These are a few examples of our recent work separated in groups by industries:
E-Commerce | Fine Arts | Service Sector | Auto Sales
E-Commerce
Garden Hands
Originally hand carved by
stone sculptor Tim De Christopher
and reproduced in a stone composite,
Garden Hands have been featured
in major gardening/landscape magazines
including English Gardens.
We created a site that captures the look, feel, and essence of the product. Image-swapping techniques help to demonstrate the multitude of uses for this unique line of sculpture. A large catalog section with a secure shopping cart easily facilitate the transactions. "It is truly a pleasure to work with a professional when it comes to creating web sites. Steve at Idealonweb knows what he is doing, and he takes the time to explain and help you. His business should not be called Ideal on web but rather: I know how to deal on the web." Pacifico Palumbo www.gardenhands.com |
The Merry Lion
Press 
The Merry Lion Press is a publishing
company specializing in offbeat
cookbooks. A companion web site
to the "Pudding Hollow Cookbook"
was needed to promote the book
and upcoming related events. The
site would need to be updated
constantly with new recipes and
information as well as links to
other sites of relevant interest.
A shopping-cart system would need
to be added to sell the books
online. We worked closely with the client to incorporate existing color schemes and styles from the book into the delicious design. It's built to be easily expanded as business needs grow. Its fast loading, search engine-friendly design makes navigating through the content a breeze. Check out the tasty recipes. "Steven Hoffman, known to me as "Steve, the Fabulous Web Guy," made my entry into the Internet a snap and has made my continued web presence a joy. He is gifted at turning amorphous verbal ideas into vivid visual reality. He is also easy and charming to work with, reasonably priced, and quick in his response to any queries." Tinky Weisblat www.merrylion.com |
| J & M Futon 
A long time retail outlet for
quality futon frames, mattresses,
and covers, J & M Futon entered
the online marketplace with a
homemade web site when the Internet
was just getting started. As their
online business grew, they needed
a professional grade site that
would expand with their business.
We developed a stylish site that has now grown to over 150 product pages. We've incorporated many techniques to make the shopping experience a pleasant one. This site incorporates both a text and image-driven navigational scheme, professional product imagery, effects to zoom in for a closer look at fabrics, and a secure shopping cart to facilitate a smooth transaction. "Our site has been up for five years and generates as much income as our retail store. We couldn't have done it without Steve Hoffman and Idealonweb. Steve set up the shopping cart, helped with the design and graphics, set up a system so that I can update parts of our web page from the Internet, optimized the file sizes for easy viewing, and mainly allows me to sleep at night knowing my customers are seeing our products the way they should. It's been a great investment." Jeff Ainsworth www.bigfuton.com |
Turbo Signs
Al Warren, proprietor of Turbo
Signs, contacted me after waiting
five months for his previous service
provider to say "What you
want can't be done." This
previous provider (not to mention
names but it starts with the letter
"V") is a national communications
company providing phone, DSL,
web and wireless services. It
couldn't be done? I'll admit, his request was unique. He needed a site for his tee shirt business that allowed for innumerable variables. He wanted a preview area where visitors could design their own tee shirts, a price preview on each product page calculating quantity discounts, color costs, size costs, and print location charges before the item was entered into the shopping cart. Oh yeah, and a shopping cart that could handle all the variables as well as accept image file uploads. The shopping cart program that I generally use couldn't do it, and I could find nothing on the web that could. My only choice was to build it myself. This site uses PHP scripting language along with HTML and CSS to dynamically create everything Al wanted and more; Dynamic price calculation and preview, shirt preview, art department, error checking, dynamic order form allowing file attachments, credit card error checking, and on and on. You should really check out its functionality. I said "yes" and it was up within a month. www.cheaptees.org |
Lapis Mountain
Apothecary
Lapis Mountain is an herbal pharmacy,
acupuncture center and teahouse nestled
in Western Massachusetts. A traditional
Chinese apothecary at heart, Lapis
Mountain is committed to offering
the best selection of high quality
teas, herbal remedies and supplements
from around the world. Starting with just their extensive selection of teas, Lapis Mountain Apothecary needed a site that would be easily expandable to include their ever growing diversity of products and services. The overall look and feel needed to be in harmony with their clientele without being overly cliche'. We continue to work closely with the client in the continued development and marketing of this unique web site. "I continue to be impressed by the manner in which you have helped me take initial unformed concept I had about bringing my business online, through the creative and design hurdles to a working site. You have negotiated the countless changes in direction that I have presented you, and created the most direct possible path to a functional online presence. Your skills as a designer are clear, but truly your talent resides in your ability to listen to what others are struggling to develop - and help to build something real." Jake Mayer www.lapisteahouse.com |
Lavender Lovers
On this project, the client needed
a way to market his line of regionally
produced, lavender-based culinary,
massage, and aroma therapy products
as well as communicate to the
growing lavender community.The result is an e-commerce site with a complete product catalog including a secure shopping cart, an easily updatable events page, and an updatable recipe section. www.lavenderlovers.com |
Fine Art Projects
Watercolor
Artist Linda Striedieck 
Linda Striedieck is a celebrated
artist living in the beautiful
state of Vermont. Her abstract
watercolor paintings are organic
in the sense that they emerge
and evolve out of themselves.
They are, in part, a reflection
of the organic forms in nature.
Linda was new to the Internet but felt that an online exhibit would be a great tool to help increase her exposure to galleries and commissioners outside of her area. We worked closely with Linda in developing a site that is deserving of her exceptional command of color and form. Along with the look and feel, the site features a full image gallery and special coding that randomly switches the image on the home page with an image from the gallery section to keep the site fresh on every visit. "Steven Hoffman has designed a clean, interesting, informative website for me that shows the world my paintings to full advantage. His help in setting up the site has been most creative and comprehensive." Linda Striedieck www.lindastriedieck.com |
Artist Linda
Hoffman 
Linda Hoffman, an internationally
trained and renowned visual artist
and poet, wanted to expand her
online presence. Her old site
did not receive much traffic;
it loaded slowly and did not rank
well in search engines. We worked closely with Linda and developed a new site that is search engine friendly and visually appealing yet unobtrusive to her works. Our design incorporates an informative and fast-loading, text-based navigation system that aids both visitor and search engines throughout every corner of this online gallery. Carefully selected color schemes, layout, and a variety of gallery presentation techniques compliment our client's work. For example, we used Flash animation and careful timing in delivering the lines of poetry, random image display on page loads, thumbnail image galleries and more. "Working with Steve Hoffman on my website was wonderful! He was quick both to make suggestions and to implement my suggestions. He is sensitive artistically and a computer whiz at making the site run effectively. I couldn't recommend him enough. It was a pleasure!" Linda Hoffman www.lindahoffman.com |
| Fabric Artist Deborah Kruger 
"Kruger is an award-winning
fiber artist and nationally recognized
speaker. Her presentation explores
the overlap between the work of
fiber artists and the work of
feminist activists."Amherst Bulletin 10-24-03 Working with Deborah has been a real treat. Her beautiful pieces and sensibility for color resonate with my design styling. I used hand-coded HTML, CSS, and PHP navigation. Additional image work was done with Photoshop, removing the backgrounds from all the images of her work and then laying in a drop shadow to pop the pieces off the page. "As a non-technological person, I dreaded the task of making a website. Steve Hoffman was a pleasure to work with and made the undertaking easy. He de-mystified the process and gave me a step-by-step list of tasks as well as explaining exactly what he could do for me. As a result of our collaboration, I feel my website is an extension of my artwork. I look forward to having a long working relationship with Steve and Idealonweb.com as my art career grows." Deborah Kruger www.deborahkruger.com |
Ariel Jones
Fine Art Photography Studio
For the past ten years, Ariel
had worked in a New York city
studio as a digital designer and
portraiture photographer. In 2000,
she relocated to Western Massachusetts
and needed a venue to exhibit
her works and services as well
as offer photographic prints for
sale.We developed a site that does all of that and more. Categorized thumbnail galleries display the talent behind the lens. A "Print Shop" section acts as a gallery and a retail outlet with transactions processed through a secure shopping cart. Clean design, so as not to compete with the art of Ariel's photography, and simple navigation help make each visit an inspiring one. "Steve has been great to work with. He listens to what I want and is sensitive to the image I need to project on my web site. Combining those needs with his own talent has produced a web site I am very excited about. He has also been great with follow-up changes, tweaking and adding pages as my studio evolves. I recommend him constantly to friends ready to set up professional web sites." Ariel Jones www.arieljones.com |
Sue Katz -
SCNK Studio
Sue Katz is a successful graphic
designer and fine artist with
works all over the nation. We were contacted by Sue to help her re-design her existing web site. We decided to build new from scratch. We worked closely on the design, and the result is an extensive portfolio site featuring her most recent works. This hand-coded site is fast loading, search engine friendly, and easily updatable (to keep up with her). "Steve was the best in a very talented class of graphic design students at Greenfield Community College. I recommend him to everyone and I am hiring him to redesign my own web site! Not only are his designs clean and attractive, but his ideas are very clever and creative!" Susan Katz www.scnkstudio.com |
Oh My Soul
- The Cathedral Project
On this project, we were hired
to take an existing site primarily
made up of images and convert
it to a faster-uploading, easily-updatable,
search engine-friendly, text-based
version without changing its appearance.
This was a challenge as the text contained within the original images often overlapped a complex background. We "Photoshopped" the text out of the original images, often having to recreate the background that was erased in the process, re-wrote the code eliminating the original frame-based design, placed the modified graphics (text removed) in the background, then retyped editable text in the foreground. It looks just like the original site, but it's a completely different animal. "Steve is always ready to help. Efficient and affordable, he consistently goes the extra mile to make sure you get what you're looking for and what you want. His personal attention is a welcome relief in this age of nameless and faceless "service" providers." Tim De Christopher www.ohmysoul.org |
Neon Artist
Pacifico Palumbo
Internationally recognized neon
artist Pacifico Palumbo needed
a venue to exhibit his works as
well as make them available to
the public for purchase. The result is an e-commerce/gallery site that does just that. We've coupled ease of navigation, complementing design, and a secure shopping cart system into a site that's a work of art in it's own right. www.neonartists.com |
Service Sector
Green Emporium Restaurant and Gallery 
The Green Emporium is a restaurant of fine dining, an art gallery,
an events center, an outlet for locally produced goods, and a
community gathering place. The challenge was to create a site that was large enough to encompass all aspects of "That Special Place" while balancing a country-metro look and feel. We did it. Ease of navigation, fast-loading, search engine-friendly design, and a secure shopping cart system help make this business a success story. www.greenemporium.com |
The Bobby Darling Show 
East coast entertainers "The Bobby Darling Show" needed a site
that would match the professionalism of their performance. Their
old site had gotten stale, and it lacked cohesion as it was worked
on and updated by multiple designers/coders. We provided a new layout/design template which the client is using to create a new site himself. It's a fast-loading, hand-coded design utilizing pure HTML and CSS. "I first contacted Idealonweb after being impressed with their site designs on the web. After discussing and assessing my needs and growth goals, Steve not only created a new design, he also gave me valuable information about efficiently running and maintaining my web site. And he did this faster than a speeding byte. I highly recommend Idealonweb." Joe Lada www.bobbydarling.com |
The Shoe Shoppe
Located in Folsom, California,
The Shoe Shoppe offers quality
footwear and specializes in ensuring
that it properly fits your lifestyle
as well as your feet. They understand
foot problems such as malalignment
and compliance issues, which enables
them to provide expert advice
and foot beds to address specific
situation. I was contacted by the proprietors of the The Shoe Shoppe with a specific challenge. Their store was going to be featured in a special segment on TV News 10 (California) and was to receive regional and possibly national exposure. They knew that marketing a web site within that news segment would turn some viewers into new customers. The problem was they didn't have a web site and the segment was to air in less than a week. To make a long story short, we made it. This is a simple web site built with expansion in mind. Its hand-coded, text-based design loads fast and is search engine friendly. "I appreciate all of your efforts on such short notice." Julianne Staub www.theshoeguru.com |
Holistic Design and Space Planning
Holistic Design and Space Planning assist their clients in achieving a healthful living space and a balanced lifestyle while minimizing their personal impact on the Earth and its natural resources. Through proven principles in sustainable design and the application of best practices in green construction they seek to improve the environment by fostering healthy and harmonious habitats, one home and one workplace at a time. We mirrored the importance and benefits of space planning when constructing this site. We worked closely with the client from inception to finish resulting in a harmonious web experience. "Idealonweb gave us a site that is both beautiful and functional. It has the spatial depth, clarity and ease of navigation we were seeking. Working with Steve was especially rewarding in the way that he produced and modified our design quickly and carefully. He worked tirelessly with us in capturing an appropriate domain name. He kept us on track and on schedule, and delivered a site which will serve us well for quite some time to come. We wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone looking for a highly professional, equitably priced and very talented website developer." Laura Catanzaro www.holisticdesign.net |
Godwin Legal Associates 
Godwin Associates, a legal consulting firm specializing in medical
case review, needed a venue to communicate new medical findings,
spotlight legal cases, and advertise their services to the law
community of Massachusetts.We developed an appealing, simple site that does just that. With careful tweaking of the elements within the page, our search engine results are remarkable for a relatively new site. "Steve has always been responsive to my business needs and is very creative and giving with his plans for my website and E-mail management." Missie Godwin www.godwinlegalnurse.com |
The Basil Festival
Consortium 
Celebrating the delights of the
herb basil, farmers, artists,
chefs, restaurants, and friends
come together in Western Massachusetts
for a very special annual event
- a Basil Festival.We developed a tasteful site for the festival highlighting the schedule of events and programs taking place throughout the weekend along with links and directions to participating vendors and sponsors . www.basilfestival.com |
Safari East Multicultural Presentations
Vishnu Wood, jazz bassist and music educator, has performed and/or
recorded with jazz greats including Dizzie Gillespie, Freddy Hubbard,
Thelonius Monk and Charles Mingus, just to name a few. He needed
a site which promoted his educational Safari East Multicultural
Programs as well as documented his rich musical career.We created a clean, fast-loading layout which opens with an audio splash page then proceeds to individually customized information pages. Soon video clips of recent performances will be added to round out the site. "I'll tell the world how wonderful you are." Peggy C. www.vishnuwood.com |
Auto Sales
Pride Certified
Automotive 
Over the last 23 years Joe Canuel,
proprietor of Pride Certified
Automotive has learned there's
more to selling cars than just
making the numbers work. Complete
customer satisfaction is always
his number one priority and not
a cliche' at Pride Certified. He
and his staff promise to give
every customer a personalized
touch that just can't be found
at bigger dealerships. Idealonweb's goal was to create a site and online inventory system that would make it easy for Joe and his team to even better serve their customers. We developed a site which incorporates Pride Certified's existing marketing look with a powerful content management system designed to give complete control over the online inventory using only a web browser and an Internet connection. It gives potential customers access to the vehicle lot 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Idealonweb's management system is so simple that anyone on the staff can use it, regardless of computer experience (update in-house = zero maintenance cost). I want this testimonial to reflect my true opinion not only as a friend but as one completely satisfied customer. Steve's web site work is not only creative but well created. His inventive ideas brought us light-years ahead of where I thought we'd be at this point in time. Steve creates easy to use web sites. My goal for our web site was to have our customers navigate easily, browse through full color pictures, then to easily find a way to make us an offer on the car of their choice. It worked! We've had great response to date. www.pridecertified.com |