This is the last iteration of the website I’ve built for my own company, Pitzer Advertising & Design.

I know how hard it is for a client to decide on which way to go on their own sites based on what I had to go through in making the same decisions regarding what I wanted my own website to look like and what information and samples I’d put on each page. At the time I designed this site, I’d worked in 14 categories of marketing, from builders and developers, automotive and motorcycles, games, wine and beverages, and so on. I also loved the photography I was shooting of the Arizona sunrises and sunsets when we first moved to Phoenix and I incorporated each into my printed materials as well as what is shown below.

I also believe that putting your name on your own brand is probably the most powerful commitment a company can make to his or her clients. I also believe that when advertising agencies started to shortened their company names to initials, they depersonalized what their companies stood for. Then with the rise of the dot coms and the use of wild, meaningless names, this new generation of  advertising brands dropped even further off the radar of the clients we serve.

Using a sophisticated java script for triple image roll overs, I created full color, stylized images that I felt captured the categories I wanted to represent on my website. On the roll over, the image action would color shift to a desaturated version of the image and a descriptive line appeared describing what I had actually done in that category.

On each of the sample roll overs, the desaturated image would color shift to the full color version with a small version of the creative sample I wanted to highlight. On each roll over, the main sample image would be replaced by the next sample.  I’ll probably add another java script that makes these transitions through a dissolve.  Once again, another decision that has to be made and is it only artistic or does it enhance the user experience?

As a side note, the leather background surface is from my original portfolio I used to keep my laminated print sample and video reel in. Back before micro-books and pdf’s. But, after sending it to Yvonne Smith two times at Chiat/Day, she not only tore my work apart, my portfolio got destroyed as well. This was the only surface that didn’t ended up with rips in it. Ah, good times.

Thinking about it a couple of decades later, it’s the perfect example of why  my own company positioning has become — shit happens. brands don’t. I did finally get to work with Yvonne in 1984 when I was at BBDO San Francisco pitching the Apple account. Thankfully, we did briefly take away from Chiat/Day because she and Steve Hayden had left Tarcy-Locke in West LA earlier that year and later joined BBDO to run the Apple account from Los Angeles. I finally got to show Yvonne what I could really do.

2007 – Second Website Update

In 2007, I did my second major redesign and update to the Pitzer Advertising & Design website. For some reason, probably ego, I wanted my face to be “the face” of my website.  Doing so caused some concern with friends who told me people will not know what to do “unless they’re told what to do” when they come to the site. They recommended that I add a navigation bar or “something”.

My thought was this, people are inquisitive. They’ll touch the face and realize “words” appear. They’ll click on the words and be taken to that page.  Once they’ve done it one time, they’ll start clicking or at least mousing over other images to see what those pictures might reveal.

I did add internal navigation because I wanted to feature my work by; print, outdoor, design, and broadcast.  In 2005, I wasn’t designing websites for clients yet and I felt I didn’t have the needed skills to do so.  I also thought java script roll overs were amazing and the scripts could be modified as I saw fit, plus I did not want to do a “Flash” website like everyone else. I gained those skills and experience building my own websites. I guess that’s why they call it on the job training.

After using the “Face” approach above, late in 2007 I developed the category images and extended rollovers in preparation for a Flash design intro-page I was working on. I called this version of the PA&D website the “RED Version”. This page is still live to the previous website design.

2005 – First Website Update

In 2005, I decided to change the look and feel of my website. At that time was being hosted on BigStep.com, which was one of the first template-based website, Internet hosts providing ease of website creation for people and businesses that needed a website but couldn’t afford the thousands of dollars web developers were charging in the late 90′s. Also at that time, the average Internet connection speed from U.S. homes was through a 28.8 modem connecting to AOL or DSL and T-1′s from business offices.

2002 – Website Update Version #1 (Hosted by BigStep.com)

In 2002, Pitzer Advertising was hosted on BigStep.com under the URL http://www.DesignFactory.ws These are a few of the screen grabs from that period. It seemed like everything I created was a flush-left placement and simple html drop-down menus for navigation.