Julie Tran Law Launched
Attorney Julie Vien Tran just launched Julie Tran Law, a simple, professional and elegant web site with dual languages (English and Vietnamese) to promote her law offices.
What I have learned from our email conversations is that Ms. Tran is not only professional, but also very approachable, and I wanted to convey that on her web site. Right on the homepage, I have Ms. Tran standing in front of a faint (almost silhouette) but recognizable building of the Supreme Court. Her pinstripe suit suggests professionalism and her friendly smile gives visitors the personal connection.
The only problem is that Ms. Tran is a modest person and she doesn’t want the web site just to be about her since she will be planning on recruiting more attorneys. (Any lawyer needs a job?) So the homepage will be changed once she hired a photographer to take some shots to be rotate on the front page, but for now, I am glad we are launching with this direction.
As for the navigation, my initial approach was to have two separate sets: one for English and one for Vietnamese. When I combined the two together and set them apart using font size variations, the navbar looks much better. If users want to read Vietnamese, they can just click on the Vietnamese words.
Ms. Tran designed the logo herself and I made a suggestion to use a different typeface. I wanted the letter J and L to have a sense of balance with the middle T holding the two letters together to resemble the scales of justice. Bauhaus 93 has that perfect balance.
As for the coding, this site is structured in HTML5, the future of markup, with a dash of CSS3 for some visual effects and a bit of PHP to hold the pages together.
Nice… Ms Tran can represent me anytime!
$1200 for this ripoff ?
Donny, I really appreciate all your hardwork and I could not be happier with your talents, skills and professionalism. The price is amazing for the time and effort that you put in.
I posted the link on my facebook for people to come see the site and your article. There are young people out there who think they know everything in the world and I know exactly who posted the 2nd comment. I’m sorry for his immaturity. Please know that it’s not reflective of how I feel.
Thanks for posting such a nice blog about it! You’re awesome!
Great site Donny, the page is easy on the eyes and access to contents is effortless. I also like the color scheme of the page and the clean coding hence fast loading time and future expandability. You have been consistently cranking out nice pages man.
If that is the price, then it’s a true bargain. The coding is very clean and site loads super fast. Simplicity at it’s best. Great job Donny!
Nice, clean site, Donny. I wish I could convince my uppers that sites such as these best convey the intended info.
A couple humble suggestions, if I may:
o In Vietnamese, the “law clerk” is not the same as “thư ký.” A law clerk is a research assistant to a judge, and can be influential in his/her judicial decision. The phrase “thư ký” simply means “administrative,” i.e., taking care of paperwork. Don’t know what her former duties were, but if she was a law clerk, she might consider using a phrase different than “thư ký.”
o Instead of “She has several years of legal clerking experience prior to opening her own law firm” or “cô đã làm thư ký cho thẩm phán và đã thực tập với một số văn phòng luật sư di trú,” perhaps she might consider listing/highlighting her achievements during those years?
Otherwise, congratulations and best wishes to Ms. Tran. I am proud of her.
Thanks all for your feedback. Anh Hai, I’ll pass your suggestion to Julie. As always, thanks for looking out!
There are some mature people who do not know they are ripped off, too.
Wow, if that’s the price, then it is really “a true bargain” for a one-day-120-buck job.
Clean and elegant as always. Nice work, Donny.
I love the way you integrated the front page photo into the layout. It’s much more personal.
Anonymous – can you post some links to examples of these “one-day-120-buck job” sites we can review and expose Donny’s rip off skills?
If you know what I am talking about: XHTML 1.1 (HTML5), CSS 2.1 (3), BlueprintCSS, jQuery.
By the way, I am not attracting any clients. Here is the work flow:
- (X)HTML: 1 hour
- CSS: 1 hour
- PHP/JS: 1 hour
- Mockup: 2-3 hour (content & graphics by client)
Anonymous: technology terminology is one thing, seeing the end result by users is another thing. I’m still eagerly awaiting example web sites, if you have them handy.
Anonymous wow I am speechless :)
If you are so good at what you do then why hide behind an anonymous name? But don’t worry you impressed me enough just by naming Blueprint and jQuery. I am amazed that you even know what they are.
Seriously there are a lot of intricacy with web design that it take a professional to understand. Like Ms. Julie Tran said, “Donny knows enough to know that less is more.” Though the important thing is knowing what to remove so less is more but I guess that’s why he is making the big buck…
Actually, I don’t want to be over anyone, for even a second. I am happy for Donny, who completed a successful project, which makes his client happy. That’s the most important.
I don’t support comment #2, but I am annoyed by #3 (“There are young people out there who think they know everything in the world and I know exactly who posted the 2nd comment. I’m sorry for his immaturity.” >> isn’t it better to say “a few young people”?) and #5 (“If that is the price, then it’s a true bargain.” >> it is not a true bargain at all — but I don’t mean Donny does not deserve.).
Finally, everyone’s fine.
misspelled
Xóa tiến án
cữ nhân
I am not going to discuss my price here, but Ms. Tran did her homework before she hired me. She has many quotes and she could get a site done for as low as $350, but she went with me instead.
Another client sent me a quote from another company that offered similar to my services for $500. After I looked at the company’s portfolio and explained to my client what she will get for that price. She went with me.
Of course, I get lots of inquiries, but not too many make into projects. I understand and I have no problem letting them go.
Hi Me, thanks for pointing out the misspelled.
By the way, I do not use BlueprintCSS. I write my own CSS.
lol. Didn’t you use “html5doctor.com Reset Stylesheet” (reset.css) and “Baseline – a designer framework” (type.css). It is another kind of BlueprintCSS – no, CSS framework to be precise.
You should know that none will ever use 100% of BlueprintCSS or jQuery.
By the way, splitting module CSS (reset, type, form, etc.) into separate files is only good for maintenance and overriding. In a production site, I would advise to combine altogether into one file. Why? Multiple calls to CSS files generate more HTTP requests, each of which adds an overhead to the initial page load. FYI, HTTP request means “S.L.O.W.” (The same rule applies for JavaScript files as well.)
Sample CSS: http://www.blueprintcss.org/blueprint/screen.css
Yes, I do use those two. Why reinvent the wheel when they do what I need them to do. Most professional designers use reset.css. I also like the way Baseline’s type.css, which is being used with credit intact, sets up all the styles for typography. I do some overwriting in my master css to get exactly what I need. Other than that, the structures and layouts are written by me and I am not ashamed of using them or else I wouldn’t have provided the credits.
Thanks for the tips I do aware of the multiple requests, but I like to keep them separate for ease of use and clarity. The styles are cached in the first request so I am not worried about the slowness. Seems like you know a lot about web design, like TDK, I would love to see some of your works. Maybe I’ll pass my clients to you if they want a $350 web site or a one-day-120-buck job
One more thing, I know IE6 is B.A.D. However, such a simple, professional, elegant (blah blah blah) site like this has nothing not to be displayed well in IE6 — if not consistent with other modern browsers. I know I know, the content is still accessible. But who are the audiences? If one of the potential clients, who is serious about the law service and less aware of technology, uses IE6 to access the site. Will they think it is a joke?
Still no sites to show?
Thank you very much, but I am not attracting any clients via this entry. ;) I am not attacking you either. I am just annoyed (as I said above). Your son is very cute.
Thank you! I appreciate that. Spending time with him is a joy and I get one more day off with him tomorrow thanks to the snow.
Digging your site, I accidentally came to this: http://www.visualgui.com/2010/01/09/a-critique-of-nguyen-khangs-new-site/comment-page-1/
Well, interesting. It’s all about web standards. ;)
Combining all the CSS files together is a good idea. Javascript should be minified as well. In our shop we set up deployment tool to streamline that process for release build.
I personally think Donny price is fair. Now could you find somebody to do it for less? Most likely. Could you get a better bargain? Probably. Is this a good idea? Maybe maybe not.
But seriously if you can offer the same level of service as Donny for a substantial less amount then personally I think that you are doing everyone a disservice… The race to bottom is bad for the ecosystem.
Hoang, you don’t have to worry about the ecosystem. I rather spend time with my boy than making a site for $350 or a one-day-120-buck job :) I won’t race to the bottom even though my price isn’t that high for a “Vietnamese designer” :)
Alright, I better get back to work.
Hahaha be.o cu Dda.o va`i ca’i for me ;)
@Donny @ #23.
I am in IT, but I don’t know much about web design, nor have I studied it.
Although, I am very conscious from the user’s point of view, and testing etc.. because I am after all a user too.
I am into photography, and I can see very similarities between it and web designs.
A site’s simplicity with its purpose filled, is the same as a simple photograph with its message carried across to the viewer.
The simpler a photograph/site is, the less distractions the viewer is of the core message.
It is then, not really about the tools and technology you use, although it helps, but rather the end vision and whether the purpose is achieved that should draw most of your efforts.
If people spend less time on conerning about itsy bitsy technological considerations that only offer minute improvements and more time about the purpose of the site/photograph, then the quality level would be higher.
This is true in Photography, and I assume also true in web design, because both are art forms.
Hey Donny,
One suggestion to the Vietnamese content of the site: You could replace the term ” cu*? nha^n khoa ho.c ” with ” ba(`ng cu*? nha^n ve^` ta^m ly’ ho.c ” , less confusing :) yet carry the same tone of importance :)
Cheers,
Thoáng nhìn qua trang nhà này với đôi mắt của một web-user bình thường, cảm thấy nghiêng về Anonymous’s comments hơn là những lời khen suồng sã…
thế này gọi là sáng tạo à? :)
James – Minh van cho doi Anonymous post len nhung trang web de hoc hoi day chu. Nhung ma van that vong, vi chua co gi het.