Web Design Examples - John Sampson

Normally a site is constructed with a high degree of client consultation but this one was somewhat different as it was designed as a surprise birthday present for an old friend and that meant the content had to be developed in isolation. Had I not worked closely with John over many years and developed a deep understanding of his music then it would hardly have been possible to produce an effective representation of his capabilities and style.

John is a talented and highly individual performer and has a distinctive but multi-faceted style, so the photographs used on the site were the key to presenting a full picture of his capabilities. The available photos were mostly taken under difficult stage lighting conditions so they often required substantial optimisation to maximise detail in shadows and highlights.

A feature of the site is the piano-key menu. Actually it's the same menu system as used on the Excel Sports and Edinburgh Chess Club sites but with the addition of extra layers positioned to simulate the black notes of a keyboard.