British Expats

British Expats is an online resource for British expatriates around the world. The site was created to provide a gateway to information, products and services that can assist British citizens that have emigrated.

The site currently has over 30,000 subscribers and receives a vast amount of traffic on a monthly basis.

The client wanted to upgrade the existing site with a new logo and create a slicker feel with the addition of new sections.

Role

The first step was to create a new logo. Using Adobe Illustrator, a number of designs were created and sent to the client for approval.

Once a logo was chosen and approved, the site was designed in Fireworks MX. Three designs were produced, each with a second color variation and these were sent to the client as PDFs for approval.

The site is mainly powered by the use of software (Moveable Type, vBulletin, WSN Links, etc.) and I was able to use the MySQL database to publish the latest information on the site's home page. Using Dreamweaver to connect to the MySQL database allowed this to be developed more efficiently.

As the client is a coder himself, certain design changes have been implemented beyond what I completed to allow for a shared combination of design styles.

This project was handled totally electronically and is an excellent example of the importance of good communication between myself and the client.

Software Tools Used

Adobe Illustrator CS - for logo design
Macromedia Fireworks MX - for site design layouts and image slicing
Allaire Home Site 4.52 - for code building and text editing
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 - for text editing, file handling and PHP coding
MoveableType - used to create the site's Articles section
WSN Links - modification of existing templates for Resources
vBulletin - modification of existing templates for the Forum
MySQL 4.1.10 - the client's database was pre-developed in MySQL.

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