Kate's blog

Ag-Co, a company that specializes in selling horse stalls, recently launched their new and improved e-commerce site. Instead of pushing their products, Ag-Co was interested in capturing their customers' love and enjoyment of riding. To accomplish this, we used a large image to give the site a friendly, personal feel. By using browns and a touch of autumn orange, the site appears warm and inviting. We also simplified their navigation and concentrated on giving the site a clean, fresh look thereby elevating this St. John's-based company above their competition--both state- and nation-wide. Check out a before and after shot to see what a website redesign can do for your business. Which site is more likely to make customers feel confident that they are buying a high-quality product?

NuWave Technology Partners, one of Michigan’s leading IT providers, expanded their services to include the residential market with the launch of NuWave Home Services--Nuwavehome.com. NuWave was interested in continuing their branding but also wanted their new site to have a distinct feel. Steve, the designer, understood what they were looking for and nailed this design on his first attempt (not an unusual feat, but this design didn't require even a single tweak, which is why it's particularly noteworthy). His use of shadows, repeating elements, and lines adds a great deal of interest to this simple, streamlined site.

Next time you need some computer help or want DirecTV installed, be sure to call this Michigan-based business.

I stole this teaser from the October 2009 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, which lists East Lansing/MSU as one of the top 10 Best College Towns to Start a Business. (Note to curious potential bossholes: This blog has nothing to do with the teaser--just a shameless attempt to get your attention...please indulge me....) 

I would absolutely agree with this rather surprising declaration that East Lansing/MSU is the place to be, especially after attending the IgniteLansing-2.0 event held on Friday evening. One could definitely sense a buzz in the air. Something is happening here?! I felt as though I was living in Seattle and it was the beginning of the the grunge era. We're on to something. We know it and it's just a matter of time before the world knows it. Okay, I'm getting a bit out-of-hand, but seriously, how cool was this event. Let's all continue to strive for change, to be passionate, and to dare to share our experiences and insights.

We are particularly proud that 3 of the 15 Ignite Lansing speakers work for Greenlite/Artemis (Brian Azar: The Care and Feeding of Sue; or how to keep your woman happy, Steve Jencks: B-movie Survival Tips, and Chris Bachelder: Design Thinking and the Leadership of the Creative Class). A special shout-out to Steve, our designer extraordinaire, this was his first public-speaking engagement and he won his division. Nice job, Steve!

With the passing of a law that requires all new schools and government buildings to be Green buildings, our client, Mike Bone, saw an opportunity. Mike, who's been involved in the building industry for the past 25 years, wanted to start a business that would teach professionals the nuts and bolts of LEED Certification, the standard that defines the Green Building Industry. In particular he saw a real need for LEED Exam Prep classes to be taught in the MIdwest--and thus Green Built Services, LLC was created. Mike's business lends itself perfectly to a well-designed and functional website. We took particular care with making his calendar and bookstore user-friendly. The end-product is a website that not only looks great but that also meets all of Mike's business needs.

Me...write a blog?? Okay, but only reluctantly. I'm typically old school. I shun facebook and think twitter seems off-the-charts ridiculous. However, I did take a job at a web company so I suppose I should adopt some of this new-age media even if I think it feeds into people's inflated sense of self-importance (what? you're suppose to make sweeping generalizations and be edgy when you write a
blog, right?).

Back to the official reason for the blog: I'm working as Greenlite's new project manager. My background is in print production and design so it's been interesting learning a new field. I've also enjoyed the flexibility of working for a tech-savvy company that doesn't think twice when employees work remotely and where co-workers utilize IM for instant communication. Most important, I have been impressed with the quality of design that Greenlite produces. In fact, that's one of our
biggest selling points--we get to use the same web designer as our parent-company, Artemis, which produces $100K+ websites. Therefore our
clients, who are often small business owners, get a unique and highly professional website that in my opinion outshines all of their competitors.

I'm looking forward to working with new clients and beautifying the web.