Saturday, May 19th, 2012
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TheSevilleClub.com
Client: Dino Perlman, Proprietor SOLLC
The goal of this project was to create a sleek, sexy, and classy online presence for this upscale downtown Minneapolis’s gentleman’s club. I worked closely with The Seville’s owner, Dino Perlman to create a motif he was happy with. This site also features an ambiance creating dynamic MP3 player that helps set an inviting atmosphere while visiting the site.
I also wanted to have fun with the club’s logo and create an opening to the site that would signpost the class and sophistication of this establishment. I used Swift 3-D, a Flash-based vector 3-D object and animation program to allow Grace (the name of the logo), to twirl and sparkle. I also wanted to create marketing assets to entice users to not only re-visit the site, but also head out to the club itself. I used ScreenTime for Flash to create downloadable crosss-platformal screensavers many have already downloaded.
TheSevilleClub.com has a dynamic gallery I created that allows a user to login and upload and edit pictures and galleries. It displays pictures of events, servers, and entertainers. If you visit the site be warned that some of the photos may be a little risqué but always classy.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: PHP & MySql, Flash, Screentime for Flash, Swift 3-D, Audacity, HTML, CSS, Javascript
URL: www.TheSevilleClub.com
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PlatinumRomance.com
Client: PR Productions
I worked for a time with PR Productions a company that owns and operates PlatinumRomance.com an online dating site that has over a million members in its database. Working for PR allowed me to use all of my artistic skill sets as well as a fortunate introduction to PHP programming.
I was hired to re-design the entire motif of their current site, in fact, myself created all of the visual elements utilized on the site. I also was to create an online mascot similar to my own Rudy-Ryu The Dragon. I created, animated, and voiced PR Cupid, a little imp that is forever trying to catch a ‘wascally’ heart. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot with PR. I even was able to save the company money by developing a robust in-house chat room for the site’s members to use.
I used Macromedia Director and its multi-user server technology. I used Lingo, Director’s indigenous programming language, to connect to the site’s vast database of members in order to create a chat experience that evolved from a simple type-and-click version to one that allows you to view the user’s profile whom you are chatting with, invite them to private-chat, and to play Flash-based multi-player games like Tic-Tac-Toe and Connect-4. To my delight, this current version of the chat room is still in use today.
If you want to check out the chat room I built you may have to visit the site and become a member, which would not be a bad thing if you were single ;-)
Features:
Credits: Art & Design by Rudy Rogers
Programming by Dan Cain
Tools: Macromedia Director, Lingo, Flash, ActionScript, Photoshop, Illustrator, HTML, Javascript, PHP
URL: www.PlatinumRomance.com
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P.C.T. Video Store
Client: Self
P.C.T. stands for Physical Control Tactics. I created an instructional DVD series that demonstrates and explains the techniques and tactics I used from my 16yr tenure working as a bouncer at some of Minneapolis’ hot spots. It is synergetically made up of my experiences at the door as well as my martial arts education with the Minnesota Kali Group.
I created the visual assets as well as the video itself with my Mini-DV camera; starring in, filming, editing, and compiling it into DVD format. All I needed then was a place to distribute it. So I created this site that explains the concepts and contents of the videos, and allows a shopper to purchase through PayPal or under an SSL to my gateway Authorize.net to process credit cards utilizing their AIM (Advanced Integration Method) technology with PHP.
This is an example of a quick and dirty site that only takes me a few hours to set up and make live once a design motif is settled upon. It also utilizes QuickTime technology that displays snippets of video from my DVD series.
* I used DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro and iMovie to create this video series from scratch, and also with the help and assistance of my good friends Jon Baklund, John Arends, and John Fuller (I have a lot of ‘Johns’;-).
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: Quicktime, PHP, HTML, CSS
URL: www.KaliJKD-U.com/pct
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O'Donovan's Irish Pub
Client: Dermot Cowley
O’Donovan’s Irish Pub is a fun, robust, lively, social spot in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. I was given the opportunity by owner Dermot Cowley to re-create his web site, and compared to some of what I had seen of the other local Irish Pub web sites, I wanted to run with it and do things that the others didn’t.
I teamed up with a colleague who is an excellent photographer to take photos of the establishment to enhance the look and feel of the site, as well as give users a sense of the O’Donovan’s atmosphere. This site’s design incorporates a wooden motif that matches the handmade Irish-imported decor.
O’Donovan’s has weekly live bands and events. Seeing the need to keep its fans and regulars in the know, I utilized Screen Time Media’s SWF Desktop to create a dynamic interactive downloadable desktop that allows users to change the motif of their desktop, move assets around by clicking and dragging, visit the site, and most importantly view current and upcoming events from their computer desktop.
I also wanted visitors to the site to feel as if they are actually bellied-up to the bar by incorporating a dynamic MP3 player that plays random bits of contemporary Celtic jams as you click through the site. Visiting this site you can almost, taste the Shepard’s Pie, feel the woodwork as you drum your hands to the energetic melodies, and taste Guinness’s sweet frothy goodness.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Photos by Nina Malanati
Tools: PHP, MySql, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash, ActionScript, SwfDesktop, PhotoShop
URL: www.ODonovans.com
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Nomadic Island Adventures
Client: George Larsen & Vanessa Herbst
I was commissioned to create this site by my long-time friends and colleagues George Larson and Vanessa Herbst. This was a fun and interesting project not because I had cart blanche to design, but they have a unique lifestyle and business they wanted to express through a web site. Half of the year they spend inland the other half they head out to on the high seas of the Virgin Islands on their 32-foot boat named the Eilean Donan. Artists have been able to recapture their muses, and couples have tied the knot in exotic tropical getaways using their services.
They wanted a general informational site that showed pictures of the Eilean Donan, and contained a gallery of destinations in the Virgin Islands. The masthead picture on the site is one that they photographed and provided. They felt it captured the essence of their voyages. I wanted to complement this serene seascape with interactive assets that would cause visitors to the site to be temporarily transported to that destination.
If you visit this site I invite you to close your eyes, relax for a moment, then open them and look into the splash picture on the homepage of the site. Move your mouse over the waves and see if, but for a moment, you are not actually there.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: PHP & MySQL, Flash, HTML, CSS, Javascript
URL: www.NomadicIslandAdventures.com
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MNKali.com
Client: Minnesota Kali Group
The martial arts gym that I belong to, The Minnesota Kali Group, has a web site I built for my instructor Rick Faye and is designed to be both informational as well as an eCommerce site geared to sell various martial arts related products and videos.
This sight highlights a dynamic gallery, an exclusive InstructorsZone, an area for the schools current international instructor base to commune and meet online. This area features an email-like message board that allows one instructor to email another. Instructors can also post articles that can be read both on the main site as well as in the newsletter.
This site’s eCommerce section uses a custom shopping cart engine I built that is populated with inventory entered in by an administrative back-end. Shoppers can purchase items by either PayPal or the gym’s secure gateway with Authorize.net. This ability to process credit cards utilizes Authorize. net’s AIM (Advanced Integration Method) underneath MNKali.com’s Secure Socket Layer to provide a quick, simple, and safe online shopping experience.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Photos by Sara Rubenstein
Tools: PHP, MySql, HTML, CSS, javascript, Photoshop
URL: www.MNKali.com
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Minnesota Martial Arts Academy
Client: Minnesota Martial Arts Academy - Brooklyn Ctr, MN
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: PHP & MySQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash, Photoshop
URL: www.MMAACombatZone.com
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Masters Online
Client: 21st Century Learning - Scottsdale, AZ
The now defunct MastersOnline.com was the spearhead site for the Arizona-based company 21st Century Learning. I was commissioned to redesign a site that was bought by the company to provide general, as well as enrollment information for educators to receive their Masters Degree through the site’s various programs online.
This was my first and last experience with Microsoft’s Front Page. The previous site and its information were created in FrontPage and part of my job was to detangle and reorganize the then current and relevant information into something cleaner and more market precise. This site featured an opening Flash piece to build anticipation for what the company had to offer.
Working with people at 21st Century Learning was one of the best opportunities I have had.
Credits: Design by Rudy Rogers
Tools: Microsoft FrontPage, Flash, HTML, Javascript, PhotoShop, Illustrator
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Language Sprout Learning Center
Client: Rebecca Peres, Proprietor
Language Sprout Learning Center (LSLC) is the brainchild of my client Rebecca Peres. Rebecca owns and operates The Twin Cities area brick-and-mortar LSLC that is a pre-school through junior high language school. LSLC specializes in teaching Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish, and others.
LanguageSprout.com was created as a resource for parents to gain information about her school as well as to be able to enroll their children in her programs. This was a great opportunity for me to learn and integrate OddCast’s interactive Flash-based animated talking avatar technology called Site-Pals. I was able to program the Site-Pal to be a virtual tutor in Spanish for the site’s ParentZone.
The LSLC ParentZone is an exclusive area of the site where a parent can view lesson plans, check progress, print out dynamically created language flash cards, and gain help with pronunciation of vocabulary words in progressive lesson plans through the sites virtual tutor. This site is a lot of fun to work on and has endless potential.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: PHP & MySQL, OddCast Site-Pal technology, HTML, CSS, Javascript
URL: www.LanguageSprout.com
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Kali/JKD Univeristy Online
Client: Self
Kali/JKD University Online is my attempt at merging both of my major skill sets; martial arts and graphic design. The premise of this site is to create an online educational resource for people interested in eclectic martial arts, particularly the late Bruce Lee’s art JKD (Jeet Kune Do), Filipino Martial Arts, Indonesian Martial Arts, the Thai Martial Arts, and others.
This eCommerce site has been largely successful because it has a niche market and is one of the first of its kind using small QuickTime movies to demonstrate individual techniques. This site uses a third-party credit card processor CCBill.com to provide subscription-based memberships.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: PHP & MySQL, Quicktime, HTML, Javascript
URL: www.KaliJKD-U.com
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Jake O'Connor's Public House
Client: Dermot Cowley, Proprietor
Jake O'Connor's Public House is an upscale addition from proprietor Dermot Cowley to the Twin Cities' world-class hospitality scene.
This Public House is all a buzz with the hip locals of Excelsior Bay Minnesota. Jake O'Connor's features authentic Irish cuisine, an extensive wine list, live music, and custom made imported interior design right from the Emerald Isle herself.
This site features many of the same amenities that its sister ODonovans.com has except for the quirky top hat-wearing loon logo crest (ceated by a third-party firm) that I animated using Flash.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: PHP & MySQL, Flash, HTML, CSS, Photoshop, Ilustrator
URL: www.JakeOConnors.com
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GT Urological (ActiCufTM)
Client: GTUrological - MPLS, MN
ActiCuf.com is an informational site for the breakthrough ActiCuf TM Compression pouch that is a disposable undetectable pouch designed to help men treat and manage light to moderate urinary incontinence.
The project was sub-contracted to me from ACI Integrations a now defunct IT firm. I was commissioned to create the look and feel (the “Skin” if you will…) for their client GTUrological. ACI provided the hard-core programming and database management.
Clearly, the client wanted a clean, medical looking site to be the gateway of information for their product. This was a short fun project, which allowed me to only worry about PHP integration with my layout and HTML.
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Media & content by GTUrological
Tools: PHP & MySQL, HTML
URL: www.ActiCuf.com
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Edison High School House 4 (Site Proposal)
Client: Priscilla Havens, Educator Edison High Sch. - Mpls, MN
The now defunct Edison High School House-4 design was commissioned by my wife for potential use by faculty, students, and parents this Minneapolis Public School. At the time the staff was divided into units called “Houses” her house was House-4. They were part of the ESL program at Edison.
The goal of this site was to provide a gateway for users to access and track both assignments, and progress. Teachers would have been able to log into an administrative section to log lesson plans, assignments, and individual student progress. Students would have been able to log in to review class and project requirements, as well as project specifications, and their own progress for the class. Parents would be able to log in to look up their student’s progress reports, as well as assignments, and to commune with educators.
The teachers were enthusiastic and helpful in its development. However, through lack of funding and the change from “Houses” to SLCs (Small Learning Communities), the site was never completed.
To checkout this site click the link below and click on the the teacher named Ms. Havens.
Features:
Credits: Design & Code by Rudy Rogers
Tools: PHP & MySQl, HTML, Photoshop, Illustrator
URL: www.StudioRyu.com/edisonhouse4
