Shakespeare Home Improvement offers a full service line for improving your home. They wanted a new website that showcased their offerings and that highlighted an extensive resource gallery website visitors. I was the developer on this project under RedX Web Design.
The Design
Jason was great to work with as project leader. He designed the home page (above) and a basic interior template (basic content, sidebar, footer). Then he delivered the PSD for me to code. From that design, I built the home page and basic interior template exactly.
The Development
I built a custom theme on Genesis WordPress for this website. I designed and built out the Services section, the Galleries, the Projects, and the Testimonials. I based my work on the approved template’s color scheme and styling.
The Services pages
The Services pages were complex. A photo slider and content/pictures, then a special Product Idea Gallery, then a callout for their design service. The Product Idea Gallery was the most complicated:
Gallery of Ideas – Items included a title, link, and logo. The items were in rows of 2 or 3.
The client was particular about the arrangement of the gallery items: 3 items for windows/doors, then 2 items of flooring/roofing, then 3 items for siding/soffit. Each Service page was slightly different.
This custom arrangement per page made development difficult, with no guarantee when an empty space was needed after a row 2 items in the middle somewhere.
However, I found a solution for the client, with the look they wanted and the ease they needed for future updates. Using ACF plugin, I used Flexible content fields and an Empty selection to force a space wherever a row of 2 items was needed.
Box Highlight – The blurb about Design Services was another piece of content that needed special styling to highlight it. The client needed to insert this piece after the ACF fields of the Project Idea Gallery, and/or anywhere they desired to. To preserve styling and yet flexibility of layout, I built a shortcode for the client to add anywhere throughout the content.
Icon Navigation
The Why Choose Us page had 6 sections. I pulled out the motto into its own highlight at the top, and designed the remaining 5 with icons for a quick access navigation right near the top. Clicking on an icon takes you down to that section of the page.
The clients, Vickie and Brian, did an amazing job writing all the new content and providing the many photos, logos, and PDFs for each page. They both had a great eye for clarity and were very particular about the final design and function. I was pleased to collaborate with them via phone calls and email during the development process.
Testimonies
The testimonies were a custom post type, which I styled to look and feel like quotes. Easy navigation below each testimony takes you to previous and next testimonies.
Client Testimonial
“Thanks everyone for all the hard work! I know it was sometimes a bumpy road but in the end, we have a fabulous website that I know I am very proud of!”
~ Vickie E. Jones,
Marketing Specialist
Shakespeare Home Improvement Co.
