Posted by Danny on Dec 14 2011
It's been a long time since I posted anything on this blog but the truth be told I have simply been far too busy. For the 10 months of this year I've been working in-house at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee. This was quite a big step for me as it involved a scaling down part of my client work to devote most of my attention to redesigning the college's website as well as working on websites for various college events such as the Dundee Degree Show and the Dundee Masters Show. It's been a great experience and as well as making some interesting new contacts it's given me an insight into life inside an educational institution.
My contract at the college has now come to an end and in the New Year I will resume full time freelance activities with some new and interesting projects lined up already. In the meantime here's a sample of the projects I've worked on in 2011......
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Posted by Danny on Sep 23 2010
This month I've been working with the guys at Wideopenspace in Dundee to create a high impact banner advertising campaing for The School of Nursing and Midwifery at The University of Dundee. With twelve different styles, three sizes and Flash and GIF formats the campaign aims to target the overseas market for distance learning courses.
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Posted by Danny on Sep 21 2010
The Volunteer Friendly Award is a quality
standard designed by Volunteer Centre Dundee to support, recognise and
reward groups who are good at involving volunteers. Many essential
services in Scotland’s communities are enhanced by volunteers. DCC
Digital was asked by the Volunteer Centre Dundee to create a website
that would act as a central repository for the resources that
participating organisations use when looking to obtain Volunteer
Friendly status. With very specific technical requirements DCC Digital
succeeded in meeting the project goals by building a well designed,
usable and effective website. A flexible content management system
allows member pages to be created in a password protected area.
You can view the view the new Volunteer Friendly Award website at www.volunteerfriendly.org.uk
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Posted by Danny on Apr 20 2010
At DCC Digital we like to shout about quality and while we don't think our prices will break the bank it's an undeniable truth that quality costs. But why does it cost we hear you cry? Well quality costs because it takes time to plan, design and build a website properly. We know there are a multitude of cheap and cheerful options out there for website design but, if chosen, the bargain basement route is a sure way of devaluing your business.
So let's presume you choose us to design your website (and if you haven't click here
to drop us a line for a quote), how do we approach a typical website
project?
We get to know your business
The first stage in a project is all about getting to know your business. Often a face to face meeting is good for this but we've also worked with plenty of businesses who like to do this by email or over the phone. Once we have a clearly defined picture of what your businesses does and what you would like to achieve then we can define some goals and requirements for the project. We take the time and make the effort to
define the scope of the project and understand your business goals and
customer needs. We research the market for your service or product and learn what
your competitors are doing and suggest what you could do better.
Planning your website
A great way of planning your website is through the use of wire frames that show of all the basic elements. In addition to this we will also create a site map which shows the top level navigation and all the pages leading from this. We'll define key areas of text on the home page, placeholders for images, contact forms, secondary navigation and all the key elements that make up your website. We also work with you to clearly define the functionality that your require.
Website design
Moving from planning into design we get our creative juices flowing and come up with a look and feel for your site. We've designed websites for a huge range of businesses in Scotland including architects, mining companies, holiday lodges, caterers and ecommerce stores and always come up with something fresh, dynamic and interesting. We also listen and take on board feedback and suggestions from you during the design process to arrive at something everyone is happy with.
The website build - putting it all together
We won't bore with the technical details but we're expert at writing HTML, CSS and the code that forms the foundation for your site. Being great at coding means we also care about how your website looks on different browsers and how it appears to users with different accessibility needs. It's at this point that we can add a content management system (CMS) to your website. Having a CMS allows you complete control over the content of your website; for instance we can add a blog that allows you to post news and announcements; a CMS is also crucial when it comes to optimising your content so that it's treated more favourably by search engines.
Adding content to your website
Actually, this isn't always the case because often our clients will do this themselves but we're more than happy to do this if the copy and images necessary are provided in a web ready format.
Review and testing
We perform a complete usability test of your website on common platforms and browsers to ensure the appearance and functionality are consistent throughout.
The website launch and afterwards
Once your website is launched we can provide you with training and instruction in how to use your website's content management system. Beyond this we're always contactable to offer advice and support should you encounter any post-launch hiccups along the way. We can also integrate useful website monitoring tools like Google Analytics and are happy to give search engine optimisation advice and recommendations.
Our clients are constantly amazed at the high level of service we provide but don't take our word for it click here to take a look at what they have to say.
Of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating so the following are some of the websites we're particularly proud of:
www.rubylovesred.com
www.drtvcentre.com
www.tullochwoodlodges.com
www.angelmining.com
www.rossieochilhouse.co.uk
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Posted by Danny on Apr 08 2010
Rossie Ochil House is an elegant country house situated on a working estate in the rolling Ochil Hills of rural Perthshire. For this project we worked with Perth based graphic design agency Creative Orange who were responsible for the overall design. Using our expert knowledge of open source technology DCC Digital built a content management system that allows the client to easily update the content throughout the website.
You can visit the new website for Rossie Ochil House by going to www.rossieochilhouse.co.uk
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Posted by Danny on Feb 17 2010
The 5 Lords of Pain is a series of children's books published by Barrington Stoke, a company which specialises in books for struggling and dyslexic readers. Built by ecommerce specialists Storeseen
and designed by DCC Digital, the website makes excellent use of
the books' artwork, eye-catching graphics and some Flash animation. You can view more of the designs from this project in the portfolio section.
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