I installed the latest version of WordPress, which is 3.0, and tried to theme it based on Twenty Ten, the new default template for WordPress, but the new theme is way too complicated. Furthermore, the new template from GW isn’t so simple either. To get the two to work together will take tremendous amount of time or at a week straight to breakdown the PHP. So I went back to the classic theme, which is the most straightforward out of the box. Even with the classic theme, I had to strip the code down to its core for my needs and trim away the extras. Twenty Ten has 26 files and two folders. My theme only has three files (index, comment and css).

What is up with the long URL? When I thought about the project, I couldn’t find an appropriate name for it. I brought it up at our communication meeting and asked my colleague to help come up with a name. We tossed out a few ideas, but then it hit me: atthecenterofitall.business.gwu.edu. My boss was immediately sold on it even though it’s damn long address. She defended the idea by retelling the story about one of our alumni. In an executive meeting somewhere in another country (I can’t remember the name), he introduced himself as a graduate from GW School of Business and one of the directors at the table complimented, “At the center of it all.” Furthermore, We had done quite a bit of promotion on that catchy phrase. So I thought it’s a great marketing strategy and I was so glad that my boss was with it. I still love saying it: at the center of it all dot business dot gwu dot edu. How awesome is that?

What inspired the project? After purchasing Miles Davis’s The Complete Columbia Album Collection a few weeks ago, I am still trying to get through more than 70 CDs with every chance I get. I listen to Miles at work, on the train and on road trips. One night, I just drove Dana and Duke around DC just so I could get through an album. The problem is that I can’t soak in everything that fast. The only way for me to pay close attention to an album is when I want to write something about it, but I can’t review all 52 albums. I could if I don’t have to take care of Duke. Being a parent changes my priority.

So if I could listen to the entire album and sum it up in one sentence, it would force me to be more focused. Sure, I can just post a quick sentence on Twitter, but I don’t want to be lost in the Twitter world. I want to make simple project and learn something out of it. I have been wanting to play around with web typography as well as crafting each page with a unique design.

A couple months ago, I came across an article from David DeSandro about Stacey, a lightweight content management system and how he uses her to create each individual entry. Stacey is simple and very different from a traditional blog system like WordPress. I downloaded Stacey and was impressed by her simplicity, but I couldn’t do anything beyond the default template. I needed a real project to get a hang of it. So I stripped the system down even further to do what I wanted to do. I got stuck and contacted David for assistance. He replied the next day and even showed me the source to his entire site. I was in awed. Mad props go out to David.

Since this is a personal project, I could careless if the site works across all browsers. Safari is the only one I test it on. There are no reset CSS, no layouts and no clear fixes. The site is a very basic HTML5 markup with very little use of CSS. All fonts are real (no images). I am currently using some from Google Font Directory as well as the safe fonts beyond the Helvetica. I’ll try to look out for more free fonts to link to.

So I hope you enjoy this tiny project. I am not sure how often I will update this site, but you could pick up the RSS to be notified whenever a new piece is up.

The site requires database-driven contents, e-commerce transactions and an admin interface. Hoang built the entire system from scratch in ASP and I worked with him to integrate the design. We pulled quite a few all-nightners together over the phone and I had a great time working with him and learning from him. In addition to his expertise in back-end development, Hoang has a wit sense of humor and an eye for the ladies. Many times I try to focus on the visual of the site, but he would distract me with the visual of the girls. He would send pretty Korean models to look at while I was trying to fix some paddings (CSS of course).

It was a great collaborative experience and I am very please to announce the launch of Easy License Renewal.

After speaking with Prof. Helen Alvaré, I knew that I needed to design a site that is simple, elegant to convey both of her professional and religious background. I tilted the photo to give the site an engaging feel and gave her name a typographic treatment to make it personal.

After the mockup, I handed the site off to the school’s web developer to create the final HTML/CSS and implemented into an open-source CMS so Prof. Alvaré could update the contents herself.

I am ashamed to say that I haven’t spent as much time as I should in maintaining the site. We started off with four admins, but now we’re just down to two. My parter has been doing a great job of overseeing the site all these years. If it wasn’t for him, I would have given up on the site. At times I have thought of bowing out as well, but I owe it to the people who have been to the site all these years. So I decided to rework the site up to keep it up to date.

While the previous design was still attractive, the codes were getting out of shape. Seven-year-old code for a web site is ancient and I have been wanting to redesign the site for quite a while, but the massive contents and the the lack of time have been pulling me back. The site couldn’t escape my mind and every time I need to update the site I frowned so I decided to tear down the site and simplify it. The folks will miss the theme-switching feature, but the site is now in a much better structure. The design also allows the space for promotion.

The site is upgraded to HTML5 and the entire contents, not just the homepage, are now powered by WordPress.

A while back, I wrote a post looking for photographers who had taken beauty shots of Ha Noi to collaborate on the piece. I contacted half a dozen of them. Since the project has no money involved, it’s understandable that none of them replied back to me even though their work will get exposure. It would also required more time from them to go out and shoot more photos to accompanied the song so it was impossible to collaborate. As a result, I abandoned the concept.

Thanks to my lovely lady who scoured the web to gather images that are suitable for the slideshow and encouraged me to pick up the project again. So this is for you, my love: “Nho Mua Thu Ha Noi.”

Disclaimer: This is a personal piece and I am not making any money off it. I really hope that the owner of the images don’t mind me using their photos.

At first, Ms. Quynh hired me to design the web site, but I also ended up creating print materials including logo, business cards, letterhead, flyers, gift certificate, envelope, handbook and server training cover. Her reason is that she would like a consistent look and feel across the board and she likes my simple style. I can’t argue with that.

I didn’t design the print version of the menus, even though Ms. Quynh would like me to, because it would be too much. I am not a graphic designer; therefore, I am not ready to take on the menus in the time frame that was set. The online menus, however, are the pages I am most proud of in this project. The items were presented using pure CSS instead of tables.

The logo is set in HL Thu Phap, an extremely popular Vietnamese typeface that is being used everywhere in Vietnamese publications. What makes this brand distinctive is the bright orange set against the brown background and complemented with the clarity of Univers. While the script suggests traditional Vietnamese, the san-serif gives a sense of modernness. I gave Ms. Quynh several designs, but this one seals the deal.

As you can see on the homepage’s slideshow, the interior colors of the restaurant match the colors of the web site. Like I said earlier, Ms. Quynh is very consistent. She sent me the palette right after she had a meeting with her interior designer and immediately I knew what the web site would look.

As for the code behind the scene, this straightforward web site is markup in HTML5 with a bit of CSS3 and a Flash slideshow. I also convinced Ms. Quynh to use Twitter as a marketing tool for her restaurant. She can tweet about new promotions or specials of the day on Twitter without having to hire me to update the web site for her. It’s a great, cost-saving way to get the words out. I also gave her Twitter page a similar look and feel.

Le Mekong has just opened for business in less than three weeks; therefore, some of the contents like press and events are still to come. I also whipped up the about page as well as the intro blurb on the homepage. If you live around Johns Creek, Georgia, come check it out and let me know what you think of the food. Just tell her you’re a friend of Visualgui.com and you’ll receive 20% off. So what are you waiting for? Head to Le Mekong and treat your family a New Year dinner.

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.

I am responsible for setting up the Olympic web site as well as coordinating and posting her daily video blogs, photos and press coverages. I just filmed the first blog for her using the Flip as a demonstration to show how the camcorder works and how she could upload directly onto our YouTube account. It’s going to be a fun project and I am looking forward to it even though I don’t get to go to Vancouver.

In the section showcasing sites, I broke the projects into different categories. As much as I like to keep everything in a single page, the list is getting long and I am planning to add more as sites go live.

Update: I broke down the motion section as well.