Magento Design

Due to growing interest in my Magento work, this is a quick blog post outlining some my key Magento skills and live Magento websites:

Languages-Direct.com

Languages Direct is a mail order business set up with a niche list of customers. The main goal of the web site was to support the physical printed catalogue and provide an alternative payment option to customers. There are many customizations to underlying Modern theme such as enhancements to the shopping cart, product view and product listing pages.

Due to growing interest in my Magento design and development work, this is a quick blog post outlining some my key Magento skills and live Magento websites:

Languages-Direct.com

I approached the web site in the normal fashion of using clear hierarchies for all page elements. See my blog post: Accessibility and H1 tags for more information.

Technologies:

Memset Mini Server configured for Magento
Payment Integration with SagePay
Various modules such as Royal Mail
OpenX integration (currently inactive due to maintenance)

What I did:

Everything from server configuration to home page banner ads. Total Design and Development!

Languages Direct includes a very useful custom Google Adwords report that displays ROI for all Google Ads, nice!

AudioMates.com

Audio Mates is a new product from Champs-Elysées Audio Magazines aimed at providing advanced language learning materials to beginners. I designed the interface for the AudioMation™ Player, and even gave it the title 'AudioMation Player'. BiblioTek LLC provided the programming for the application. The Audio Mates web site is currently used for providing updates for the AudioMation Player. This allows customers to purchase the application and then when a new version of the player is released. it appears within the customer's account as a new download. The download system used for Audio Mates is a custom module developed specifically for providing versions of digital downloads, by default Magento works like an iTunes where a song is never updated after purchase. This is great if you only ever have 1 version of a download but for software is not acceptable.

Technologies:

Pair Dedicated Server configured for Magento
Payment Integration with SagePay and Authorize.net (not live yet)
Various modules such as Royal Mail, USPS shipping matrix (I requested this extension to be created that is why it exists)
OpenX integration (currently inactive due to maintenance)
Post Affiliate Pro integration

What I did:

Everything from server configuration to home page banner ads. Again, Total Design and Development!

The future

I will try to update this web site with more of my Magento work, so keep your eyes peeled for a few more over the coming months.

About Me

I am a freelance website developer and designer based in Bristol (UK). I work as a remote Drupal developer, WordPress developer and Front-end developer for a variety of startups, charities and international businesses in Bristol, Bath, London and Europe. You can learn more about me by visiting my resume page.

Get in touch for a free quote on your next project and if you want to connect me with then check out my LinkedIn profile.

Testimonials

There are few better web developers or IT problem solvers than Justin, he is also a skilled creative designer. He took a failing project over and turned it into a successful one within three months. The previous developers had taken six months to create a poorly developed mess. Justin had to unravel it all and find fixes for so many things. He has good knowledge of business and will provide you with a solution that fits your needs. Once he knows where you want to go and what you want to achieve he will find you the best path forward.
Robin Chater | Secretary-General at The Federation of International Employers (FedEE)
Justin worked on the web development of Future Publishing's internal training site during 2011. During the process Justin was instrumental in making the website work, designing the key stages and layout, and ensuring that when delivered to me, the customer, that it functioned properly and was easy to update. Justin has been the most brilliant support to me during the time he has been working on the site and I am extremely grateful. Justin made something very complicated seem easy. He is a true asset and I have no hesitation in recommending Justin.
Simon Hares | Head of Training at Future Publishing
What more can I say apart from Justin is the best in the business, bar none. Having worked with a number of web developers in my time, it's the attention to detail that sets him apart from all others.
His approach is both clinical and creative. He will listen to all requests, make suggestions where relevant, and - more importantly - never shy away from a challenge when others would. From the over-coded mess that was to be our new website, Justin helped us unravel and develop an ecommerce Magento store that was ready for launch in less than half the time we’d already accrued with our previous developer.
Put simply, to choose anyone else over Justin would be a bad business move. I cannot recommend him highly enough.
Kev Bailey | Marketing Manager and Designer at APC Workwear
Justin Norton made an important contribution to Space Signpost, a science communication project I developed in collaboration with Futurelab. He created a sophisticated interface that incorporated all the learning from user research we had conducted. The project was under time pressure when Justin came onboard and Justin's role carried a lot of responsibility, but this did not prevent him approaching the job creatively. He worked well with the whole team and was an asset to the project as much for his imagination as for his technical skills.
Adam Nieman | Creative Director at GovEd Communications
We employed Justin's highly accomplished Drupal skills for a few initiatives during 2014 and 2015. He is highly-professional at handling issues and developing websites in tandem with our in-house design and development teams. What really stood out was his conscientiousness and eye for detail, I can strongly recommend him.
Ian Howlett | Head of Digital at Conran Design Group
As a new enterprise operating in the competitive international education sector, we wanted to add specific technical direction and consultancy services from an experienced web designer / developer who had knowledge of online marketing and SEO.
Justin helped us plan and develop the portfolio of websites and associated digital products that form the core of our online service offering. He used his expert WordPress knowledge to great effect by building a range of complex/responsive search engine-optimised websites - not least our main student website - now used (and we hear appreciated!) on a daily basis by clients and customers alike.
With time in short supply and with relationships being key to supplier success, Justin wins by offering great objective advice and by being a pleasure to work with - not least because he's quick to respond to queries - not always the case with suppliers!
I'd be very happy to recommend Justin to anyone looking for a Rapid Response Team to add value to their web development resources.
Steve Green | Director at Study Bridge Group
The quality of Justin's work has always been exceptional, exceeding every brief given to him. His knowledge of a wide variety of platforms and programming languages makes him one of the most versatile web designers / developers I know and an incredible asset to any organisation.
James Morell | Head of Search at Future Publishing
Justin is a diligent, creative and professional digital designer and web developer who can quickly master any technology or platform. He has particular strengths in PHP, WordPress, Drupal and complex ecommerce platforms such as Magento Commerce. In short, Justin is very good at understanding the commercial implications of design and translating that into distinctive and effective solutions.
David Ralston | Head of Online Marketing and European Operations at Champs-Elysées Audio Magazines
Justin led the migration of the Startups.co.uk portfolio from a custom CMS onto a more easily scaleable Wordpress platform, ably assisting us on the strategy for doing so and providing valuable insight on how to structure the new technical set-up.

More recently, as the portfolio has scaled, Justin has been adept at turning his hand to the many and varied web development queries that have been directed at him, taking our (often very!) rough ideas, recommending approaches and converting them into a well-thought out solution. Added to that, his quick response and quick turnaround are always greatly appreciated.
Jonathan Young | Senior SEO Strategist at MVF
Justin initially worked for me on a re-design of parts of our magic5 web application. I was very impressed with his work and subsequently engaged him to work on a full re-design. When it came to creating a new product web site, Justin was the obvious person to turn to. He has good technical knowledge and is particularly skilled in the business and commercial aspects of web technologies.
Andrew Sinclair | Director at Magic5 Software
Justin is a wonderful web developer, and more importantly, a flexible one. As with lots of the best agencies, we need to continually shift and adapt with technology and the changing face of client needs. Justin has continually been a valued member of the team and his ability to shift with those requirements, be they industry, or client based, is testament to his ability and passion for producing great work.

Highly recommended.
Paul Goodenough | CEO Aerian Studios
Justin led Fast Car Magazine's move and tricky migration from a complicated bespoke website to our current WordPress website / CMS. We found him articulate, highly-skilled and a great communicator. He delivered the project on time and fully fulfilled our expectations and more.
Glenn Rowsell | Fast Car Online Editor at Future Publishing
Having worked with Justin on a number of projects his work has always been of the highest standard. His skills are versatile and flexible, and his consistent understanding of the details as well as the bigger picture really makes him a valuable addition to the team. From a technical and creative perspective I would gladly recommend him to anyone.
Jake Manion | Creative Producer at Aardman Animations

Magento Design

Languages-Direct.com

Languages-Direct.com

Technologies:

What I did:

AudioMates.com

Technologies:

What I did:

The future

Quick Links

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