Thursday, June 21, 2012

Fixed newsletter template

Last November, we were asked to design a multi-paged template that would serve as the fixed bi-annual newsletter for a non-profit organization.

We began by offering different samples to the client so they could make an informed choice. This included a combination of table-based and CSS template layouts. The client ultimately selected the following permanent layout:


Click here to see the actual newsletter.

The template was constructed using tables, but was based on the "Multiflex-3" CSS-layout by Wolfgang (OSWD).

The header had to be created using exact measurements (900W x 150H) in order to fit snugly on the allotted second row. Starting with a blank slate, we added text (bold Trajan font, color: #424963) with the client's logo at the end.

Sample:


Other fixed features for the newsletter included a scrolling menu for re-occurring notices, articles and reports, member photos with flash navigation, and customized buttons to be used on a regular basis (specifically for donation purposes and photo galleries).



The WASHANA newsletter took quite a bit of time to put together initially. However, now that the template is basically fixed, future issues will be easier to assemble.

To view more newsletter template designs, click here.

 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Honoring Service Photo Gallery

The Washington Association of Nurse Anesthetists (WANA) is our newest client. We were lucky enough to begin working with them last year, re-doing their web site from scratch. Their organization is more than seventy years old, which is quite an accomplishment for a non-profit.

Last April, WANA organized a special event for their executive secretary, JoAnn Kaiser. JoAnn has served WANA for twenty years, and the group wanted to mark her anniversary. They held a shindig at the Cedarbrook Lodge in Seattle, following one of their annual conferences. Photos from the event numbered nearly eighty, so it took some time for us to put the gallery together (including the creation of the intro logo).

Webs Divine has assembled plenty of galleries in our day, but this one was very special. We can't recall ever being emotionally moved by mere pictures while putting a gallery together, but we were this time.

Click here to view the gallery.


While working with JoAnn on a weekly basis for the last several years on other projects may have made us more attuned to the poignant impact of the event, the photos do speak for themselves.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Book cover for Bloodfrost

One of our newest book cover designs includes Bloodfrost by Deidre Dalton, which is the first volume in the Bloodline Trilogy.

When developing a design for a book cover, we take into account the general storyline of the novel and the characters within. Author suggestions are always welcome. On occasion, we will use the author's personal artwork if it has a professional appearance and keeps with our workability requirements.

Like it or not, a book cover is a potential reader's first introduction to an author's work and can quite often make or break a sale.


According to the author's web site, Bloodfrost is described as follows:
Old before her time and afflicted with a myriad of medical problems, Noel Gatsby retreats into her "wishful-thinking" dreams every night. Desperate to escape the circumstances of her life, she imagines a world where all of her pain and suffering stops, to be replaced by the vigorous health of her youth. Yet each morning she awakens to the misery of her real existence, consumed by pain and depression. 
Then one night her dreams come true.

Noel is transported to another world, where healing hands work their magic on her tired body. She awakens without pain, filled with an exuberance and joy she never thought to experience again. 
She soon learns her miraculous recovery comes at a price...
You be the judge. Does the cover fit the storyline? Keep in mind, the fictional "healing process" involves blood. Without giving too much away, Bloodfrost contains paranormal elements.

For the cover, we used a large-sized rendition of a stock photo by Anton Belovodchenko (SXC). After several layers and color blending, we arrived at the final product. It is now on display at the author's web site, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books and Smashwords.

To view more book cover designs, click here.