in displaying images. All in all I‘m able to take small pieces from successful (well in my eyes that is) websites and custom design my own website.

Going Grunge

The site needed to represent the widespread problem of poverty in the developing countries. I decided that the "grunge" look and feel was most appropriate. Though many nonprofits I‘ve seen were bright, clean and crisp. They were beautiful and represented success however I felt that worked for large corporate type of organizations that had millions of dollars coming in. But RS Foundation was dedicated to its cause. The entire staff was made of all professionals that volunteer their time. 100% of all donations were allocated to the projects they worked on. With that in mind I felt it would be good to have the site represent a more "grass roots" and professional look and feel to it.

There were 2 elements that needed to stick out right away on the site. One being the video they made and second was the "donate now" button. I used strong images for the landing page. It represented the current situation (the problem) accompanied with the "donate now" and video (solution).

The End Result

With the launch of the rebrand they received more donations within the first 3 months. They also had an increase of email subscriptions.

Testimonials Close Testimonials [-]

"Imran - I was over at the Digital Dealer conference this morning. The video you built is incredible. After seeing how it was being built on Friday night, I have a real appreciation for the challenge and energy that it required. Thanks for making the personal sacrifice to create such a quality product."

John P.

CEO

EFG Companies

Ric,

"I needed to send you a quick e-mail and update you. Thank you so much for your help and input this morning on our phone call with Ginny. Since our conversation, I have been working with Imran Randhawa, and I have to tell you, he was the missing link. He's been doing an absolutely amazing job getting it together for me. I know you guys have a lot on your plates, and sometimes getting moving with a new dealership has its challenges. I've been doing this a long time, and feel confident that it will work. Before speaking with you today, and working with Imran, I didn't have that confidence. I am not an easy person to please when it comes to lead management systems, and their abilities, but I'm smiling at the moment. Thanks again, I know you can't be chasing after everyone all the time to make sure they're doing things the way you would, so I'll keep you posted. Between you and Imran, I'm sure we'll get all the support we need. I also spoke to Eve, and Ginny, and relayed this to them. Great fumble recovery!"

Roy Ranton

Director of Internet Sales

Matt Slap Subaru

Imran,

"As allows, your work and contributions are superb and appreciated."

Klees

National Sales Manager

WALKWAY

Hyundai Assurance Team,

"The updated PowerPoint presentation of screen captures for the current edition of the Dealership Fulfillment site has been uploaded to the Perfect Storm.

Thanks to Imran of EFG Technologies for his help in capturing these so they look very professional"

Marc Swinney

Web Marketing Manager

EFG Companies

"Chuck, Imran‘s last minute support and timely turnaround are greatly appreciated. He did an excellent job.

Thanks for all your support."

Paul

President

WALKAWAY USA

Dear Support Team,

"Thank you for the holiday embellishments to the S.E. icons! What a neat visual to see first thing in the morning. I hope that you‘ll do them for Memorial Day, July 4th, Halloween, etc. It adds a little brightness to otherwise mundane tasks.

All of you, please have a great Christmas season, and thanks for your help during the year."

Jay Ruklic - Internet Mgr.

Community Honda of Orland Park

Dear SalesEdge,

"I just wanted to say, Nice Job on the Christmas look-n-feel of the site. You really made me smile this morning when I saw it and I wanted to thank you!!!

May God Bless You All"

Merry Christmas,

Joe Aguiar

I.T. Manager

Nash Chevrolet

Outside EFG

Imran gets the job done! Making sure it‘s done well and always on time. He‘s very easy to work with, gives insightful and honest consulting because he has your and your clients best interest in mind. Nothing but good things to say!

Sarah

Firehouse Agency

The service was awesome, it was exciting to see the results, fun people to work with, very punctual. The work was very professional and more than what was expected.

Debbie

Imran has come to my digital rescue on several occasions. When we have a message or promotion that we need to "make digital", Imran continues to be our solution for programming, testing, and advice on everything from best practices to social media applications.

He has helped design and build several websites and email campaigns for my company. I have come to rely on him for consulting, education and execution.

If you are looking for someone that can lead you down the digital path, this guy deserves your trust. He‘ll make you shine.

Diane

Firehouse Agency