Client: The Dawg House (Suwanee, GA)
Contact: Dr. Jacqueline Huffman
Requirements: Logo/Branding, Web Design, Application Development, and Social Media
The Dawg House is a school-based enterprise serving the North Gwinnett Community. Their retail location is based inside of North Gwinnett High School. The store serves as a school store and community outlet for fan equipment and apparel.
Logo/Branding: After initial discussions with the store staff and advisor we fleshed out some thoughts on the store’s style and what values or objects must be present through the logo. At the time, the store’s logo featured a dog house, bulldog, and the text “The Dawg House” in a kid-friendly, handwritten font. The store strongly desired to keep the spirit and theme of their current logo, but were willing to bargain the kid-friendly look for a more professional and contemporary style. After numerous revisions with the client, the new logo (featured below) was chosen and finalized.
The new logo adds a touch of contemporary style while keeping the kid-friendly atmosphere. We decided to eliminate the bulldog icon and instead keep the dog house and add the school’s symbol (NG) to resemble more of the school’s spirit. Though we kept the same base colors (red, black, and white), we altered the shades and intensity of each color to provide a modern and smooth feel. After finalizing the logo, we started incorporating it into items such as staff ID cards, staff t-shirts, store advertisements, presentations, and documents.
Web Design: After completing the new logo and brand, we immediately started the development process for the new website. At the time, the store’s website featured a basic layout with product images, SKUs, and prices. There were no online ordering capabilities or customer interaction features. Our goal was to transform the website into a fun and professional online environment where customers can easily view products and place balloon orders. See Application Development for details on the system built to run the new website. After revising possible layouts and styles for the website, we created a clean, simple, and stylish front-end website that included a product catalog, balloon catalog, secure balloon order form, and a few static pages.
Application Development: The store’s staff required a simple and easy-to-use interface where they could quickly add/edit/delete products and balloons. They also desired a way to securely accept credit card information and manage incoming balloon orders from the website’s front-end balloon order form. After reviewing possible CMS options, we concluded that it was best to create our own web application based on PHP and MySQL. We started developing the back-end application by first creating a database structure and building our security system for the confidential credit card system. We took advantage of shared SSL technology to create a 256-bit encrypted connection on all of the store’s webpages. We also incorporated an advanced cryptography system to encrypt all confidential material being stored in the databases.
After completing our security and database infrastructure measures, we continued to design and develop the staff center which features a products and balloons management system along with a sophisticated balloon order management system. To ensure the general safety and restricted access to the staff center, we added a password protected login feature. A key feature of the manage balloons component is that it does not require the staff to upload a picture of the balloon. Instead, our application detects the balloon’s SKU entered by the user and finds an image of that balloon on its corresponding supplier’s website. The application then automatically downloads a copy of that image onto the store’s server and creates a permanent link in the database. This feature allows the staff to effortlessly add and update balloons by entering only the balloon’s SKU and price.
We also incorporated a plethora of features into the balloon order management system to make the staff’s job as effortless as possible. The system not only allows the staff to view each order, but it also allows them to organize orders based on one of three statuses: New, Processing, and Completed. Color coding and individual pages for each status adds a visual benefit for the users. For added security, we added a payment complete feature that automatically destroys any confidential payment information once an order’s status has been changed to complete.
To make communication between the store and its customers easier, we added auto-email functions throughout the system. When a customer places an order, he or she automatically receives an email confirming the order with additional order details. The email also includes a link to a secure page where they access all their order information 24/7/365. The link also acts as an order archive as it can be accessed even after the order’s status is changed to complete. The system also sends an email notification to customers when their order’s status has been changed or their order has been delivered.
Social Media: View the Facebook page and Twitter page we created and designed for The Dawg House.
Client Response: Pending…
— LAST UPDATED: 12/31/11 –