Expression Engine Web Development, Design and Consulting Services : City Zen, LLC.

Overview

Just Roughin’ It is a tour company located in Chandler, AZ that specializes in world class outdoor adventures throughout the West. In our first meeting, they were convinced they wanted a WordPress site but after revealing they had been waiting on another agency to finish their new WordPress site for almost a year, I discussed the benefits of Expression Engine. They were sold (partly due to the fact that we were the only agency that discussed other options than WordPress) and we started working.

The site was redesigned to maintain the rugged look and feel (as well as a sense of humor) as to avoid looking like a template website. We migrated the site to Expression Engine and created a much easier to manage interface for Ray and Debbie with room to accommodate new locations in their four primary trips. Our final step was to migrate their blog from yet another WordPress install and create user level permissions so they can manage their content on many different levels among several users.

Things we did

3rd Party API Integration
Consulting
Design
Development
Expression Engine Custom Development
Expresson Engine

Launch website

Mike is well versed in a wide variety of technologies and was able to quickly assess our project needs, translate it into non-tech speak and make recommendations to improve the usability and messaging on the Web sites.
Kristi Zappie-Ferradino - National Mentoring Partnership

Overview

The National Mentoring Partnership has been a long time partner with City Zen. We built their first custom Content Mangement System and later migrated their site to Expression Engine. Over the past five years we have worked closely with Mentor on projects ranging from small microsites to integrating multiple websites into their base Expression Engine install.

Things we did

3rd Party API Integration
Consulting
Design
Development
Expression Engine Custom Development
Expresson Engine

Launch website

Overview

The National AIDS Fund was founded in 1988 to reduce the incidence and impact of HIV/AIDS by promoting leadership and generating resources for effective community responses to the epidemic. Through its unique expanding network of Community Partnerships, NAF supports over 400 grassroots organizations annually which in turn provide HIV prevention, care and support services to underserved individuals and populations most impacted by HIV/AIDS including communities of color, youth and women.

City Zen was hired for ongoing development and consulting work to support the existing donation management system. We managed a full content and design transition from a hybrid WordPress/static page website to Expression Engine. We also integrated a new donation management system and front end processing with a custom Expression Engine donation campaign manager to track donations through custom channels.

Things we did

Consulting
Design
Development
Expression Engine Custom Development
Expresson Engine

Launch website

Overview

With more than eight million albums sold, five No. 1 hits on Billboard's radio charts a blockbuster film and four chart topping albums to his name - including the top selling Latin album of the decade and the top selling Latin urban artist of the decade according to Billboard Magazine (2010), Daddy Yankee is the single most relevant Latin urban artist in the world.

City Zen was hired to develop the iTunes LP for his newest release, Mundial. The LP, a new initiative by Apple to offer a more feature-rich music experience, includes the ability to listen to the album, watch a video for Grito Mundial, catch some behind the scenes footage, view photos in both slideshow and fullscreen, as well as browse Daddy Yankee's discography. The development for the iTunes LP is done on Apples TuneKit Framework and makes heavy use of Webkit.

Upon release of the Mundial iTunes LP on April 27, 2010, it rose straight to the number one position on the iTunes Latino charts.

Things we did

Consulting
Development

Launch website

We have worked with many developers over the years and Mike is one of the few that can actually understand the requirements of a project from a high level. He has the ability to communicate complex solutions in a way that both technical and non-technical people can understand.
Mike Swan - Liberty Interactive Marketing

Overview

Ben Franklin Institute (BFI) offers different levels of clinical training through continuing education conferences, online courses and expert DVD’s. Prior to launching the new site, BFI was divided into three different websites: one for conferences, one for online courses and one for their expert DVDs, videos and audio books. Our challenge was to bring all of these concepts together in one cohesive website to streamline content and user management.

We used Expression Engine to build an e-commerce platform that could sell all types of goods, conference tickets, exhibitor booth space, downloadable audio courses, online video courses and DVDs for delivery. We created a powerful user management system that would allow conference speakers and exhibitors the ability to upload assets for conferences, cutting out a significant amount of work and confusion for BFI.

Things we did

3rd Party API Integration
Consulting
Development
Expression Engine Custom Development
Expresson Engine

Launch website

Overview

Pure Gear is a leading online retailer for mobile device accessories. Their product line includes accessories for iPhone, Blackberry, Motorola and HTC to name a few. We were hired, once again, by our friends at The Kitchen Collaborative to help refresh the Pure Gear design and brand by implementing a new Magento skin as well as an Expression Engine based blog. We included some cross integration allowing the client to update content in the cart from the EE administration area.

Things we did

Consulting
Development
E-Commerce
Expresson Engine
Magento Development

Launch website

Overview

The purpose of the Children's Advocacy Centers of Georgia (CACGA) is to promote, assist, and support the development, growth, and continuation of Children's Advocacy Centers in the state of Georgia.

As a long time vendor for CACGA, City Zen was approached in the fall of 2009 to completely redesign the CACGA website. The purpose of the redesign was to focus on the accessibility of the organization for volunteers and donors. We developed a Google Map API integration that allows CACGA to manage their centers, including the ability to search via counties, districts and circuits for quick access. The site also includes a robust members area to distribute notifications and documents to the board members and centers.

Things we did

Consulting
Design
Development
Expresson Engine

Launch website

Overview

XCVI Wearables is a Los Angeles based clothing company that started in 1996 (XCVI in roman numerals for those that missed that day of school).

We were hired to produce the website using Expression Engine as the Content Management System. We implemented a corporate blog along with several other sections of the site that can be managed by Expression Engine, including a looks catalog that is updated each season with clickable pagination and thumbnails of new products. In conjunction with the website, we also developed a custom Constant Contact email marketing template.

Things we did

Consulting
Development
Email Marketing
Expresson Engine

Launch website

Having worked with City Zen several times now since 2006, I know first hand I can expect my needs to be met, even surpassed, every time.
Dewey Morris - Alpha Kappa Alpha

Overview

We have worked with Alpha Kappa Alpha for several years in supporting their various events and website projects. Our most recent project was to create a website for their 65th Annual Boule located in San Francisco, CA. We designed a site built on Expression Engine that would authenticate against their main website and pull data from their event registration site allowing members to view activities, agendas and other event-specific information. We also created a mobile version that would allow users to pull up a barcode at the event to expedite registration and badge printing.

Things we did

3rd Party API Integration
Consulting
Design
Development
Expression Engine Custom Development
Expresson Engine
Mobile

Launch website

Overview

Buy It Build It Inc. is the most convenient online interactive shopping experience in the building industry. They offer thousands of products that include natural stone, tile, countertops, sinks, faucets, and heated flooring. Not only the easiest browsing experience, but by leveraging their National buying power, they can offer their clients the most competitive wholesale pricing on both products and shipping. Due to the complex nature of this online store, we developed a fully custom shopping cart and administrative back end.

Things we did

Consulting
Development
E-Commerce
Magento Development

Launch website

Overview

Make-Up Designory (MUD) is a make-up school and cosmetics line.

City Zen was hired to help develop their new blog, create two custom MySpace pages, a custom YouTube channel and support ongoing email marketing campaigns. For the blog, we used Expression Engine and integrated an image lightbox to showcase image details within the content. As the brand and sites grow, we continue work with The Kitchen Collaborative to expand features and ensure scalability.

Things we did

Consulting
Development
Email Marketing
Expresson Engine

Launch website

Overview

Hillstone Restaurant Group operates upscale/casual dining establishments, with brands including Houston's, Bandera, R+D and Gulfstream restaurants.

Working with Creative Director Chris McConachie of Lemon Chicken, City Zen was hired for ongoing consulting and development. Some of the tasks at hand have included mobile platform consulting as well as integration of a Google checkout system for purchasing gift cards.

Things we did

Consulting
Development
E-Commerce

Launch website

Overview

Slash is the debut solo album by former Guns N' Roses and current Velvet Revolver guitarist, Slash. The album was produced by Eric Valentine and features multiple musicians including four of the five members of the Appetite for Destruction era Guns N' Roses lineup: Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. Vocalist Axl Rose is the only member of that lineup absent from the Slash line-up.

City Zen was hired to design and develop the product landing page and integrate the Topspin Mediawidgets. We created a modular layout with expandable content areas to accommodate product changes and the ability to quickly mark these limited edition items as sold. The landing page was a success with the limited edition guitars selling out in less than a week!

Things we did

Consulting
Design
Development

Launch website

Overview

Eloquence sells french reproduction furniture in their studio in Los Angeles. Another long time partner, we developed small content management system for them which we later upgraded to Expression Engine to allow them the opportunity to easily integrate e-commerce and more robust content and user management. We created several custom Expression Engine functions to create an easy way for them to manage thousands of hi-res images for their beautiful product shots.

Things we did

Consulting
Design
Development
Expression Engine Custom Development
Expresson Engine

Launch website