Tonight the Living Room Diaries, hosted by Kirk Green, debuts at the Van Dyke Cafe. They are back, bigger and better than ever! What started out as an internet program showcasing local talent, has now burst onto cable scene.  LRD is now part of the TelAmerica Media family, Comcast Channel 88. How cool is that?!!

I re-developed their website using WordPress as the framework and totally customizing the design and functionality of a wp theme. Features include featured topics presented as a slideshow on the top of the page, integration with the Facebook “Like” feature for fans to share site content on their Facebook profiles and a flash video player.

So about this debut, there will be much merriment.
I will be there…oh yes I will. Will you?

Wed, Nov 11 2010 at 9pm
Van Dyke Cafe in Miami Beach

LivingRoomDiaries.com

LivingRoomDiaries.com

I’m putting in a word for Raging Geisha who is gearing up for some upcoming shows. Now I know what you’re thinking “Who?! What?! Where?! When?! How?!!” Okay actually I just said who so we’ve got that covered…  For the what, where and when you now have options galore!

RagingGeisha.com
Raging Geisha’s Facebook Fan Page
Raging Geisha on Twitter

I made them a custom background for Twitter using the images from the cover of their newest album INSIDER, and also a flyer / email blast for one of their shows.

Oh yes, while youre checking that out, if you’re in L.A. you need to go see them perform! Even if you’re not in L.A. it’s totally worth it to buy a ticket and go….and while youre at it reward the messenger and buy me one too eh?

I nearly forgot to answer the how! Well the best I can tell you is rage on as hard as you can…Rage on indeed.

Long awaited and finally here, the Deez Nuts Apparel website is up and running and ready to take orders!  Deez Nuts is a brand spanking new wholesale / retail apparel company based in Miami, Fl. Long-time friends David Siegel (of RAGING GEISHA) and Dave Fernandez, another local musician, have taken their clever one-liners to the next level by developing a clothing line of novelty t-shirts.

This ecommerce website was developed on the osCommerce platform, includes custom design and payments are processed easily and securely though PayPal.  Customers are able to register to keep track of current orders as well as view past orders.  There is also a newsletter feature to allow Deez Nuts to keep their customers abreast of new designs and latest updates.

Make sure you check them out…then take it a step further and order t-shirts for everyone on your Chriskwanzikuh list!

Oooh! You like the holidays? Holidays Deez… … … Okay yeah I still cant come up with a good one so let me spare you and present you with something I can do…and thats link you up! DeezNutsApparel.com

The Power of Pink website was developed to help promote the book Power of Pink written by Fawn Estes in support of a close friend to help offset medical costs.  100% of the proceeds will go to her friend, and so Fawn had a strict budget that she needed to keep to and wanted to be able to make updates on her own.

WordPress not only makes a great blog, but its also a top notch CMS (Content Management System).  It allows me to design the site, and allows a user to easily go in and make changes to the content without having to touch a single line of code.  Its a great option for those who want to maintain their own site, but dont want to touch, or even look at code to do it.

Even though Fawn had a tight budget, her needs were very simple and the process was straight-forward from start to finish.  I was able to complete her site within budget, and she decided to also include a store.  Even the ecommerce aspect of this site is completely managed within WordPress, so Fawn is able to maintain the shop as easily as any other content on this site.

Please visit Power of Pink, and if you’d like to lend a helping hand, order a copy of the book!  It would make a great gift of inspiration for supporters and survivors alike!  Power of Pink

You can take deez nuts and…! Okay yeah, Im not even going to try, I promise! Deez Nuts is a brand spanking new wholesale / retail apparel company based in Miami, Fl. Long-time friends David Siegel (of Raging Geisha) and Dave Fernandez, another local musician, have taken their clever one-liners to the next level by developing a clothing line of novelty t-shirts.

I designed a “Coming Soon” splash page for potential retailers and customers to get in contact with inquires. There is also a sign-up form for their newsletter and launch announcement. I chose the self-hosted PHPList newsletter software to make it easy to keep track of sign-ups. Its capable of managing several different lists so that Deez Nuts may send out announcements targeted to customers, vendors and sales reps without risk of duplicates. As it is self-hosted and not through a 3rd party, they have complete control over all the email addresses, and there is no risk for spam or any other unwanted emails to the addresses entered in the database.

As the designs are still currently in development, the logo I was provided with is still only in black & white format. I colourized and added texture to the logo to really make it pop. Along with a strategically placed flesh-toned gradient and some “lip gloss” the new logo design is complete.

Please make sure to check it out and sign-up for the launch announcement and other exciting updates! DeezNutsApparel.com

Provided Deez Nuts Logo

DeezNutsApparel.com

Patrick Lopez of Xpresso, who is a good friend of mine, contacted me about redesigning the website for his corporate/special events/wedding band based in Miami – South Florida. He already had a website, as well as a redesign concept in mind which he gave to me to work with. Patrick was seeking a sleek professional looking site to showcase his corporate band, and give potential clients an idea of what they can expect from the Xpresso experience.

I coded the initial design layout he gave me into a website, and from there customized the design further. I changed out the javascript slideshow on his main page to a flash based gallery slideshow. The navigation is a css “sliding doors” design which changes on mouse-over and highlights the current page.

Previously, Patrick was using Blogger for updates, but for SEO purposes, I installed WordPress and moved all his content over to his new blog customized to coordinate with the site design. The calendar consists of his existing Google Calendar integrated into the site, so its super easy for Patrick to update the calendar at any time, same as he did before. Also included is a flash multi mp3 player with song samples for prospective clients.

Patrick is great to work with…gave me all the information I needed and was clear and upfront with what he liked or didnt like during the design process, and so in the end, he loved how his site came out. YaY!

Please make sure to check out the Before, Concept and After photos. Now, if you’re ever in need of a special events band, be sure to check out Xpresso…South Floridas #1 Interactive Party Band! XpressoMusic.com

Original Xpresso Website

Concept Image for Redesign

Current Xpresso Website

Now, I wish I could say that I have an incredibly exciting new design update for Raging Geisha, but alas! Actually, MySpace changed up their codes yet again and it completely messed up the placement of their music player, so my lovely customized layout had to go.

Now, I can learn how to do a customized layout with the new coding rules…its entirely possible..Im just saving delving into that for a rainy day. In the meantime, Ill work on making a DJ Flashy Flash (yeah, Im that corny) header for them.

Like I said, I wish I had an incredibly exciting new design layout update, and I didnt dissapoint…I truly dont have one. What is exciting though is what Raging Geisha themselves have been up to. Theyve started opening for the Michael Jackson tribute band called “Who’s Bad”, and in the last month they have played at the House of Blues in New Orleans, Dallas and Houston.

As if that wasn’t enough, their first single “The Way That He Wants Me” reached top 10 in nationwide airplay on the FMQB charts, and their current single “Shoot” is tearing it up on rhythmic radio in Florida.

Anytime you want to check out Raging Geisha for yourself and see if they will be playing near you, make sure you add them on MySpace, head to their website for the full show schedule and sign up for their newsletter to be kept up to date on exciting updates at they come along.

Myspace.com/RagingGeisha -  RagingGeisha.com

I developed my first full flash site for the Jamaican reggae band Inner Circle.  They wanted something fun and visually exciting, with a tropical theme while still conveying the International message that we are all One People.

They were really great with giving me some great ideas and giving me the details to their vision of how they wanted the site to look. They wanted a lot of movement, so there are moving waves, fishies swimming in the ocean, international flags waving on a make shift clothesline, a sparkling sun, and colourful parrots that “scare” off if you hover your mouse over them, or simply fly around whenever they feel like it.  There is also a music player showcasing their latest music, and on the contact page, you can choose which band member you’d like your personal message to go out to.

At this point, the site is still something of a work in progress, as there is a very cool detail about the site involving cartoon animation that Im still working on figuring out how to complete.

I have to say, this was a particularly exciting site for me to work on because I had to learn nearly every aspect of it as I went along .  I love a challenge, and this project gave me plenty of that…a few bruises from hitting my nead on my desk at times too but hey, just cause I have a desk job doesnt mean there arent any hazards!

Please take a look, and make sure you check out the gallery and videos of their latest tour through Australia.  InnerCircle-Reggae.com

The new Living Room Diaries website design is now up and live! *YaY!!!* I used the sites logo of the red couch with the bass in front of it as the jumping off point for the design of the site. Pulling from this, I made the site colours red, black, gray and white. I also designed a underlying background image so that the content isnt on a stark white background, and also to add a bit of that “sexy comfy couch” feel to the site.

The CSS sliding menu adds a bit of flair to the site, with a glossy web 2.0 feel, and it also doubles as a page header since the page you are on is the highlighted menu item. On the main page, there is room for sponsor information, as well as reciprocal linking. On the Show Archive page, I used a sleek and shiny video player to showcase all of the previous shows, which also show a thumbnail of the show guest and some basic information about the episode.

I installed a WordPress blog into the site and redesigned it for flawless integration into the rest of the site. I also installed and modified a Simple Machines Forum to blend in with the site design, and encourage viewer participation so that they may talk about the episodes and show guests. SEO is very important to Kirk, so I made sure to take advantage of meta-tagging. Also, WordPress is an excellent SEO building tool that he will now be able to take advantage of to raise his site rankings.

Here are the before and after photos of LivingRoomDiaries.com…Enjoy!

Before

After - The New Living Room Diaries