McLeods Set In Stone is a company that fabricates and installs natural stone countertops. Most of their clientele is residential, but they have done work with commercial as well. My job was to create a complete re-branding package for their company that would give them a strong visual presence as well as an edge over their competition.
Services include: Identity design, Web page design, Complete Web Development with CMS implementation, Flash header and custom contact form.

The project started with a logo.  I began by brainstorming ideas for the company. Obviously they worked with stone, so it had to be strong and precise. Granite is thick so I also wanted the font to have a thickness to it so that it would match the feel of the product they are selling. The client actually chose the first composition with practically no revisions:

The icon represents a block of granite tile with an ‘M’ abstractly set inside. This helps to give literal meaning as well as artistic meaning to their logo. I focused on the blues and greys because of the contrasting nature of the colors together. The client didn’t have any pre-conceived notions about the logo, so it was up to me to come up with something. I was very fortunate that they liked it.

Next, I moved on to the web design portion of the project. The client didn’t have any copy written out, or even a concrete idea of the information structure of the site. I had to do a lot of research on other similar sites to get an idea of the information that should be displayed. I ended up with a simple/ clean design layout that focused on the facts that I believe the client found important. Click Here to see the design.

The development phase was a fairly simple one, once the client knew what they wanted. I implemented the images using standardized XHTML and CSS. I also used an open source gallery program and implemented lightbox into it (similar to my blog). I also created and styled a simple contact form so clients can get in touch with them easily. Lastly, I found a CMS solution that the client was comfortable using and set up each page with the correct information. CushyCMS is the system I used for this particular site. It is easy to install and incredibly easy for a novice web user to edit.

After the site was complete and online, the client expressed intrest in a Flash header. I told him that it was not a problem and had it created and installed in less than 24 hours. To see the site live, please go to McLeodsSetInStone.com. This project was through the management of Barton Hosting & Design.