Aug
12
Twelve Horses’ client, Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau receives more industry recognition for their website design.
37 of the Best Web Designs from the Travel Industry
Published August 10th, 2009 in Galleries
“Travel websites often feature large, attractive photos because of their emphasis on visual appeal. In this post we’ll look at 37 well-designed sites from the travel industry for your own design inspiration. Some are state or government tourism websites, and others are for hotels or business involved in the travel industry.”
Source: vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/travel
Posted in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Travel & Tourism, Web & SEO
Jun
25
Not far from the offices of Twelve Horses is the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. A beautiful place where dramatic snow-covered mountains cascade downward in to the sparkling blue waters of one of the clearest, most breathtaking bodies of water in the world. Juxtaposed to this raw beauty are businesses that depend on the Web to communicate their brand to the wayward traveler looking for information to help them make informed decisions.
Last year, Homewood Mountain Resort came to Twelve Horses for a website redesign, which you may have read about here. Like many of our website design projects, we were tasked with organizing large amounts of information into a user-friendly format that satisfies both the client and their end user. A common practice we employ to accomplish this delicate balancing act are module tabs or user interface (UI) design patterns. Whenever possible, we strive to accompany these tabs with both text and graphics to improve the experience.
Smashing Magazine just recently published an article titled, Module Tabs in Web Design: Best Practices and Solutions. The article features Homewood Mountain Resort along with some other exceptional examples of module tabs being used to optimize web pages. Here is an excerpt from the article:
A module tab is a User Interface (UI) design pattern where content is separated into different panes, and each pane is viewable one at a time. The user requests content to be displayed by clicking (or in some instances hovering over) the content’s corresponding tab control.
Module tabs are seeing an increase of use as websites and web applications push for optimizing web page screen areas without sacrificing the amount of information presented at once. For example, in weblogs, they are used in secondary content sections (such as the sidebar) to present relevant and interesting information such as a listing of blog posts which users can interact with to get to web pages quicker. This inevitably allows for an unobtrusive and compact manner of presenting content.
This article discusses the use of the module tabs design pattern for use in websites and web-based applications. We share with you some best practices to consider when using module tabs, a listing of real-world examples of websites the take advantage of module tabs, as well as tutorials and free downloadable scripts for building and deploying module tabs in your sites.
Give it a read.
Posted in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Member Orgs, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Travel & Tourism, Utah, Web & SEO
Jun
15
How did David LaPlante, CEO of Twelve Horses go from being a ski racer to the head of a successful online marketing company? It was a little accidental.
But anyone that has worked closely with David knows that it has also taken a whole hell of a lot of work, creative thinking, determination, and very little sleep. David juggles a ridiculous amount of responsibilities. Along with leading this snarky band of brothers and sisters, he serves as chairman of the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, and on the board of several organizations including, the local economic development authority (EDAWN), Entrepreneur’s Organization, Artown, The Holland Project, Reno Bike Project, and the local school district. On top of that he is a father of two boys, which he is begrudgingly pulled away from for numerous speaking engagements and client meetings.
Despite this herculean load of work, David also manages to project a relaxed and fun demeanor that echoes the unique culture of Twelve Horses that we all enjoy. Obviously, the Reno Gazette-Journal sees it in him as well.
Twelve Horses’ David LaPlante: Living a new, better dream
As iconic daredevil Evel Knievel learned in more ways than one, accidents happen.
It’s a lesson one Reno CEO also happened to learn more than two decades ago, courtesy of a snow-covered mountainside.
As a kid growing up in Crested Butte, Colo., going to college and forming his own company wasn’t exactly on David LaPlante’s radar.
“I wanted to be a ski bum,” LaPlante said. “I wanted to go to Europe and race.”
The first wrinkle in LaPlante’s dreams for a grand European tour surfaced on April 1988 during his final ski race in high school. LaPlante hooked a tip during his last slalom, disqualifying the aspiring skier. It was after the race, however, that LaPlante’s European dream would jump the shark. With his racing plans temporarily on ice due to the disqualification, LaPlante went skiing with friends at an out-of-bounds area. The accident that followed proved to be more serious than simply hooking a tip. LaPlante said he essentially “obliterated” his knee.
It was while LaPlante was recovering at home that his father would float the “C” word. Perhaps the young LaPlante should consider going to college, his father said.
Following the conversation, LaPlante and a friend soon found themselves touring the University of Nevada, Reno, as part of a recruiting visit for the ski team. Little did LaPlante know that his first step into the university would also be the first step in heading his future company, Twelve Horses.
“I just fell in love with the place,” LaPlante said. “Next thing I knew, I was going to Reno. So if I hadn’t hooked that tip in that slalom — if I didn’t have that 1-centimeter judgement error, who knows where I would be now.”
Taking the reins
Featuring a unique fusion between marketing and technology, quickly explaining what Twelve Horses does in layman’s terms can be tough even for its CEO.
In the simplest terms, Twelve Horses can be defined as an online brand marketing and messaging technology company, LaPlante said. But labeling his company as just a marketing firm would be oversimplifying at best. After all, not many marketing agencies have their own research and development departments, much less their own patents for messaging, ticketing and data replication technology.
Read the rest of the article here…
Posted in Atlanta, Company News, Las Vegas, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Utah
May
11
Smashing Magazine recently featured our client, SeeMonterey.com in, 35 Examples Of Masterful Lighting Effects In Web Design.
Using a light source the right way can add dimension and beauty to a website design. Strong light sources create a stark contrast between light areas and shadows in a design, making the elements look more realistic and dimensional and less flat. Read more…
Posted in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Nevada, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Travel & Tourism, Web & SEO
