Miller Welding & Machine Co.
A web redesign takes its color cues
from hot photography.
Elliance
Project manager: Mark Kubaska
Designer: Ed Shin
Developer: Michael Krotscheck
Information architect: Rob Miller
Photographer: Carmon Rinehart (External vendor)
Account executive: Roger Slayton
Client: Miller Welding & Machine Co.
Contact: www.elliance.com
888.926.6262
“The Miller Welding brand was not well-articulated
on the web when we met,” says account executive
Roger Slayton of Elliance, the firm hired to redesign
Miller’s website. “They have a solid reputation in
their market, and they are well-regarded in their
community for building a long-term business based
on fair employment practices and contributions of
time and money back to various charitable community
organizations.”
Because the industry is welding and manufacturing,
Elliance felt the site had to look robust and
dependable. Designer Ed Shin explains, “With that
mind-set, we gravitated towards a solid and simple
page layout. We wanted the navigation to be bold
and solid, not subtle and wimpy. We also had fantastic
photos from a professional photo shoot that
captured things like sparks flying from laser-cutting,
huge robotic arms and dry color-coating. With these
images, we selected a darker color scheme because
it really brought out the intense energy and color of
each photo.”
Elliance set out to create a site that reflected
the qualities of Miller Welding itself. “Even though
welding and manufacturing don’t seem all that sexy,
in meeting with the client, we soon realized Miller
Welding stood out as a true American manufacturing
success story that is still going strong and growing,”
says Shin. “The client told us that when companies
visit the facilities, they’re impressed and often sign off
large contracts after seeing the capabilities firsthand
and learning of their outstanding track record.” In
light of this, Elliance wanted to bring as much of the
Miller plant to the website visitor as possible.
“We wanted visitors to experience the breadth
and depth of the Miller facilities without actually
being there, so leaving plenty of room on the site for
stunning photographs was important. Miller really
invests in their machinery and workforce, so we
decided a photo tour oriented around their capabilities
would tell that story well,” says Shin. “Sure, the
information is easy to find, but you’re also drawn
into the Miller facilities plant and end up walking
the workspace floor from your computer.”
