Entering the Mobile Sector with Sokol Blosser and Aeries Development

Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, the mobile web market has exploded in annual triple digit growth to become a multi-billion dollar industry with increasing smartphone and tablet options for consumers. Some sources even say that now 1 in 5 Internet users do NOT access the web with a "traditional" computer.

cascade has officially jumped into mobile web development and has slick new mobile site for Aeries Development and optimized form for Sokol Blosser!

Sokol Blosser was in need of a "cool" way for users to sign-up for their e-newsletter when handling Sokol Blosser's new iPads in the tasting room or at an event. When building the mobile form, we made several aesthetic changes (i.e. larger fonts and fields, field title overlays) and accounted for the variety of formatting differences between mobile devices, and the orientation of the devices (i.e. whether you're holding the device horizontally or vertically).

Aeries Development required an entirely new website fully optimized for mobile devices. If you view their site on your computer and then on your mobile device, the visual differences are slight. This is because the largest pain point of viewing their previous, non-optimized site on a mobile device was the time it took for the pages to load. Since the majority of their work is visually displayed, this was a large issue. By altering the way images and content were rendered, we vastly decreased loading time and provided a more efficient user experience. Other adjustments were also made to improve navigation both on the home and internal pages.

Here are a few items to consider when optimizing your site for mobile devices:

1. How should navigation be altered? - The vast majority of mobile devices' navigation is driven by touch. Therefore, your main navigation and buttons used throughout the site must be adjusted for fingers (accounting for skinny and fat figures should definitely be a consideration...no joke). Here few examples of issues you might want to look for: buttons/links that are too close to one another, buttons/links that are too small to pinpoint with your finger, and if buttons/links can be easily identified as such.
   
2. Screen size - Websites are normally designed to account for anywhere between 640 and 1280+ pixels. Mobile devices are obviously much, much smaller. Therefore, more often then not you'll need to reconsider the way your website navigation and page content is displayed (i.e. most websites switch from horizontal to vertical navigation during optimization). This can also include "cutting the fat" or removing some non-essential main navigation items and content since your "real estate" on a mobile screen is limited.
   
3. Loading time - Although mobile loading speeds have improved over the past few years, the load speed for bringing up a non-optimized site is leagues behind that of a traditional computer. There are however many ways to get around this snag. Some easier than others. This is usually determined on a case-by-case scenario.
   
4. Flash - Steve Jobs, why are you so stubborn?
   

Please contact us if you're interested in learning more about mobile optimization and/or want to explore this opportunity with your current site.

Three New Websites by cascade

Here at cascade, we've had some pretty interesting clients recently: an ancient order of monks, insiders in the precious stones market, and a winery that encourages drinking by the light of the full moon. We dig it.

Trappist Abbey Book Bindery is owned and managed by Trappist monks, whose traditions have been past down for over 900 years. In a cloistered environment, this small abbey provides the utmost care and detail in their work. To visit their site, click here.

cascade has helped this traditional business by better connecting them with their modern clients through developing an online order system using evergreen CMS. This new system allows the Book Bindery to track each order to completion directly on their evergreen menu.

Dolce prides itself on providing customers with exclusive jewels, handcrafted into wearable works of art. With a team of top quality designers and an owner who has access to the world’s finest gemstones, Dolce provides unparalleled exclusivity in jewelry production.

Along with web designer Whalen Louis, cascade provided Dolce with a website that could deliver a high level of design while including powerful features such as artist management, online storefront, and product management. Click on the picture above about to learn more.

Ardiri Winery and Vineyards offers customers a delectable selection of wines grown in the Willamette and Napa Valleys, which are served at their beautiful tasting room in Washington County Oregon. Wine purchase and information on events rental is available from their evergreen powered website.

With a newly remodeled tasting room, cascade and Topaz Design provided the online re-branding necessary to drive traffic to their improved location. Using evergreen, updating photos of the new facility, managing orders, and scheduling events have been made easy. Visit our portfolio to see for yourself!

cascade Adds a New Team Member

Last week we added a new member to the cascade team. Nick Woolsey is joining us this summer as an intern before heading to Japan to work abroad. Nick just received his MBA from Willamette University and has extensive experience working/studying overseas, specifically in Japan. I ran Nick through the gauntlet of rookie questions, and here is what he had to say:


First job - Swamper at Polehn Farms. Not for the faint of heart. I worked in a cherry orchard riding around in a tractor, picking up 25lb buckets of cherries, and pouring those cherries into bins. 104 degree heat, 10-12 hours a day, those buckets get heavy pretty fast!

Last movie you saw in the theater - Sadly...Hangover 2. It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

Dream aspirations as a kid - I wanted to be a geologist!

If you could be any superhero, who and why - Man, I am going to have to geek out...Goku from Dragonball Z. He can teleport to anywhere in the universe, fly, harness the power of the universe in a huge bomb, and his power level is OVER 9000!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBtpyeLxVkI)

Free trip to anywhere in the world, where and why - Absolutely Mongolia! My college roommate was from Mongolia, and it sounds awesome! Not a very hospitable place in terms of climate, but it has a very rich culture. I taught myself to throat sing too!

Ever been in a fight, if so, who started it - Well, through middle school I'd be in schoolyard fights all the time. It was all mostly for fun though, we were all into WWF at the time. Oh man, we would imitate all the moves from Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, the Undertaker, D-Generation X. Probably a bad idea hahahaha.

Favorite restaurant in Portland - Al-Amir, the oldest Lebanese restaurant in Portland. Went there for the first time last week for my Moroccan friend's birthday. Big family style meal with all sorts of delectable dishes. It was LEGIT.

Biggest fear - Mosquitoes. Hate those bugs. My uncle took me to Yosemite National Park when I was like 6, forgot the bug spray, and there were so many mosquitoes that I couldn't breathe with out filling my nose and mouth with them. Yea. Hate mosquitoes.

Nickname you had growing up - Nickelodeon. The theme song was "Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick, Nickelodeon," so I heard that quite a few times hahaha.

What attracted you to working at cascade - I'm interested in starting my own new venture using streaming video technology, so learning from Fritz and Ben about how they have developed brandlive was a big plus.

Career goals - I'd like to get into social entrepreneurship. Either starting my own venture, or working with a company that is able to take a social idea and scale it from community based to a model that is effective globally.