In addition to conducting international-caliber orchestras, he has also made professional debuts with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra at the Cairo Opera House, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Chamber Orchestra in Egypt, the Liszt-Wagner Orchestra of Budapest, and the Congress Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Gregory has written an extensive amount of music, mainly for elementary children’s chorus. He is starting a business to publish, promote and sell his music to schools, amateur and professional children’s choirs world wide, and education departments of professional symphony orchestras and opera houses.

As Gregory and I began discussing ideas for his website and online store, it became apparent that we share great passion for both art and music. This shared enthusiasm and artistic collaboration will translate into a fantastic website to launch Gregory’s new publishing company.

The website will include three sections:

• Main site to promote his professional work as a conductor and pianist
• “Course” section which will include on-line teaching activities for K-12 classes
• Online store for the purchase of sheet music

We will begin working on the design concept for the website in the next few weeks, with a target launch date in February.

In addition to the website design, Gregory has also requested illustrated cover art for his sheet music. This is an exciting opportunity to delve deeper into my artistic side and be temporarily released from the confines of my computer. We will begin with illustrations for several songs, including “The Rosetta Stone”, White Nile, Blue Nile”, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”, “Live with Me and Be My Love”, and “A Glooming Peace”.

Meg’s Hair Studio is located in a small town in Colorado, surrounded by aspen trees, wildflowers, and rocky outcroppings. The interior of the salon’s decor boasts a natural color scheme and rich wood tones. As a compliment to the decor and atmosphere of its location, the salon desired a clean, bright website design with an emphasis on green.

The final design includes flowing vines on a neutral background with green accents throughout. The neutral tones of the overall design provide an appealing backdrop for brightly colored product images.

Visit Meg’s Hair Studio website.

Let’s start with the logo:

Yin and Yang is the concept of duality forming a whole.
The concept of Yin and Yang is very apparent in the world of web design and development. Without aesthetic appeal and a user-friendly design, a website will not provide the user with a comfortable, inviting environment. Providing an all-encompassing overview of your company online is key to success. Without high functionality and valid markup during development, the user-experience is compromised.

The “S” inset was just a lucky coincidence.

Paper cranes:
Origami is the art of making form out of the formless; creating structure by combining a number of pieces to form a complete model. The crane is a symbol of longevity, dedication, and success – concepts that are the foundation of my business practices and personal ethics.

Parallax scrolling (para-what?):
Parallax scrolling effects have become an increasingly popular trend in web design. The basic idea of parallax is having different elements scroll along different site lines. This often gives viewers an increased sense of depth. The goal of incorporating such parallax elements is to add visual interest and intrigue to the overall design.

The use of parallax scrolling in the new design required a bit of heavy lifting on the JavaScript side, along with some serious code adjustments for browser compatibility, but was well worth it in the end. The effect allows smooth in-page scrolling, provides the user with a unique browsing experience, and gives the paper cranes the illusion of taking flight.

View the new website: www.samanthasmithdesigns.com

“Windhorse Lightships, L3C is a company located in Boulder, Colorado that engages and enables the citizen scientist in biodiversity preservation for the human race’s future through MPAs. Windhorse Lightships, L3C is a mission first social enterprise practicing deep sustainability.” Visit Windhorse Lightships on Facebook.

Building a community of people informed and educated about the health and state of the ocean, is just one facet of the Windhorse Lightships, L3C mission. To be a part of such an ambitious conservation effort is, most certainly, a privilege.

“We will provide the citizen scientist and the non-profit ocean preservation community with tools and funding to help them accomplish their missions by engaging people in sustainable scientific field research, education, and conservation projects as supporters, contributors, volunteer research assistants, citizen scientists, and outreach advocates.

We will accomplish this by establishing a new fleet of green, carbon neutral, ocean research vessels, sustainably designed, built, and operated for the express purpose of volunteer supported research, exploration, and biodiversity protection in our MPAs, both established and proposed.”

Social networking is key to establishing a solid community of individuals, especially when it comes to conservation and sustainability. With that in mind, we designed the site as an informational resource, with a strong emphasis on the company blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. In addition, we incorporated an interactive “reefs at risk” map into the website, along with video statements from world renowned ocean activist, Sylvia Earle, a founding partner of MISSION BLUE. On the horizon for Windhorse Lightships, L3C: photo gallery of ship specifications, further online community integration, onsite video footage of conservation efforts, and much more.

Visit the Windhorse Lightships, L3C website.