02 06/2009 It is amongst us - Propeller 3.0 live

After a fairly lengthy development period, Propeller are delighted to announce the re-launch of our website.

This is the third and long overdue iteration of propellerglobal.com since 2004. Like the cobblers son, we’ve been so busy producing websites for our clients that our own was sadly neglected and at 4 years old, practically archaic in web-time.

So, we finally bit the bullet, with Renee wielding the mouse to produce a beautifully clean and understated design. Our rationale for the muted tones and simple layout was that we really wanted the focus to be on our work and services rather than having them compete with the site’s design for attention.

We’ve radically simplified the site’s architecture, focusing on our core graphic design, web design, and email marketing services. We’ve abandoned the separate folio section in favour of including examples of our work in the appropriate (graphic/web/email) sections – all of which can be enlarged with a single click for a closer look. The information in each section has been re-organised into a simple, ordered step-by-step structure, allowing visitors to work their way through the information one click at a time.

The site’s graphic design section now includes a full detail of our offerings with prices and examples of logo & branding designs, stationery, brochures, advertising and banners in addition to a range of great value design & print packages.

The Web design section now includes a full list of inclusions and standards along with numerous examples to help you find what you’re looking for and hopefully provide some inspiration. A website worksheet is available for download to help you provide a sound brief which we can use to provide a proposal and quotation. We’ve also included a simple domain checking tool to help you find your preferred domain name along with details and prices of our managed web hosting services.

We’ve recently re-organised our PropellerMail email marketing service which the new site now details far more effectively. Prospective clients can now join for free and have the option to use a number of free templates or employ us to design custom templates for their business. The whole process has now been simplified with a single online application form whilst PropellerMail users can login to their accounts from anywhere on the site.

Having built the new site entirely using our preferred Textpattern content management system we’ve been able to include a range of new features. An automated contact form is provided along with sitewide search. Visitors can subscribe to our RSS feed and may like to subscribe to our free email newsletter.

Navigation is vastly simplified with main headings available top of fold in addition to deeper linked navigation residing in a ‘loaded’ footer allowing rapid access to specific products and services from anywhere on the site. Context sensitive excerpts from our blog are included throughout the site – home page visitors are be presented with a sample of the latest articles whereas those viewing graphic, web or email pages are presented with articles relevant to the subject matter.

The entire site is built using XHTML Strict 1.0 markup and utilises CSS for layout and styling. In addition to complying with the web content accessibility guidelines to ensure the site is accessible for all visitors, we’ve added a new Help section and Site map to assist new users (or seasoned visitors returning to find that everything has changed) in finding their way around.

We’ll be adding new features and updated product details to this site as we go along with regularly updating our blog with industry and business news as well as case studies of our latest work. We hope you find the new site not only more attractive but more importantly, easier to use and access.

Last but not least, I’d like to say a big thank you to all of our clients who over the past few years have sent in kind comments and testimonials of our work. We consider our clients not only a part of our team but also our greatest critics and advertisers so we decided that they belonged at home with us in the About Us section of the site.