This same space has also served as my home studio. It’s here that I’ve listed to many great albums and even recored a few songs of my own. I’ve built many a website right here as well and taken some good photos too.

The grand finale (and hopefully final) project was to build a new entry to the basement. The previous was little more than a wood closet leading down a dimly lit crawl space. But there was potential to be unlocked! I had already cut a second entry, a trapdoor into my bedroom closet, that had been our primary entrance the past few years. A convenience and novelty, yes, but this lacked the sophistication many visitors would expect to a room, much less “office”.

Below are photos of the project a few months back. This project was hard earned with sweat and the aching backs of myself and generous friend/carpenter Cole Starkey (Sawteeth Carpentry). I presented the concept and original design and Cole helping bring it to life with technical detail and know-how. Together we created this entrance over a period of several weeks. Though only about 6×6 feet in area it seemed like a full addition in that it had a door, a window, electrical, insulation, foundation pour, roofing, flashing and tons of steps I am leaving out. In the end though, it is a fabulous addition to the space and asset to the home.

People are the driving force behind what I do. The different businesses I work with and various industries served make my job continually interesting. Your business truly fascinates me – understanding what you do, who you are and who you appeal to. Whether your mission is selling electronics, marketing your gym or promoting your latest book (or almost anything else… with a few exceptions) I can get excited and share that vision with you.

Whether you need website design, branding, or other design services let’s look at your project through the brand lens. By doing so, we ensure that your business remains focused on addressing customer needs, while remaining true to itself.

These photographs were taken for Rhodes Hieronymus, a local law firm.

SEO In short

Search Engines are trying to serve their customer (the people searching) with the best results for their given search. You as a site owner have to create the best results for your target searches.

Past Manipulation

The science of SEO has evolved considerably over time. Originally, stuffing keywords and manipulating code was very effective. However this has changed a great deal over the years. Today sites are penalized for trying to sneak anything by Google or being dishonest in their practices.

Search is like a Battle

To aggressively market via search engines is all out warfare. Each keyword ranking is a battle, and requires conscious effort. A overall strategy must be in place to determine which tactics are going to serve a project best.

The Strategy

Research first. Understanding the keywords that will bring the best visitors is crucial.
Keyword Assignment. Determine which pages will attract which keywords and build the content around that. Approx 3 words per page.

The Tactics

Content is king. A proven strategy is to produce high-quality content in volume. If you have the best information it will have every opportunity to rank well.
Freshness of content. Showing you are active in your industry by creating new content is increasingly important.
Coding is crucial. Onsite Optimization refers to aligning the coding of the website to the content. This is like raising a flag letting others know where to find you.
Links are Allies. When another website links to your website it is a vote of confidence in Google’s eyes. If lots of people are linking to you “It must be good!”. A link-building strategy is crucial to the success of a campaign.
Social Media. Social Media is not only a fantastic way to connect with your audience, but it is also being weighed in the search.

What you see below is a collaboration between my father and myself. I provided the preliminary design concept and he made a few adjustments and built it in his workshop. It’s a functional design and perfectly suited for my needs. The materials include Peruvian Walnut, aluminum with felt padding to protect the laptop from scratches.

I do wonder if others have a similar need and am considering trying to create and market it as a product. Thoughts?

The nature walk into the museum meanders through the river bed past several metal sculptures and cool rusty metal bridges along the way. Also, quite striking, is a huge silver tree sculpture, a giant stainless steel sculpture resembling a tree or neuron (not sure), outside of the main entrance. There are many levels to the museum with two rivers flowing through the structure to form three ponds within.  It’s pretty striking against the natural landscape.   I can’t wait to go back and see the exhibits and finished landscaping.  I hear admission is free thanks to a generous donation from Walmart.

Crystal Bridges Museum
600 Museum Way
Bentonville, Arkansas 72712
479.418.5700

Festival of Trees, a holiday art show, is going on at the museum as well as other seasonal events. Philbrook is beautifully decorated including the gardens, which are illuminated with Christmas lights galore. It’s a great time to visit the museum for the whole family. Come on out and see me, schedule below. Also see my other photography services.

Admission for non-members is $11 for adults and children 18 and under are free.   Santa photos are $10 each or $20 for three poses.  If you join as a new member (starts at $50) admission and a photo is free!

Santa Schedule

Visit Santa David’s Website

Holiday lights at Philbrook Garden Glow event

Philbrook at Garden Glow holiday event

Why WordPress?

Open Source – As an open source project there are literally thousands of developers working together to continually improve this system. By developing new plugins and functionality and identifying security threats this group of developers works hard to keep this system safe, secure and powerful. As an end user this means development and maintenance costs are reduced as well as build time.

Intuitive Interface – If you’ve ever dreamed of managing  your own website but don’t have the technical know-how it is now possible. Technology has finally reached a point that non-technical users can get along with managing their own websites to a great extent. Avoiding costly updates, delays and establishing more control the WordPress Admin Control Panel is pretty intuitive and makes this totally possible for most people.

SEO Friendly – The WordPress framework is built with search engine compliance in mind. There are tons of great plugins to maximize the potential, allowing fine tuning of meta data and site structure, but even out of the box this system puts a project on the right track.

Blog Ready – Frequently updating any website offers so many advantages both to users and search engines. The WordPress system began as a blogging software and has retained all of these features over the course of time. Built in commenting, comment administration, tags, categories and such can be configured to meet your content and audience requirements.

Have a WordPress Website Project?

As a web designer and developer I offer a full range of web services including everything WordPress. Whether you need just a basic install and set up or a custom theme designed to your projects specs I can help. Read more about my WordPress Design and Development Services.

Crossfit Shirt, Burpee Challenge

Crossfit 918 Shirt

Team Berry Crossfit Shirt (front)

Team Berry Crossfit Shirt (back)

Crossfit Life T-Shirt

Crossfit Life hoodie

Crossfit Life hoodie

What makes a good Crossfit Shirt?

Cut and fit are very important to athletes I have found. Crossfitters tend to be a more athletic build and want to show off that muscle! Material is also of the utmost concern. Light, breathable fabrics are most pleasant when working up a sweat. I have found through my own research and polling others that the Tultex 65/35 blend is a great choice and fairly economical. The shirts are a bit shorter than the American Apparel 50/50 Track Shirt, which is also a favorite.

I have enjoyed looking back at some of the classic brand’s advertising efforts from the 70′s and 80′s. The various magazine ads build the story of how owning a German sports car can impact your life as a consumer. Interestingly, these ads resinated with me years ago and still have the same impact today. Classy, optimistic and refined these ads communicate the experience rather well I feel.

It’s easy to get in a hurry these days so any experience within your control I feel should be enjoyed. I have been able to hold onto this ideal of enjoying the driving experience and continue to embrace BMW as my brand of choice.