I am so excited to debut my latest web design project, NicoleWedsJPinBeantown.com!
The Story: In high school I met and became good friends with a boy named JP. He and I were in the band together. He acted in the drama club, and I made a fool on stage trying to keep up. He took my sister to the prom. Twice. When I married Hubs in 2003, JP was the videographer that saved our memories on film. This truly saved our backsides because the “photographer” we hired turned into a nightmare of horrible images and missed shots. He went way out of his way to make the video include everything he knew that I’d want, including some video of Hubs and I during high school that I didn’t even know he had available. Soon thereafter, I took off on the AF adventure all over the US while JP took off for LA to make a career of acting and filmmaking. After that, we saw much less of one another, but remained in contact over the computer.
Fast forward to this past Christmas. JP proposed to his beautiful fiance Nicole. Both of them are actors in love with all things theatrical, and their wedding would be no exception. They chose to wed in Boston, and would need a website to keep friends and family up to date on their plans. When they looked online, nothing fit their mold. They didn’t want to look like every other wedding site out there, and they didn’t see anything that worked with their animated personalities without looking immature. They needed help. JP thought of me, and my company, PageLauncher. He sent me an email asking me to help them make their over-the-top website a reality. For the month and a half following this email we exchanged MANY more emails as I constructed their page. I drew cartoons of their soon-to-be family (above), along with a bust-style cartoon of each person in their bridal party. I created a marquee for the top (thinking that these are actors, they would want their name in lights!), and custom coded their entire site to make it look just the way they wanted it to be.
The Launch: Their site went live yesterday, February 1st, in anticipation for the mailing of their Save the Dates. Their family and friends gave rave reviews. To me, the best of these were the ones that said “this site is SO you!” because they told me that I’d met my goal of creating a site that honored my friend’s wishes. Then, I am excited to report, that their wedding planner announced their site on HER Facebook profile! I am thrilled with the site. It exceeded the expectations of my clients. It showed my skills as an illustrator, designer, coder, and web developer. It was a lot of work. It was worth it.
Credits: While I did all of the illustration, these drawings wouldn’t look as accurate to their characters without the help (and repeated emailing) of Nicole Cline and JP Sarro. They would tirelessly work with me to make sure that everyone received an accurate portrayal, even when it took several drafts. The web development (including cross-browser agreement, custom coding, spacing, and design) wouldn’t have been possible without hours of support from my very talented friend Allison. As usual, her support and hard work made my creation more polished and professional than I ever could have done on my own.
