www.mitchellwebdesign.com/outreach

Design Brief: The Outreach Officer for Cambridge University Engineering Department required a redesigned website to promote Engineering to primary and secondary school children by providing information about projects and activities to schools and parents involved in home education.

The Solution: Using existing content, a new website was designed with improved structural consistency and easier navigation for all categories of users (teachers, parents and volunteers supporting outreach activities). Through an implementation using Dreamweaver templates and section-specific menus included using PHP scripting, the new website will be simpler and easier for the Outreach Officer to maintain - a key requirement to ensure it remains current. The website was implemented using (X)HTML and CSS for both presentation and layout and PHP for server-side includes.

CSL Publishing Ltd

Design Brief: CSL Publishing Ltd are a Cambridge-based publishing house producing magazine titles for the marine and automotive leisure sectors. The management at CSL decided that it was appropriate to relaunch its web presence with a flotilla of websites - one for each of its publications (www.allatsea.co.uk, www.jetskier.co.uk, www.sportsboat.co.uk, www.boatmart.co.uk, www.boatandyachtbuyer.co.uk, www.classic-car-mart.co.uk, www.4x4mart.co.uk) and, more recently, a corporate website (www.cslpublishing.com).

The Solution: Mitchell Web Design was commissioned to develop and implement the new websites from a unified design concept supplied by CSL. A series of (X)HTML templates and associated CSS files were produced. These were integrated by a third party software agency into a common subscription and e-commerce engine for all the sites and duly deployed on the CSL dedicated web server.

www.mitchellwebdesign.com/arm

Design Brief: 'Part IA Digital Circuits and Information Processing' is online courseware for first year undergraduate engineering students at Cambridge. A syllabus sub-committee within the Department of Engineering determined that the time was right to replace existing lecture material and associated practicals with new teaching resources based upon the ARM ^TM microprocessor architecture.

The Solution: Mitchell Web Design produced interactive teaching resources including online and printable lecture notes, new laboratory practicals and supporting documentation. The design and implementation of interactive animations uses Macromedia Flash for use by course tutors in lectures and by students for self-study (examples of the animations can be seen for the Timing Diagrams, Address Decoders, and operation of the Stack. The site was produced using (X)HTML and CSS for presentation, layout and the horizontal flyout navigational menu system.

www.independentmotoringnews.co.uk

Design Brief: Independent Motoring News is an online news service covering topics of interest to motorists and motorsports enthusiasts alike. Its editor wanted a website that would be easy to use, would scale as content increased, and have a flexible layout that would provide space for advertising.

The Solution: Mitchell Web Design designed a professional news website with menu-driven access to the various article categories and principal pages providing headlines and highlights of most recent articles. In addition, we developed a PHP/MySQL archive system and customised the iSearch2 search engine for the site. We also created an animated Flash banner as a placeholder example for prospective advertisers. The rest of the site was implemented in (X)HTML and CSS.

The site has since evolved and we have made subsequent modifications to the design and implementation to better support its increased focus on motorsport from 2008 onwards. This has entailed widening the site design to increase the space available for images, adding flyout functionality to the menu system, and replacing iSearch2 with a Google Custom Search. The homepage now uses a combination of PHP and JavaScript to randomly load in headline articles and automatically rotate them. We have also installed and customised Gallery 2, phpBB forums and a WordPress blog.

www.essex-pyrotechnics.co.uk

Design Brief: Essex Pyrotechnics Ltd is a fireworks display company, which organises both public and private fireworks events. They wanted their print brochure transformed into a website in good time for the run-up to Guy Fawkes and Christmas/New Year festivities.

The Solution: Mitchell Web Design translated their brochure into a complete website, incorporating their company logo and producing a consistent navigational scheme with easily understood graphical icons and informative menu headings. The design was implemented in (X)HTML and CSS for both layout and presentation with JavaScript and helper files employed to recreate some of the visual effects in standards-deficient browsers such as Internet Explorer.

www.weblinkcomputers.co.uk

Design Brief: Weblink Computers Ltd is a long-established IT solutions company. Its owner recognized that the time had arrived for it to have a web presence to advertise its services and provide customised support content to its clients. Naturally they came to us.

The Solution: In keeping with Weblink's straightforward and no-nonsense approach to consultancy, we devised a clean, elegant "look and feel" and a clear navigational scheme for their new website. The site was implemented in (X)HTML and CSS for both presentation and layout. To enable Weblink to offer private web content to clients, we developed a database-driven login system for them.

www.mitchellwebdesign.com/nhmcaldwell

Design Brief: Dr Nicholas Caldwell is a freelance software consultant, writer and editor. He required a new web presence to present highlights of his research and writing and provide online access to his scientific bibliography.

The Solution: We designed a website with a corporate look and feel and a structure reflecting the diversity of Dr Caldwell's activities. The online bibliography was implemented as a MySQL database accessed through a PHP-driven form. The site was produced using (X)HTML and CSS for presentation, layout and the dropdown navigational menu system.

www.animalportraits-scotland.com

Design Brief: A successful artist specialising in animal portraits, Mary McGregor realized that the web was a fantastic opportunity to showcase her work and attract new commissions from home and abroad.

The Solution: Mitchell Web Design produced a gallery website for Mary. To capture the old-world charm of her work, we created a sepia-toned header and menu system, complete with a paw print pattern. Images of Mary's work were reduced to smaller thumbnails for faster download by browsing visitors, who could then click on those of interest to them to view them at a larger size. We have subsequently installed and customised Gallery 2 so that the client can more easily upload her latest work. The site was implemented in (X)HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Other recent web design solutions

Cambridge Discount Fireworks Company wanted their catalogue available online for prospective customers. As a result of their new website, they achieved a substantial increase in orders.

Pyramid Pyro wished to raise awareness of their fireworks display services. They reported an upsurge in interest because of their new web presence.

Blasts from the past

The above three websites are examples of simpler websites that were wholly designed and maintained by Mitchell Web Design team members during our time at the University of Cambridge. They share a clear navigational structure, sparing use of graphics, and are rich in information content. All were implemented in (X)HTML and CSS.