Website Redesign

Matt — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:00:30 +0000

I have found some time in the last week to give the website a complete redesign. Although the previous design was only 12 months old, I felt the site could benefit from a much fresher and even cleaner look, one I am really pleased with.

The main differences from the last site are that the pinstripes have been replaced with block colours, the blues have been swapped for a different shade of blue and black and the use of a new font. The site is still responsive, build in WordPress and features the same blog and portfolio layout. I do plan to update these areas of the website too, but I am happy with how they are looking… For now anyway.

New CitySave Credit Union Site Goes Live

Matt — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:40:57 +0000

The latest project to go live at ClickThrough Marketing this week was the new Citysave Credit Union website. The site is build in Joomla and is completely responsive to enhance the user experience as much as possible whether the site is being used on a mobile device, tablet or desktop.

Nav-Respond.js – A Simple Responsive Navigation Plugin

Matt — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 10:56:29 +0000

As promised I have uploaded a very simple jQuery script that I have wrote to make a sites navigation responsive. One problem that I have encountered is that CSS3 transition doesn’t seem to support height:auto at the moment, this means that the animation doesn’t work unless you specify a height. This is only an issue if you wish to keep changing the number of navigation elements, if you have a fixed amount you can add a height and it will animate just fine.

You can see a demo of the plugin here and download a zip of it from here

Latest Work And Goings On

Matt — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:23:09 +0000

I’m getting really bad at posting lately which is frustrating when there has actually been quite a lot going on. I have now been working at ClickThrough Marketing for around 5 months and have recently worked on a few interesting projects as well as the brand new company website that wen live yesterday and can be viewed here.

The new ClickThrough site is a big step forward. It looks a lot cleaner and modern compared to the old site and is completely responsive.

Other projects I have been involved in at ClickThrough include a US micro-site for Gtech and PPC banners for Dunelm Mill and ScottishPower. I will hopefully be able to post examples of this work shortly and update my portfolio.

I have also been developing a responsive navigation plugin and hope to get that uploaded soon as it has been seeing a lot of use lately and hopefully others will find it useful too.

My Latest Projects, Bunny The Movie

Matt — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:30:35 +0000

I have recently been working on a couple of websites for a short film called Bunny, by Adam Awni. One of the sites is for the film itself and the other is a key part of the films plot and has been created to provide an interacting feature for the film. Both of the sites have been built in Joomla.

The synopsis of the films is: Stephen, a normal guy looking for love through Doctor-Date, a dating website. He finds a first date in Abbie, a seemingly down to earth woman with her own ideals. A romantic meal at Abbie’s house is the perfect opportunity for him to break the ice. It’s also the perfect opportunity for Abbie to reveal a disturbing dark secret. Stephen’s perfect date soon unfolds into his worst nightmare.

A brutal psychological thriller, Bunny is full of suspense and the element of survival. With scenes that will both shock and keep you at the edge of your seat, Bunny delivers an unforgettable tale and chilling climax.

The film is currently in the proses of getting funding, so please vist the kickstarter page and pledge what you can. Thank you.

responsinator.com

Matt — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:29:39 +0000

Just a quick post to share a really useful tool for testing responsive websites or for just seeing what a website look like on different mobile devices in general, responsinator.com. The tool gives an indication of what a site might …

CSS4 – It’s On The Way

Matt — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:18:32 +0000

I came across a really good article a couple of weeks back that really caught me off guard and I’ve been meaning to share it since. The article is about CSS4 which amazed me as CSS3 still hasn’t – in my opinion – been 100% adopted. It seemed a bit early to be discussing the future of CSS but having read it I’m excited for what’s to come.

The article was posted on Smashing Magazine and can be read here. Enjoy.

The Website Turns One!

Matt — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:26:04 +0000

It seems a lot longer to me, but a year ago today this site went live and I first posted on the blog! I spent a long time designing and redesigning, but I did eventually get the site live and have continued to to update my portfolio and blog since (just not as often as I should or would like to). Even in a year the site has changed quite a lot from the original version, what was Just Creative Design and green became Matt Hitches and blue and eventually settled down into what you see now.

Over the next 12 months I hope I can continue to post regular articles on the blog, from helpful tips, to my thoughts, opinions and latest pieces of work.

A New Chapter

Matt — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:08:50 +0000

I haven’t been very good lately at posting on my blog, it’s been almost 2 months now since the last post but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy, quite the opposite! Over the few weeks I have had a few things going on, the biggest and most important being a new job. After just over 3 years at Blossom Digital I was offered the opportunity to take on a new and bigger challenge at Clickthrough Marketing and decided to go for it.

I will hopefully post a few more items on the blog as soon as I can, as well as add a few new portfolio items… Fingers crossed it wont take me another 2 months to post again!

What is Responsive Web Design?

Matt — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:52:38 +0000

Responsive web design is a technique that is used in the development of a website to improve and enhance the usability, creating the best experience possible for the visitors of your site, however they’re viewing it – whether they’re using Internet Explorer 7, mobile Safari or an up-to-date version of Chrome – ensuring that no one misses out.

Responsive web design gives you greater control over what and how a visitor sees on your site. Content and layouts can be restructured to best suit the delivery device, smaller sized files can be used to increase the speed of the site over a mobile network, as well as allowing for different content can be survived entirely, making the site more relevant.

Another benefit to having a responsive website is that it means having a single version of your site that you know works perfectly on every size screen and device – This is not only beneficial for the users, but it will be easier for you to maintain and keep up-to-date, saving time and money.

Myself and Blossomdigital have chosen to adopt responsive web design and use the technique on our own websites – for all the reasons outlined above and many more too. We believe that it is important to cover all the bases and think about how people interact with us and it is through carrying out this process for ourselves that helps us to identify your businesses needs and the ways that we can meet them and help your business to grow!