Haverford Hyperbaric Therapy, LLC
Haverford Hyperbaric Therapy, LLC was a fairly intense undertaking. What made the project so intense was not the site itself, but the fact that the client was a repeat (see: Integrative Family Healthcare) and that I put pressure on myself to surpass my first project with them. There was a lot of information that needed to be presented to visitors. This information had to be easily accessible and easy to read. They also needed a custom logo and a bulletproof backend for managing everything. Without even giving it a second thought I downloaded the latest release of WordPress and got to work.
Keeping It Simple
Whenever I set up a WordPress site the very first thing I do is find the perfect theme to suit the site’s needs. This is for a number of reasons: it allows me a faster turnaround time for the client when I’m not wasting time slicing graphics in Photoshop, a better support community is most likely already in existence, the right theme/look can make or break a site completely, and it will oftentimes help inspire and sharpen my focus on how to proceed with the site. 9 times out of 10 I will find a theme that is close to what I need but not exactly right. This is where the meat of my job comes in; bending, fitting, cutting, flexing, tempering, and creating code that both works with the theme and also gives it a specific customized look that keeps the site unique. And while the final product may be a significant deviation from the original theme, I always make sure to give credit to the original author in the footer of my finished products.
This site’s theme however, was almost a dead-fit! It was a refreshing change of pace actually. There was still work that needed to be done under the hood, but thankfully it was a lot less-intensive than I had originally anticipated. This was a classic example of all the right pieces coming together.
Creation
After tweaking the theme’s code, it then became a matter of creation. Creating a logo, creating custom slides for the frontpage, creating the content. This is when it pays to have a good relationship with your client. A lot of times you can get immediate feedback when you need it and they do a good job of supplying the content for the site in a timely fashion.
This, I feel, is one of my most polished sites to date. Everything fell into place as I went along, I never found myself banging my head against the desk, and I was able to give the client exactly what they wanted. This ended up being everything that a web design project should be.
At-a-Glance
Hours to Completion: 36 hours over a period of several days
Site Features: front page with dynamic jQuery slider, contact form, 3D nuances in header titles,
Browser Compatibility: Completely cross-browser compatible from resolutions 1024×768 and up
Color Palette: blue and white