Layout Solutions Blog

Santa Barbara Collaborative Law Group’s New Web Site

layoutsinc — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:43:20 +0000

Attorney’s web sites are known for being creative as starched white shirts, but one group in town has got some new ideas, not only in practice but in image. Collaborative Law is a new approach to solving disputes through (you guessed it) collaboration between attorney’s, mediators, therapist and others. Basically both sides agree not to go to court. Good idea. So when Layout Solutions met with Santa Barbara Collaborative Law Group we all agreed an upgrade was badly needed. Another good idea. What better a way to promotes this slick new approach to court-free dispute resolution then with site that is not only informative but easy to look at.

santabarbaracollaborativelaw.com

Utopia System’s New Web Site

layoutsinc — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:23:30 +0000

Our friends at InstallUtopia.com needed a new website to match the high-end of the audio video systems they install. Within two weeks we dialed them in with a clean professional look to match the plasma TVs and hidden speakers systems they install. Now Utopia is looking as sharp as new 1080p plasma tv mounted on they installed for us. If you need sweet entertainment system check out installutopia.com and if you need a bright new Web site call us.

Installutopia.com

Photos from Santa Barbara Tea Fire

Jason Schock — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:27:06 +0000

We have a pretty good view of the latest Southern California inferno from our office here in downtown Santa Barbara. Here are some photos we snapped:

More here: http://photos.jasonschock.com/gallery/6549505_dCJeo

Jamba Juice in the hosting business?

Jason Schock — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:54:43 +0000

We ran across the Web site of this hosting company today and couldn’t help but notice some similarities between their logo and that of a better known company.

Trademark infringement, perhaps? Hey, we just report the facts. You decide.

Yummy smoothies AND Web hosting!

At Layout Solutions, we host our clients with industry-leader Rackspace for 99.99% uptime, security, and data integrity.

A Brooklyn Beauty (Re)Design

Jason Schock — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:40:35 +0000

Brooklyn has big plans for her hair styling & makeup artist business. As the sole proprietor, though, she has a lot on her plate.

Layout Solutions helped her offload the stress of creating marketing materials and get affordable, professional results. Plus, we listened to what Brooklyn wanted. Her experience with her previous Web designer left her feeling like she was not in control.

Layout Solutions did the following on this project:

Total Web redesign for more visual impact & professional look
Designed for search engine optimization
Set up Google Apps for easy, free email
Hosting, DNS and other technical configuration
Set up and customized SmugMug for organizing and displaying her portfolio photos
Beautiful business cards: Custom size, foil lettering and spot UV varnish

Take a look at the Brooklyn’s site before (and after):

Before the redesign

Not bad, but the old Web design was lacking a visual hierarchy and any kind of impact. We took what Brooklyn already had and turned it into something that reflects the kind of world-class artistry that she creates.

New site for College Bound Learning Services

Jason Schock — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:37:10 +0000

Shannon Stone-Kwast came to us with her new tutoring business a couple weeks ago, and we helped her design a professional identity that makes her company stand out above all the local competition. We did this in less than two weeks on a startup budget.

Design services we provided:

Design concept
Logo redesign
Business card design & printing

Web design & development services we provided:

Domain name registration & configuration
Google Apps setup
HTML/CSS coding
Custom content management system (CMS)

For tutoring services in the Santa Barbara area, visit CollegeBoundSB.com.

Layouts Inc. helps Araza Fitness get up and running

Jason Schock — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:16:50 +0000

Andrew Araza is a young entrepreneur, fresh out of college and eager grow his own personal training business. But where to start?

Like most recent college grads, he didn’t have a ton of money to spend, especially on marketing. Luckily, a friend sent him to Layout Solutions. In just a few hours, we had created a Web site and business cards for Andrew on shoestring budget.

We provided the following services:

Domain name registration
Custom WordPress blog setup and design
Simple logo design
Google Apps setup and configuration for email
Crash course in Web marketing and search engine optimization
Business card design and printing

Now Andrew is looking super-professional, didn’t have to break the bank, and is ready to start marketing his business. Here’s what he says:

“I really find your services valuable. Today was very exciting for me and I plan on recommending Layout Solutions to my friends and associates.”

Thanks, Andrew! Visit his site at ArazaFitness.com.

New site for Santa Barbara Cal-SOAP

Jason Schock — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:37:53 +0000

We’re pleased to announce the launch of a new site for the Santa Barbara Cal-SOAP Consortium!

Cal-SOAP is a state-funded organization that helps schools & school districts prepare students for college. Their original site contained lots of information, but it lacked a clear structure and was hard to navigate.

For this project, we:

Made the site simpler and easy to navigate
Updated the Web design to look more professional & modern
Added a Google Search solution for making content easy to find
Set up Google Apps for easy email hosting & management
Provided hosting & DNS configuration
Provided training & consultation

In addition, we developed two custom Web applications for Cal-SOAP:

Events calendar: Simple application that allows easy creation of events and publishes them to a public calendar.
RSVP application: Allows Cal-SOAP to publish available sites & time slots for which authenticated users can RSVP.

These applications have helped Cal-SOAP to offload redundant and time-consuming operations to a Web application, saving them time and allowing for more focus on their core competency.

We’ve moved!

Jason Schock — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:39:49 +0000

Layout Solutions has relocated its offices from Montecito to downtown Santa Barbara. Our new address is:

216 E. Cota Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Layout Solutions redesigns site for Old Mission Santa Barbara

Jason Schock — Fri, 09 May 2008 22:40:57 +0000

We’re really stoked to announce the launch of our Web redesign for SantaBarbaraMission.org, the official site of the most recognized landmark in Santa Barbara, California, the Old Mission.

We gave Old Mission Santa Barbara the works:

Total site redesign & rearchitecture
Domain name recovery & transfer
Custom Web application for taking retreat reservations
Simple online store & donation system
Content management system that allows multiple users to easily update the site
Support & training for Mission staff

We feel the new design is much more in line with the prestige of this local institution, and the custom technology behind the scenes gives the Mission’s administrators a more hands-on role in updating the site.