Huntington, NY – Long Island, NY, SEp. 20 - The day has finally arrived. Skylar Design has been entirely revamped, from the overall presentation to the code.

The new Skylar website shares many of the more recent projects we've worked on over the last few years as well as communicates the future direction of Skylar's services. After reviewing the log files over the past few years, there was a lot of interest in two particular areas: news/happenings and current work. The previous site certainly had current news off the homepage, but when it came to a featured piece, you either had to go to the news section or find it in the Skylar gallery. Now, site visitors can find both current news and Skylar's most recent work, directly off the homepage.

About the Redesign

With the actual compositions, I had a lot of fun creating the new web interfaces. The designs "came to life" over the course of several months. When I had an idea, I made a mental note or began drafting it on paper or the computer. It's interesting to observe how something "rough" or "vague" spawns another idea; and sometimes, with just a few tweaks, it turns a mere thought into gold.

As for specifics, let me share a few things that I wanted in the new design. I wanted more emphasis on small details. Although they might never get recognized by the average site visitor, I placed a lot of time on the what I call "giving it that extra something" (e.g., use of padding, kerning, leading, colors, white space, visual cues, etc.). Aesthetically, I wanted this site to have a more visual appeal than the previous one. Sometimes it even meant the difference between just one pixel. The use of imagery was also key in this creative process. Images were selected by their look, accented tone, and aesthetic touch. Furthermore, many of the images you see are only a small sampling of a much larger viewpoint. I intentionally masked specific areas of an image because there was something I liked about it and I wanted to capture that look for the new site. Lastly, I spent quite a bit of time learning more about typefaces - their history, why they were created, their readability, and how they might be used. The typefaces I used were carefully chosen with hopes they would strengthen the overall Skylar brand message.

Refocusing Skylar's Business Strategy

As of 2007, Skylar made a strategic decision to streamline its web services. Thus, Skylar no longer provides e-commerce or database solutions. This has allowed me to further develop my areas of expertise and provide stronger web solutions. As a result, Skylar will focus most of it's attention on front-end design and development work. Let me be more specific as to what Skylar will be offering.

• Web Consulting
• Domain Name Management
• Web Hosting
• Custom-Designed Web Interfaces
• CSS/XHTML Programming
• Website Maintenance
• Custom HTML E-newsletters

I believe the new site helps communicate this new direction and it aligns us for the for the 2008 year.