GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) Website Redesign/Realign

I started working for GMI in the late summer/fall of 2005. There was of course a website already established for corporate products and news, but it lacked in a lot of areas. One of the first things I did when I came to GMI was look back at their previous website designs. Let's take a trip through time, shall we...

This was the earliest website homepage for GMI that I'm aware of - from 2002:

This was the homepage from 2003:


This was the homepage for 2005:

This was my redesign/realign of the homepage in 2007:

Quite the progression, I must say.

Mirai Associates Redesign/Realign

One of the most recent contract jobs I have done was with Mirai Associates (now Fehr & Peers), a transportation planning & engineering firm. Their goal was to update their site with new content as well as a more contemporary look. I use the term realignment, mainly because it goes beyond just a redesign. The desire to redesign is aesthetic-driven, while the desire to realign is purpose-driven. One approach seeks merely to refresh, the other aims to fully reposition and may or may not necessary include a full refresh.

The following was the old website:

And here is my redesign/realign of the website:

(Design created: 2007)

Animated .gif banners

Although a little behind the 8-ball, animated .gif banners still are an effective way to advertise on the Internet. The following are banners I designed for GlobalTestMarket, an online survey website that pays you to take online surveys...

'Inkblot': Banner advertisements are all about catching the eye of a viewer. With that in mind I thought the transitioning between inkblots was a great way to add some intrigue and gain some traffic to the GlobalTestMarket.

'Voice your opinion': Although GlobalTestMarket pays you to take online surveys, it's not all about the money. This banner was created to capture the audience that wasn't in it for the dough, but instead out to have their voice heard.

'Eye Exam': Another method to get the attention of web traffic, this time in the form of a scrambled eye exam, that soon becomes unscrambled.

'We all like rewards': These 2 banners take a different path, playing with the fact that surveys are for everyone, and everyone likes getting rewarded. The dog in the image, upon bringing the newspaper, will most likely receive a treat, or at the least, a nice pat on the head.


'All about U': A spin off of the above eye exam banner, but this time the eye exam is an easy one: Everything is a U. This was 'U'sed to help illustrate that online surveys are easy.

'Earn cash': Tried to incorporate some real people in photographs, with a main message of earning cash.

'Vacancy': The idea behind this banner was to portray a Vacancy sign at a motel, to help reiterate that there is still an opportunity to earn money taking online surveys.


If any of the banners aren't rotating properly, refresh the page, or click on the image (and refresh).

FilmJabber.com: Website redesign and rebranding

My friend Erik came to me one day with a new name for his movie review site, and needed a logo to make this new brand come to life. I was very honored that he had come to me with this request. 'Film Jabber' was a fun name that had a lot of options as far as logo creation goes, much more than you could think of if you were given the name of the old brand: 'Movie-Source'. I kept the logo simple and the colors fun and lively, as he is a very colorful character. Part of the reasoning behind the name 'Film Jabber' relates to how Erik takes 'jabs' at movies and really critiques the hell out of them. It's quite entertaining. So in the same instance Erik has conflicts with a lot of movies he sees, the 'm' and the 'j' are also conflicting and merging to create a little tension within the logo. I also would say that they help tie the logo together. All right, that was my attempt to explain my creation as best as possible. Sometimes it's hard to do so, and sometimes it just works and feels right.

Erik also requested me to design his newly renovated and re-branded website. I was happy to oblige.

Old design (Movie-Source.com):

New design (FilmJabber.com):

Quick plug: Erik and his entertaining (and sometimes explicit) movie reviews can be read at Film Jabber: http://www.filmjabber.com

(Design created: 2007)

Broken Glass Ceiling logo

Broken Glass Ceiling was a logo creation that never materialized into anything, unfortunately. It was enjoyable to do, and I tried to make it fun. Also, looks like I took a very literal interpretation of the brand name :)

(Designs created: 2004)

Justin Klump Album Art

I had the pleasure of working on the album artwork for Justin's EP 'Something For September'.

And a poster:


Did I mention Justin is amazing, both as an artist and an individual? Find him on iTunes! Support this guy...if you get the chance.

JustinKlump.com website redesign

Justin Klump is a very good friend of mine, has been since I was a freshman at PLU. I will take the time to claim that I was his friend before I realized he was such a talented musician. Whew! Ok, now that I have got that off my chest, let me continue...I volunteered to create Justin's website in order to both build my portfolio and help him out at the same time.

First, let me introduce you to what Justin's site looked like to begin with:

I point the earlier version out only to offer a comparison. Here is the site I built for Justin:


At the time I created this site design, Justin was just beginning to make a dent in the industry and was just beginning to get his name out there. I therefore wanted to incorporate a 'Starving Artist' theme, and this was my reasoning behind the crinkled-up paper, cardboard, tape, etc. I also thought it gave him a sense of mystery and underground, too. And the spotlight you see within the design was just that, a spotlight... used to signify that although he was a 'starving artist' in many ways, he was on the verge of making a breakthrough. (Design created: 2004)

A couple quick plugs for Justin:

Justin is a great musician and I've really come to enjoy listening to his creations. He's also a great friend and incredibly gifted individual. Check out Justin's new site design (very nice!): http://www.justinklump.com. Also check out Justin on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/justinklump) - listen to a few of his tracks and I think you'll be hooked!

Voss Farms logo

A co-worker asked me to create a logo for her father's farm in Eastern Washington. There were no restrictions for the most part, but it had to be a logo that could easily transcribe to a wooden farm sign...so simplicity was key. Working backward (from winning design to my mocks) here are the logos...

Winning logo: This was actually done by my girlfriend, Jaime. Very nicely done - simple, nice colors, easy to read, authentic, nice pattern to it. I also think it's very vintage in it's presence and has that small town, Eastern Washington feel to it.


Here are some of my mock ups:




(Designs created: 2007)

Chef Boydardee!

I had some fun this last Halloween, creating my own last minute costume from something I had in my own cupboard, and a name I had sometimes joked about in the past. 'Chef Boydardee' was the identity, and it was a blast. I took the legitimate Chef Boyardee logo, and simply Photoshopped in the 'D', to provide me the ultimate name for a magnificent night. Then the only fixin's to get were the chef hat and the stache'...how do you think it turned out?



(Design created: 2008)