Over the past few months, Armadillo Studios has had the great pleasure to work with the fantastic team from *ToMarket Inc.* on a variety of projects. And now our collaborative efforts have come to fruition with the _almost_ simultaneous launches of “Tomarket.ca”:http://tomarket.ca and “Smartsealer.tv”:http://smartsealer.tv.

ToMarket.ca

The new web site for ToMarket.ca was designed to introduce the world to the company’s new online identity and to showcase the multifaceted extensions of their business. This new web site promotes all three elements of their company, which includes Concert & Speaker Promotion, App Development, and Direct Response Marketing.

Built by utilizing the WordPress Content Management system, Armadillo Studios developed a simple, yet elegant site, which shows the multiple facets of the company. We created simple illustrations to create an instant connection between the user and each element of the company’s business. We also rounded out the development with an easy to navigate footer and also a simple contact form.

Smartsealer.tv

The second site Armadillo developed was for the direct response marketing campaign for “The Smartsealer”:http://smartsealer.tv.

This simple, yet robust, single page site acts as the sole purchase point for the product’s North American campaign. Using the products already existing branding and the infomercial developed by ToMarket, this new site showcases the product to customers across the continent.

In addition the site also features the key elements of the product. It showcases high quality images of the product in action and a detailed list of the products functionality.

We also created a customized theme for the robust UltraCart e-commerce system. This system, while matching the branding and feeling of the Smartsealer.tv web site, also acts to sell the product to online customers. Through our development work with the site and the UltraCart system, we are able to provide a secure and intuitive method for potential customers to quickly order this new product.

We wish the ToMarket team all the best with these two new releases. It’s been a pleasure to work with them and we look forward to continuing this great working relationship.

In conjunction with the launch of his new book, *The Procrastination Equation*, Team Armadillo is incredibly excited to showcase the new online home of “Dr. Piers Steel”:http://webapps2.ucalgary.ca/~steel/.

Dr. Steel is one of the world’s foremost researchers and speakers on the science of motivation and procrastination. Towards the end of last year, Dr. Steel approached Armadillo Studios to see if we could help him update and transform his personal web site. He was looking to not only promote his upcoming book, but to also create a new venue to create an ongoing dialogue about Procrastination.

Using our extensive knowledge of the WordPress CMS, we set about redesigning a brand new site for Piers. This new site, which was launched a little under a month ago, is quickly becoming an exciting new resource for everything related to Procrastination.

Not only does the site feature Pier’s new book, but it also provides a wealth of innovative features to enhance the user experience. From a Facebook integrated version of the ever-popular “The Measure My Procrastination Survey”:http://webapps2.ucalgary.ca/~steel/the-procrastinus-survey/ to the inclusion of two site skins to showcase both the _American_ and _Canadian_ editions of the book; this new site is designed to push the envelop of the standard _literary_ web site.

We wish Pier’s all the best with the big book launch this week and we look forward to the continued evolution of “procrastinus.com”:http://www.procrastinus.com.

First of all we just want to say _thank you_ to everyone who voted for our blogs in the first round of the “Canadian Blog Awards”:http://cdnba.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/the-polls-are-open-for-round-2-voting-the-final-round/. We are pleased to announce that all three of our web sites made it to the final round of voting. So a big round of applause is due to all three.

But, that doesn’t mean our work is done. The final round of the Canadian Blog Awards has just started and we again need some help from our friends.

Voting for the competition ends on *noon Oct 26* and you are now allowed to *vote for each blog more than once*. You just have to wait 24hrs to revote. So please if you do have a moment, please give some of our most beloved blogs a vote!

* Glutastic – “Best Food & Drink Blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3950183/ and “Best Art, Crafts, Cooking and Other Creative Activities Blog 2010”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3949583/

* Mikes Bloggity Blog – “Best Overall Blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3949510/ and “Best Pop Culture blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3950974/

* The Review Crew – “Best Science & Technology Blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3951308/

We hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving (or Columbus Day) long weekend. We know we sure did.

So to start this newly minted shortened week off, Team Armadillo is proud to announce that *three of our blog projects* are now nominated for “Canadian Blog Awards”:http://cdnba.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/blog-awards-round-1-voting-has-begun/.

Yes, *Glutastic.com*, *Mike’s Bloggity Blog*, and *The Review Crew* are all nominated for Canadian blog awards. For those unfamiliar the “Canadian Blog Awards”:http://cdnba.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/blog-awards-round-1-voting-has-begun/, they are a fan driven national award and are a bit of a big deal in the Canadian Blogging world.

As a company, we know that these great sites are driven by some fantastic content, but we also feel a little proud that our aesthetics could be that little something _extra_ that pushes them into the upper echelon of the Canadian Blogosphere.

So congratulations to all three of these great sites and make sure you give them a vote. The first round of voting ends on *October 17th, 2010*. Use the clicks below to jump straight to the polls.

* Glutastic.com – “Best Creative Activities Blog 2010 (Art, Crafts, Cooking, Photography, etc)”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3900688/
* MikesBloggityBlog.com “Best Blog 2010”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3900571/ & “Best Pop Culture Blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3901042/
* TheReviewCrew.com “Best Blog 2010”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3900571/ & “Best Science & Tech Blog”:http://polldaddy.com/poll/3901075/

So if you have a moment, please give these great members of the Armadillo Family your support.

Earlier this month we teamed up with members of the Howard family and “The Event Group”:http://www.theeventgroup.ca to launch the new online home of the “Canadian Legacy Project”:http://www.canadianlegacy.org.

The Canadian Legacy Project is a new non-profit foundation dedicated to _improving the lives of disadvantaged youth, seniors and veterans and mobilize collective action in celebrating the legacy_.

The Canadian Legacy Project is in it’s first year of existence and is already working to help local Calgarians with the “Seniors Day Out this past September”:http://www.canadianlegacy.org/seniors-day-out and also “the 4th annual Veterans Food Drive”:http://www.canadianlegacy.org/events which will take place in November.

To help establish the foundation and build a strong following, we went about designing a unique identity for the web site. One that would invoke a sense of pride and honored tradition. As the main portal for information regarding the foundation, we wanted to create an engaging layout while also making it easy to navigate. We also utilized large colourful buttons to draw the users attention to some of the more important aspects of the site – such as the volunteer, donate and event pages.

We also established a soft and professional colour palette, with a combination of light greys and steel blue. We also created a unique maple leaf medallion logo for the Project as a way to reinforce the project’s commitment to Canadian Veterans, Seniors and our cherished past of servitude.

We are extremely excited to be working with the Canadian Legacy and to help them achieve their online goals. We look forward to seeing the foundation grow over the next months and to see the uplifting change that they plan to bring to our community.

_Sidenote: In November The Canadian Legacy Project will be working with Crown Surplus on the fourth annual Veterans Food Drive. Please check into the site over the next couple of weeks as the foundation begins providing more detailed information regarding the drive_.