www.pittvet.com.au
Like the sites for many small businesses, this is primarily a branding exercise. The main goal is to reinforce the perception held by Pittwater Animal Hospital's existing clientel that they and their pets are receiving the most professional, knowledgeable and modern service available.
   As far as appearance goes, Bryn asked for something I hadn't unexpected. He said, make it uncluttered and loose. Because HTML is based on tables, it's hard to avoid the linear look common to just about every website out there. I decided to go for an asymmetrical layout using funky fonts and simple cartoons, which would also appeal to younger pet owners. Since the hospital had just been repainted, inside and out, I felt the new colour scheme should be incorporated.
   I also employed a few search engine optimisation techniques. Try typing paralysis tick into Google or Bing.

Dr Bryn Lynar, Pittwater Animal Hospital
“Despite my initial reservations about going online, your production has exceeded all my expectations and resulted in a site which is informative, entertaining and easy to use. I really appreciated your attention to detail in the text, graphics and photographs, resulting in page after page of well laid-out and accurately researched facts. The text is very easy to read and, because of the enormous amount of research you did, will no doubt impress anybody who visits.
   “The site is far superior to the majority of veterinary sites on the Web, and I think it is an outstanding advertisement for my practice. Gary, although I may not have fully appreciated all your clever technical tricks, I really have appreciated your patience and continual good humour throughout the job, in spite of my often slow responses to your e-mails and frequent work distractions. Thank you for a great site.”

www.narrabeenfamilymedical.com.au
For some years general practitioners have been required to follow official guidelines when preparing promotional material, traditionally DL leaflets. A combination of limited space and little regulatory leeway made such material pretty much indistinguishable from one practice to another.
   Oddly enough, the same is now true for most general practice websites, despite all the space available to describe the facilities, services and experience of the clinicians. Which makes these sites as useless as the DL leaflets had been for visitors trying to determine the suitability of one practice versus another.
   Dr Nick Bernard semed to appreciate the distinction. When I first sent him links to an online mockup, his e-mail replies included these words: "absolutely awesome," "blown away," "really thrilled."

www.eyesurgeonsmiranda.com.au
My first contact with Eye Surgeons Miranda was an e-mail from Adrian's wife, Dr Grace Hunt. She wrote, “I like your websites. Have been using the Pittwater Vet one even though I live at the other end of town (and a have a relative who is a vet). Text, functionality - great.
   “My husband is in the process of setting up a specialist practice and I am going to get him to check out your site as he will require a web presence. You may hear from him soon.” I did, the next day.
   Since the practice was brand new, we started by differentiating Eye Surgeons Miranda from other local ophthalmology practices. At the same time we wanted to attract the kind of challenging cases that would most benefit from Adrian's unique knowledge and training.
   Because Adrian had decorated his office spaces to celebrate the Australian landscape, I proposed a wide palette of representative Aussie colours for his website. He was so taken with the design that he asked me to do his letterhead, business cards and other stationery. I was happy to.

Dr Adrian Hunt, founder/principal
“When I started thinking about a website, I collected lots of ideas from other sites, brochures and booklets. After amassing a huge pile of disparate snippets of information, I realised I needed a better approach. I contacted Gary and was empowered to start making some decisions rather than just collating and rearranging other peoples ideas.
   “It was refreshing and also much easier to take the approach Gary employs. Gary has such persistence and enthusiasm. He went out of his way to research and understand my business. When everything else was building up on my plate, Gary continued towards the goal of completing the website.
   “I really appreciated his ability to offer opinion based on his advertising background. What the message was and how best to convey it rather than what Flash buttons we should use. With Gary the focus is on communication but at the same time he delivers a clean, beautiful and functional website.”

www.moggieanddoggie.com.au
Janice needed a site that would convince prospective customers to avail themselves of her service. When we sat down to work out a strategy, I was impressed by her marketing savvy; she really understands the value of promotion. I was also somewhat surprised to learn she employs a team of some 15 pet minders/dog walkers - a pretty strong selling point. As a dog owner myself, I suggested that what pet owners wanted most of all was the credible reassurance that their animals would be well cared for. Hence the prominence of testimonials, starting with the home page headline. (In time she would ask me to design a new Leaflet.)

www.tuscompanymuaythai.com.au
Tu is the partner of Janice Bates, my Moggie & Doggie client. Because Tu's Company had only recently started up, their marketing budget was limited. Initially, they were looking at nothing more than a home page, but Janice also asked whether I could deliver the sort of seach engine results generated by her site. I had to explain that one of the factors most heavily rated by the Google, Yahoo and other search engine algorithms is the number of pages a site has, which, in turn, affects the number of times keywords, links and other critical elements can appear on a site.
   So for a minimal fee I created a basic site with enough pages featuring numerous keywords and other SE optimisation techniques to make Tu's Company more than competitive. This wasn't entirely altruistic on my part. With Tu's potential in a quickly growing area, I fully expect him to expand quite rapidly.

joesitalianrestaurant.com.au
I'd been a more-than-satisfied customer of Joe's since he first opened in 1992. When he expanded and redecorated a while ago, I suggested it was time he had a website. Joe replied that that's what a lot of his patrons said.
   To make the look of this site an accurate reflection of his new decor, I went for an uncluttered, unpretentious design using the same monochromatic colour scheme. The use of wide, black borders inside and a heavy, rounded type font in the banner was inspired by his shiny new chairs.
   An emphasis on Sicilian cuisine is meant to differentiate Joe's from other Italian eateries while also giving it a distinctive character. (He would soon ask me to redesign his Menu.)

Joe Mauceri, owner-manager
“I wasn't too sure about having a website. When Gary mentioned it, I didn't even own a computer. But once we got started, he made it all really easy, explaining the process step by step as we went along.
   “He did everything. He spent hours learning about my background and the style of food we offer. He researched Sicily to write the Heritage page. He redesigned my logo. He took all the restaurant and food photographs. He even brought in colour brochures from paint companies so the colour scheme of the website exactly matched the one in the restaurant.
   “Also, I really appreciated how patient he was the whole time.”

Alan McInnes, founder of SpectraTechnology
“We had a world-first technology which needed to be explained to industrial and political leaders, environmentalists and energy conservationists, in Australia and around the world. In time we realized that a website could provide an easily accessed platform that punched home the Spectra message.
   “We also realized that we didn't merely need someone who could build us a website. We needed someone with the expertise to digest and understand all the technical and engineering aspects of this most diverse technology and who could couch that understanding in such a way as to catch the imagination of people all over the globe. A website that would also express the excitement of a fresh technology which could help lead us out of the current energy maze.
   “We were led to Gary Graf and, as you can see from the success of our site, we are very glad we were.”

www.buckinmex.com.au
Buckin' Mex had just opened in Cairns and the partners wanted a basic, inexpensive site that could evolve as the restaurant becomes more successful.
   Because they had gone for strong corporate colours rather than 'Santa Fe' pastels, I wanted to make the home page look bold and substantial. I also thought it would be a good idea to get as much 'sell' as possible into the copy.
   The Spanish phrases page is my idea. After three years of Spanish in high school, I knew how much trouble most people have pronouncing words like quesadilla or jalapeño or even carne as in chili con carne.

Katrina Breen, owner-manager
“The site Gary has created for us is far grander than we had ever expected. We were impressed by how he incorporated our colour scheme and design elements into a truly original look. And his professional, warm and light-hearted writing is a very good reflection of the culture we are establishing for Buckin' Mex.
   “We also found it makes much more sense to employ someone with proven communication and marketing skills rather than people with simply technical and graphics backgrounds. To ensure he got our message across accurately and convincingly, he became very involved in understanding our business, even coming up here to talk with our people and feel the atmosphere first-hand...and to take some pictures.
   “The fact that Gary happens to be a perfectionist was a wonderful bonus.”