We just launched a redesigned and re-structured web presence for the Cherry Lane Theatre. This marks the end of the first phase of development (phase 2 will involve completing a site-wide CMS as well as the implementation of a new, cohesive branding message that will tie together the various elements of the Cherry Lane identity and community), and is a great point on which to head off for the holiday break, if you ask me.
We’re happy with how things have turned out so far, and are looking forward to a fabulous new year with some exciting platforms and projects in store. Stay tuned.
This afternoon, we launched a brand new site for our friends at the Classical Theatre of Harlem. The redesign involved restructuring content, implementing standards-based XHTML/CSS design, strengthening their existing brand, as well as introducing dynamic XML-powered Flash photo galleries to showcase their striking production design – all with the goal of enhancing their current community of audience members and supporters, while showing new visitors just what it is that makes the Classical Theatre of Harlem such a powerful and unique arts organization.
Well, it’s actually called “The Rather Difficult Font Game,” but unless you’re a hardcore font nut (yes, like me: 33/34!) you’re in for a test that’s a level of magnitude more difficult than distinguishing Arial from Helvetica.
Play it here, and post your scores in the comments.
With all due respect and reverence to Wordpress, the awesome open-source content management system that powers this blog, as well as a number of sites I’ve personally had the pleasure of working on, there’s a new kid on the block that just might have what it takes to pull me away from the tried-and-true, and venture out into uncharted waters.
I’m talking about CushyCMS, a super-simple system created by Stateless Systems (of RetailMeNot reknown). It’s designed primarily for web designers looking to add a no-fuss way to allow clients to update content on their sites. For each element in the HTML that the designer wishes to give permission to edit, s/he need only add a simple class="cushycms".
No fussing with PHP, no costly time spent trying (in vain) to enforce style conventions and convince content editors not to randomly make things bold, italic, purple, and struck-through, or attempt to explain how to keep the code clean and semantic and valid. Stress-free, beautiful, and highly user-friendly.
CushyCMS is obviously not suited for every project. The fact that it’s a fully hosted solution makes things simple to set up, but gives you less flexibility down the line than something like Wordpress or Drupal, for example. But for the right client, CushyCMS seems like it would take a huge amount of hassle out of the process and let designers focus on designing, and writers focus on writing.
I’m excited to give CushyCMS a test run in the coming weeks, and will definitely write about how that goes. The site is in private beta right now, but should be open to the public on April 15.
Here’s a great introductory video from TechCrunch that really highlights how simple CushyCMS is to set up and use.
They give you 2GB of space and you can show off your work to the world in the gallery. I think this is perfect for people who don’t want to drop the enormous amount of money to buy the software; those of us who need a quick resize, blemish touch-up and color correction for the PERFECT facebook photo. Be sure you have the latest version of Flash.
