design Archives - Interfanatic Digital Marketing with Web Site Maintenance & Design

Diligence: Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Last week, we talked about how kindness can change the world. Well, this week, we’ll talk about how properly applied diligence will change your life.

It certainly has done that for our client, the good folks at Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge in Kamala, Washington. And it also changed the life of Oscar Micheaux, a writer and early filmmaker, and the source of this week’s quote.

Diligence is about doing the work, whether it be grunt work or technical work, every day. It’s about finding ways to make less work every day. It’s about getting things done, better, every day. And we apply diligence to our projects and our work for our client every day. Diligence makes progress. Through diligence, we make progress for our clients every day. (Even if it’s just a little bit.)

Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge: Standard and Exotic Metal Alloys for High-Tech Implementations

The folks at AVAF are nothing if they ain’t diligent. They are highly skilled precision craftsmen working with metals, both exotic and mundane. But the metal specifications they work with are precise and exacting. That’s because the stainless steel alloys, titaniums, and high-strength alloy steels they produce to exacting specifications end up in aircraft, racecars, spacecraft, and all sorts of high-tech applications that require perfection.

Personal moment: I love working with companies in the aerospace industry. As a bit of a nerd myself, it’s exciting for me to know we’re contributing to the advancement of exploration and technology, if but in our own small way.

We’ve been working with Tim and team for many years now – well over a decade. We helped them get established on the Internet with a website all those years ago, and it was recently time for a redesign. You might have read about it; I was proud of the way our transition between sites didn’t lose any traffic. AVAF’s SEO is important to their business operations, which is one of the main reasons they work with us. We’re great at making sure their site shows up in search.

The Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge website is responsive, meaning it works well on both a desktop computer screen and a mobile phone.

Another thing we addressed in this site redesign is responsiveness. Responsive design is a bit of an over-complicated way our industry has decided to describe a website that works on many devices. AVAF’s old site worked alright on mobile phones, but the new one works even better.

In this quick video, I show you the site in both desktop computer and mobile phone formats. Note that the site works just fine both ways. Go ahead and try it yourself…

Try it both on your desktop computer and on your cellphone: https://aerovacalloyforge.com

Diligence: An Interfanatic Quality

“There is no barrier to success which diligence and perseverance cannot hurdle.”
– Oscar Micheaux

Oscar Micheaux is an interesting character too much forgotten by history. He’s a black filmmaker who made films from the black perspective. They weren’t about white people that dealt with black people, they were about black people who dealt with white people.

He was a great story teller. And I’m sure, as all people are, there may be complications with his character. But he accomplished so much in a world that was not made for him. And, the way he tells it, he did that with diligence.

Diligence is a great quality to work on because nobody disrespects a hard worker. If you work hard and you find ways to improve your work so you can get more done, you get respect. Alternatively, nobody respects sloth.

So, we work diligently for our clients. We always try to bring more with our diligence. And we’re grateful Micheaux did the same.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Basic Responsive Design

Last week, we explained the benefits of blogging and content production with our Basic Content Works. Today, we talk more about responsive design.

The way we build websites, we often don’t have to apply a custom design. We can just work with something extremely to get an idea or a company started. But if there’s a little room in the budget for design, our Basic Responsive Design certainly goes a long way.

And if you really want something special, something that hasn’t been done before, opt for our The Works Design.

The main difference between all of our design services is budget. More budget means more flexibility, and more feedback from you. No design budget? No problem, but you’re kinda stuck with what we give you. Some website design budget? That opens the possibilities, and you get some revision control. Unlimited design budget? Let’s do something special, perfect when you say it’s perfect.

“All of the sites we create work on both mobile phones and desktop. Some of the businesses we work with see 70% or more mobile traffic.”

And all sites we create work on both mobile phones and on desktop. Both are critical in 2021. But how critical really depends on your business. Some of the businesses we work with see 70% mobile traffic or more. Some see only 30%, as their customers prefer to (or just naturally, by course of business) use their desktop or laptop computers.

Any way you look at it, we’ve got you covered.

Interfanatic: Doing it. Every day…

Some days, we get into flow and everything is fun. Other days, we have to trudge through, trying to figure out a strange problem. But even when we encounter problems, we have systems and processes that simplify the issue. We’ve most likely handled this one before. We’ll figure it out eventually! We always do. We always do because we insist upon diligence. Like AVAF, like Micheaux, our inspirations to remain diligent this week.

Diligence: Aero-Vac Alloys & Forge – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

Beauty: GKAD – Architects – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

This week, we celebrate our customer GKAD. We chose GKAD because they embody and the Interfanatic Quality of this week, which is beauty. Their architecture is beautiful in so many ways.

GKAD – Goeckmann & Kleespies Architects, of Frankfurt, Germany, are incredible architects who see their task from a very different perspective. They don’t just create beautiful architecture and beautiful spaces. They don’t just create functional architecture and functional spaces. They make beautiful, functional architecture that is functionally profitable for the owner. It’s not just architecture, it’s not just design. It’s profitable architecture and design with an eye toward improving the spending habits of the customers who enter the building and space.

And that’s why the Buckminster Fuller quote of the week is perfect. Their solutions are not simple on the inside, but GKAD’s architectural solutions certainly appear simple to their clients and to the customers who use their clients’ businesses. They just work.

GKAD Architects: Goeckmann & Kleespies Make Beauty

The team at GKAD is phenomenal. They make beautiful. Beautiful things, beautiful places, beautiful business.

GKAD’s specialty is high-frequency architecture. These are restaurants and shops in train stations, airports, and in city centers. Their architecture is experienced by many tens or hundreds of thousands every year. But those hundreds of thousands may miss the subtleties GKAD’s customers do not: the architecture invites people to spend.

GKAD’s designs bring high-dollar customers, and they bring those customers to spend even more. GKAD employs colors, geometry, and layout to keep people in front of the high dollar items and make those high ticket items more inviting to buy.

It’s genius. Pure and simple. And that genius is beautiful.

So next time you’re in the market for outstanding and beautiful architecture that will influence your bottom line, look to GKAD.

Beauty: An Interfanatic Quality

“If the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”
– R. Buckminster Fuller

We constantly seek the simple approach. Right there, I just did it. My mind said, “we are constantly seeking the simple approach”, but my simplicity trigger went off. “We seek” is simpler than “we are seeking”, yet they mean about the same thing. And this is something we do in every project. What is the most simple approach? It is likely the most effective and the most beautiful.

Sometimes great complexity is required to make something seem simple. Sometimes a great deal of thought and pairing down went into finding the simple, beautiful solution. We’re all ways looking for the simpler way. We’re always looking for the more simpler, yet more interesting way. Interfanatic always seeks the most beautiful way to celebrate our subject.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic The Works Design

Last week, we showed how we simplified a customer’s site. This week, we describe how we made something complex simple and beautiful.

This is not a Wix site. GKAD.de is a bespoke design you have never seen before. It is beautiful, and it is simple, but the beauty is in the details. We created this site design with one of the best designers. We worked it over using our best UI people. We found simplifications and efficiencies. Then we applied it to a very fast server, such that the heavy home page video load would seem lightweight even on mobile.

The result is a beautiful website with layers of design and detail – just like GKAD’s architecture.

I think their site is beautiful even though it’s not the original design concept we imagined. Sitting with Ivo Goeckmann, principal of GKAD, I had the idea to begin a short video from the same perspective of all three stages of a project: with the blueprints of a building they created, then animate it into an artists technical rendering of those blueprints, then animate that into a a live video of the architecture in use. Sadly, it was not to be – GKAD overruled me and came up with these interesting animation videos, which are very cool.

“The result of our website design process for GKAD is a beautiful website with layers of design and detail – just like GKAD’s architecture.”

The site has a number of interesting touches, from the home page videos, to the animated icons, to the animated menu, to the animated waterglass that fills as you fill out the contact form. All this and more make for a website design you will not see anywhere else. It is beautiful, and it is unique. And, most importantly, it is effective – just like their architecture.

One thing that is missing from this project though: SEO. They did not want their site to be found! They deal with very exclusive customers, and they only want their site to be found on their personal reference from a business card. It was strange to avoid one of our key talents and skills, SEO, for this project. But, that’s what the customer wanted, and that’s what works best for them. So of course, we were happy to accommodate.

We can do design at just about any budget. But we love working on projects that, like GKAD, require a statement.

Interfanatic: We’ll Be There, and At Times That’s All the Beauty You Need.

Earlier this week, we were notified that one of the pieces of software we employ had a vulnerability, and needed to be updated immediately. So we dropped everything and updated that software immediately. This didn’t lead to any extra charges, it’s part of our management.

A client recently called. They needed help. We helped them. It didn’t cost them any extra. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But that client wasn’t use to it. That client was used to not getting a call back, or getting a million reasons why they couldn’t be helped. These are the stories we here all the time.

These are the stories we work hard to avoid. We’re here for you. And if you know anything about this business, you know that’s a beautiful thing.

Beauty: GKAD – Architects – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

Strength: GKAD Architects – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
– M. K. Gandhi

There are times an indomitable will is insufficient. If I were to try to take on Mike Tyson, for instance, in a boxing match, no amount of indomitable will would keep my head attached to my neck when he inevitably pops me one.

But outside of physical contests, in great measure will defines the level at which you can train to compete. Your training defines the level at which you can compete.

Gandhi was not a strong physical specimen, but his strength changed the world. His strength carried his voice through generations and around the world. Not bad for a little guy!

(We love fighting for the little guy by they way. We love to make the little guy into Goliath.)

But that’s not the client I think of this week. I think of a client who’s already strong and capable: GKAD Architects, in Frankfurt, Germany.

They’re a commercial architecture firm, and they design high-use facilities. They create restaurants for airports, and popular cafes and markets. Their design is up to code, resilient, and best of all, inspires and accommodates purchasing behavior.

If you own a chain of restaurants and you want to build a location at a high-volume metro or train station, go to GKAD. They have the strength and knowledge to finish your project at a level so high, you’ll be profitable at your new location in no time.

That’s why, when I think of strength, a number of our clients stand out. But this time, I want to focus on GKAD.

Strength: An Interfanatic Quality

We didn’t last over 20 years through weakness. The Interfanatic Way is to keep after projects until they’re done – and successful. We are inspired by the strength of our clients and we love to inspire strength in our clients.

Interfanatic does that by being there for them when they need us. We have the experience and the creativity to bring fresh perspective, to help them build a foundation for better business.

GKAD Architects: Strength Through Architecture

Goeckmann & Kleespies are phenomenal architects and designers based in Frankfurt, Germany. They don’t build houses; GKAD create places people want to spend money.

Their niche of architecture is highly technical and highly emotional. Building a cafe in an airport isn’t easy – the regulations are enough to put most architects off the job. Who wants to deal with that kind of red tape? Well, GKAD does.

They make a place that is to code, of course. But then they also make it comfortable. And beautiful. And that is special. But then, the beauty must last. You can’t build a restaurant with cheap materials because after the first 100 customers, it will begin to look poor. When you have hundreds of customers per day, you have high-frequency architecture that has it’s own special needs. GKAD takes care of that. But yet, on top of that even, they then bring more psychology into their masterworks – they make a place that inspires spend. They design architecture for their clients that not only meets the need, it ensures their clients will make money.

The strength of their architecture is definitely within its physical capacity. But they do so much more – they make money for their clients by moving to – not the next level beyond – the next order of magnitude beyond. It is their indomitable will to create something amazing and so highly functional and timeless that makes them the best architects in Germany.

“GKAD create places people want to spend money.”

We’re quite proud to work with GKAD. We had an idea, we worked together to hone it, and the result is something interesting and special. This isn’t your average website. It displays their ingenuity, their strength, and their capability.

It was a step in an opposite direction for us. They don’t want their website to be found. They only want their website being seen by people they talk to. Usually, we want to create a volume of traffic. Not this time.

We love working with unique and interesting projects – it’s always an opportunity to learn. It’s always an opportunity to grow in strength.

Interfanatic Service Focus: Interfanatic Website Management Packages

The bedrock of all website function is its management. We have hosting and management packages for budgets of all sizes. It’s fun to work with new, small businesses; it’s just as fun to have an impact on established businesses. Watching owners light up because of great results is satisfying no matter how long they’ve been around.

We handle your hosting and updates. We keep your site up and running. When new technologies emerge, we help you evaluate and implement the ones that make sense for you.

We do that because we’ve been there before. We’ve been doing this for over 20 years. We may not have seen it all, but we’ve seen most of it. And we know what works, what’s going to stick, and what to pass on. We’re here to help you make money, and we do that very well.

Interfanatic: Designing, Building and Supporting Strength

Let’s make something beautiful. Let’s make something effective. Interfanatic and you can build something strong that will last.

This week’s image:
Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

Strength, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.

I saw this pretty image while on an outing with my wifey. We popped up to PV one day and on our way back down the hill, I saw this view – Los Angeles through the palm trees. I had to stop to take the picture. Sadly, modern phone cameras are terrible. I miss having a real camera to work with! But the sentiment is there: tall palm trees that can take the beating of wind and thunderstorms, and the strength of powerful buildings of downtown Los Angeles. There is strength in this image.

Strength: GKAD Architects – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

Sincerity: Durnell Jewelry – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Cool Stuff on the Web, Customer Spotlight

“Weak people cannot be sincere.”⁠
– François de La Rochefoucauld⁠

How does that sit with you?

Bridgett Durnell is not weak. After years being a successful jewelry designer for the big atelier houses, she struck out on her own. She immediately began making waves with her distinctive designs.

Durnell is best known for her engagement ring designs. As such, she trades in sincerity.

She takes her sincerity and gives symbols of forever grace and beauty. And she takes her talent sincerely and has built a business around it.

When François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld⁠, Prince de Marcillac wrote these words, he was thinking of a person just like Bridgett Durnell. Although I’m sure he became an expert in sincerity after having to deal with his ridiculous titles through a distinguished nobleman’s career.

We don’t always get it right. But we certainly mean to. And with those sincere intentions, we drive on to produce something great. We take our customers and their businesses sincerely.

It was a great pleasure working with Bridgett many years ago, and we’re pleased to see her continued success. Sincerely pleased.

Sincerity: Durnell Jewelry – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

Attention to Detail: Fowler & Moore Interior Design – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

Customer Spotlight, Partners

Simple ingredients can be used to make elegant dishes with just a little extra attention to detail.
– Marcus Samuelsson

Focus on the fundamentals. Bring out the basics by getting them right – doing the details better. That’s what we’re about.

Now, just like Samuelsson no doubt loves to play with exotic ingredients, we here at Interfanatic love trying something new.

But the bread and butter of every business is getting the basics right. So it is for most of our projects.

Of course, we think of the design geniuses at Fowler & Moore Interior Design, just up the street from us here in Redondo Beach. They know how to balance a room with just the right details – just the right colors and accents – to completely transform it into something fresh and uniquely beautiful.

We’ve been working with Fowler & Moore for a long time. In fact, it’s time for their website to get another refresh. They’ve moved locations a few times, but their fundamentals are what drive their business. Great interior design. Serving their customers, and making their homes more beautiful.

Details & Fundamentals Win the Day

It’s all about details, it’s all about fundamentals. Perfection is the enemy of good, of progress. But when you have qualified professionals, whose fundamentals are sound and strong, paying attention to the details comes naturally.

Attention to Detail: Fowler & Moore Interior Design – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight Read More »

The Isaac Charles Design Group Works On A New Apparel and Footwear Line for NBA Superstars

Cool Stuff on the Web, Partners, Props, Site Launches

The new Isaac Charles Design Group Web Site modestly states: “At the 2011 NBA Allstar weekend, ICDG will launch a new brand of footwear and apparel with a few top NBA ballplayers. We will be colloborating with Bill Peterson creator of Nike Air technology in the development of our footwear. Please check back for updates.”

The new Isaac Charles Design Group, LLC Web Site, www.Isaac-Charles.com

ICDGLLC, founded by brilliant designer Isaac Charles and based in Los Angeles, California, has been creating footwear, apparel, and product designs for major corporations, schools, and celebrities since 2006 – and the hot looks are about to get hotter.

On the company’s new Web Site are examples of footwear for Protoge, apparel for Beverly Hills High School, product art applied to products and packaging for Atomic9, and celebrities including Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Donnie Klang, and Notorious B.I.G. among many others wearing ICDGLLC‘s designs. Spend some time on the site and have a look. You’ll probably be buying ICDGLLC designs soon.

Have a look at the Isaac Charles Design Group‘s new Web Site, www.Isaac-Charles.com.

The Isaac Charles Design Group Works On A New Apparel and Footwear Line for NBA Superstars Read More »

WSmad Invites You to Experience www.Quietus.us, a Small Sampling of Our Work

Site Launches

From Ryan, Web Site Maintenance & Design’s Founder:

“I invite you to experience Quietus.us: this is the calm we provide amidst America’s relentless pursuit of success.”

Quietus.us - A Sampling of WSmad's Portfolio

We’re all pretty jazzed about Quietus.us around here. It’s just a few of our favorite projects, but it shows you what we can do. Our main site, WSmad.com, is focused on promoting our Official Marketing Partners (our clients). It’s a hub and an opportunity for us to brag about about our Clients, for them. Every time we do, it helps their sites climb the search engines. www.Quietus.us also has another role – it shows people interested in working with us how other small businesses have eased their burdens by entrusting their Internet Marketing with our experts.

So, like Ryan says, check out www.Quietus.us!

WSmad Invites You to Experience www.Quietus.us, a Small Sampling of Our Work Read More »

WSmad Welcomes Fowler & Moore AT HOME to Redondo Beach

Partners, Props

Chris and Suzy have a fabulous shop (some would say shoppe) and now they’ve joined us (WSmad) and a few of our clients in Redondo Beach! We welcome them to our Home and can’t wait to get their stuff IN our home.

Fowler & Moore AT HOME’s new home is in Hollywood Riviera, the wonderful shopping street in the heart of South Redondo Beach. They couldn’t have picked a better place! They’re right next to another WSmad Official Marketing Partner, Tisha O’Dowd’s Abbracci Studio spa and boutique (look for their beautiful new Web Site to come live soon!), and just up the block from our friend and OMP Nick Peters.

If you didn’t go in to F&M’s store during the many years it was on the border of PV and Torrance, now you have a chance to really see how their place has come to life. We here at WSmad encourage you to stop in and talk to the friendly folks there – have fun! And then stop by Abbracci and see what else you can’t live without. THAT would be an excellent day spent.

To Fowler & Moore and their loving staff, WELCOME to Redondo Beach from WSmad and all of our friends. May your new location bring you great success!

Check out FowlerAndMoore.com for exact location and a taste of their capabilities.

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Introducing to the Web: Fowler & Moore Interiors and Fowler & Moore At Home!

Partners, Site Launches

Please help us welcome to the Internet one of the finest Interior Design firms in the World, Fowler and Moore. Chris Fowler and Suzy Moore have been helping Palos Verdes homeowners to fall in love again with their homes for nearly 25 years. Their brilliant, classic design, coupled with their retail location in the lovely and quaint Walteria neighborhood of Torrance

Fowler & Moore Interiors and Fowler & Moore At Home, and now, www.FowlerAndMoore.com!

just below Palos Verdes, Fowler & Moore At Home serve the South Bays most prestigious and classic, modest homes and businesses alike.

They decided to expand their marketing efforts to the Internet, and they entrusted Web Site Maintenance & Design to do it. They made the right choice – the new site is beautiful, elegant and captures the spirit of all they do.

Fowler & Moore Interiors is the Interior Design Consulting portion of the business. Fowler & Moore At Home is a beautiful retail location offering hand-picked fine furnishings to warm any house into a home. And now, with no further ado, we proudly introduce to you the latest Fowler & Moore property:

www.FowlerAndMoore.com

Introducing to the Web: Fowler & Moore Interiors and Fowler & Moore At Home! Read More »