The guys over at Revolution are always looking for new ways to make sure that their products can reach far and wide. As they are based in South Africa, and the country being very fresh to internet shopping, they have decided to revert to a modernised version of the “old school” mailorder system where customers are able to browse product online and then place an order through email. This allows them as a company to reach customers without credit card access in small faraway towns while also assisting them to keep costs down which they kindly offer back to their customers which benefits everyone really.

We have just launched the website which we have coded for them by developing a fully customised template theme to be used on a WordPress install. We have also built in some custom features including randomised banner advertising, video spotlights, products of the week banners, latest products display, great search facilities, order forms, main promotion slideshow and then social network sharing of their products.

Visit the site on www.revolutiononline.co.za

A few months back we were contacted by the team at Gro Hair Stylists as they were in dire need of a website update. They were originally running a free website which was not working well for them as it was mostly flash based and they were not getting the traffic that they deserved … especially considering the beauty of their salons and the quality of their work.

We sat down with their brand over-looker, Gabriella, and discussed what the salon is currently working on and what they hope to achieve moving forward. Taking this all into account we set about coding their site based around the WordPress back-end which would allow for them to update the site as they need with new looks, news blogs, new products, service pricing updates and how-to videos.

The site launched just over 2 weeks ago and the viewership has already grown from 320 unique visitors a month to almost 600 since launching.

The salons are beautiful and definitely worth checking out if you are in the South West London area. Have a look at the website on www.grohairstyle.co.uk

We have just completely (for now) working on an incredible project. We were commissions by the group from How To Love London to design and develop an interactive website for them to allow an easy-to-use platform for them to share their gems (special finds) in and around the beautiful city of London.

We used WordPress as the backend for the website and it has just gone live as a first version. We will be working closely with them over the next few weeks to adjust the site as we see necessary depending on what readers request.

We love the idea though … one website with free information of places and things to look out for that show you how to love London. Have a look at the website on www.howtolovelondon.co.uk

Revolution, actually Revolution, is a South African based skateboard company that focuses on the entire lifestyle of skateboarding and pushes the art and music side in such a big and different way. It’s amazing for us when people think out of the box and support the people really involved in the scene.

Revolution can be viewed as an initiative to encourage and initiate change. activist at its core Revolution is about creating, evolving and empowering. We aim to spread a DIY ethos to encourage people to build a better future for themselves. “Invest in yourself” sums it up. Revolution is a brand that encompasses these fundamentals, and using skateboarding, music, and art as a medium through which to we can spread this message on a national scale.

Aesthetically the brand needs to be mature, evolved, clean, urban and contemporary as it’s aimed at a more educated audience or those who are morally motivated and conscious.

You can view the Revolution website on www.revolution.co.za

The Work Process

Revolution as a brand is one of our most exciting and we have felt extremely privileged since the day we started working with them in about 2003. We love what the brand stands for and really agree with the causes that they support.

Since the early days, we have been responsible for the photographs that they have put out for their marketing and to push their skateboard team.

At the end of 2010 we were commissioned to redevelop their entire internet presence so we worked hard to create something that would truly express the brand and then provide the client with the ability to update the site and content freely on a daily basis. We had previously used WordPress as the back-end for the site as they initially had used it as a blog so we completely customized the entire site for them and ensured that the site all links correctly, updating all their previous post links to incorporate into the new site, and really takes advantage of search engines to push their news and content.

The new site incorporates a lot of custom interactive features which ensure the site is constantly fresh. A few of these features include Facebook comments, a calendar which pulls events dates and links from Facebook, banner advertising at different sizes on each page, video of the day feature on the home page and newsletter signup.

Square Services was started in 2010 when a group of experienced freelance contractors decided that they needed a “face” to represent their workforce. The company is headed up by Ish who, himself, has years of professional experience hanging on his belt.

When you use a Square Services engineer or one of their specialist trade teams, you can relax in the knowledge that they are fully accredited in their field of expertise, well presented, arrive on time, courteous, knowledgeable and helpful – and that they will get the job done to the highest professional standards.

You can view the Square Services website on www.squareservices.co.uk

The Work Process

We were contacted by Ish, the owner of Square Services, to come up with a logo and corporate identity that he could use to step the brand up to the next level. We sat down together and threw ideas around regarding colours that he liked and agreed that the brand needed to be really clean to stand out from the “cheap” look of competing plumbing agencies.

We worked on a few ideas and then came up with the logo that both us and the client really liked. The idea was to have a square because of the name and then use the first two letters of the word square which also stand for the measurement which the company would use a lot. The idea worked well and we followed this up by creating and printing square shaped business cards and flyers to tie the brand together.

The next phase was to create a website that the company could use to promote their services as well as use as a platform to update with interesting news / content related to their field of trade. We ensured that this was developed correctly and the team trained to ensure that they get the best SEO value out of their postings.

After working with Revolution for the last 7 years we sat down with the guys to discuss moving forward. The site started off as a simple static 3 pager to supply information only on the brand but it grew rapidly being upgraded along the line to run on a WordPress backend so that they could log articles monthly … this became weekly and then daily and they have over 1000 individual articles in the database and a monthly minimum of 5000 unique users.

We completely rethought the idea behind the site and it has now been redeveloped into a skateboarding online resource and we have just gone live. We are excited to see the site grow and develop further.

The site now incorporates featured articles along with category specific pages for Skate, Music and Art. It also has a daily video placement, a fully working events calendar linked up to their facebook events and advertising / promotion banners around the site that they can control and manage with ease.

Visit the site on www.revolution.co.za

We were extremely excited when the Verb family asked us to be apart of what they were doing and we got cracking on the back-end of their website so that it could be ready for their tight-deadline launch today. The site was developed around WordPress so that the crew can update the site with content and news on a daily basis with ease but we provide them with additional support on a weekly basis for larger changes that they need.

We love working with these guys and what they represent and it’s amazing working with them.

Visit their website on www.weareverb.com

Catherine Chater is an amazing make up artist based in London and she has worked closely with Marcus Maschwitz on photographic assignments so it is a privilege for us to announce the launch of her own portfolio website so that she can showcase some of the work she has been involved in.

The site has been designed and developed to work on the WordPress backend so that Catherine can update the news section as well as portfolio sections herself making sure that her work is constantly up to date.

You can visit her site on www.catherinechater.com.

Earlier this month we were commissioned to design and develop a website / portfolio showcase for Artistic Autobody which we were excited to be involved in because of the quality of their work.

The website brief outlined that the site needed to be simple yet effective in showcasing their brand of work as well as allowing them to easily update the site themselves with news of what is happening with in their company including updates on projects they are working on.

We really like the way that this one came out and look forward to seeing some of the new cars that these guys work on.

You can visit their website on www.artisticautobody.co.za

Jonathan Sherwood is an amazing illustrator and we have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him for years so it was a great pleasure when he commissioned us to work on his online presence. Jonathan works under the alias name of Sir Merlin and really has a good collection of art behind his name.

The site has been developed around WordPress and customized according the the brief that we were given allowing for individual portfolio showcases as well as day to day blogging with a twitter feed.

It has been an amazing project for us to be involved in and we are excited that there is now a place dedicated to Jon’s work.

You can view his website on http://www.sirmerlin.com

To start the new year off we have launched the website for RSS Distribution which is an amazing skateboard distribution company based in South Africa owned and run but really nice people.

It’s always a pleasure working with the RSS crew and we enjoyed this project from start to finish. We were commissioned to set up the content management system for the site and then developed the site according to their brief. We really like the way the site looks so clean and is filled with content.

You can visit the website on www.rssdist.co.za

Things here at the Melon offices have extremely busy and we have taken a lot of strain trying to get some stuff up here for you to see as we concentrate on our clients deadlines instead as this is obviously more important for us.

Let me break the silence from our side by introducing you to the latest website that we completed and went live with last week. The website back-end is worked around WordPress and customized so that the client can update news on a daily basis allowing visitors to navigate through news, team, video, product and distribution information while being allowed to comment and provide feedback on each of the posts.

Visit their website on www.killertruckco.com

We have just completed and gone live with a website that we are really excited about. NSR MTB contacted us a while back to commission us to create the first fully dedicated South African Mountain Bike online resource. It has been quite a journey but everything is now in place and already their news and information is rolling in.

Visit their site on www.nsrmtb.co.za

NSR MTB, actual name “No Spandex Required Mountain Biking”, is an online magazine focusing entirely on mountain bike news, events, products, reviews and information for South Africa.

The magazine is completely free to use and they do it because they love it.

You can view the NSR MTB website on www.nsrmtb.co.za

The Work Process

We were contacted to create and develop the site and back-end structure for the website which we took and had a lot of fun working on. The site is based on the WordPress back-end which enables the client to update the content with ease as well as manage all comments that come in from readers. Once we had installed WordPress and customized the back end, we worked on the front skin so that it looks attractive and works for them.