strawberryJAMM Designs Web Consulting
Between April 1996 and August 2001 I ran my own web presence consulting business "on the side" - providing web design and hosting services to individuals and small businesses in between the demands of my engineering studies and work responsibilities. I took responsibility for my client's entire web presence - design, development and site maintenance - and by the time I closed up shop I had half a dozen commercial clients and two non-commercial clients.
For each client I planned the site information architecture, designed the look and feel for the site, crafted all web graphics and developed server side and client side scripts as required. In most cases I was also responsible for managing and maintaining the client's web server or web hosting site.
In August 2001 it was necessary for me to stop running my own business when I went to work in the US, however I did continue to handle non-commercial web sites for personal activities and belonging to family members. As with the sites I handled under the strawberryJAMM Designs banner, I am responsible for all aspects of these sites - navigation design, layout and web graphics. In addition, the web server hosting all these sites is run out of my home and managed by myself and my husband.
| Active Site Portfolio | |
|---|---|
| URL | Notes |
| VCON Online | VCON is Vancouver's annual science-fiction and fantasy fan convention. I am an active participant on
the committee responsible for organizing the 2008 convention, officially serving as the webmaster. |
| Mystara 3E Roleplaying Conversion Site | A site dedicated to converting the "Mystara" campaign setting - a setting designed for the original version of the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game - into a format consistent with the 3.5 Edition of the same game. |
| The Lord Byron Pages | This site belongs to my mother, who is writing a historical novel based on the life and loves of the poet George Gordon Lord Byron. |
| The Strawberry Facts Page | My very first web site, started in April 1994. It is woefully out of date and decidedly "old fashioned" but I keep it around as a reminder of just how long I've been doing web site design and development. I might even get around to updating it some day... |
| Inactive Site Portfolio | |
|---|---|
| URL | Notes |
| That's a Wrap Gift Basket Design | That's a Wrap came to me in early 1999. The client, a woman who was starting up a new home based business, wanted to make her gift baskets widely available and the Internet seemed the perfect way to attract attention. In this particular case, I was given complete control of all aspects of the site, with the one exception being that I had to place her official logo on the home page. The chained, hanging sign that served as navigation bar took advantage of early javascript and DHTML capabilities by supporting roll-over behaviour. Although they did not expanded or collapse in place, the navigation was designed to keep the user always aware of his location on site - where he was, what else there was in the current area and what other areas were available. |
| Mountie Collectables | Moutie Collectables is the sole Canadian distributor of Friburg Fine Art Prints, specializing in Arnold Friburg's portrayals of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I was approached by the client in late 1998 because Friburg had crafted a new piece of Mountie art in honour of the RCMP 125th Anniversary in 1999. There was going to be a special discount offered to active and past members of the RCMP and the client was keen to take advantage of the internet's broad marketing reach. The client wanted the site to be clean and simple, reflecting the company colours but also including details about Arnold Friburg. The home page was to be focused on the new print, without a lot of text. The site would also contain an order form for visitors to pre-order a limited run print of this new painting. As this was before ecommerce had really taken off, the form did not require a credit card number but users could still indicate that they wished to use one and then the client would phone them to get details. |
| Microplex Systems Ltd. | Microplex, a very early adopter of the internet as a business tool, was my first client in 1996. They contracted me to continue working with their site after I had completed a three month Internship with them. I reorganized the information archetecture of the site and modified the over all visual design of all areas. In doing so, I also crafted most of the graphics found on the site with the exception of the cartoon buttons on the home page, which had existed prior to my ownership of the site. The cartoon image map in the technical support area was drawn by the same artist, but I developed the concepts and general layout of the scene in conjunction with the Technical Support Engineer. |