SKILLS
website layout & development
ASK
a refresh of an existing website
Situation
EnergyAid, a California-based solar installer, was expanding beyond the West Coast. They already had a live website with most content in place, but the design felt dated. The client wanted a sleeker, more modern look. They provided their logo, brand guidelines, and some stock photos and imagery to use as a foundation.
Approach
Working with the creative director, I first created three distinct homepage/landing page options in Figma to give the client clear visual choices. Once they selected a direction, I laid out the remaining pages, then built the entire site in WordPress using Elementor.
Key technical challenge: The initial design required a sidebar menu with a background blur effect to focus the viewer’s attention on the menu. At that point, I only had basic programming experience and had never used jQuery or JavaScript. I spent several hours researching, testing, and debugging to integrate the effect into Elementor’s framework. Eventually, I produced a working slide-out menu that blurred the background content.
Impact
Clearer decision-making: The three Figma options gave the client a tangible way to compare directions, leading to a faster, more confident choice.
Reliable launch: Though the client ultimately switched to a top navigation, my JavaScript/jQuery exploration meant we had a working fallback, and I could troubleshoot any future menu issues without outside help.
Client satisfaction: The final site was delivered with a clean, modern look that supported EnergyAid’s expansion story.