Web Design

See what we do. Check out our portfolio.

Designs which are in the “draft” stage, and those which have since changed from our original design, are presented as images. The rest are live web pages, which can be visited by clicking the thumbnail images.

We serve clients from around the world, from our location on the Sunshine Coast of Canada. Clients from distant locations include university professor Dr. Wendy Taylor in Toronto, The Mastery Workshops in L.A., Poppin’s Quilt Parlour in the B.C. interior, and US-based Language 101.

We are also available to assist other web developers with design,
graphics creation and PHP/mySQL software development.

Featured UWD Designs
Recent UWD Designs
eCommerce Sites
Software Development
Other Sites

Featured UWD Designs
Sonya MacDonald Sonya asked us to redesign her web site with an integrated blog area. She designed the tag line “Good Words for Do Gooders” herself, and we designed the site around those colours, selected a font for her name, and designed the images in the home page slide show. We implemented the site in our favourite blogging tool, WordPress.
Francis Point Bed and Breakfast The owners of Francis Point contacted us looking for help to get their site updated after their previous web developer became unavailable. Some of the changes they wanted were going to be expensive enough that we suggested a redesign to make their dated looking site more contemporary. We proposed a design that was affordable to implement, and they provided some stunning photography by local photographer Linda Sabiston.
Sechelt Visitor Centre Nancy Baker of the Sechelt Visitor Centre contacted us to request a quote for a redesign of the Sechelt Visitor Centre web site. The Centre wanted to improve the design and the content of their site to better showcase their members and the many attractions of the Sechelt area. We worked closely with them to identify the requirements and develop the design, created a custom Joomla site for them, and provided a detailed, customer-specific, comprehensive manual on how to maintain the site and several training sessions at their location. We also purchased and installed the necessary FTP, PDF-creation and photo-editting software on their computers.
Maple Art Andres Schneiter of Maple Art wanted an update to his web site to make it more contemporary and easier for visitors to navigate. We hand-coded his site and created a database and custom PHP code to display his many product photographs\ in a gallery. We also helped him to redesign his logo and created a flash slideshow for his home page.
Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society The Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society had collected over 100 pages of useful information on their original web site, and invited us to redesign the site. In their words, “the change in design was primarily intended to improve ease of navigation, with a contemporary appearance and functions, while featuring our new logo.” We created three designs for them to choose from, and populated the new site with all their content. We created an interactive calendar to showcase their many events, past and present, and incorporated an online event/membership registration form. We recently integrated a customized CubeCart shopping cart into the site (see section below on eCommerce). SCBGS Volunteer Amanda Offers keeps the site up to date, with careful attention to detail.
Signboom: Your Online Print Engine Signboom contacted us looking for a redesign of their web-based print ordering system, to achieve a more “corporate” look, as they target larger clients. We integrated the design into their powerful existing ordering system, and expanded the ordering system to handle many new products. We also created custom internal web-based software which allows Signboom staff to track all the active jobs on the shop floor, increasing their productivity and enabling more responsive customer service.
Joy Coghill Veteran Canadian actress Joy Coghill was persuaded by her writer friend Susan McNicoll that she should document her career in a website. Joy’s goal was to have a definitive record of the productions she was involved in, with accurate dates, locations and personnel. Susan collected and collated the information, and we created a classy and sophisticated design to communicate the stature of this significant performer, and some of the history of Canadian theatre.
Kensington Cabinets Kensington Cabinets has been expanding rapidly during the past two years, and approached us about creating a web site to showcase their new capabilities. We provided them with three designs to choose from and created an interactive door selector so that clients can view the many doors they carry in the various available colours. (The door selector is not yet online, pending photographs of all doors becoming available.) We also created a specialized web site for their commercial clients, and maintain both their sites.
Sunshine Coast Conservation Association The Sunshine Coast Conservation Association contacted us to redesign their site, which had accumulated so much information that it was difficult to navigate. They wanted to be able to maintain content themselves, so we created their site using Joomla technology. Joomla allows clients to edit content using a text editor similar to that used to format emails. It also allows clients to create new pages for their web site without knowing HTML or other web development technologies. The site is beautifully maintained by SCCA employee Donna McMahon. We have also integrated a password-protected document management system, which allows the SCCA board of directors to share private documents with each other through a web-based system.
Recent UWD Designs
Quilt Web Design Quilt Web Design is one of Usable Web Design’s ventures. Lead designer/developer Alison Taylor is an avid quilter and looks forward to helping quilt-related organizations, including guilds, quilt shops and quilting artists, showcase their efforts. If you are a quilt or fibre-art related organization, we welcome your enquiries, and would be happy to provide a no-cost no-obligation telephone consultation and quote.
Island Vista Townhomes We were subcontracted to build this budget-friendly website for the Island Vista Townhomes development. Careful attention was given to optimizing this site for the search phrase “Gibsons Townhomes” and the site has consistently been at the top of Google’s search results for this search.
VisionWork Coaching Blog Barbara Richards heard about us through various connections and contacted us to help her maintain her website and launch her new blog. We worked closely with her to design and implement her blog; she puts her blog posts up herself.
Gardens by Design Garden Designer Ayuko Inoue called us after seeing our work on the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society site. She wanted a simple, contemporary site, with clean design that would showcase photographs of her work. We worked closely with Ayuko every step of the way, and photoshopped most of the photographs to adjust exposure settings and compensate for difficult lighting situations. We are currently designing her business card and brochure to match the site.
Drowned City Press Writer Donna McMahon was familiar with our work on the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association web site, a Joomla site we created which she maintains. She wanted a WordPress site that she could maintain herself, and was willing to do a lot of the leg work to keep costs down. She searched through catalogs of free WordPress templates and chose the Underwater theme for her site. She also searched iStockPhoto for a new background image, and photoshopped it the colours she wanted. Following her instructions, and some of our own discretion, we adjusted the theme to give her a unique site. We also assisted her with adjustments to her logo.
InvestWell John Halme of InvestWell was familiar with our work on The Mastery website. He contacted us to update the InvestWell website to introduce a more contemporary appearance, to change the banner to match that of his AdviseWell site, and to port the site over to WordPress so he could maintain the contents himself. We installed multiple WordPress instances so that the individual advisors could each have a customized appearance to their areas of the site and maintain their own sites, while retaining the overall look.
Andrew Scott Writer and editor Andrew Scott was familiar with our work for the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association and approached us to recreate his web site in a technology that would allow him to maintain it himself without knowing HTML or CSS. We introduced him to both Joomla and WordPress technology and he selected WordPress. We designed and implemented his site, which included a randomly selected banner photo each time the visitor changes page, a flash animation on the home page showing his book covers, and a site map.
eCommerce Sites
Coast Raven Design Richard de la Mare had been recommended to us by the Sechelt Visitor Centre, whose website we were working on at the time. Richard had a few of his many products on his web site, but wanted to put them all online. He was not ready to start selling online, but it was a possibility for the future. We created his site using CubeCart ecommerce software, but left out the shopping cart pages, giving Richard a site that he could maintain himself if he wished (using the CubeCart administration account) and which could be easily updated in future to move to online selling should he wish. We also photoshopped all of his product photographs to correct lighting conditions and dust on the lens and background.
P.V. Carswell (Roundabout Market) Writer and world traveller Pat Carswell approached us to create a site that would feature her new novel Jumping to Conclusions, her magazine articles, and her vacation exchange home. She also wanted to be able to sell her novel, and other Canadian and Sunshine Coast themed products, through an online store. We implemented her whole site in CubeCart eCommerce software. Pat entered the product information (text and photographs) herself, while we styled the content of the informational pages. (After a year of operating the site as an ecommerce site, she asked us to turn off the eCommerce option and now uses the CubeCart administration interface as a user-friendly way to maintain her site without eCommerce.)
Alderspring Design Susan Fletcher, owner of Alderspring Design, came to us to set up an online shopping solution for her wholesale sewing pattern business, after finding that the free web-based shopping carts she was using did not provide enough flexibility. We installed and configured a CubeCart shopping cart for her, customizing its appearance, and adding features such as a minimum limit on each purchase. We also installed and configured her second eCommerce site A Threaded Needle. Susan maintains both eCommerce sites.
Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society After their web site had been live for about a year, the Botanical Garden Society decided to add an online store to sell memberships and event tickets, and accept donations. We customized a CubeCart shopping cart to blend seamlessly with the rest of the site.
Poppin’s Quilt Parlour After their web site had been live for about two years, Poppin’s contacted us to add eCommerce to their site, in hopes of selling product throughout British Columbia, Canada. We customized a CubeCart shopping cart to blend seamlessly with the the rest of the site. To their surprise, their first two orders occurred prior to officially launching the site, and came from northern Ontario and Australia.
Software Development
WoodSourceBC We were hired to provide the software development for this highly interactive web site which lets users create listings for forestry products they wish to either buy or sell. The site includes a custom-built content management system that lets staff maintain static content, a multi-tiered login system, and a custom search feature. The visual design of the site was created by thisisit.ca and the project was managed by RW Business Solutions.
Design and Software by UWD: Aboriginal Child Care Society A business acquaintance introduced us to the Aboriginal Child Care Society of BC, who were working through mountains of paperwork each time they needed to submit quarterly reports to granting agencies on their successful Moe the Mouse project. We worked with Lynn McBride of ACCS to get familiar with the project and identify the information that should be tracked in the database and the reports that should be automatically generated using that information. The new system is designed to reduce reporting time down from weeks to hours. The image to the right links to an image of the home page. You can also view an image of one of the password-protected database management pages.
Coded and Maintained by UWD: Clearmind International Clearmind International’s web site was designed by Bruce E. Skipper of Radical Clarity Communications. We recoded the complete site to move away from its table-based layout and frames, to the newer CSS technology. Getting rid of the frames has helped the site’s ranking in search engines. All code was written by Usable Web Designs, and we maintain the site. We also create layouts for Clearmind’s quarterly publication The Ripple (PDF) and prepare their monthly HTML-formatted mailouts, magazine ads and brochures.
Coded and Maintained by UWD: Independent Retail Success Motivational speaker and retail expert Roy Prevost heard about us through the Unity of Vancouver church, whose WordPress site we support. He contacted us for web site maintenance and help with various online marketing technologies. We maintain his site www.royprevost.com and also recoded and maintain his site “Independent Retail Success” (shown to the right) following the original designs by another webmaster. We prepare HTML email newsletters and temporary mini-sites (such as Youth Retention, Retail Superstar, and CHFA) for Roy, as required.
Coded and Maintained by UWD: Josephine Harrison This site was designed by Fiona Raven. We recoded the complete site to move away from its table-based layout to currently recommended CSS technology. We also created the interactive order form and set up Josephine’s PayPal account so that she can sell her art works over the internet. All code was written by Usable Web Designs, and we maintain the site.
Other UWD Designs
Bob’s Home and Yard Services Rob Kayce wanted a web site to communicate to potential clients the many services his company offers. He had his content prepared and was ready to move quickly. With a one-week turnaround, we provided a single design, which he approved, and we created and populated the site with his content. His site includes a custom contact form, which allows clients to submit emails to him indicating which of his services they are interested in. We also sourced stock photos for his site, located a stock graphic for his new logo, and designed his new business card and some newspaper ads.
Language101.com The developers of this online language learning software contacted us to develop an aesthetically pleasing and highly usable visual design for their site. They wanted very small file sizes to ensure fast download times. We developed the design shown and created a Joomla template of it. They later converted some of the pages the site to WordPress; the rest are custom coded. Language 101 maintains their own site, and confers with us occassionally for new design elements.
Azure Kitchens Eddy Trampus of Usable Web Designs also owns and operates Azure Kitchens, a Sunshine Coast company that installs kitchens for developers, kitchen cabinet companies, and individuals who have purchased cabinets retail. He designed his own site and provided the photographs.
Poppin’s Quilt Parlour Poppin’s Quilt Parlour, located in Penticton B.C., had been using email to communicate information about new products, class schedules, and sales to their clientelle, sometimes in the form of quarterly newsletters. They wanted an online repository for this information, which would be available to a wider audience, and wanted to maintain their site themselves, without having to learn HTML. We coded a client-managed site using PHP and an SQL database. We later implemented eCommerce for this site, designing and coding a skin that coordinated with the main site (see the eCommerce section above).
Sashiko Stitchers Susan Fletcher of Alderspring Design followed up her two eCommerce sites (see above) with an instructional and community site on the Japanese art of Sashiko stitching. We customized a WordPress theme for her so that she could maintain the site herself. We also integrated Amazon affiliate links to monetize the site by linking to relevant books that visitors might wish to purchase.
Sonya MacDonald (version 2.0) Sonya asked us to redesign her web site to reflect the expanded scope of her services and to allow her to maintain site content herself. We implemented her site using Joomla technology (described under the entry for the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association). She provided close direction as to the appearance she wanted and selected stock photographs for us to create the banner with. We worked with Sonya on a subsequent redesign of her site (which is shown above), so the Joomla design is now available to view as a graphic instead of a live site.
Sonya MacDonald [ copywriter ] We developed Sonya’s site before she partnered with us to offer her copywriting skills to our customers. Sonya came to us with a very clear image of what she wanted. She pointed us to a site with a style that she liked, faxed us a hand-drawn picture of the layout she wanted, and emailed a photograph to be used. We implemented her design, and provided her with examples of six different colour schemes to choose from. We also located a “crumbling typewriter font”, which she had requested for her logo. Sonya, of course, provided the copywriting for her site. We worked with Sonya for two subsequent redesigns of her site, which are shown above), so the original design is now available to view as a graphic instead of a live site.
Springbrooke Retreat Centre Clearmind International, whose website we maintain, wanted to rebrand their 16-acre retreat center with a new logo and website. We worked with Springbrooke staff and their logo designer/photographer to develop a design that communicated their vision of the centre. We have designed printed brochures for them as well as an HTML-formatted email newsletter to keep their clients up to date.
The Mastery Workshops The Mastery is a set of personal development workshops which focus on self expression. Their leadership team wanted a web page which would give potential participants the opportunity to learn more about the workshops. The specifications were very open ended at the beginning. We provided several designs for them to choose from, and multiple revisions of the chosen design, as the leadership team searched for the appropriate look. We created a text-based logo and provided the graphics for the site. We also assisted in copywriting and provided high-resolution versions of the graphics for use in their brochures. We also designed a Constant Contact newsletter template that coordinated with their site.
Newman Research Services Freelance genealogical researcher Amy Newman was looking for a simple, affordable site, that would communicate information about genealogical research in general, and her business in particular. We sourced stock photography and created the banner collage of the home page, and identified a suitable font for branding her business name. Shortly after her site went live, Amy was contacted by a new client, on the far side of the country, who had found her through her web site. The image on the right links to the site as we designed it. We also made two variations on the design: variation 1 and variation 2. The live site is online at www.nrsfind.com.
La Brocante Books and Antiques Bertrand Michel, owner of La Brocante, had been selling his books and antiques through a physical store and selling his books online at ABEbooks.com. ABEbooks only handles books, and Bertrand was looking for a way to sell his antiques, videos, records and ephemera online. He did not want e-commerce, but he did want to maintain the site himself. We designed a client-managed site using the technologies mentioned above for the Poppins Quilt Parlour site. As usual, we provided the client with comprehensive documentation on how to maintain his web site.
Kestrel Books Kestrel Books wanted to redesign their web site, while retaining certain elements (their logo, a textured paper background, and the image which runs down the left hand side). We worked with them to retain the flavour of their site, while improving readability and navigation. We later customized a WordPress installation to match their site allowing them to blog and to update their Featured Items page. (If we were redoing this site today, we would do the whole thing in WordPress.)
Wendy Taylor, Assistant Professor, York University Dr. Taylor is a professor in the physics department at York University in Canada. Her web site is used to communicate her research activities to colleagues and the world at large, and it links to course information for her students. We were responsible for the design of all pages, selected the site colours, and sourced free fonts and copyright-free images for this site.
Alison and Eddy’s Wedding Site This site was created in the months before Alison Taylor and Eddy Trampus of Usable Web Designs got married. As almost all wedding guests were travelling here to attend (some from overseas), the site was designed to provide information on the destination as well as the wedding itself. Usable Web Designs offers special design packages for wedding web sites. Please contact us for details.