the emergent blog.

Website launch: Dobiecki Film Productions

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0400

Marc Dobiecki is a world renown film director and cinematographer who has worked with CNN and Mercedes. When he approached us to work on his website, we knew it would have amazing content that needed to be highlighted through an understated interface that was easy to navigate. We opted for a one-page design for the two portfolio sections for his work as a director and cinematographer. Selecting a film icon from the lower right immediately slides the film's info into view and begins playing the video clip.

The website's design and interface were executed through the TYPOlight content management system and libral usage of the MooTools javascript framework.

View the new Dobiecki website at www.dobiecki.com.

Website launch: Whitaker Oil Company

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Ed Steinman, Executive Vice President of Whitaker Oil Company, approached us to create a website that they could easily manage the content. We create a new design and implemented the TYPOlight content management system, which allows them to make timely content updates. The website has many elements to it, including:

standard content pages
a searchable catalog of their chemical and composite products
a document library
an employee directory
company news
and an employee intranet

The product catalog allows website visitors to search based on keywords as well as sort and filter by the selected criteria. This allows customers to quickly find the product or category they would like to research. Selecting a specific product yields a full detail page which also suggests related products that will be of interest to the customer.

The employee intranet is a rights-managed section of the website that grants employees access to internal company news, calendars for events and employee birthdays, and a more extensive view of the product catalog and document library.

Visit the new Whitaker Oil Company website at www.whitakeroil.com.

Site launch: Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:00:00 -0500

The Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine approached us about redesigning their existing website with a focus on asthetics, usability, organization and search engine optimization. We built the website with TYPOlight as the content management system and assisted in getting it hosted on a virtual private server (VPS) to ensure quick page loads.

The website points out key service offerings and differentiators in the interactive homepage slideshow. The key messages are augmented throughout the site with image and video content. The user interface was designed to display large amounts of content, while still maintaining a simple feel. This was accomplished through extensive use of the MooTools javascript framework. The website was carefully managed with the help of a search engine optimization expert to ensure that page ranking and visibility were maintained throughout the launch.

The new website can be seen at www.atlantainfertility.com.

We are now an official TYPOlight Partner

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0400

We have launched over 30 websites using the TYPOlight webCMS as the backbone, and are now an official US partner with offerings in the categories of design and training. We also have access to TYPOlight programmers in the United States that are able to create custom modules and extensions. Our area of expertise as it relates to TYPOlight is in implementing custom templates, adding and managing content and creating robust database-driven websites.

To see some of the sites we have designed that use this open source content management system, please proceed to our web design portfolio. If you would like to receive a quote on having TYPOlight implemented on your website or an entirely new site created, please contact us or request a proposal.

The Mable House website has launched!

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:00:00 -0400

Emergent Media Group was hired by the Cobb County Parks and Recreation Department and The Show Business to redesign the existing website for the Mable House Complex. The complex consists of a 2,000-seat amphitheatre, an arts center, and a historic house. The challenge for this project involved creating a cohesive design that would represent the complex as a whole, but also work for each of the three major sections of the site.

The website is built on TYPOlight, which is an open-source content management system that relies on PHP5 and MySQL for its scripting and database needs. Although many features of the system were employed on the website, the standout feature that helped make this website possible is the robust calendar system of TYPOlight. The ability of displaying multiple views of the same calendar data allowed for a master calendar view, master "upcoming events" list, amphitheatre calendar view, and amphitheatre "upcoming events" list.

While this may seem slightly confusing, the important thing to realize is this: calendar / event details are entered once in the system and this data is used to populate several specific views.

The Mable House website can be visited by going to www.mablehouse.org. Let us know what you think about it!

Our office has moved ... again.

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 10:00:00 -0400

Just like the headline says, our offices have moved. The updated address is:

195 Howard Street NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30317

This is in the Historic Kirkwood area about 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta. All future snail mail should be sent to this address.

Helping Couples Grow has Launched!

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:00:00 -0400

Emergent Media Group was hired to create a new website for Atlanta, Georgia based psychologist and marriage counselor, Miriam Bellamy. The focus of the design was to be fun and trendy, while remaining warm and inviting. This was accomplished through the use of some retro-style design elements and a warm, earthy color palette. The end result was another successful website design for one of our customers.

The website features a video message from Miriam on the homepage that quickly introduces her and establishes her credibility. This is a great way to engage website visitors, although we've found it best not to have videos autoplay in case someone's visiting a site at their workplace. The homepage slideshow to the left of the video player is also an effect means of conveying some key points about couples therapy and marriage counseling.

The new website that Emergent Media Group designed for Atlanta marriage counselor, Miriam Bellamy, can be seen at www.helpingcouplesgrow.com.

Visit the Helping Couples Grow website.

Where not to register your domain!

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:30:00 -0500

The Problem
When you go to the Network Solutions website and enter your top secret idea for a website name in the "Find a Domain" box but don't register it on the spot, your domain will be held hostage for a period of four days. During this period, you (or anyone else) can purchase the domain at an inflated price, but only from NetSol. If it's a great name, chances are good that the domain will be taken by a "domain sniper" if you don't register it within the four day hostage period.

The Solution
Don't even go to NetSol's site. There are plenty of honest domain registrars around the web, including my personal favorite - www.joker.com.

This controversy and unethical business practice is ruffling quite a few feathers around the Internet and within ICANN. There is a great synopsis of the issue over at Wikipedia, which sums things up by saying, "If you try to register a domain at Network Solutions, but decide not to register it, you won’t be able to register it anywhere else, Network Solutions registers the domain in its company name with the words 'This Domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com'." Jay Westerdal has some screenshots to confirm these findings, which he posted in his blog.

The Options
You may be wondering where to turn for a domain name registration safe harbor, now that the original provider can't be trusted. Here's a short list of domain name registration tools and resources:

Psychic Whois - find out which domains are available in real-time
Ajax Whois - similar to Psychic Whois, but not quite as psychic
Whois Source - simple and effective place to find information on a domain's owner
Joker - a great place to register and manage domains where you won't be up sold (like they do at GoDaddy)

Emergent Media Group website redesign

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:00:00 -0500

It's the close of business for the last day of 2007 and the newly-redesigned website for Emergent Media Group has just been launched. The last redesign (pictured to the right) was launched about 11 months ago. This redesign uses TYPOlight for the management of content and features a completely new design for the portfolio.

This site is probably the simplest design that we've published. Throughout the design process, we were heavily influenced by the mantra of: Perfection is achieved when there is nothing more that can be taken away. In keeping with this, all superfluous imagery was removed and the portfolio was completely retooled. Here's a screencast showing the differences between the old and new portfolio designs.

Watching this video requires the Adobe Flash viewer.

Take a look at the portfolio in action.
Let us know what you think of the new site!

Visual Outdoor Advertising redesign started

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:00:00 -0500

Emergent Media Group has been hired to redesign the existing website for Visual Outdoor Advertising, who owns over 70 billboards throughout North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. We will be implementing the TYPOlight content management system, redesigning the look of the website and implementing interactive features to view the billboards on a map and search the catalog.

We look forward to creating a mutual success with Visual Outdoor Advertising and will post a project overview upon completion.

Emergent Media Group moves to a new location

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:00:00 -0500

Our office has moved to a new location that is very close to where we were. The address is essentially the same, although the suite number has changed. The new address is:

Emergent Media Group
1661 La France Street
Suite 222
Atlanta, Georgia 30307

Please update your address book accordingly.