Global Wire Design

New Web Design Checklist for Small Business Owners!

, , ,

Short Guide to Business Websites Book CoverThis week Global Wire Books released its latest e-book in the Short Guide series.  In the year since I launched our web shop Global Wire Design, we learned a lot about our customers who are mainly small business owners and their needs.  After a while we noticed they were asking the same questions.  So earlier this year we decided to create a Short Guide that answers the most common questions and issues small business owners should be aware of when considering a website design.

Short Guide to Business Websites is a quick, informative checklist for small business owners looking to create a new website or redesign their current one.  Over 50 percent of all businesses don’t have a website.  Many of them cite the high cost to create one and not having the time to maintain one as obstacles.  Many businesses that do have websites have a hard time figuring out how customers can have the best user experience.

This Short Guide provides a concise list of tips and issues business owners need to consider before embarking on a website design, whether the website is built in-house or a professional web designer is hired.

The tips from this Short Guide come from best practices and case studies developed by Global Wire Design.

Short Guide to Business Websites
Price: US$13.99
Buy it here!

Design Highlight: Global Exchange Reality Tours

, , ,

Reality Tours

I had the opportunity to be the web and graphic designer on an educational project with a team to build an e-commerce website from scratch. We decided to redesign the Reality Tours part of the Global Exchange website because we really liked the mission of the organization and thought they were deserving of an updated website that showcased their values.

Global Exchange is an international human rights organization based in San Francisco. One of their initiatives is called Reality Tours, a educational travel program that supports progressive values and people to people connections.  I traveled to Jamaica and South Africa with them years ago, and learned a lot about myself and the people I met in those countries.  The Jamaica trip focused on how free trade has negatively impacted the island’s economy, while the South Africa trip addressed race relations, HIV/AIDS and human rights in general in the post apartheid era.

I was given the task of redesigning the website with a more up-to-date, polished look. The current website uses many dark colors with tribal motifs. In the redesigned prototype, I chose to use a minimalist theme with black text on white background and simple, clean code so there would be more emphasis on the images representing the many tours offered worldwide. The website uses responsive design.  Due to the controversial nature of some of the tours and the goal of Reality Tours to give an alternative view of these countries, I made sure to pick images that reflected the different perspectives. I chose the brand identity “Where do you want to learn today” to help users think about what it would mean to travel on these tours.

The design for the logo was also clean and straightforward, as we wanted to emphasize the global reach of Reality Tours with simple black and white. Social media and email sign up share the top space with the logo to make it easier for users to share content online. The responsive navigation is the color red because we wanted users to be able to “travel” through the website with ease. Redesigning the website was a wonderful experience of bringing communication and social justice together.

Check out the website prototype here:

taliawhyte.com/realitytours/website

Why I Started Global Wire Design

,

Global Wire Design

As you may already know, my company Global Wire Associates, just launched a new brand in our family. Global Wire Design is a creative studio that will support GWA’s mission by providing high quality, accessible digital solutions for small businesses and nonprofits.  I have been approached by many entrepreneurs about wanting a website that meets their needs, but they are afraid of the cost.  My staff and I have been discussing for months how we can better serve our clients.

The decision was made to merge our web design and digital media services into one section.  Global Wire Design will not just focus on creating websites; we want to create an online experience that engages users while communicating the message and brand of the company or nonprofit.

Global Wire Design’s services include, brand identity development, content strategy, interactive design, multimedia integration, responsive design, search engine optimization, user experience strategy and web design and development.  Whether you want a website designed from scratch or use a content management system like Wordpress, we can create an online experience that meets your needs while saving you some money.

To find out more about Global Wire Design and to see a partial portfolio, go to globalwireonline.org/design

For a price quote or more information about us, email info (at) globalwireonline (dot) org.