Hi. I’m Cliff Garber. I build websites for small businesses, individuals, and non-profits. I also design and produce print pieces, from ads to books.

I’ve worked in the graphic arts field since “typesetter” was a job title. I learned on the job in design studios, ad agencies, newspaper & magazine production departments, printing companies, type shops, and as a freelancer for the last 25 years or so. I’ve worked with clients like Lahey Health, the Rhode Island Publications Society, North Shore Children’s Therapies, Hugobooks, and the Museum of Printing. And with lots of talented colleagues.

Here’s what I can do for you:

I will find out what you want to achieve with your website and find a way to realize it. Along the way . . .

What was that about photog­raphy, again?

I have shot people & products for websites and brochures, portraits that hang on boardroom walls, and stills that appear in corporate videos. Take a look at some of my work in my online gallery.

And what about print jobs?

I’m as happy to discover that print is not dead as I am that my coffee maker is still working in the morning. Although the web is generally the cheapest and most far-ranging medium to advertise, educate, or inform, there are still many uses for pages you hold in your hands. Are some old-fashioned readers lurking around the periphery of your business? Do you have a book that needs more attention than you get from self-publishing with an online company? A brochure? Let’s talk about that. The last book I designed and produced ran over 800 pages. I even turned it into an ebook. If you have something less ambitious than a book, it will be done sooner.

(More than) a few words about websites

In the old days you hired web developers to build websites, page by page. Only people who knew how to code could update them. These days you hire web developers to build your website on top of a content management system (CMS). The content is entered by ordinary mortals and is assembled into pages by the system. Less abstractly, this means that you or your staff can log into your website and add to and edit the content without needing to know the code behind it. (If you want to see a website without its clothes on, right-click a page and View Source. Be brave. That’s the code — part of it. This is what your web developer deals with.)

If you’d rather have me be your offsite webmaster once the job is done, I’d be happy to add your site to the many others that I manage. Either way, I’ll show you how to use your CMS and always be available to consult on it.

The modern era of web design

Websites today can be more like apps than the static pages of yesteryear. They know a lot of tricks. But what interests me most about today’s technology are web fonts and responsive design. These have revolutionized the look and feel of the web in a couple of ways: The huge variety of typefaces available gives a site the richness and elegance of print media; and responsive design — allowing the layout of your pages to adapt to laptops, desktops, tablets and cell phones — makes your pages immediately accessible to your viewers on all kinds of devices.

The Magic Acronym: SEO

No, we’re not forgetting Search Engine Optimization. You don’t want your website to be lonely or neglected by search engines. There’s no secret to it, and making your website findable is something we’ll do together as we go over your copy and page structure. What you write and where you put your key info has a lot to do with how your page ranks (as does responsive design). And there are lots of hidden things that I will do under the hood to speed up your site and make it attractive to Google as well as to you.

Now.

I create bespoke websites for my clients.

You can grab a WordPress theme off the rack or you can work with me to come up with a site that fits you perfectly. It won’t be baggy, it won’t split when you bend over, and it won’t look like everyone else’s. I will implement your design in my CMS of choice — ProcessWire. You may not have heard of it, but it’s faster, more secure, more flexible and easier to use than the monolithic CMS’s you have heard of. And at least as powerful.

So, what’s it like to work with me?

You will find me to be friendly, responsive and conscientious. But don’t take my word for it. Ask my clients:

OK, that’s enough for now. Thanks for hearing me out. I’m right at the end of this email address or telephone number (781 584-6112) if you’d like to talk about a project. Hope to hear from you.

Cliff

INTERACTIVE:
website design, production, consultation, content
management systems
email campaigns
PRINT: books
brochures · ads
PHOTOGRAPHY

RIPS_x300 LHBS_x300 Isaac Jude Pottery Me&Thee Coffeehouse MADSA_x300 Marblehead Animal Shelter (FOMAA)