Everything, everything everything about a web site should inform your visitors: it should tell them immediately what they came for while subtly conveying who you are.

It takes a wide range of skills to do this well. You can get these by hiring a full-service agency or by hiring me. When I teach web design, I draw on skills from each of my previous careers:

• From my days as an information analyst, I analyze which structure will put information where visitors look for it, and which look will match the tone you want to convey;
• As an editor, I write copy that is both clear and engaging;
• And as a speech coach, I put all the elements together to subtly tell a story visitors won't forget.

I am not a programmer, but if you need interactivity, I can integrate off-the-shelf, "open source" programs that do most of the tasks you're likely to need. Take a look at my portfolio below. If you don't see your favorite style ask me; I can replicate any look. [Note: some of these sites were done with big help from Chris George my previous programming partner who's gone on to design of non-violent video games.]

Full-featured sites

We used PHP for a shopping cart , multimedia, and interactive calendar on this site for a historically black church in Fairfax Virginia.

Graphics intensive sites

Coldwell Banker Lightbourn Real Estate This site features million dollar homes and private islands in the Bahamas. An open source content management system permits easy upload of new properties.

Princess Street Gallery The owner tells me this site paid for itself in the first month. "Tropical but not trite" is the look he wanted for this gallery of sophisticated art of the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Eddie Minnis

Kennedy Gallery (in production). another Bahamian gallery has asked for a look that is bright, clean, and simple.

A touch of Flash

Architect Bahamas: Although we don't do all-Flash sites, sometimes a touch of Flash on the home page or banner can bring a bit of life to a site. This site uses an open source system for content managment, freeing the client to easily update the site themselves. (The logo was provided by the client and is being redesigned.)

Information intensive sites

Bahamas tourism At over 100 pages, this was one of my first large sites, and it's still dearest to my heart. Although I'm eager to get back and update its look, my client tells me that its personal approach has paid off: Nearly 50 customers a week walk into his cafe saying, "We loved your tourism advice and can't wait to try your key lime pie."

Redesign of Institute for Health Freedom: For this health care think tank I reformatted for consistency over 100 pages of reports and press releases.

Redesign for Minaret of Freedom: Another early site that I did as a volunteer. This Muslim-American think tank had over 100 pages of academic reports, press releases, and other documents. In addition to giving it a new look, I reorganized the documents so they could be found by topic and suggested ways the site could better serve first-time visitors in the wake of September 11.

Minaret before redesign

Small Business Sites

Nathans Georgetown: The owner of this media hotspot "on the best corner of the most important city in the world" wanted a blog she could manipulate manually in Dreamweaver rather than with blog technology. The content challenge was to integrate her media interviews with the restaurant site in a form she could manage herself.

Delta-Xray: A simple site for a firm that sells security devices.

BTI Travel Agency.

Dunmore Beach Club Hotel, Harbour Island: I didn't do the design on this site, just retrofitting for search engines.

Other sites in the proposal stage

• for an artist on Cape Cod I'm experimenting with a horizontal gallery
• for a bank consulting firm I've suggested adding testimonials and success stories.
• for a political candidate I'm focusing on his community service
• and more Bahamian tourist sites are coming including a hotel, nightclub, and dive services.

Related experience: See my resumé.

References: Please contact owners of any of these sites via the main address on their pages above or ask me for their personal email addresses. I'm pretty sure they'll tell you that I get each job done on time and exactly the way they want it—or better.