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BUSINESS & INDUSTRY
Charlie and Pamela Bowen have been writing and editing for nearly 50 years, working with newspapers and magazines, books, broadcasters and web sites. Now they share what they've learned in a lifetime's love of language. As writing coaches, they work with students, with business people, with aspiring and established authors, with anyone who wants to become more comfortable and more proficient with the language.
Dr. Sanitato was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. His medical career in Cincinnati began in 1984 as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Cincinnati Department of Ophthalmology. In 1992, Dr. Sanitato left the University and began a private practice. During his entire twenty-five year career in ophthalmology, he has specialized in cornea, cataract and refractive surgery.
The idea for this classy Huntington, W.Va., garden center was to create a Web site with an opening screen that looked like the cover to a garden magazine. We used original photos and PhotoShop to create distinctive headlines and titles. The plan is that the site will be regularly updated -- just like a magazine -- reflecting the changing seasons, the new challenges in the garden and the latest products available in the garden center itself. The site also will be a storehouse of planting and growing wisdom from local garden guru Mark Springer. The magazine cover concept is original with Design by Bowen, and while it was created specifically for Lavalette Nursery, we look forward to experimenting with variations on the theme with other clients in the near future.
Since 1934, Huntington Realty Corp. has been in the business of acquiring, developing, and leasing all types of real estate throughout the United States. The company's primary focus is in working with businesses, franchisees, land owners, and institutional investors to identify, acquire, and oversee all aspects of development, construction, and land or building management activity. James St. Clair and his son, Sam, apply their asset management skills to serving the needs of clients and shareholders.
When Dave and Yvonne Ball launched their new catering business, one of their first stops was Design by Bowen, where they requested a unique look for their brand new Web site. Since catering is perhaps the ultimate HAND-icraft, we decided to give their site the look and feel of a simple, elegant drawing, complete with a canvas-like background texture on the front page. We then went with simple, bright colors that would compliment, rather than distract from the message. And the site was designed to grow with the business. We're pleased with the tasty results.
For Goodwill Industries of Huntington, we tried a new approach on web design. Instead of having multiple "inside" pages with addition information, we designed this site to have essentially only one page -- the front -- using javascript and CSS to have windows that pop open and close with additional information. It leads to a very clean, compact design that serves them well.
Despite being a very high-tech local eye care center, Tri-State was slow to come to the Web. A challenge, then, was to help Doctors Chris and Bill Ratcliff catch up quickly. They also wanted a Web that's literally "easy on the eyes," with an effective use of colors, graphics and especially readable typefaces. To that end, we created special collages for each page in the site, used black on white for all the text displays and chose soothing borders to off-set the type.
G&G Nursery is a wholesale nursery and sells mostly within a region stretching from Cincinnati-Louisville to Cleveland east through New York and Long island to Boston, MA. G&G Nursery, founded fifteen years ago, is owned by the Merritt family, who currently produce shade and flowering trees,shrubs and perennials on 115 acres. The West Virginia climate, fertile Ohio River Valley soil and growing practices allows us to produce plants of the highest quality.
CCF is a warmblood training, boarding, and breeding facility based out of Ona, WV. We currently own two farms with the main training and boarding barn located just off of Howell’s Mill Rd. in Ona, WV. This farm features an indoor arena, an outdoor dressage arena, and individual turnout lots with run-in sheds. CCF’s 97 acre broodmare farm is located just 6 miles east in Milton, WV. Due to our expanding business, a third farm in Ona has been purchased and is currently under construction. Upon completion of the facilities, the boarding and training operation will be moved there.
This well-established Huntington, W.Va., company specializes in Data Management, Office Supplies and Technology Solution needs. They came to use for design of a new look for their web site, emphasizing their popular

 

CULTURE, ARTS & HISTORY
We were extremely honored to be asked by the wonderful museum of art in our hometown of Huntington, W.Va., to revamp its existing Web site. Our approach was to design a sophisticated, deceptively simple home page that could combine standing elements -- such as details on assorted art collections -- with news of new exhibits, events and other activities at the busy, important local institution. The introductory uses a lot of flashy Web tools, like image swapping and hidden layers of text, but does so very subtly so that the emphasis is always on the artwork and the text.
Arts Advocacy of West Virginia is a grass roots non-profit organization representing the state arts community, including (but not limited to) museums, theatre companies, orchestras, dance companies, county arts councils, and individual craftspeople, filmmakers, painters, musicians, potters, teachers, and volunteers. Originally established in 1985, its goals are (1) to provide an effective and unified voice for the arts community of West Virginia and (2) to educate state legislators and policy makers on the need for continued and expanded support of the arts in West Virginia.
Located just two miles from Fifth Street hill on Harvey Road in Wayne County, Heritage Farm Village and Museum is a collection of more than 15 authentically outfitted buildings ranging from a one-room schoolhouse and general store to a blacksmith shop and sawmill. But what many people may not realize is that four antiques-filled homes, the church, the Welcome Center and Heritage Hall are all available for rent at extremely reasonable rates.
Sam St. Clair and the members of the Huntington Electric Trolley Association are proposing creating of a vintage trolley car system in downtown Huntington, W.Va., using this Web site to help spread the word. The site includings the HETA's entire feasibility study, complete with illustrations and charts. The study was presented to Huntington Mayor David Felinton.
Huntington, W.Va., writer Jim Casto regularly costumes himself in the 19th Century apparel of railroad tycoon Collis P. Huntington for historical presentations to schools, civic group, trian enthusiasts and visitors to the city. For his effort, Jim asked us to create a Web site that illustrated his presentations. We decided for a design to create a site that looked like the jacket of a book, with Jim, in costume, on the cover. The site is a companion to Jim's other site, jimcasto.com.
Here's a site we created for those involved in saving and restoring the historic Huntington, W.Va., home of 19th century writer/economist William Hope "Coin" Harvey. Residence at 1305 3rd Avenue is one of Huntington's loveliest houses. The cement stucco home is designed along classical lines with Italianate details. The house was placed on The National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The site has pictures of the house, details of the project and what visitors can do to help in the effort.
The mission of the Hood's Texas Brigade Association is to honor and perpetuate the memory of the members of John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade. Activities include locating graves of Hood's Texas Brigade veterans and placing markers where necessary; maintaining and repairing graves and markers of Hood's Texas Brigade veterans; holding periodic meetings, conferences and/or tours; researching, composing and archiving biographies of all members of Hood's Texas Brigade; creating and perpetuating scholarships and internships at the Confederate Research Center at Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas; and other activities that educate the public on the honorable legacy of Hood's Texas Brigade and its members.
Diana Springer has been creating and selling her artwork for more than 20 years. She specializes in commissioned portraits, usually working from a photograph and other personal information to produce a likeness that not only captures the subject’s appearance but personality as well. A lifelong resident of Huntington, West Virginia, Diana is a graduate of Marshall University. To further her art education, she has also completed numerous art classes and participated in various art workshops with prominent national artists, including Daniel Greene and Mary Whyte. She is also a member of Tri-State Artists Association. Some of her paintings are available at Bodyworks Spa and Gallery in Heritage Village in downtown Huntington.

 

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Representing Cabell County in the West Virginia House of Delegate, Jim Morgan asked us to convert the campaign site we did for him in 2002 into a general legislative site. For the new design, we started with Jim's signature colors -- three different shades of green, highlighted by white. These are the same colors identified with his long-standing Huntington business, Stadium Bookstore, and of course, with nearby Marshall University. We then created a demure, businesslike site that will grow with Jim as he continues legislative career.
The mission of the Huntington Sanitary Board is to provide customers with high quality, cost effective sanitary sewer services by collecting and treating all wastewater generated from Huntington service areas and in accordance with applicable Local, State, and Federal permit requirements.
Region II Planning and Development Council is a council of governments in southwestern West Virginia. Collaborating with shared resources, their goal is to achieve optimal administration of planning and development functions. Council members are elected officials and additional appointees representing 31 units of governments in six counties, Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo and Wayne. Exchange of information and educational opportunities take place at Council meetings with an emphasis on development and regional growth.
For almost 20 years, this non-profit foundation has worked at the beautification of Huntington, W.Va., tackling such monumental projects as the renovation of the historic city auditorium, the remodelling of the near-century-old City Hall and the creation of the city's popular Wall of Fame. It also has become home for the city's own theater group, the 5th Avenue Theatre Company. Our goal was to create a Web site that reflected the taste, style and grace with which the foundation has taken on all its projects.

 

INDIVIDUALS
Author/editor/speaker Jim Casto brought us on board to create a business site that represents his assorted freelance activities. From a design perspective, the site needed to be sophisticated without losing warmth. Bright colors for headlines and related graphics are used to off-set reds and browns of the main text and the basic black background. We also created an "I-man" blue stick figure as an editing mark on the front that is carried throughout the site for effect.
Mack Samples is a tradition upon himself in West Virginia. He is the former registrar and director of admissions at Glenville State College. He also is a highly regarded traditional musician. Along with brothers Ted and Roger and fiddler Buddy Griffin, he has performed with the Samples Brothers Band for more than 30 years. And since 1994, Mack has been writing novels as well, starting with the Corley Malone trilogy in the 1990s. His latest book, Sasebo, introduces a new character, Mason McCabe, who is stationed in Japan during the 1950s. Mack's web site focuses on all of his diverse interests and activities.
Huntington attorney James St. Clair works on the international front assisting lawyers in a number of developing countries. He worked in the post-war Bosnia in 2003, and 2004 found him in South Africa, working with the officials of the Black Lawyers Association. Online, Jim's site provides an overview of his work and, when specific projects are under way, schedules, backgrounders and actual course material for the international studies.
  Carter Taylor Seaton of Huntington, West Virginia, is an author of novels, non-fiction, articles and more. She is also a critically acclaimed artist whose sculptures are prized in galleries across the state and around the country. For Carter, we built a site to showcase all her work, from words to art pieces. It also is a platform for selling her creations.  

 

LIBRARIES
This attractive, easy-to-use site is a happy marriage of consistency and freshness. To that end, we designed the site to have many standing elements, like the jumbo navigation bar and the attractive green green logo. We then built into the mix and plan for regularly changing backgrounds to give a splash of color on pages throughout the site. These backgrounds also reflect the changing seasons, such as colorful leaves in the autumn, budding dogwoods in the spring, pretty ornaments in the winter holiday season and so on. We also sought to capture on the computer screen the look and feel of a printed page, using typefaces that are favored by our brothers and sisters in the print world.

 
Held every two years in Huntington, W.Va.,, the Ohio River Festival of Books draws authors and would-be authors from throughout the country, with, of course, a special emphasis on writers of Appalachia. The site, authorized by the Cabell County Public Library, keeps those interested up to date on schedules, events, speakers and related material.

 

MUSIC & MUSICIANS
The first challenge in designing a site for this most eclectic string band was selecting a distinctive typeface for its name, which then would be used in its logo. We settled on Broadway because it adds a cool 1930s-look to the numbers in the group's unusual name. We also wanted to create the feeling of a press kit with the total online display. And it was important to the guys that the site capture the humor of the group, so the text is filled with jokes and light-hearted put-downs. We used a variation on the cover of the group's latest CD for the overall design of the front. We also linked audio and built in online purchasing options so fans can buy the albums through the Web.
Legendary Appalachian fiddler/radio personality Joe Dobbs wanted a site that would be easy on the eyes and equally easy to navigate. We settled on a simple introductory page using an attractive semi-cirle of rollover icons in the lower screen. The icons can be clicked to reach major parts of the site, including On Radio, On Stage, On Disc and Online. Inside pages accommodate lots of text and pictures in a nicely packaged space so that the user doesn't feel overwhelmed by the volumn of data. The site also is built to be easily expanded and it is structured to fit within the existing Web site created for Joe's music store, Fret 'n' Fiddle of St. Albans, WV.
Invited to give a new look to the Web site of this internationally known music store headquartered in St. Albans, W.Va., we created a look that combines the messages of class and a love for fine craftsmanship. The site's front page uses a collection of collages, randomly chooses a different ne each time the home page is visited. Inside the site, the page structure intentionally echoes the design we created earlier for Joe Dobbs, the business's founder, since Joe's site is now linked from the Fret 'n Fiddle site.
The late Arden Bender and his wife, Carol, made 105 fiddles before he died in January 2007. And during his life, he never sold a single fiddle that he made. Nontheless, these are remarkable instruments. Bender bought only top quality materials for making the instruments. Most of the wood came from Bosnia. No shortcuts were used in making the instruments. After Arden's death in January 2007, his widow, Carol, asked Joe Dobbs of Fret 'n Fiddle in St. Albans, WV, to sell the collection. This site was created to assist in that effort.

 

ORGANIZATIONS & SERVICES
St. John's Episcopal Church of Charleston traces its roots back to 1827, the Right Reverend William Meade, Bishop of Virginia, traveled across the mountains into what is now West Virginia. The first Saint John's Episcopal Church, a brick building on the northwest corner of Virginia and McFarland streets, was built and consecrated in 1839. After its use by the Union Army during the Civil War, the building was repaired and refurbished. In 1888, the congregation moved into its present structure. The adjacent parish house was completed in 1928. The buildings have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. These are four congregations of the Methodist Church on the southern side of St. Vincent. We were invited by Rev. William St. Clair to create a site that would serve all four with a single online location. Bill is a commissioned Elder with the West Virginia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Fresh from seminary, his assignment to the Kingstown/Chateaubelair Circuit is Bill’s first appointment in full-time ministry. Prior to being called to pastoral service with the Church, Bill practiced law for 16 years in West Virginia.
The Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia was formed from the Diocese of Virginia in late 1877 and includes all Episcopal churches in the state. he Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer is the seventh, and current, bishop. The Diocese of WV is made up of nine Deaneries that each consist of several churches. Episcopal Church in West Virginia is significantly involved in outreach programs throughout the state.
Nestled in a valley near historic Romney, West Virginia, Peterkin Camp and Conference Center -- operated by the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia -- boasts 1,400 acres of unsurpassed natural beauty, with clean mountain streams and miles of hiking trails. Peterkin offers a refuge of serenity amid the stress and hectic pace of our everyday lives, a place that encourages us to relax and reconnect with nature by enjoying outdoor activities such as trout fishing, hiking, swimming and tennis. The quiet wooded coves are perfect for quiet times of meditation and relaxation. Taking a ‘time out’ at Peterkin is sure to bring regeneration to body, mind and spirit.
This Boyd County, Ky., organzation exists to own and operate a permanent common space (the Neighborhood) so exterior volunteers from multiple service agencies can improve convenient access and efficiency to support the homeless and very low to moderate income families in the Greater Ashland/Boyd County community. Among its partners are Community Assistance and Referral Service (CAReS), River Cities Harvest, Inc, The Dressing Room operated by Federated Charities, Ashland Community Kitchen, Inc and Ashland Area Presbyterian Ministries.		 The oldest religious facility in Harrison County to continuously host the same denomination, Christ Episcopal Church in Clarksburg is a recognized landmark in West Virginia. Prior to the completion of construction in 1854, the Episcopal Church was present in Clarksburg but lacked a permanent home and continuing services of a resident clergy. Serving churches in Clarksburg and in Bridgeport, W.Va., the site shares information about the churches with their parish family, community and those in the area seeking a place to worship.
This unique conference center and retreat, located 15 minutes from Wheeling, WV, is operated by the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia. The original 1852 structure features magnificent lodging and dining facilities adjacent to the Campbell House conference center. Sandscrest is available to all religious denominations and non-profit organizations for one or two day retreats, conferences, workshops and celebrations.
Christ Church Fairmont is a family parish with a rich history. The church is a large, older building with character. The character of the parish includes respect for one another, family focus, rich music, and outreach. The congregation congregation in Fairmont dates from the early 1850s. Today the arish lists 153 communicants in 69 households with an average Sunday attendance of 57.
Originally, the mission of the SADD chapter was to help young people say
St. Mark's Episcopal Beverley Hills Presbyterian Church St. Matthews Episcopal Church