New Project: Photographic Artist Gideon Thomas

GideonThomas.com is the latest website designed by Live-Media and is currently online. Although there are still a few final touches to be applied before the official launch, it's live early to ensure quicker google indexing.

This is another project where the client requested a minimal design and interface, to ensure their photography was the main focal point. A handful of pictures have been selected for the interactive Flash element, allowing visitors to instantly navigate some of Gideons best work.

Content management came in the form of a Gallery and as always, the website was designed to strict HTML & CSS W3C standards, cross-browser compatibility and current search engine optimisation practices.

Click on the following url to view the photographic imagery of Photographer Gideon Thomas.

New Project: Liverpool Beauty Therapist & Make-up Artist

Live-Media were recently commissioned to design a website for a Mobile Beautician. Neutral and stylish, the client requested a professional design alongside the ability to update the Gallery section with future photographs.

The client has already approved the web-design concept as shown on the left.

This design is currently being converted to HTML & CSS to strict web standards & cross browser compatibility. As well as taking into account good search engine optimisation practices.

Click on the following link to find a local mobile beautician & Make-up artist in Liverpool.

Fresh Multi-Media Design: Big Game 4

Big Game 4 is now in pre-production by Live-Media and we are expecting to go that extra mile with this installment. Filmed in widescreen, using state of the art DV equipment & software, a more refined but polished finish is the aim of this sequel.

New Project: UK Male Model Portfolio

Work has begun on a website for Male UK Model Chris Moore. Showcasing a wide selection of work, that Chris has undertaken for a number of prominent UK Modelling Agencies. Chris was keen on a clean, modern style that wouldn't detract from his portfolio but at the same time present his work in a professional manner.

The Client was keen to future proof the site, with the ability to upload content such as pictures, when he wanted. So the site will come with a private & secure PHP login page that will provide such freedom.

Tutorial: Clipping Paths & Web Design Update

The first of many design tutorials concerning graphic design & web design has been posted on the main Live-Media site. Click on the following to read the Clipping Path Creation for Photoshop Tutorial.

In other news, you can now view the XHTML web page for local environmental consultant Les Richards. This site conforms to all W3C web standards for XHTML and CSS, a core need in any modern website.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO work comes hand in hand with all web projects by Live-Media and understanding this aspect of web design is integral to modern day sites (something many designers ignore, through ignorance or a lack of knowledge).

ww.Art74.co.uk is an Online Painting Gallery for UK Graphic Artist Ken Cottrell and since being launched has continued to maintain useful keyword rankings required for such a site.

www.theDownstream.co.uk is an Ocean Colour Scene Music Video Fansite, and within a month of it's launch, became one of the top OCS fansites on googles index.

www.Eco-Rich.com, the Local Environmental & Energy Consultant is a more recent example and just 7 days since the new site was launched, high rankings have been achieved in some powerful & relative keyword phrases.

If you would like a website that does more than just look good but actually attracts visitors beyond your family & friends, contact Live-Media for a no-obligation quote.

Update: Eco Friendly Website and Web Browser Trends

Energy Consultants Website for Carbon Management

One of our most recent assignments was to re-design a site for an Energy Conservation Consultants in Carbon Management & CO2 Emissions. Click on the following link to view the web concept design that is being converted to XHTML.

It was decided to go with a distinct colour scheme while conforming to a popular portal layout, (due to the amount of text that will be displayed). While most eco-sites tended to use blue's & green's, we felt the chosen colour scheme (of pink, blue & beige) would help the site stick out from the rest and by using environmental themed imagery, still ensure our desired first impressions were met.

Web Browser Popularity

Live-Media ensure every site we work on is compatible with todays popular Web Browsers. So keeping up-to-date with web trends is vital in ensuring the design work we do, is accessible & viewable to most visitors.

W3S Web Statistics and Trends shows the most popular web browsers as follows;

1. Internet Explorer 6 (36.7%)
2. Firefox (34.5%)
3. Internet Explorer 7 (20.1%)
4. Opera, IE5, Safari, Mozilla (4.8%)

With no real clear leader in regards to browser version (although Internet Explorer has over 50% popularity), it's as important as ever for web designers to create pages that maintain their design and layout across multiple browsers.

Update: Environmental & Software Site

The concept stage has reached an end for the Eco-Friendly site and we are in the process of converting the design into WC3 standard HTML & CSS Style sheets. This site is hosted on a Windows server and so some of the pages will be in .ASP.

There has also been a quick turnaround for the software company website. The colour scheme and basic design has pleased the client so far and we are currently refining and adding a few finishing touches here and there. Likewise, this site will meet WC3 standards for HTML and CSS but will be hosted on a Linux server and so use PHP code for it's dynamic web-content.

In respect to the confidentiality of our customers, we cannot show our concept designs at this time but once these sites are complete, links will be provided.

[...] for the last four years there have been signs that use of the internet may be starting to substitute to some extent for broadcast media

Ofcom released it's annual report on the UK communications market this week. The most relative stats showing woman aged 18-34 being the most active net users and people over the age of 50 accounting for 30% of all time spent online. Not surprisingly, Britons are a "nation of shoppers and social networkers", with the big shopping sites (Ebay, Amazon) and social networking (MySpace, Facebook) being the main attraction. Net use has grown a staggering 158%, at the cost of watching TV and listening to the radio.

Overall, if you are a business of any size, it's more important than ever to have an effective net presence if you want to stay ahead of the competition!