Digital Canvas

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a web development and marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Canvas?

Years ago, we needed a senior developer for web projects. We’ve worked together for almost two decades.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve done a variety of things for us, including developing websites from scratch and building up e-commerce options for our clients. They’ve also built two websites for me personally. They work in a variety of programming languages, including PHP, HTML, and Java. A lot of the projects they’ve worked on are fairly typical e-commerce sites, though some of them are highly customized. One of my personal sites included drop shipping, which required a lot of work in the backend. We do more of the hosting and development now, since WordPress isn’t as aggravating as other platforms. When anything gets too complicated for us to handle, we call them.

We generally present them with an outline of each project, including the scope. They do both backend and frontend development to support us. They’ve helped us build in Joomla, Drupal, and now predominantly WordPress. They’ve been really successful with both design and development work.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Jeff (Creative Director, Digital Canvas).

How did you come to work with Digital Canvas?

I don’t remember how we started working together. I started doing this kind of work in the mid-90s.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent less than $300,000 in all our years together.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first project started in December 2001, if not earlier. We still bring them in for new projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’re really pleased with them. We’ve kept clients since the very beginning of our collaboration together. A lot of them stay because Jeff is upfront and easy to work with. We want to work with personable colleagues. After so many years, I consider Jeff a friend as much as a partner. That’s part of the reason I work with him so often.

How did Digital Canvas perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is a strong point for them. If there’s ever a programming language or software I’m not an expert in, I can pass my clients directly to them and they set it up. They handle the difficult points and allow me to get more business.

We communicate mostly by phone and email and they come in to our office for periods of time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lately, they’ve been expanding into instant website building, spam-free emails and things of that nature. Jeff has always been active in the field and is a great partner. Whenever something is too complicated or beyond our scope, I know I can trust them to help.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of TalentWatch.  Our mission is to change the way music artists are discovered. Two areas that may jump out at you when visiting our site are our Online Music Competitions and our TV Show.

In regards to music competitions, industry professionals can plug into our platform to stage online music competitions for artists anywhere in the world.

Our TV show features top emerging artists from around the world. The show is an extension of TalentWatch.com’s mission of focusing attention on artists who deserve to be discovered.

There’s a few more wrinkles that really make our site stand out. Besides music videos, every artist uploads a personal video where they tell their story.  In addition, the music fans on our site play an important role by judging artists on their talent, entertainment and likeability, using a well-designed rating system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Canvas?

We wanted to communicate in an understandable and simple fashion what differentiates us from everybody else. After I had the website designed, I realized I needed to find somebody that was more reasonable than our previous contractor because I’d paid too much money. I needed somebody that had the skillset to manage the programming language.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Jeff (CEO/Owner, Digital Canvas) was like a business partner. He didn’t just take orders and blindly do what I said. He understood the big picture and offered ideas to help me look at the project in a way that would facilitate the programming. He helped in the process of taking my vision and putting it on a website.

They worked on the competition platform and a redesign of the website. Our original website was really taken apart and eventually, we changed the program language too. It’s gone through quite a revamp. The new site is custom and very sophisticated. They did a great job with mockups, graphics and the overall appearance of the site.  Throughout the process, they were focused on branding my business and creating an optimal performing site.

What is the team composition?

I work with Jeff directly and he has a main programmer. They have a keen understanding of what we’re doing here.

How did you come to work with Digital Canvas?

After the original site was built, it took me 6–12 months before I found them on a contractor site. Before that, I had gone through about six other designers who didn’t match up to them at all. When I found them, I knew they were perfect for us. We have a great relationship and I trust them. They’re very reasonable and they care about seeing our vision fulfilled.

How much have you invested with them?

$50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2011 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I’ve received very favorable feedback. I haven’t had any negative comments about how the site functions.

How did Digital Canvas perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d give them top marks. They’ve fulfilled my expectations and even exceeded them. We communicate via phone and email. I’d love to meet them in person at some point.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve been really satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to know what you want to do. You have to have concrete steps that should be taken, and you can’t expect somebody to figure out your business plan. You have to know that for yourself before the project.