Desktop Applications

• The GIMP – Image Editor
• Mozilla Firefox – Web Browser
• Mozilla Thunderbird – Email
• OpenOffice.org – Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation and Database Management

GNU / Linux Distributions

• Debian – Very stable Linux distribution, recommended for servers
• IPCop – Firewall server distribution
• Ubuntu – All the latest and greatest features, recommended for the desktop

Server and CMS

• Apache – Web Server
• Drupal – Content Management System
• MySQL – Database
• Nagios – Server Monitoring
• PHP – Programming Language – great for web based applications

I use all of the software listed here. I also provide development and commercial support and training for all of the above.

With over 10 years of experience in technology, both web and IT based, I won’t use techie words or other jargon designed to make myself look more “in tune” with technology. I will explain things clearly, using plain English, so we both have a complete understanding of what you need now and where you’re IT will go in the future.

You can approach IT many ways, but many businesses approach it like a fireman – putting out fires instead of developing solutions to prevent the fires all together. That method of IT management can become overwhelming very quick.

I can work with you to look at your business needs now and into the future. This process will allow you to get a better idea of how much you are likely to spend on maintaining and updating your infrastructure. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get great results, but you do have to plan and look at current and future IT expenditures as investments.

I can help you look at almost any part of your business, which may include:

• Desktop PCs
• Servers
• Networking
• Websites and email
• Automating and improving processes
• Skills Development
• Resourcing
• Invoicing and Accounting
• Linux Workstations and Servers
• and much more …

Contact me today for a free consultation.

My open source customization initiatives provide end-to-end open source solutions to meet your enterprise needs. My solutions tone-down IT complexity and help you cut-down your eBusiness expenses through a diverse range of open source solutions.

I provide open source customization for OS Commerce sites, Joomla, Drupal, Mambo, Typo 3 and others.

I offer cost-effective community website solutions that can help wide-spread, disparate offline communities to come-together, connect and share thoughts, ideas and valuable information online. My community websites allow millions of users to communicate through a single platform and share/contribute/process data to an individual or a wide network of users.

My community website solutions enable you to effectively manage and moderate online communities and engage in seamless connectivity with your community members. Leveraging the best technologies, I offer solutions that incorporate all the latest features of community websites and ensure no-hindrance, hassle-free communication with your users.

Contact me today for more details or to talk about what solution might be best for you or your organization.

As a significant part of CSS development services, I offer XHTML/CSS coding and template slicing services, and my solutions includes:

I understand that a website explains to the visitors practically everything about you or your company. To leverage a professional website, I will fully co-operate with you to deliver you a truly professional website with fast web accessibility, cross-browser compatibility, or other possible features, as per your requirements. To find out more or get a quote about CSS / XHTML, web design and development services or if you are looking for an expert XHTML/CSS developer, then submit your requirements here.

With this design I kept it really simple. All you need here is the company name and a location. A phone number would have been ok also but not critical. If you’re traveling and you see this sign you pretty much have a good idea of what they’re selling. If you’re interested you simply follow the directions at the bottom. However, if you know the location of the billboard you can often take some liberties and add more content. Take this example:

I knew this billboard was right next to a traffic light at a busy intersection. So it was ok to add more content because people would sit at the light, bored of course, and have time to read everything. A sign is a totally different animal and should be treated differently by the graphic designer.

Signs are most often outside a business and they mark the location for customers. A sign should be little more than a logo or interpretation of a logo. You can add a phone number, but if the customer is looking at your sign they can easily walk in. Wait, what if it’s after hours? If it’s after hours you should have your hours of operation and contact information on your door or window.

Here’s a few examples:

This business sign is actually a vinyl banner. There’s a makeshift logo (the duck) and basci information on what the business does. That’s all you need. If you go into more detail on the sign the copy and graphics have to get smaller. Smaller copy means people have to get closer to read it and might miss the business even though they see the sign from across the parking lot. They just can’t read it from that far away. Another reason to keep business signage simple.

This sign, as is the case sometimes, was an exception. The business was up a long driveway with trees and such blocking the view of the building. At night the gate was locked and they needed to let people know where to turn into their driveway and give them contact information. Since the gate was locked after hours it made sense to add the phone number to the sign. The sign was mounted on two 4x4s at the entrance.

There are almost always cases in graphic design where we can bend the rules. Usually it’s a good idea to stick with the tried and true rules for quality designs and return customers. I spend some time each week looking at various design related websites and other artists’ work. I find more and more people are cluttering everything up. From billboards to magazine ads there is some weird force pushing people to add too much to a design or make it hard to read. At that point it becomes art not graphic design.

When choosing a graphic artist look for someone that uses clean lines and clean fonts. Grungy design and broken fonts are hard to read and interpret and people will often skip an ad or billboard for something more pleasing to the eye. If every other page in a magazine were printed upside down; would you read it or even think or subscribing?

Graphic Design