New Desktop and Mobile Web Site for ClarkDietrich

Today, Ars Nova launched an interim web site for ClarkDietrich — to announce a new joint venture between ClarkWestern Building Systems and Dietrich Metal Framing.  The new site is a landing site intended to help Clark's and Dietrich's customers understand the new company.

The two companies' existing web sites will remain active until a comprehensive, CMS-based site will take the place of all three sites.  For now, both companies' existing home pages redirect to the new landing site.  The landing site contains the latest news about the joint venutre, a message from the CEO, invitations to follow them via social media, and links the original original web sites.

As is often the case with business ventures like this, we had precious little lead time.  Within a week, we created and launched the new design — before the ink was dry on their new logo.  That's not a lot of time for web development, but with careful planning, it can be done.

The new site features:

• Google Analytics to track outbound links from clarkdietrich.com to the two original web sites.
• An integrated mobile-friendly design for iPhones, Droids, and other smartphones... as well as for basic mobile devices.

Creating a Valid Experience for Mobile Device Users

When developing a site for mobile devices, a web developer has a couple choices regarding content.  The site can feature different content for mobile versus desktop... or, the content can stay the same, but reformatted to fit mobile devices.  There is no right or wrong answer; it depends on the amount and type of content, and on the complexity of the design.  In the case of clarkdietrich.com, we decided to provide the same content for all devices.  In this case, solid, standards-compliant HTML and CSS are crucial to providing the optimum experience across multiple platforms.