Here at Pica Design we are always looking to innovate and help other businesses meet their marketing goals. We truly believe all successful businesses should have a strong web presence in order to meet these goals. The cornerstone of a web presence obviously begins with a strong website which successfully communicates the business to their audience. Most large companies can easily afford such a presence, but what are small businesses to do without breaking the bank?

Here at Pica we have found a middle-ground; branded WordPress themes. These themes let us reuse the common website framing used for most websites; similar to a house foundation, then style the exterior with client branding and colors. We also have modularized several common website components like a calendar, sideshows, image galleries, and blogs so clients can pick and choose the tools their website will need. Once a client chooses a template layout which matches their business model; we customize the template with the client branding and color scheme. We then bundle hosting / domain support and SEO into these packages.

So far we’ve had great success using these themes to create The Belfast Maskers website and the BJ’s Automotive website.

Contact us to learn how these pre-packaged themes can help your business! 207-338-1470 | web@picadesign.com

I often wonder what the future of Web Design will be. Is the information superhighway going to become an infrastructure just like our roadways and city’s are designed. A place where every page has the same navigation structure and always leads to the same intersection. In theory it would be great if say for instance every state run organization shared the same navigational structure. This way we could all find the information easier without having to learn how to navigate each site. On the other hand it wouldn’t be great if every tattoo shop had the same look and structure. They would then lack the originality and character that attracts people to certain shops.

WordPress themes and others like it are changing the way the landscape looks and creating an economical option for small companies. The benefit is that it gives start-up companies an option to get online without breaking the budget. The risk is that your business might not stand out from the rest.

I am not sure what the future holds for web design but I am sure that WordPress themes will be around for a while. Please choose wisely.

Pica Design is proud to announce the release of a new website for French & Webb boat builders in Belfast, ME. Todd French and Peter Webb started French & Webb, Inc. in 1996. Since then their company has gained a reputation for high standards and precision joinery. Located on the waterfront in Belfast, Maine, French & Webb, Inc. builds wooden boats using modern methods in combination with traditional craftsmanship. The result is unparalleled workmanship and boats of the highest quality.

Todd and Peter came to us with a desire to update their web presence with a content-rich and stylized design which they can edit themselves. Are you looking to give your website a face lift? Contact Pica Design by email web@picadesign.com or phone 207-338-1740 to find out what we can do for you!

Check out the new site!

http://www.frenchwebb.com

We are very excited about Google’s recent choice to phase out support for older web browsers. As web developers we pride ourselves in following modern coding standards set forth by the W3C. In order for developers to make sites look and work as desired in these older browsers we have to write in several coding ‘hacks’. They are ugly and force us to not always follow the W3C standards. Google’s role in this evolution for web development is quite critical. As industry leaders, their stance in forward thinking makes the world a better place… Thanks Google! At Pica Design we have already phased out IE6 support, and greatly encourage web users to keep their web browsers upgraded. It’s free, keeps you secure, and makes sites look as their designers planned for you to see them. – Team Pica

“In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology.  This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5.  As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010.  After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser.  We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.”  – The Google App Team

Read the Full Article

Pica Design is happy to announce the release of the Burgess & Burgess website. Check it out!

http://www.burgessbilt.com

Jason and Kristian came to us with the desire to have a new website created for their construction business. We worked with their current branding and created a design they loved. They also hired Donny Mullen for the photography, which as you can see, is quite exquisite! Give us a call or shoot us an email if your business could use something similar! 207-338-1740 or web@picadesign.com

-Team Pica

We are proud to announce the release of an update to the VMD Studio website.

Check it out – http://www.vmdstudio.com/

VMD had Pica Design make the site look a little sleeker and more modernistic. We also built them a custom Joomla Module to manage/display all their projects and press releases. Another feature added was the homepage sideshow.

Like your website but want to implement some new features? Send us an email to web@picadesign.com

Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year from all of us at Pica Design and please remember to Txt Responsibly with all of your new gizmos and gadgets this holiday season:) Please enjoy this slideshow featuring Pica Design highlights from 2009.

Come on down to Pica Design for the Belfast Chamber of Commerce Business after hours!

We will be opening our doors for the public to come see our studio and meet our great team.

Thursday, November 19, 2009 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm

111 Church Street, Belfast, ME 04915

Guests will be entered into a drawing for a custom eNEWS promotional package ($275.00 value). Enter the drawing for a chance to win!

Chamber of Commerce

Pica Design will participate in a panel discussion at CMCA to demonstrate Websites (that work!) for Artists at the CMCA Event: Making Connections: Monthly Marketing Series for Artists this Thursday. Join us from 7:00 – 8:30 PM for Websites, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, e-marketing, organizational websites for artists, and more. Contact CMCA for registration or questions: 207-236-2875 x303.

Our seminar on websites for businesses at Unity Center for the Performing Arts (June 25th) was well received. With five Pica people contributing to the content, we were able to share a broad range of information–from basic website structure and set-up, to CMS and social networking. We left our audience with one message: use us as a resource! Call, write or comment on our blog. We want to hear from you.