When Back40 Design Group set out to recreate our new company web design, our portfolio was top priority. Any time you design a website you must identify your audience and your key visual element in order to truly
translate your mission and services clearly and plainly. With this in mind, our site’s portfolio was important for both of these reasons – audience and mission.
First and foremost, our marketing design firm was started and is still run each and every day by… you guessed it… a graphic designer Dave Miller. As though the name Back40 Design Group wasn’t a giveaway? lol Although his talents span well beyond web design, into nationally-syndicated cartoons and internationally-known toy manufacturers, the bottom line is if your CEO’s heart and soul lies with quality, beautiful designs – then your website must instantly reflect that knowledge and expertise.
Secondly, with the amazing feats of Google Analytics, it’s easy to see how your web audience views your site. For well over a year, we watched our portfolio be the #1 Favorite page of all web visitors to www.back40design.com. How much more do you need to know? Serve the audience. Give them eye candy.
So step one was over – deciding to make the design portfolios for our logo, web, and print work was top priority. Now, how to display the portfolio for ease of use? That took some new creativity.
Rather than simply dividing our best work into services, such as logo, web, and print. We went a step further to help our key audiences easily find examples of work within their industry. Under web design for example, we have up to 500 clients to display. We felt it was best to categorize our portfolio examples into 11 industries:
- Non-profit
- E-commerce
- Industrial / Manufacturing
- Medical
- Businesses & Services
- Civic & Government
- Faith-Based Organizations
- Educational
- Housing & Home Services
- Tourism & Attractions
- Museums
The last step was rough. Hand-picking the designs to appear in each category meant votes, lists, and tallies. That’s right, with over 100 new clients in 2009 alone, there were simply too many to pick them all. The staff’s
old and new favorite designs were compiled for weeks until the balance was just right.
Overall, the Back40 Design staff worked diligently over several months to create an inviting and educational portfolio that serves our community with vibrant and functional designs across 11 industries and 3 departments. Since our new site launched in November, over 1,400 unique visitors in only 30 days seem to have spoken loud and clear – the portfolio is still ranked as our #1 webpage. Must have done something right. 🙂
