Design > Website

Web design is a discipline that I can’t say is a focus of mine. BUT! And this is, as the kids say, a big but – I can do it, and do it pretty well. Case in point, the project I did to rebrand American Greeting Properties (AGP). They had confidence problems and we “re-skinned” them to fix it. The backbone of that effort was their website. Look, a website is all about organization and the hierarchy of information. For AGP they needed their homepage to be a gateway to a world of creativity. Their objective wasn’t to collect leads, sell product, or even a service. It just had to inform and make a desired impression. Not to downplay this, there was a LOT of impression to change, in the process. The website also had to tie together a lot of disparate assets and present them under a unified umbrella. So, not easy.

FINAL: The home page for American Greetings Properties. — **FINAL:** The home page for American Greetings Properties.

FINAL: Clicking an area of the map (or in the legend) would bring a pop-up of everything you needed to know about each property. — **FINAL**: Clicking an area of the map (or in the legend) would bring a pop-up of everything you needed to know about each property.

FINAL: I’d designed and illustrated all the infographics for each properties detail page. This was a ton of work, but also a ton of fun. — **FINAL:** I’d designed and illustrated all the infographics for each properties detail page. This was a ton of work, but also a ton of fun.

FINAL: Here’s what clicking ABOUT US would bring you. — **FINAL:** Here’s what clicking ABOUT US would bring you.

FINAL: How mobile would work along with a little secondary navigation idea that didn’t make it. Once the island drawing was finalized, I made a topographical rendering of it complete with a handy chart of who lived at what elevations. Hahaha. — **FINAL:** How mobile would work along with a little secondary navigation idea that didn’t make it. Once the island drawing was finalized, I made a topographical rendering of it complete with a handy chart of who lived at what elevations. Hahaha.

I worked with an internal team who included a developer, so whatever I designed was sure to be actually possible to create. I’m a realist and won’t work under any other circumstances. Who wants to do a bunch of work and have it be impossible to implement? So we all decided on a simple structure. A home page base would present the entire site map (see what I did there?). Clicking a character would bring up a light box panel of information that would deliver everything (plus infographics) they needed to know. We created a format where a LOT of information could be conveyed in the most condensed form possible, without making anyone want to kill themselves. Easy.