Western Maryland Hospital Center and Jones Creative
Jones Creative, an advertising and graphic design firm in northern Baltimore, approached me about partnering to develop a website for the Western Maryland Hospital Center (WMHC). Jones Creative had previously worked with the hospital on branding and collateral, but was stepping into new territory developing on the web.
Clarence Jones, founder of Jones Creative, was looking for someone that could handle all of the details of bringing a design from a Photoshop mockup to a fully interactive site: “We were looking for a designer who would understand and respect the brand we were building for our client. This individual would have to be a very talented graphic designer and also an accomplished developer, understanding all aspects of web communication. We needed someone who was not just good, but was extremely dependable to secure every deadline. We needed someone who could partner with our creative team to exceed the needs of our client... not just create cool website designs.”
Jones Creative provided an initial Photoshop design, based on state-set requirements for the website, which incorporated previous materials created for Western Maryland Hospital Center. We worked together to finalize a few details and transformed that initial design into a Joomla! template which would handle the site’s content. The live version of the site, www.wmhc.us, launched in the spring of 2010.
Jones Creative and I work together each month to handle requested updates from WMHC, which often include new job postings or special events. In addition, in late 2010, WMHC requested a way to make their job application process more streamlined, which led to the translation of their current job application form into an html- and php-based version, which will go live in first quarter 2011.
Jones Creative and I have also developed additional projects together, and our working relationship allows for increased productivity. As Clarence put it, “[working together] has given us the ability to say to our clients ‘yes we can do that.’ I’m no longer limited to what type of web work we can pursue or offer. Mike is constantly fine-tuning his skills and is at the forefront of industry trends and developments. Mike is great at sharing smart, efficient solutions that help our clients save money, which is always great for business.”
