Debating the Dots » Websites

Cornerspring Montessori Website Launch

James Mehorter — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:41:25 +0000

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the new Cornerspring Montessori School website. If you’re unfamiliar with Cornerspring Montessori School, they provide excellent child education programs in the heart of Belfast, Maine. Cornerspring Montessori School strives to provide programs using a modified approach to the methods, philosophy, and teachings of Maria Montessori. Their goal is to provide an environment that will stimulate, foster and nurture the love for learning that will continue to develop throughout life. Their new website features a blog for teachers to share information with parents in real-time, a school calendar to promote upcoming events and program scheduling and ways for donors to support the school. It was a sincere pleasure to work with the folks from Cornerspring Montessori and a hoot to see this family-fun website come to fruition. If you would like to learn more about how we may be able to help your school or organization grow and prosper, contact us at: info@picadesign.com

Check out the website! http://www.cornerspringmontessori.com

The HIP Women’s Forum

James Mehorter — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:33:20 +0000

We recently created a new website for the Heidelberg International Professional Women’s Forum (HIPWF) based in Heidelberg, Germany. The HIP Women’s Forum was founded in 2007 with the vision of bringing together women of the Rhein Neckar region who share international backgrounds and professions in order to build a platform for professional development and a network to promote the individual and collective potential of each member. Women working for multinational companies abroad or in an international environment face many of the same challenges related to being a female professional in a foreign country. Through this forum, women can help one another to grow and achieve personal and professional success. To help them achieve this objective, the HIP Women’s Forum provides a full program of events for professional networking and leadership education throughout the year.

After approaching us in the fall of 2009, the folks at HIPWF decided to go with one of our Pre-Packaged Website solutions to bring their start-up organization online at an affordable price. With the new website, HIPWF now has the right tools and know-how to manage their website’s content virtually and internationally! If you’re interested in learning how Pica Design’s website development solutions can help your start-up business or organization succeed, shoot us an email at: info@picadesign.com

Check out the new website! http://hipwf.com/

Home Energy Solutions – New Website / Identity / Collateral

James Mehorter — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:27:01 +0000

We are happy to announce the release of a new website for Home Energy Solutions out of Northport, ME. The folks there came to us looking to revamp their website, but they were on a budget. We suggested one of our Pica Pre-Packaged websites for small businesses.

We then themed the new website to match the identity and business cards we also created for them:

Home Energy Solutions Website

Home Energy Solutions Business Card

Let us know if you need a face-lift for your business! info@picadesign.com

Landworks Waterfront – Website Update

James Mehorter — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:34:50 +0000

The owners of Landworks Waterfront came to us with a request to update their old website. They were completely happy with the design / functionality of their old website; however, they wanted to add the ability to update the site themselves and, in particular, manage their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) internally. We created a custom WordPress theme for them while keeping the design / layout / colors exactly the same.

Check out the updated Landworks Waterfront website! http://www.landworkswaterfront.com/

BJ’s Automotive – New Website

James Mehorter — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:23:06 +0000

We are happy to announce a new website for BJ’s Automotive and Diagnostic Center. After our initial meeting with owner / operator Joel Knight, we all decided that our basic pre-packaged WordPress theme was the best fit for his needs. Joel’s main priority was to be one of the first small businesses in Belfast, Maine to have a website and be involved with social networking. Add BJ’s on Facebook and stay up-to-date with local automotive deals!

Check out the new BJ’s Automotive website! http://www.bjsautod.com/

The Belfast Maskers – New Website

James Mehorter — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:05:44 +0000

Pica Design is happy to announce our sponsorship of The Belfast Maskers with a new website! All of us here love the Maskers and all the great plays / readings they perform for the public here in Belfast, Maine. So what better way to show our appreciation than by donating something we create daily.. a website! The site has image slideshows, an event calendar, and a news blog. The Maskers are also able to edit / manage all the content on their new website by themselves.

But, how did we do it without breaking the budget? Well, we’ve created a series of customized WordPress themes, which allow us to create a branded web presence for our small business clients. Pretty cool huh?

Check out The Belfast Maskers new website! http://www.belfastmaskers.com/

Pica WordPress Themes

James Mehorter — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:04:04 +0000

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.

New French & Webb website!

James Mehorter — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:25:47 +0000

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

Google to phase out IE6 support

James Mehorter — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:17:33 +0000

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

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Pica Design at CMCA Thursday: Websites (that work!) for Artists

Jen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:54:39 +0000

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.