iPhone surgery
My iPhone screen shattered a week ago, but I was able to order a replacement part online for about $40 and fix it myself. I’d never seen the inside of one of these phones before so it was a pretty good excuse to finally crack it open.
My iPhone screen shattered a week ago, but I was able to order a replacement part online for about $40 and fix it myself. I’d never seen the inside of one of these phones before so it was a pretty good excuse to finally crack it open.
CISSM is the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland. hexive developed the original design and content management system for CISSM 5 years ago so it was a pleasure to be able revisit these pages with a fresh perspective.
With this refresh we were able to update the design with a contemporary and classical feel. We also simplified many of the user interface elements, cleaned up some information presentation, upgraded the publication search tools, and rewrote much of the custom content management system that drives this site.
Paul Kerr used to work for the Arms Control Association and has been blogging about arms control for many years. We did a quick art nouveau header & title refresh for his blog.
Sometimes it’s the small, simple jobs that are the most satisfying. I absolutely love the pattern we found for the background here and the choice of typeface.
Amy Endicott Photography is a new gallery site for a local Bloomington-Normal photographer. Amy came to us with some detailed sketches and a distinct vision for her site. We were able to translate those sketches to a clean minimal web-based design and automate some gallery views of her portfolio as well.
If you are planning a wedding or looking for professional portrait work you should definitely check out her work.
Munch Munch Crunch was created by four experienced local (Bloomington Normal, Illinois) educators. The group is creating a series of iPhone applications that are developmentally appropriate for young children. The games are designed to promote early literacy skills.
The group contacted us as they were about to submit their first app to the iPhone store. We were able to help them design a single-page promotional site for their first game—It’s a Birthday. The site was designed to showcase both the app as well as the group & theory behind it. We wanted to make sure that the site could seamlessly expand as they added more apps in the series (as well as look great on the iPhone).
http://www.munchmunchcrunch.com/
It’s so exciting to see local educators using technology in interesting ways. We wish them the greatest success.

Johnson Transfer & Fuel Co. Building
Spending the morning with a real estate agent looking for new hexive office space. Ideally we’ll be able to find something downtown in a nice old building that we can grow into over time or co-share with another company.
The Race for Iran is a new blog for some fellows at The New America Foundation focused primarily on Iranian foreign policy, the geopolitics of energy, and the foreign policy of other countries as they relate to Iran.
Aside from a stylish and professional design, the blog needed to easily accommodate the voices of the three authors—all leading voices for a transformation in US-Iran relations—as well as the addition of several occasional guest bloggers.
Time to Shine is a family owned cleaning service locally in Bloomington Normal Illinois. They were looking for a place online where people could find out a little more about them and research their company before they hired.
We decided to do a very simple single-page promotional site. The company is friendly and personal and we wanted to make sure the design reflected that. It was important to showcase their history and experience as well – they have 60 clients, commercial and residential, and 6 part time workers.

A local designer and artist created some band-style shirts for us. No one does hand-drawn custom typography better than cole blotcky—these are awesome!
We have begun commissioning a series of art, shirts, print design and other schwag to give away to partners and clients.
The Public Policy and International Affairs Program (PPIA) is an outreach-focused national program that prepares students for advanced degrees & careers in public service. PPIA Fellows attend a intensive seven-week summer program hosted by UC Berkeley, Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, Maryland and Princeton universities. Each year approximately 500 students apply for roughly 100 positions.
The goal this year was an entirely paperless process: students apply & upload supplementary documents, recommenders submit letters for students, directors from each university program review these applications and make admission decisions all using an online system. When the program is complete, instructors submit student evaluations and these evaluations are distributed electronically to members of PPIA’s 35 member university consortium.
It’s the most complex and integrated system we’ve built to-date.