Susan Kurtz Graphics Blog

Here’s a new WordPress site I’m developing for America on the Couch. I think this is a good example of how it is possible to fully customize a theme (in this case, Weaver) beyond the usual banner and simple style changes. David O’Donaghue did the original Uncle Sam and Freud illustration. Alan asked me to hand color it and create a banner. Taking elements from the banner, I continued the design into the main part of the page (background textures, drop cap) to create the dimensionality that Alan and Janet were looking for. I also really love the public domain images that are scattered throughout the site.

This book (in progress) by Alan Strachan with Janet Coster promises to be very thought-provoking. You may want to join the mailing list to stay informed of it’s publication date.

Here’s a site just launched for Bonnie Thompson of Self Unfolding. Bonnie has clear ideas of what she wants in her design. It’s always a pleasure working with her.

Wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve updated what I’ve been working on. My only excuse—I’ve  been busy. Here are some of my recent and current projects:

Website design ready for iPad: I’m currently working on several website designs with an emphasis on iPad compatibility. I’ll post these websites when they are completed. Below are some of the main points regarding designing for iPad that I took almost verbatim from this article: http://sixrevisions.com/web-applications/designing-web-apps-for-the-ipad/

• No Flash:  iPad cannot display Flash objects.
• No Mouse Cursor: This means that mouse events, such as mouseover and hover events, are not possible.
• Scrollbars Don’t Act as Expected: Scrollbars are not displayed for scrollable areas with overflowing content. In addition, scrolling requires two-finger gestures.
• Touch Screen: The #1 difference between browsing on your computer or laptop and browsing on your iPad is that you use your fingers.

EPub training: I’m becoming familiar with the work-flow using InDesign CS5 to turn printed material into EPub and Kindle documents. Lynda.com is a great resource for all kinds of software training.

Red Tape, novel by David Michelson: I have been working on this project pro bono with David and am happy to say that this book is now available as an EPub, or softcover book. 100% of the proceeds go to the International Campaign for Tibet.

Labels for Ah Yes Creations organic skin creams and lip balms: Please check out the amazing products at Ah Yes Creations. They are fantastic! (I swear by the Muscle and Joint Heaven. It really works.) Here are a few of the completed label designs.

I feel blessed to have a wonderful family of clients. Not only are they fantastic people to work with, but what they are accomplishing through their services is indeed praiseworthy, and I am so grateful for them. Please check out my business website to see many of these clients listed. And more to be added soon!

At this time of Thanksgiving, I am so happy and grateful to be able to work with the wonderful clients that I have. Here are some of my recent projects. Please check them out.

Site design and development for www.opengatesangha.org (with creative director, Prema Akasha)

WordPress site design customization and development for ahyescreations.com.
Check out the organic skin creams! (Store is still in development, but will be up and running soon.)

An extensive site update for Tom and Bonnie Thompson of www.theawakenheartcenter.com

Another site-wide update for www.thebaumannfoundation.org (formally baumanninstitute.org).

Thanks to all of the people, organizations and businesses I work with. It’s always an enjoyable collaboration of creativity.

Just recently Sonya Amrita of Illuminated Wisdom and I worked together to update her website, originally designed by me in 2007. This overhaul involved the recoding of her site from a “table-based” website design to a table-less, cascading style-sheet (CSS) based design, using PHP “includes” for clean, concise coding that is easier to maintain (although the look/feel of the site remained exactly the same). Sonya worked on a new page configuration and all new, rich content with the help of her copywriter (as well as gorgeous new photography by Sonya).

Both as a business expands or changes direction and as new and improved website building comes to the forefront, websites should be updated or even, as in this case, overhauled. Regular new content and cleaner code help to generate better web ranking, all in the cause of bringing you new business.