Web Design

We are lucky to be able to be very selective in our web design projects. We prefer to work with individuals and nonprofits to build attractive, low-cost sites that, when feasible, can be maintained afterward by the client.

We follow the latest Web standards and can incorporate social media and blogging capabilities into a site. Designs can use popular free and low-cost platforms, such as WordPress so that a client can have the freedom to do their own updates without requiring additional paid services or extensive web design skills. However, we also offer updating and maintenance services after the website is launched for those who need it.

We created the website for the Folklife Center of Northern New Jersey.

Here is an example of a fully customized site design done for the Gaetano Federici sculpture and art collections at federicicollections.com

With Ken also having connections in the poetry and art worlds, we have worked with writers and artists to create their websites to showcase their books, readings, workshops, and gallery shows.

Kristin D’Agostino is a journalist, poet, and photographer who needed a scaleable new website to feature samples of her work and also a built-in blog for updates about workshops, readings, and events.

Priscilla Orr is a poet and teacher who wanted a website for her books and workshops.

Some clients have existing websites that have become outdated and need updating both in design and content.

For the photographer Ellen Denuto, we redesigned her web content for two sites that act as a portfolio, and allow for the commercial sale of her work.

Catherine Doty is a poet, teacher, artist, and cartoonist and her website’s design allows her to expand her initial content in all those areas easily.

For the poet and artist Maria Mazziotti Gillan, we created three websites. First, her poetry website which has a custom design and is commercially-hosted.

Maria also wanted a complementary blog that was designed with a similar theme using Google’s Blogger with free hosting.

maria blog — **mariagillan.blogspot.com**

For her artwork, Maria wanted a completely different website that could showcase her art and offer it for sale.

maria art — **mariamazziottigillan.com**

Another poet, Laura Boss, needed a website at a low cost and we created one using a modified WordPress design with free hosting.

After the unexpected passing of Laura Boss in April 2021, we built the Laura Boss Poetry Foundation website which will support poetry in the ways that Laura supported it throughout her career, including continuing Lips poetry magazine which she founded and edited for 40 years. This Foundation will be a recognized 501(c)(3) corporation and all contributions will be tax-deductible.

A website for author and professor Jennifer Gillan was done using a design theme which was then customized to use the color palette, images, and pages requested by the client to create a professional site for her publications and presentations. This is an example of a full-service site including hosting, a domain, web design, and maintenance.

The Paterson Literary Review (PLR) is a journal of poetry, fiction, and prose that has been in print since 1979, but only created its own web presence with us in 2013. The site was designed to allow for future archive expansion and a store offering back issues and related publications.

PLR is published by the Poetry Center at PCCC. The Center also wanted a new site and requested something that would complement the PLR site and yet be distinctive.

For the non-profit Inner City Ensemble, a dance group for inner-city youth, we created their website by customizing a WordPress template to provide them with a site that allows them to now be their own “webmaster” and has no continuing hosting or maintenance fees for the organization.

Another non-profit web project was the site built for the New Jersey College English Association (NJCEA). Our initial design was hosted on Amazon Web Services built in HTML5 and CSS which was maintained by us. (The current version is not maintained by us and content has been transferred to a simple template site maintained by a member.)

Much of my continuing interest and approach to web design comes from having my personal web projects.

The oldest of those is the online poetry magazine Poets Online – which started in 1998 and has had many website incarnations. There is also an accompanying Poets Online blog.

Poets Online also has a strong social media presence which we can help clients create. That website has a Facebook page and also a Facebook Group for poetry discussion, a Twitter account, Goodreads site, and a Pinterest site.

Some of my other personal interests have become websites, and serve as examples of some web design options.

Weekends in Paradelle offers several weekly personal essays.

I have several other blog sites including one on environmental issues, another on language, and a personal poetry project.

All of my own sites also act as demo sites for clients, including this always-changing demo Blogger site which shows clients some design options and ways to customize and use them for a website, blog, or combination of both.

SOME OF OUR WEB DESIGN HISTORY

Ken’s experience as a manager in Web Services at NJIT during the massive migration of hundreds of thousands of pages into a content management system, gave him a deep appreciation for simplicity and organization with a vision for future growth.

At NJIT, he also helped create a number of academic websites for projects such as an eLearning Orientation site for students and the Design Advisor site for the NJ School of Architecture.