News & Updates

eCommerce Web Design Update for Carter’s Kids in Traverse City, Michigan

Posted on May, 16, 2012

We designed and built the website for HGTV star – and Traverse City, Michigan native – Carter Oosterhouse’s national charity, Carter’s Kids.

We launched it, and everyone loved it.

But after about six months of having the new site, the Executive Director of Carter’s Kids called us and said they were putting on the First Annual Carter’s Kids Charity Golf Tournament at Lochenheath Golf Course right here in Traverse City, Michigan.

He asked if we could make it so people could register and pay for the Charity Golf Tournament online. We quickly obliged and created this page for them.

http://carters-kids.org/charity-golf-tournament/

[detail]

We Make Colored QR Codes

Posted on May, 16, 2012

QR codes are all the rage these days. QR codes are those little black and white, checker board bar codes you see popping up all over the place.

When you scan them with your iPhone, they will take the web browser to a URL or make information pop up. These are great for ads in magazines or banners or billboards.

Traverse City Web Design Rainbow QR Code

We thought black and white QR codes were boring so we decided to spice ours up a little bit. Here’s a rainbow QR code we made in honor of President Obama’s resent announcement supporting Gay Marriage. It works, despite the fact that it’s rainbow colored (or perhaps because of it?), and it has a link to Traverse City Web Design encoded inside.



Continue reading »

New Graphic Design / Marketing Piece: Duck Hunter Shoots Angel Tabloid Poster

Posted on May, 14, 2012

We created this tabloid style, graphic design promotional piece for the Northern Michigan debut of Detroit Free Press writer Mitch Albom's hilarious new play, Duck Hunter Shoots Angel. 

There were 5,000 of them made and spread throughout Traverse City, Northern Michigan.  It was a lot of fun to make and a great opportunity to test out some new internet marketing technology – QR Codes.  Which you'll see as a strange looking bar code in the Traverse City Web Design ad in the lower left hand corner of the tabloid.

If you have a smart phone, like an iPhone or Android, you can scan these codes to take you to a URL on the internet.  In this case, the link takes you to information about our ongoing top-secret project of replacing human beings with trained killer robots.

We designed and created ALL the graphics for this piece, as well as the layout and overall design.  We helped advise on and edit the text, but we did not write it. 

Thanks to the Traverse City Record Eagle for all their support in printing this graphic design marketing piece. 

Monster Image from Speedway in Traverse City, Michigan

Posted on May, 12, 2012

We took this image of Monster Energy Drink at Speedway in Traverse City, Michigan. We’re looking for web design inspiration everywhere these days – learning how the geometry of patterns entices people to action and then how to incorporate that into our design thinking.

We are also in love with the iPhone photo app Pixl-r-matic, so we’ve been posting a lot of photos to the blog. :)

Pigs South of Benzonia, Michigan

Posted on May, 12, 2012

Here’s a fun picture of some pigs at Echo Bend farm south of Benzonia, Michigan – a charming town southwest of Traverse City. We had a great day hanging out with the Kramer’s by Herring lake. We take great inspiration from nature and the natural surroundings of Lake Michigan.

Rabbit in Benzonia, Michigan – Web Design Inspiration Everywhere!

Posted on May, 12, 2012

We take web design inspiration from everywhere, and we love discovering hidden kitsch. We saw this plastic rabbit at a farm south of Benzonia, Michigan – which is a charming town southwest of Traverse City, Michigan.

Echo Bend Farm South of Benzonia, Michigan

Posted on May, 12, 2012

We were fortunate to get a tour of Echo Bend farm by former IPR host Tom Kramer and his wife. This photo is of their new greenhouse. The farm is south of Benzonia, Michigan in some of the most amazingly beautiful land I’ve ever seen.

The Traverse City Cherry Bombs : Roller Derby in Traverse City, Michigan

Posted on May, 12, 2012

We took this photo of the Traverse City Cherry Bombs and ran it through our favorite photo app – Pixl R Matic. The Cherry Bombs are one of two roller derby teams in Traverse City, Michigan. If you haven’t seen them, we highly recommend it. It’s a great sport and fun for the whole family.

Traverse City Web Design : Boardman Lake

Posted on May, 10, 2012

Traverse City Web Design : Boardman Lake

Online and Email Marketing Resources for Businesses in Traverse City, Michigan and Beyond

Posted on May, 09, 2012

We did an online, web marketing presenetation for the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce for a bunch of Traverse City business owners and had a great time walking them through the basics of web marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and using email to blast their message to their email mailing lists.

During the web markting presentation we supplied the participants with a list of online marketing and SEO resources and links they could use to help them.

We thought we would post it here for all our web visitors, as well as a place to send clients with new websites to get them thinking about web marketing and how to improve, or optimize, their websites for better search engine rankings.

Continue reading »