Design, Development & Projects
I’ve worked on many different web design and development projects as you’ll see below. I like to work a full process with a new project whatever the size. This means that I spend as much time as possible talking to my clients about what they want to achieve, what other designs they like and where they see that their project fits into the grand scheme of things. I like to get to know my clients and work out what the ultimate goal is for their project before I start to create anything. Good communication is essential for a successful and fruitful project.
The pre-build process i follow includes wireframing, moodboards, user journeys, information architecture and as much visual input from my clients as I can get. It don’t expect my clients to have strong design skills, but I need to understand what they like and don’t like.
Here are some examples of my web design work.
- Cerise UK Constant Contact Newsletter template build
- Cerise UK WordPress blog build
- Saatchi Global site project management
- BBC build and project management
- Zenways.org WordPress design and build
- LikeCube pitch
- LikeCube design and build
- E Health Plus Mediawiki and WordPress design and build
- António Abernú WordPress design and build
- Just Oxfordshire WordPress design and build
- Strange Folk Moveable Type build
- Roots Manuva design and build
Cerise UK Constant Contact newsletter template build
I built a newsletter in Constant Contact for Cerise UK from a design by TT Design. The newsletter was coded to cater for email clients and was then imported and tweaked in Constant Contact’s own content management system. It was also thoroughly tested.
Cerise UK WordPress theme
I have built many WordPress sites and was asked by TT design to interpret a blog design for Cerise UK into a WordPress theme
Saatchi Technical Project Management
I was contracted by Saatchi & Saatchi to work on their own website rollout. They already had a bespoke content management system which they intended to roll out cross as many territories as possible. I project managed the conversion and launch of several Saatchi’s sites during my tiem there.
BBC Project Management and Build
During my time at the BBC I was involved in many projects, from the relaunch of BBC Radio 3′s website in 2000 to the launch of the, then, new digital radio station websites: 1xtra, 6music, BBC7 and Asian Network in 2002.
I was also involved in a large pan-BBC project to create a universal toolbar across all the sites which involved recoding every single page of all national Radio & Music websites. I pitched for a budget, employed all the extra staff, and delivered the project on time and under budget. I was given a special notice for this work.
I was also very involved in the launch of the BBC Radio Player. I built the basic shell and handed this over to a member of my team Dawn Budge, to build the remainder of the dynamic code.
I was also manager for the BBC Radio & Music coding team for 5 years, mentoring the team to become a very strong group.
Testimonials
“Rebekah is such a vibrant, fun and highly creative individual and a joy to know.” Daniell Morrisey: HR & Development Manager, BBC Drama (business partner)
“I worked with Rebekah at the BBC for around 6 months and was impressed. She is a hard worker, does a great job and on a rough day her sense of humor makes it all OK!” Mark Maunder (former BBC colleague)
“I highly recommend Rebekah. She is a great team player and leader. Incredibly, smart, highly creative and has an enviable record collection!” Mo Lishomwa: Development Manager, BBC (former colleague)
“Rebekah is a talented, creative leader who formed a team of young developers to deliver fantastic web sites to challenging timescales. Rebekah has a deep understanding of web based technologies and successful delivery of complex projects. All this is coupled with her amazing sense of humour and she is a pleasure to work with as a colleague.” Huw Williams: Head of New Media Development, Radio & Music, British Broadcasting Corporation (former colleague)
“Rebekah is unique and refreshing to work with, as she has an incredible ability to make even the longest, darkest jobs, entertaining and educative. She is tremendously supportive and professional as a manager, and infectiously passionate about interactive media.” Suzi Hogg: Senior Designer, BBC (former colleague)
“Becky employed me when I join the BBC. She also managed me for a while. During this time she helped me develop and trusted enough in my abilities to allow me to take risks that have been instrumental in changing the way we work.”Duncan Robertson (Ponting): Web Developer, BBC Radio & Music (former colleague)
“I found Rebekah’s sense of professionalism and energy a big inspiration. Not only did she propagate this to those she managed, but also people from different departments. Her work is always to the highest standard and well thought-out and delivered. A much missed colleague. Rebekah would be a huge asset for any organisation.”Andy MacLarty: Technical Infrastructure Manager, BBC (former colleague)
“Becky is a highly creative jack-of-all trades; she has a great understanding of, and facility with, the main technical issues around new media combined with artistic flair, sensibility and skill, as well as an enthusiasm and drive to lead people and teams. She’s also great fun to work with and was always very popular; not least in the great team she created and ran.” Dan Hill: Head of Interactive Technology and Design, BBC Radio & Music (former colleague)
“Becky was my line manager for 3 years in this time she helped me in every way to develop my management skills. She trusted me to get on with things, take risks and learn from my mistakes, the best approach any boss can take. Becky had a fantastic personality and would always make the working environment an enjoyable one to be in. She is very creative and would always go the extra mile to improve things for the team. As a team leader she has been a great inspiration to me, and I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today without her support.” Helen Pickford: Senior Client Side Developer, BBC (former colleague)
“It was a pleasure to work with Becky for 6 years at Radio and Music Interactive. Becky’s a bright, hard working and inspirational individual. She developed and managed one of the strongest teams at Radio and Music Interactive, and in doing so successfully delivered on numerous high profile projects. A hugely talented individual and a great asset to any team.” Louise Ventris: Design Manager, BBC (former colleague)
Transitiontradition.com
Transition Tradition is a magazine-based website for recently graduated students who are making that transition to work. I designed and then built the skin in Drupal.
Zenways.org
Julian Daizan Skinner is the only accredited Zen Master in Europe and I’m proud to say is my Yoga teacher. Having got to know Julian quite well and from hearing about his wonderful experiences in Japan I got a good idea about what he wanted from his site and how to convey his personality through the design.
He already had a website but it was out of date and needed to be organised in a way that was easier for him to update and for his visitors to obtain information about his classes and what he was offering. I built his site in WordPress, adding several plug ins to customise the site and designed a theme that was personal to Julian. I also taught him how to use the new system which he found very easy.
Testimonial
“Rebekah approached designing my website like an artist. She analysed the visual style of my field (Zen) and drew out of it a design that is both contemporary and yet retains echoes of the tradition. She spent a lot of time with me discussing my needs before she started. She presented me with several designs, one of which really felt right. The system she recommended has proven easy to use and she spent time with me explaining how to use it. I’ve had a number of compliments on the website and I’m particularly happy that Rebekah has designed it in such a way that the site can grow and develop along with my work.” Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, Zen Master
LikeCube Pitch
One of my absolute favourite types of work is helping companies with pitches. As I understand user journeys and information architecture, I relish the chance to work on pitch mock-ups for internet services.
I have recently worked with LikeCube Ltd, an internet recommendations service which offers highly accurate search results based on the volume of user interaction and resulting recommendations. LikeCube have been pitching to several high-end leisure websites with their service. I helped them prepare a number of detailed graphics, demonstrating the user journeys and integrating LikeCube’s service into the prospective websites.
Testimonial
“Rebekah Ford designed a very distinctive web site for LikeCube. We liked the way she gathered our requirements and found the right identity in few simple iterations. In particular, our core idea of cubes is communicated powerfully, yet subtly. Rebekah worked hard, met all our deadlines and is fun to work with.” Daniele Turi, LikeCube Ltd
LikeCube’s Website
Likecube Ltd are a recommendations service pitching to high-end sites in the leisure sector. I worked with LikeCube to produce the client-side interface for their working demo that they show to their prospective clients. Their design is based around the concept of each user being/owning a cube. I produced several different look and feels for this demo site and many different concepts for the actual cubes themselves. I am unable to show much of the work due to commercial restrictions
Testimonial
“Rebekah Ford designed a very distinctive web site for LikeCube. We liked the way she gathered our requirements and found the right identity in few simple iterations. In particular, our core idea of cubes is communicated powerfully, yet subtly. Rebekah worked hard, met all our deadlines and is fun to work with.” Daniele Turi, LikeCube Ltd
E-Health Plus (Manchester University)
E-Health Plus is a pan-University collaborative initiative for health professionals to share and join in each other’s study, whether it be work on obesity, diabetes, cancer or any other health related studies.
I provided the Manchester team (who were co-ordinating the project) with a blog as a ‘shop front’ for them to announce their latest news and a wiki for the collaborative research work, The design was based around initial explorative work I did with the team about where they placed themselves and what sites they liked to associate with.
I also designed their branding.
Antonioabernu.com
I built and designed a blog for Portuguese actor António Abernú who required a simple site that he could update regularly with news about his work. The site was built in WordPress which he has found easy to update. I also translated some of the raw WordPress code to Portuguese such as the search and edit functions.
Testimonial
“What i would like to highlight in Rebekah’s work is the way that she managed and developed my complicated ideas. She is an asset in the digital world, she transformed the ideas into a simple, attractive and fine form, making the site viable and functional. I gained so much knowledge and understanding through the help and suggestions that she gave me.”
“O que mais saliento no trabalho da Rebekah foi a forma como ela conseguiu desenvolver a minha complicada ideia. Assim, numa forma atractiva, simples e plástica, torno-a viável e funcional – sendo uma mais valia neste mundo virtual. Além disso a sua disponibilidade, as notas e sugestões que me fez, foram sem duvida uma espécie de lição e aprendizagem para mim.” Antonio Abernu, Portuguese Actor
Just Oxfordshire
Just Oxfordshire was a local community radio station that needed to relaunch it’s branding and it’s website. I took over the existing site and redesigned their branding and reskinned the site
Testimonial
“I would hire Rebekah without hesitation again. Her work on our website has been superb with excellent communication, customer service and creative input. In an industry such as ours, image and functionality is paramount; Rebekah delivered this and so much more.” Andy MacLarty: Just Oxfordshire
Strange Folk
I was asked to design a blog for the launch of a new folk compliation Strange Folk based on the wonderful design of the CD by Zip Design. So I took the main elements of their design and reworked it into the site.
Roots Manuva
I designed and built Roots Manuva’s first website for the launch of his second album: Run Come Save Me. The site is no longer live but I have added some screen shots below.
