content management system Archives - Page 2 of 2

Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Awards: 2012 Connecticut Library Association Publicity Award for Electronic Media/Website

The Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library offers a multitude of services including books/e-books, movies, periodicals, museum passes, genealogy/local history materials, passport renewals, community programs, and more.

The staff needed a website that would display all the services in an easily accessible manner. Brown Bear Creative designed a site that streamlines the user’s experience with intuitive navigation menus and a clean, consistent layout. The homepage calls attention to recent news and upcoming events, along with a search form to the library’s entire catalog.

Because the site is backed by the powerful WordPress platform, all the librarians can easily update their own department pages without using any special web-editing software. The Children’s, Teens’, and Adults’ sections also feature their own blogs to share news about department-specific programs and events.

The website was recognized by the Connecticut Library Association (CLA) in their 2012 Publicity Awards contest, winning the website category. See the results here.

Launch Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Website »

Blue Hills Regional Technical School Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Blue Hills Regional Technical School, a vocational high school located in Canton, MA, was in need of a website that not only highlighted the wide range of shop programs they had to offer but one that showcased student and faculty pride.

Brown Bear Creative designed and developed a WordPress-powered website that captures prospective students’ interest while providing a comprehensive resource for current students, parents, and staff. Staying true to the Blue Hills Warrior colors, Brown Bear used a strong blue and green palette in the design. The site incorporates vivid photos and graphics to help reflect the wonderful sense of community at the school.

To ensure visitors can easily access information and documents, the site is laid out in an intuitive manner. A navigation menu with dropdowns at the top of every page provides a consistent source for page links throughout the site. A list of “Quick Links” located on the sidebar of every page makes popular links immediately accessible. Visitors can also use a search form at the top of the site to look for keywords.

As Blue Hills is a technical school, it was especially important to showcase its various vocational programs. Each shop has its own dedicated page that describes the program and features a slideshow of images of the facilities and students in action.

Using WordPress’s password-protected admin panel, Blue Hills staff have the ability to easily add school news and documents as well as edit the text and images on every page of the website. This capability allows them to keep parents and students up to date on school happenings.

Launch Blue Hills Regional Technical School Website »

Website of Dr. Stephanie Torlone, DVM, CVA

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Dr. Stephanie Torlone, a licensed veterinarian in Niantic, needed a website to showcase her specialized skills. Certified in veterinary acupuncture with a special interest in geriatrics, Dr. Torlone manages chronic pain in companion animals.

Brown Bear worked with the theme of ancient Chinese traditions to create the graphics and calming color scheme of the website. Developed upon the WordPress platform, the website is fully editable using an easy-to-use administrator interface.

Launch the website of Dr. Stephanie Torlone, DVM, CVA »

Town of Lyme Official Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

The Town of Lyme had shut down its website in the fall of 2008 when a new state law required towns to post meeting minutes and agendas online and on a deadline. The small town simply did not have the the manpower or the know-how to keep their site updated themselves in a timely manner.

After a long hiatus, the town came to Brown Bear Creative for a solution. Brown Bear developed a WordPress-powered website that the selectmen could easily update themselves without any coding knowledge.

Through an easy-to-use admin interface, the selectmen can update text and photos, add pages, upload documents, and post news to the website. Once they hit Publish, the changes to the site are instantaneous. This simplifies and streamlines the process of posting minutes and agendas online.

To capture the Town of Lyme’s unique qualities, such as their deep ties to the land and their rich historical background, Brown Bear designed the site to showcase Lyme’s farms, parks, waterways, and other picturesque town landmarks. A sleek photo slideshow in the masthead of every page allows visitors to manually scroll through the images or sit back and watch them fade in and out automatically. Photos are also peppered throughout the pages of the site and available in bulk in a photogallery.

Launch the Town of Lyme Website »

Lyme Shores Tennis & Conditioning Center Website & Posters

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer / Graphic Designer / Illustrator

Lyme Shores Tennis and Conditioning Center in East Lyme needed a website that showcased their tennis and fitness services to the general public while providing the latest news and upcoming events to their current members.

Brown Bear designed a custom WordPress theme that captures the fun and friendly atmosphere at Lyme Shores. Customizing the WordPress platform to function as a Content Management System (CMS), Brown Bear developed the site so the general manager could easily update the information and photos sitewide. In this way, the content on the website will remain accurate and up-to-date.

To help visitors navigate through the site, Brown Bear organized the club’s offerings into four main categories: tennis, fitness, pool/swimming, and general club information. The right sidebar highlights featured events, latest news, and other tidbits of information for easy access.

Launch Lyme Shores Website »

Brown Bear Creative also designed posters to publicize various events hosted and organized by Lyme Shores.

One Book, Every Young Child Logo and Website

Twelve libraries in southeastern Connecticut came together to organize a program that encourages parents and caregivers to read early and often to their preschool children. “One Book, Every Young Child” features a series of events that focuses around one picture book every year.

Using bold, bright colors, Brown Bear Creative designed the logo and website for the program. The website showcases the book of the year, incorporating the storybook’s illustrations into the design. Powered on the WordPress platform, the site can be easily updated using an intuitive, browser-based admin panel. A site administrator can edit any page of the site, including the homepage, news, and calendar.

Medford Public Schools Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Medford Public Schools in Massachusetts was in need of a comprehensive website that housed information and news not only for the district but for each of their nine schools as well. Brown Bear provided a robust content-managed solution powered by WordPress that teachers and other staff could update themselves.

The website features a clean, intuitive design with a blue and gray color scheme based on Medford’s school colors. The homepage and each school landing page highlight latest news, administrator contact details, and other essential information.

All the content, including pages, news posts, and sidebar data, on the site is editable via WordPress’s easy-to-use administration panel. Site editors can also upload photos, videos, and documents and place them throughout the site.

Launch Medford Public Schools Website »

Jog New London County Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Jog New London County is an online resource that offers descriptions, photos, and custom-drawn maps of running routes in Southeastern Connecticut. Panorama shots of scenic places to run are showcased in the masthead, invoking a “local” feel.

Aside from running routes, the site also provides upcoming local race information. All the race listings are housed in a database and editable via a Content Management System (CMS). Outdated races automatically disappear from the website. In this way, race listings stay fresh, current, and easily accessible.

Brown Bear also improved the site’s usability by including a search function at the top of every page.

Launch Jog New London County Website »

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Brown Bear was honored by the Connecticut Art Directors Club (CADC) at their 34th Annual Awards Show with a Silver Award for the design, development, and photography for the Jog New London County website. Read the full press release here.

In May 2010, Jog New London was featured on Fox61’s Daytrippers. Learn more and watch the video here.

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To help promote the website, Brown Bear Creative created fun illustrations for a turkey trot t-shirt.

New London County Rugby Football Club Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Customizing WordPress to function as a CMS (Content Management System), Brown Bear Creative designed and developed a website that NLC Rugby Club officers could easily update without any coding knowledge.

The site showcases a custom theme template that is search engine optimized, as well as a few other unique aspects. The schedule page features a dynamic calendar of events, the photo gallery page automatically pulls data and images from a Picasa gallery, and the news page takes advantage of WordPress’s powerful blogging platform.

Launch New London County Rugby Football Website »

Town of Canterbury Official Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

The Town of Canterbury needed a website they could easily update themselves. They chose Brown Bear to create an ADA-compliant website with a user-friendly Content Management System (CMS).

Updating the site via a CMS provided an easy way for Canterbury officials to comply with a state mandate to the Freedom of Information Act which required towns to post meeting minutes and agendas to their websites in a timely fashion.

The new site also features a Flash slideshow movie on the homepage that highlights Canterbury’s natural and cultural attractions. Other dynamic elements include a Selectman’s Blog, a photo gallery, and a calendar of events.

Out-of-towners can learn about Canterbury’s offerings, and residents can easily find application forms, board meeting agendas, meeting audio files, and information about town events, departments and community groups.

Launch Town of Canterbury Website »