b5media redesign

b5media approached me in early October 2006 and asked if I was available to start a big project with a tight deadline. Shortly after that they announced they’d received $2,000,000 in venture capital. They needed me to turn their site into a portal to attract potential advertisers, bloggers, and new readers.

b5splash.gif

The challenge was providing all the information the 3 key groups needed in a concise form that would entice them to stay at the site and keep reading.

The solution was an Ajax powered splash that would quickly get the key information to each group clearly. It allows them to “discover” b5media.

I also thought it was important to work in a random channel to the homepage that would display recent posts from one of b5’s many groups of blogs. This gives their bloggers more exposure, more traffic, and an opportunity to attract new readers.

The JavaScript blogroll is simple and doesn’t bombard the user with too much information. It allows people to browse the entire network and look at only the blogs they’re interested in.

    I got skillz

  • XHTML 9 out of 10
  • CSS 9 out of 10
  • Photoshop 8 out of 10
  • WordPress 8 out of 10
  • SEO 7 out of 10
  • PHP 5 out of 10
  • JavaScript 5 out of 10
  • Django 3 out of 10
  • Ruby on Rails 2 out of 10

    What do they say?

  • “Let me tell you a story about Ben to show you why I recommend him to everyone: Ben offered (with another guy) to redesign [my website] okdork.com free of charge. They did it in a reasonable amount of time. It was okay. A few weeks later Ben said "Noah, I am not satisfied with the work I've done. I am going to completely redo your site." I was impressed because a) I wasn't thrilled with their work but it was decent b) he took the initiative c) he had a great attitude about it. A few weeks later he was done and I am now asked a few times a month if it is okay to copy the okdork.com layout. Ben did a great job and I love working with him. If you get the chance, you will be lucky as well.”
    - Noah Kagan, Owner, Kickflip, Inc.
  • “Ben is simply terrific. From his great can-do attitude and personality all the way through to the better-than-promised final designs, I enjoyed the entire process. With an eye for design, but still a sharp head for the "business realities" and the technical challenges, Ben both surprised and delighted me with his work. Definitely recommended.”
    - Surya Yalamanchili, Dir. of Marketing, LinkedIn
  • “Ben put together a first class design at ProBlogger.net. Perhaps the best thing I can say about it is that I get weekly emails from readers saying how much they like it and many asking where they can download the template. He's innovative, creative and helped take my blog to the next level.”
    - Darren Rowse, Problogger.net