 |
 |
| |
| Ideas and profiles of success at the intersection of design, technology and global business |
| |
|
 |
|
Solutions for SMBs (small to midsize businesses) |
Intersect by Azul Arc is our platform of solutions developed specifically for SMBs (small to mid size businesses). We are passionate about helping transform small to medium sized businesses by offering big company capabilities within small company budgets.
Our focus is on applying ideas at the intersection of creative design and technology to help SMBs in differentiating themselves to gain a competitive advantage. Working closely with SMBs (and investing thousands of hours of design and development) has generated experience, expertise, ideas and insights for our platform for SMBs.
This week we highlight a recent example of a comprehensive development effort for an SMB client.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| RFCI website |
An exciting project that we were involved with this year was the launch of the RFCI website. The purpose of the RFCI website is to serve as a platform for resilient flooring and to promote the environmental and sustainability initiatives of the industry.
Our goal was to dispel existing perceptions about the industry and educate our target audience of consumers, specifiers, end users, retailers, students as well as Federal, State and Local Government Agencies about the positive aspects of resilient flooring.
The design portrays a high quality design image for the market and is very much in sync with design and environmental trends. Joomla, the popular open source content management system has been used for easy editing and administration of the site. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| RFCI corporate identity |
We have developed a defined process of developing a brand identity for our clients that is reflected in the websites that we create and the marketing and advertising materials that we design. We start the process by creating font and color palettes for the specific project and then take that forward into website concept presentations. Our clients are involved throughout the process and their inputs are key in refining the creative.
We effectively redesigned the RFCI branding by creating a sleek logo and incorporating it into their corporate identity and marketing materials. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Coming soon to a “screen” near you |
| We are excited to be working on our first version of the Azul mobile site and a newly designed website and logo. The look of our mobile and web site also shows off our new style and several new projects. Give us your feedback by posting comments on our facebook page |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Tools & Tips: Content Management for Small Business |
|
|
|
|
When it comes to web development for small businesses, there is no better way to get more for less then with using open source platforms. Open source projects are community built sets of code that provide a starting point for programming. Projects that were traditionally too large for small businesses are now accomplished in less time than ever. One of the best examples of an option that used to be inaccessible to the small and medium size business is content management systems (CMS). CMS systems allow you to edit your own site without going back to your development company every time you need a change. |
| |
On the Azul Arc Facebook Fan Page and Twitter feed, we recently shared a great article comparing different CMS options (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Azul-Arc-International/67554782539?ref=ts&v=wall). For extensive content management options, the two most popular platforms are Joomla and Drupal. Both offer very good flexibility as well as functionality. Joomla has an easier learning curve on the admin panel, but Drupal has a larger community with more options. |
| |
The challenge with Joomla and, slightly more so, Drupal, is that the administrative areas can have a learning curve. For smaller businesses, Wordpress can offer a huge amount of plug-ins and an easier to use admin panel. However, it’s not as customizable as more significant platforms. |
| |
| Regardless of whether Joomla, Drupal or Wordpress are the best platform for your CMS project each one can provide a fantastic starting point. All of these options provide the base platform for free and are widely used. For more information, check out our post on our Facebook page. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
