www.dynagard.info

We met with Brandon at TOPCOR Offshore, Inc. to discuss building an ecommerce site in order to streamline selling one of their products: DynaGard. What is DynaGard you ask? The answer is simple. It is a rigid, composite shell, molded to various sizes to fit on pipes, mostly used within the oil and gas industry. The shell attaches to the pipes and isolates the pipe from its support, preventing rubbing and distress to the pipe itself. See? Simple. And really effective!

Brandon wanted to set up a system that would allow them to distribute DynaGard to their many domestic and international clients easily. We opted for an e-commerce site that gives them complete control over the product, inventory, shipping/taxes…while we handled the zillion other facets that make up an online store.

For the design, we created a modern but clean look and added a Flash billboard to show immediately how simple the product is to use. We also did some product photography for them, recreating their installation document and creating individual images for the product variations.

All in all, it was great working with TOPCOR. Brandon and Maralyn, our contacts, made a very detailed process very easy and enjoyable and Drift was able to create a solution to make their jobs easier.

www.dynagard.info

Popularity: 10% [?]

I have to say, I really enjoyed building this site. Mostly because of the cool people at Geauxing Places, and mostly because of all the cool places they’ve been!

Geauxing Places approached us about building a website for them. They are a travel agency located in Denham Springs (right by the Whistle Stop Cafe on Range) and, quite simply, they want to make your travel experience easy and fun. They needed a website that captured their unique outlook on their business: vacations are supposed to be fun, not work! We opted for a site that lists out many of their different options, as well as a blog, so their viewers can keep up to date with travel tips, specials, and their own team’s travel adventures.

We wanted the website to reflect the main question they got asked, which is “why do I need a travel agent?” The answer is simple. Travel agents are able to arrange for each facet of your vacation, be it travel to and from the airport, the vacation itself, excursions, entertainment, dining or lodging. They take the work out of planning a vacation and allow you to enjoy your time away. Also, they often act on your behalf with the vendors you are booked with, so if something does go wrong, they are working towards a solution on your behalf.

Consider calling them the next time you have to travel, even for business. They gave this designer a great tip on where to stay when I flew out of New Orleans on a 6:00am flight. It saved me from waking up at 3:00 am to drive to New Orleans, pay for parking at the airport and play the waiting game for two hours. Not bad at all!

Popularity: 18% [?]

www.epcnola.com

Powder Coating. We had no idea what it was when we spoke with Vincent Fabro, owner of Extreme Powder Coating of New Orleans. Turns out, it is pretty cool.

Powder coating is the next wave of painting technology. It can (and is) applied to hundreds thousands of everyday items, plus some really big ones too. It actually binds the paint to the item, making it more rust and flake resistant and is much more environmentally friendly than traditional paint methods. See? Pretty cool.

So when we spoke to Vincent about creating a website to showcase his work and services, we were dismayed to hear that he’d had some bad experiences with design companies in the past. Nevertheless, he decided to see what we could do.

It took a little revising, but we were able to hit the nail on the head when it came to his site. He wanted a smooth, modern look that showed off the many options powder coating can provide. From everyday metal furniture, to industrial work to custom car/boat/motorcycle paint he is able to cater to a variety of people.

www.epcnola.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

(www.rbchopblock.com) Randy Barnes makes gorgeous chopblocks and cutting boards.

That was our first thought when we met with Randy a few weeks ago. He had contacted us regarding a new website and we went out to meet with him at his workshop. We got to see all the different types of cutting boards and chopblocks he makes, various culinary trophies used in festivals and cook-offs around the country and some really cool large scale projects he is working on. He wanted a website where he could direct his customers to view the different products available and create an interactive environment. He also wanted to display current projects and start a Recipe of the Month contest.

Randy’s work is all handcrafted and hand glued. This means that each one of his chopblocks or cutting boards is made with painstaking care and has a lifetime guarentee on it. He chuckled when we asked how long they usually last. “These things will outlive me” he joked, and continued on about how they, with care, will become heirlooms for the family that purchased them. If they happen to split or get damaged (other than putting them in the dishwasher) he will promptly replace the item.

We set about designing and building a website with a fun, relaxed feel. We wanted his viewers to enjoy being on the site, without feeling like they stumbled into a “company website”. RBChopblock.com is about community and people who enjoy cooking or high quality kitchen items. We also set up a blog for the site. Randy himself often attends Regional cook-offs and we knew it would be a fun way to keep his viewers up-to-date with his travels, as well as archiving Recipe of the Month winners and his latest projects.

The new rbchopblock.com

Popularity: 32% [?]

(www.esiliners.com) We were approached by ESI to re-design their existing website. ESI develops specialty plastic systems. They’ve managed over 2,000 projects involving civil earthwork, supplying and installing numerous types geosynthetics and numerous types of HDPE pipe systems. (One thing this designer will say is that I love working with a variety of customers, I get to learn so much about other businesses!) They’ve developed their business not only on the services and quality they provide, but the relationships they develop. Their motto is “Building on you Confidence” and follow through on this in every step they take. In addition to their services, they focus highly on their team’s safety and provide consultation on projects in order for their client’s engineers to choose the best product.

When we met with them they had three main goals. They wanted their site’s information to accurately reflect their services and abilities, as they had recently expanded their business. Secondly, they wanted the web user’s experience to be more interactive. Finally, they wanted a fresh face on their site, not just your everyday business site.

We addressed their goals by utilizing cutting edge design techniques and pushing the envelope in the design phase. Design followed through to implementation and we built two interactive photo galleries for potential customers to review. Finally, our copywriter tackled their information and delivered up-to-date  content.

We were so excited to have had the opportunity to work with ESI. They are a fun group of engineers who work to build relationships that last.

Popularity: 26% [?]