It is definitely not "up to date" or even "up to date looking", but I still get pretty good responses from it (read that..jobs generated)
Most folks who contact me mention the ease of navigation and the speedyness of pages opening. Gotta remember I did my site before the days of High Speed Internet..14.4 and 28.8 was the norm back in the OLD days (about 4 or 5 years ago!)
There are a lot of better websites and DEFINITELY a lot of better work examples too, but if your guy want's to check it out...
Check out www.freshink.net and http://www.graphicd-signs.com .
I hope these help. 
***********
I almost forgot one of my favorites...... www.eye4u.com
[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
I had help setting up navigation buttons, then had one page created as a template to my specs. With a limited HTML knowledge, & several long evenings, I was able to create 10 or 12 different pages or photos with captions by myself.
http://www.stickerpimp.com - but ya wont find a calvin image anywhere, I don't do those.
Here's a tip for your intern, get the navigation functional FIRST, worry about graphics later.
Navigation is the heart of your site, if it can't be navigated easily and quickly, your graphics won't matter.
I received the following emails from my brother who loves to tease me about my site, www.samazon.com:Dear sam@samazon.com -
A brief note to tell you how impressed I am at the website you have created. I check back constantly for news updates and such - very informative. Insightful as well. Where do you get all of this information? Probably more of a surprise is - when do you find the time to do these FTPs?
an admirer
and:
It's me again... I just wanted to send a quick note to say hi, as well as thank for being there for me. I recently went through some very trying times in my personal life. I felt like I had no one to turn to to give my life some perspective. Well, after devoting a day to navigating through a good portion of your website I found myself to be feeling quite a bit better.
I really don't know what it is about your site that inspires me. Nor do I care. As long as it is there for me I should be okay during my next crisis.
An Admirer (probably one of many)
p.s. Thanks for the fresh/updated content. ; )
------------------------------------------------
*sigh* I guess you had to be there.
http://www.markfair.com
[ October 11, 2001: Message edited by: coop ]
[ October 11, 2001: Message edited by: coop ]
My advise to you would be to DESIGN the site yourself. That is, build it graphicly to reflect the design skills you use in your business on a daily business.
You can do it on the computer in any graphic program... Corel or Photoshop. Or you can do it with pencils on old fashioned paper. I used both methods at various stages of my design.
Edit your photos. Crop them and color correct as necessary.
I would buy a couple of books about web pages. There are lots out there with tons of pages shown. Pick the best ideas and combine as many as you feel you need.
I would keep your site simple. Make sure it reflects your work in your shop.
When you are happy with the design, give these files to your computer guru and let him post YOUR design. Like you I am very ignorant concerning the html & all that stuff. But being a designeer of signs, you should be able to do a great job at designing your web site.
You should know more about DESIGN than any web intern. So let him do the web stuff after the site is at least basicly designed.
My two cents worth.
-dan
PS. my front page is still in the works.
Mine is not real good, but critisizm is always welcome! http://www.marcanowelch.com
Brian Schofield and Karen Levin at Lines and Letters
Julian "Mr. J" Braet's Xcaliber Site This site is kinda cool because it utilizes "mouseouts" that keep your navigation simple.
And of course, everything that Doug Downey has touched are top notch sites. The guy is an extremely talented designer. And that guy from Alabama is pretty good too (Mr. Fair, of course!). Mark's a great flash designer also.
As far as an "intern" doing your site, be careful! As was stated, you can give him/her a mockup as an AI file, just set it up 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high, and do that part yourself.
Like anything else, be careful whatever you put out there - because it represents your company - and your image.
Good luck!
[ October 11, 2001: Message edited by: Dan Antonelli ]
- Jim
Footnote: wait for the Gallery link to appear in the bottom-left corner (DSL or Cable modem a must ... and patience is still required). It'll blow your mind.
[ October 12, 2001: Message edited by: Jim Doggett ]
Jeff Bailey
