Strategically, the architecture promotes current exhibits, makes the permanent collection easily searchable and gives people the information they need on upcoming events. Social media is used to drive interactivity throughout, not only bringing people closer to the gallery and exhibits, but also to each other. Again, art really is a conversation.

We also worked with MacKenzie on their new iOS app — one of the first among Canadian galleries — which features exclusive content and can be used to enjoy art at home, or to provide a richer experience while you’re actually touring the gallery.

Our team was extremely happy to work with an institution like MacKenzie, which has such deep roots in our home province and a really amazing legacy in the Canadian art scene. We’re also very excited about the results. We believe art is an integral part of culture and this is the kind of project we’re really proud we can be a part of.

You can view the new site now at mackenzieartgallery.ca and download the app from iTunes

What we learned is that Finning is a great company, with a nearly 80-year history and over 13,000 employees worldwide. They have a wonderful story, rich history and a lot of information to communicate to existing and potential investors. So we went to work doing what we do:

• Developing a new content strategy that brings together data and the story of Finning
• Applying a revised architecture that makes information easy to find
• Designing a modern look that enhances the brand while also improving the interface
• Building it all on an easy-to-maintain backend that seamlessly pulls from a variety of datafeeds

This week we were happy to join Finning in launching the new site. Like all our projects, we’re pretty proud of the results. It looks great and, more importantly, it effectively and efficiently communicates an incredible amount of information.

See it for yourself at finning.com.

We dove into the deep end of the talent pool and came up with four new senior creatives, each dripping with experience (I swear, no more water puns).

Mark Abernethy, Creative Director
Mark has spent time with multiple top digital agencies and, more recently, has been slumming it as a freelancer in Toronto. His vast experience in design includes work with Nike, NASA, Aeroplan, Saab, BMW/Mini Canada and Chapters Indigo.

Mackenzie Olson & Rich Albornoz, Art Directors
A husband and wife design team that’s worked for agencies and clients based all over Western Canada. Their combined project experience includes work with Hyatt, Albertsons, Dell, Corus Entertainment and the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Tyler Hellard, Senior Copywriter
In addition to copywriting, Tyler also has experience as a content, editorial and social media strategist. He has previously worked with Dell, Mercedes-Benz, iStockphoto, Moxie’s and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority.

These four join Zach Perkins (who was getting a bit lonely) as the core of zu’s creative efforts. We’re excited about the experience and ideas they bring, helping us move forward with an ambitious creative vision.

At the same time, we have lost some of our people for various reasons over the past few months. It’s always sad to see a valued colleague and friend move on, but many left to pursue great new opportunities — and in a few cases, their dreams — and that’s something to be happy about.

When we look back at things, the change in our production philosophy was a catalyst to a change in our people. We switched from a waterfall method of production to an agile method in January. We also created smaller teams, each with about eight to ten people, that were focused on different types of work. We currently have teams dedicated to mobile, web apps and website development, and we’re looking to create more teams soon.

Using smaller teams and agile production helped us become more efficient in our work, though it also created some staff turnover as roles changed and we focused on building the strongest team possible.

Currently we are 45 people strong, which is about 10 fewer than our peak. But, we are also in a position to hire and grow our team with complementary talent. We’ve already hired a new HR Director and right now we’re interviewing  developers (web and mobile) and designers. We plan on having about 65 people by the end of this year and close to 100 by the end of 2012. Keep an eye on our careers page for new job postings in the next few weeks.

While the team is changing, we truly feel we are in a much better position as a company than we were a year ago. And we will continue to make smart business decisions that have a positive impact on both our people and our clients.

Essentially, the plan is to make zu a more profitable company. To get there, we have to take several steps.

As you know, zu is a website, mobile and web apps company. That’s not going to change. Our first priority is to take the great work we’ve been doing and make it even better. In order to do that, we’ve reduced our client roster so that we can focus on doing better work with fewer companies. This process started in July and should be complete by the end of the year. It’s always tough to end a relationship with a client, but it is something we feel is a necessary step if we are to produce truly world-class work.

Our second priority is to become more efficient. To help jump start this, we are introducing a profit sharing program that gives every employee the opportunity to literally take ownership of their work and be rewarded accordingly. It’s a win for our clients and a win for our staff.

As we continue to grow, developing great digital experiences for our clients, we will start to work with start-up companies as well. This will start in the next year to 18 months.

With these start-up companies, we will not only receive revenue for our services, but we’ll take an equity position. All of the staff working on these projects will have the chance to share in that stake. The reason behind this is that it will allow our staff a good mix of working with both new and established companies — each presenting their own challenges. This will keep our thinking fresh and allow us to share important insights across all of our clients. It also gives our team the chance to ride the wave of excitement that come with working on a successful start-up.

We have some long-term plans that involve setting up incubators for our own ideas as well, but I’m getting a bit ahead of things. For now, we’re concentrating harder than ever on our work and our clients, and that’s something we’ll keep doing for a long, long time.

Perhaps the biggest change has been bringing in Ted Hellard as a managing partner. Ted is the founder, former CEO and current chair of Critical Mass, the most-recognized digital agency in the world with about 750 employees in over half a dozen offices worldwide. Ted has worked with mega-brand clients like Mercedes-Benz, Nike, NASA, Dell and Proctor & Gamble.

For six years, he was also the co-owner, managing partner and president of the Calgary Stampeders. zu worked with the Stampeders on their digital strategy and website, which is how our relationship with Ted began.

When Tony and I had questions abut the industry or needed advice, Ted made himself available. We liked his no-nonsense and visionary approach to the digital world. We kept in touch, talking on the phone a lot and meeting several times. Ted taught us a lot, and we appreciated his business acumen.

When Ted stepped down from the Stampeders at the end of last season, the three of us started talking seriously about him getting involved with zu in some capacity.

Then in June, Ted had an idea about how to grow zu and our client base, while improving customer service and the talent level of our staff. We thought it was a great plan and have been working at it ever since.

Ted’s role at zu will be to help with the interactive strategy for our clients, to help open doors for gaining new clients and to help improve our internal systems.

We are in Saskatoon and there is a huge base of local talent to leverage. The developers and creatives here have the ability to do world-class work. The challenge is that they are young and need some mentorship.

Ted understood this and started to recommend senior people we could tap to come in and help develop our team. We’ve already hired JL Schmidt as our new COO. She has over 15 years of experience managing digital projects, and has worked with Adidas, Nike, Jugo Juice, Good Earth Cafe and many, many others.

JL’s role at zu is to make sure that our teams are operating efficiently and to ensure that we provide the best value possible for our clients. She’s already started implementing a number of positive changes that are reflected in our improved relationships with clients.

We’ve got a lot more work to do, but with Ted and JL added to our talented and dedicated staff, we are moving quickly in the right direction.

Morris Industries is at the forefront of innovation in the agricultural equipment market. The company’s forward thinking attitude and passion for customer service made them a perfect match for zu. The Morris team worked closely with our strategy department to craft the structure and content of the site and to ensure users could quickly and easily navigate Morris’ extensive product line.

The new site features large, dramatic imagery and intuitive navigation, as well as a Russian site to speak to international customers. Other features include:

• A Searchable “Find a Dealer” map
• Listings of upcoming trade shows
• A new Careers section
• A News section
• Become a Dealer and Dealer Login sections

Congratulations to the Morris team—it was a pleasure working with you!

Ted is the Director, founder and former CEO of Critical Mass, one of the largest and most successful digital agencies on the globe. He has worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was the strategic online force behind websites that included Mercedes-Benz USA, Nike, Proctor & Gamble and NASA. Ted stepped down as the CEO of Critical Mass in 2003 to take on the role of Co-owner and Managing Partner for the Calgary Stampeders until last year. Now, Ted is turning his attention to the digital space again, and he is excited about new technologies in the field.

“The technical knowledge that zu brings to the table was a major factor in the decision. The digital world has become a very fascinating place in which to develop consumer and personal communication opportunities. This is a great opportunity to build on zu’s strong technical and creative base and merge the two strengths for a more comprehensive international vision.”
– Ted Hellard, incoming Managing Partner, zu

Ted will play a key role in driving zu to leading-edge digital development—creatively, operationally and strategically. He will be working with executive team members Ryan Lejbak, Tony Zuck and JL Schmidt.

“By bringing in Ted as a managing partner, we also bring on board his business acumen and international recognition. We look forward to using some of Ted’s ideas and our talented staff to produce some amazing websites, web apps and mobile apps. Our message to the digital world, basically, is that we are open to partnerships.” – Tony Zuck, President & CSO, zu

JL has worked in digital media for more than a decade. The bulk of her career was spent at Critical Mass (www.criticalmass.com), managing account teams for Nike, Adidas, Mercedes-Benz USA, and UnitedHealthcare. Alongside NIKE in 2001, JL lead a talented team at Critical Mass to a Cannes Cyber Lions Grand Prix award for its work on NIKEiD (nikeid.nike.com). As the company began focusing more specifically on excellence in production quality, she led a 23-person project management department and then applied her experience to overall project operations as VP of Project Planning.

“This is an exciting time for zu, especially in the areas of mobile and web application development. I look forward to working with talented teams across the company to improve execution, accountability and overall operational quality.  I’m impressed with zu’s commitment to more agile processes and the value I see it bringing to our clients.”
– JL Schmidt, COO, zu

As COO, JL will oversee the day-to-day operations of the company, work with production teams to realize better efficiencies, and lend her knowledge and experience to the New Business and HR teams. She will work with CEO Ryan Lejbak and President & CSO Tony Zuck to grow revenues and margins and create a solid position for zu in the North American digital landscape.

“We are extremely excited to have JL come on board. Her experience in working with international clients coupled with our talented staff puts in place for zu the missing piece to a solution for significant growth.”
– Ryan Lejbak, CEO, zu

Cameco is one of the world’s leading nuclear energy companies, with premier uranium mining and production facilities throughout the world. Their 2010 online annual report launched in April of this year, features a highly visual landing page that includes interactive graph features, as well as the “Double U” branding and an introductory video featuring CEO Jerry Grandey. The online annual report (OAR) received a Best in Class IMA in the Financial category, with a score of 493 out of 500.

PotashCorp is the world’s largest fertilizer company by capacity, producing the three primary nutrients. Their 2010 online annual report launched earlier this year and boast a new interactive Management Q&A feature on the home page, as well as a live graphing data tool for their 11-year report. PotashCorp’s OAR received a Best in Class IMA in the Financial category, with a score of 496 out of 500.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders is one of the most followed teams in the CFL, selling over 60% of all branded football merchandise in the league. In 2010, the Riders launched its new online store so fans can get their green gear from anywhere, on the go. The site received a score of 479 out of a possible 500 and an IMA for Outstanding Achievement in the E-Commerce category.

TransCanada Corporation is one the leading energy infrastructure companies in Canada. This June, they launched their 2010 online annual report, which showcases a rollover image feature and simple intuitive navigation and site structure. With a score of 488 out of 500, TransCanada’s online annual report received a Best in Class IMA in the Financial Category.

Congratulations to Cameco, PotashCorp, The Riders and TransCanada on their award-winning websites. It was a pleasure working with you on your projects!

THE SITUATION
With one of the largest fan followings in the league, the Stamps were looking for a way to get merchandise to their fans quickly, efficiently and on the fly. The only official Stampeders store where fans could purchase merchandise was at Calgary’s McMahon stadium. The Stampeders approached zu, looking to test the waters with a new e-commerce site.

THE JOB
zu enlisted the expertise of GrowDevelopment, out of Texas, to develop the backend, which was created in Magento. For the design portion of the project, zu’s design team created pages that remained consistent with the current Stampeders’ site.

THE RESULT
Fans are now able to browse and purchase merchandise through the online store as well as connect with the store on Facebook. It just got a whole lot easier for fans to don that red jersey they were eyeing up!

The Gold Quill Awards are a global competition held by IABC to recognize outstanding achievement in communication. Cameco recently received the Merit award for its communication effort at Cigar Lake– Mine crisis calls for journey to the centre of the Earth: Restoring confidence after Cigar Lake floods.

Cigar Lake is the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade uranium deposit. The mine is currently in development and is projected to start producing uranium in 2013.

In 2006 and 2008 the mine suffered severe flooding. Cameco solved the operational issues, improved its processes and kept investors and members informed on the developing situation, by hosting tours of the mine site. Those who were unable to visit the site were kept informed via frequent updates to the Cameco website. The company’s forward thinking earned them the Gold Quill award in the category of Issues Management and Crisis Communication.

Congratulations Cameco team!

The Health Quality Council of Saskatchewan (HQC) was awarded Best in Class in the Healthcare category for their Quality Insight Tool. The Quality Insight Tool was launched in December 2010. This web application was developed as a performance management system to help healthcare professionals make informed decisions about healthcare in Saskatchewan. The entry was awarded a score of 485/500. For details about HQC and the Quality Insight Tool, head over to our earlier post, Web Based insights into health care.

In the Hotel/Resort category, Elk Ridge Resort was granted the Outstanding Achievement award. The resort’s website was chosen from among 186 entries and achieved a score of 476 out of 500. The Elk Ridge Resort website underwent a complete overhaul with zu in late 2009. For details about the site’s development, check out our previous post, The Elk Ridge Treatment.

Teck Resources brought home the IMA for Outstanding Achievement in the Investor Relations category. Chosen from among 43 entries, the Teck IR site earned a score of 479 out of 500. Collaborating with zu, Teck relaunched its site in 2011 with a brand new design and strategy. For details about the project, check out our previous post, Teck’s New IR Site.

Cheers to everyone involved in the projects!

Head to the IMA website to see a full list of IMA-winning sites by zu.

When Jeff and I chatted, we talked about his project at Sherbrook, his recent speaking gig at TEDx in Saskatoon, and his life in art.

A: Tell me about your job at Sherbrooke.
J: I don’t like the term Artist in Residence because it implies that it’s someone doing their own work, like a monkey performing at a zoo. When the project originally started, Saskatoon was named the cultural capital of Canada, the Saskatchewan Arts Board had created a program called Artists in the Communities.

Whenever I tackle something, I want to go big. I want to make it a huge success. I saw the potential in health care, and my fundamental belief is that we are ALL ARTISTS. I really believe that. It’s something that we can all communicate if we let ourselves. And I knew that individuals with limited mobility—with a cognitive disorder, dementia, Alzheimer’s—were going to make incredible sh*t, like, blow-you-away stuff.

A: Did they initially bring you in to be an art instructor?
J: They didn’t have a clue. I showed up and asked, “Where’s the studio?” and they said, “What’s a studio?”

Within the 9-month residency, we went from “What’s a studio?” to having that incredible show at the Mendel—which took everything to the next level, because nobody believed it could be that big. And that exhibition, for me, was a wake-up call to health care: Let’s stop treating residents as infants. We don’t need craft rooms anymore. Let’s raise that bar, let’s push the art, let’s see how far we can go.

A: So what does an Artist in Residence do?
J: I’d like to change the name. I spend a lot of my time building partnerships. I want to see community organizations come together. I want to see partnerships happen with local businesses….it’s about what everybody can bring to the table, and perhaps bringing together groups that you would not normally think had anything in common.

I believe there has to be a revolution. There’s got to be a revolution in health care, there’s got to be a revolution in our education system, the art institution needs a revolution. Things have to change.

A lot of what I do at Sherbrook is go out into the community, working with at-risk youth, with high schools, elementary schools…where we’ve got students coming through the studio, where the studio becomes a playground, where you learn skills and you build confidence and you’re able to express yourself visually.

I work with groups of people that feel at a dead end, that didn’t know what else to do. They come into the studio, we work with them, they learn a skill set by working with the resident artist….and then they’re able to move on, they are off medications, they have jobs, they’ve moved out of social housing and have their own apartments, have boyfriends and girlfriends.

The studio is that powerful tool, a powerful place where things can happen. That’s why I’m steadfast in protecting the integrity of the studio and the rules: there are no mistakes, and we never want to create for somebody else.

So if you come in there, you might be very self-conscious [but] you work through that self-consciousness and know that the marks that you make are just as valid as the marks that I make. The point is, that it is your mark and you are the only one who can make it.

A: What are some things you’ve learned while working there?
J: It’s not just about making great paintings—this is what I got to learn in this whole process—I just wanted to see great art made. That’s all I wanted to see. What I learned was that art was the vehicle for change.

It was like, how can I shake all of that up? I want to shake up everybody and let them know how important art can be and that there are people are sitting on the margins of society, who nobody knows exist ’cause they are safely tucked away in their long-term care homes. Who cares, right? We wanted to bring these people into the spotlight and showcase their art and blow everybody’s socks off. And that happened.

I watched the confidence of people who were once contemplating suicide move on to “I can do things again,” “I can teach,” and “I can have a relationship.”
Through something as simple as the art studio, there is this confidence—by being able to create something—that’s huge. That’s fundamental, and—now able to share this creation and to give—that’s human. As soon as we aren’t able to give, I think we lose something. When you become institutionalized, it means somebody else is doing things for you. When you are in long-term care, specifically, that’s a lifetime of people doing things for you. So flip it around, and now you’re able to do something.

A: There’s always someone you can help.
J: It’s not my studio, it’s their studio. I just work there. The studio is an environment where it is safe, you are encouraged to express yourself. Once you did your mark it is about how can make a better mark. It took a lot of your energy to make that one mark, so how can you do ten, or twenty. I’m kind of a coach, a cheerleader.

I don’t like seeing how art has separated itself from the real world. Life is art and art is life. There shouldn’t be any separation. It sounds naïve, but I think it is that simple.

A: You talk about standardized creativity. Can you elaborate on that a bit more?
J: It is the most heartbreaking thing to see. I’ll tell you a story, and I’d like you to point out where the creativity is. This takes place in a long-term care home with an art program. One of the recreation staff members has a ship-building kit and assembles a group of residents around the table. I don’t know if you have seen one of those out-of-the-box, ship-building kits but the instructions are intense and there are tons of very small parts.

What’s wrong with this picture? Who will put the ship together? The rec staff. What have we turned this into? Something that could have been, should have been, a creative act—a creative moment, a moment of expression—has now become a spectator sport.

Standardized creativity begins when we start looking to others to tell us how to do things.

A: You said you were a ditch digger.
J: I am a ditch digger. I’m a pathfinder. I’m not going to teach you how to paint trees the way I paint trees—that’s my way. What I’m going to do is help you dig down to wherever you buried your creativity and help you pull that out.

A: Give us an idea of the setup you have a Sherbrook.
J: It’s like walking into a room where a paint bomb went off. It is a place unlike anywhere else in a long-term care facility. It is loaded from top to bottom, it is cluttered, it is chaos. And it is gorgeous, ’cause as soon as you get into the room, it changes. Your mood changes. When you walk in, you can start breathing.

A: Tell me about TEDx. Your talk was one of the many highlights, some say the TED Talk of the day. Were you a TED fan before?
J: I was. I knew what TED was but I didn’t know the rules. Just that there were these incredible ideas and talks. I like the storyteller aspect, because I think that was what I saw from TED, that…it’s not about dumbing down, it’s about being a good storyteller, being able to express yourself.

I wanted to talk about health care because we will all come in contact with health care at some point in our lives. And that’s a scary place for a lot of people. Let’s face it, if you are going in for cancer treatment, it’s not exactly a fun place to be. But if we can introduce something that will make your stay better…if you are able to create, to express yourself, that’s important. And if it’s diversionary, if that’s all that it is, fine—if it keeps your mind off having that chemo IV stuck in you. Rock on.

A: How is the whole reception of the Ted Talk?
J: You know, it was like this huge orgasm and then it was done. The whole day, the response was great. As an artist you just hide away in your studio but sometimes you just want to get out there and talk. The greatest minds weren’t necessarily on the stage. I mean, that was a roomful of people who are like-minded individuals.

A: Give me a bit of your history as an artist.
J: I’ve always been an artist. My very first art class in University, I had the realization—19 years or however old I was—that I will always be a student of art. I just took it seriously and hit a level of success very young. I had dealers and collectors at a very young age and was selling my work quickly, and I was getting shows in New York and Chicago.

I just began my practice and never looked back. I worked hard. I would have jobs when I lived in Calgary, I was starting a job at 5am as a groundkeeper at Mount Royal College picking cigarette butts up. Just so I had some money to pay for my studio downtown. I put in eight hours there and then another eight at my studio. I was cranking out work and I had discipline, and that discipline paid off. I had faith in myself, some luck, and produced a body of work. I was very fortunate. And the career just sort of took off. What’s interesting is I was so prolific I was doing five solo shows a year and twenty group shows a year. That’s huge, like, that is absolutely huge.

I was just constantly producing and I loved that. But it turned to a grind, and the more successful I became the less rewarding it was. So my prices would go up or I’d have another show, or this critic wrote about it or that collector bought it or this gallery was showing it, and it started to become hollow. I was living in Toronto and…I was feeling empty. I needed to walk away for a bit.

I moved to Saskatoon. I was actually in Saskatoon when I made the decision. It was a really tough thing to do, because you spend a lifetime building a career. I found out very quickly that it’s called a spotlight, not a searchlight, for a reason. When you step out of the spotlight you are done.

So now I am reintegrating myself into the art world. But I am making my own choices about how I want to do it. I’m not hungry to please, I do my work how I want it done, and if you feel you can show it, then we can have a relationship—but I don’t need to do things to impress you.

A: So, what’s next for Jeff?
J: The new work is incredible. I’m working with spray paint and stencils. I’m returning to my roots. It was in Regina in the early ’80s and lot of graffiti culture was making it’s way up through films and music, and there was a group of us that just started expressing ourselves that way, emulating what we saw. We were dumb because we would spray our names. My last name is Nachtigall, there are about three Nachtigalls in Regina and we are all related. I got caught. Now I combine found and salvaged materials with images depicting obvious Canadian stereotypes… they’re big and ugly and fun.

Now I’m working with the City of Saskatoon, specifically the Saskatoon Police Service, and also with the Anti-Graffiti Unit to come up with programmable space—we need some free walls in the city. You would be surprised at how much money is spent on the grey paint they use to cover tags. And, we need to educate people about the difference between gang tagging and Street Art.

In early 2011 I partnered with a local artist and opened up a project space in the Riversdale district in downtown Saskatoon. Make Work Projects is a  2000 square foot store front studio and sometimes gallery/think tank/ residency/ arts incubator. Follow us on Twitter @makeworkproject for updates.

A: Who better than you to do this?
J: Art needs an advocate. The best way to do it is not to run around telling people that this is what it’s like being an artist, what it means to be an artist, what you should do to be an artist. We should go and turn people into artists.

A: I’m speaking to a high school soon about careers and pursuing your passion. Any tips?
J: Stick to your guns. The path of individuality, doing what you want to do, is the most rewarding but it’s the most difficult. And there is no life like it. When you do what you want to do, the payoff is huge. And it’s not always monetary but the quality of life is incredible.

If you are talking to a group of kids, it might be their last stop. There are a lot of incredible kids out there, but they’ve been told that this is the last stop. I think that’s focusing on limitations again. Focus on what you can do. Limitations are everywhere. Get over it. Deal with it. Find how to chart your way around the tree instead of hitting it.

For more information about Jeff and his past and present projects, head to his website. You can also check out an article on Jeff’s most recent piece in the May 6th, 2011 edition of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.

Established in Saskatoon as a small cabinet-making shop in the early 1980s, Superior has grown to a company of more than 200 employees in three locations across two provinces. They have also won numerous awards for their products. When Superior came to zu, their old website was dated and the page backgrounds were dark. They wanted a new site that would showcase their abundant kitchen styles and options in a presentation that would breath light and space.

THE PROJECT
The crew at Superior took the same care and attention in their approach to a new website that cabinet makers would take building cabinetry. Several key Superior personnel including two top executives were involved in the initial project digital strategy and analysis. zu provided strategy workshops to educate their staff, while they toured our staff through the company’s factory and showroom to inspire design and content for the new site. The team then set out to discover what could be achieved with the new website within the scope of the project.

Superior’s goal was to position itself as a company that offered more than just cabinets. They provide not just products but service, from the beginning to end. The Superior team remains a support through the entire process to provide an outstanding and highly regarded customer experience.

One of the main objectives for the new site was to allow site visitors to book appointments with a Kitchen Designer online. We added key features to the site, such as the Kitchen Planner, where users can save favourite styles to a Design box, and the Product Showcase, where users can click through photo galleries featuring a wide array of styles, accessories, layouts, and finishes. These features help to streamline the planning and booking process for potential customers before they even begin building or renovating. A Customer Experience section introduces customers to Design and Installation team members and helps them find Superior product dealers and showrooms across the prairies.

THE FEATURES
The Kitchen Planner feature filters sample kitchen designs by budget, colour and layout. Images are filtered by design type—Old World, Urban, Contemporary and Traditional—then pulled in from flickr, an offsite image gallery and repository, to speed up loading time on image-heavy pages. Customers can choose what they like in the Planner and save their images to a Design Box.

The Design Box feature allows customers to collect images that show the kitchen styles they like. When their collection of favourites is complete, they can send their images to a Superior Professional Designer as they book an appointment. This particular feature simplifies and streamlines the process of browsing, planning, deciding and booking an appointment to plan a new kitchen.

Other site features:

• Tool Tips: This home-page feature highlights kitchen details and gives a glimpse into the drawers and the behind cabinet doors of Superior kitchens.
• Find Us: Powered by Google Maps, this tool helps users find the nearest Superior dealer.
• The Design Corner (blog): Enables Superior’s Designers to post blogs and lets viewers follow their favorite Designer’s blog.

THE OUTCOME
The end result of the strategic planning, collaboration and meticulous development was a user-friendly and effective retail presentation site with large photographs to showcase a huge array of available products and associated services. Congratulations to the entire Superior Cabinets crew. It was our pleasure and privilege to work with you!