TECHNICAL SKILLS

You can’t fake knowledge.

AI can often produce inconceivable results. Google's own facial recognition AI identified black people as gorillas: When Brooklyn-native Jacky Alcine logged onto Google Photos on Sunday evening, he was shocked to find an album titled “Gorillas,” in which the facial...

Plays Well With Others

cgk.ink is very connected We actively pursue connections, affiliations, and cooperatives to explore how ecommerce revolutionizes our economy on a daily basis. This means more than just inviting other designers to our marketplace, it means working with them to get a...

Print-on-Demand Custom Orders

The flexibility of print-on-demand (PoD) allows opportunities that have not previously been possible at scale. cgk.ink presents a lot of high-quality products quickly. We can do this because we have partnered with Printify to create our designs using their technology....

Color Theory

It’s a basic knowledge that goes a long way. That beautiful blue flower you see in the garden in real life is going to look very, very different when it is rendered in CMYK on a t-shirt. There are literally thousands of apps that assist in mitigating this difference (or manipulating it all together).

The Boring Bits: Hosting & Domains

A client recently requested that they move off Shopify and onto Wordpress. I'm happy to help with technical issues for my clients, but as I dug around for hosting plans and domain registrations, a few things became very clear: Managed Wordpress Hosting For years, I...

Stats vs. Design

I'm not really into "top 10" lists of anything, really. But this one quote caught my eye: "I think we’re in an age of user feedback that drives well-optimised but increasingly generic executions," argues Simon Gater, creative director and co-owner at Mad River. "The...

Human Design: Namsa Leuba

Vivid portraits shine light on Tahiti's 'third gender' Published 9th October 2019 Written by Matthew Ponsford, CNN On the Polynesian island of Tahiti, there is said to be something akin to a sixth sense -- one that belongs to neither men nor women. Instead, it...

COVID-19 Shows Ecommerce’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Chinese e-commerce platforms are scrambling to hire thousands of temporary workers, as the coronavirus outbreak and government-imposed travel restrictions have increased consumer demand for online grocery delivery services.

The old “fake it til you make it” saying does not work with ecommerce. Since the development of technology is accelerating, investing in education is critical. I spend a considerable amount of time researching, experimenting with and evaluating developments in ecommerce, imaging, design, and markets.

it can be frustrating when your developer does not understand the latest, most efficient way to make your online store shine. Questions?

Some of the tools I’m currently using to create ecommerce stores:

PLATFORMS

WORDPRESS & WOOCOMMERCE

Powering more than 22% of all ecommerce sites, WordPress and its companion, Woocommerce are the gold standard for ecommerce development. Together, they are amazingly agile, quick to adapt and flexible enough to meet almost any need. I offer over 10 years of experience building on this platform and am constantly researching, reading and updating my knowledge of WordPress/Woocommerce. This site (cgk.ink) is built on them and it has served me remarkably well over the years.

SHOPIFY

I have been a partner with Shopify since 2009 and have developed many sites using it. Its strengths are formidable. Ease of use is unparalleled, the app marketplace is robust and the available templates range from simple & elegant to sophisticated & technically advanced. Further, once developed, clients are very comfortable using this platform and can often maintain and update their sites by themselves.

MAGENTO

This is a tricky platform. It has been through a lot of changes from once being the standard for all of ecommerce. It is notoriously dense, technical and difficult to develop — and it is extremely powerful. Developing on Magento is a good choice for large corporations with several 1,000+ SKUs and a need for infinite customization. Working on this platform is very involved and I make sure that my clients know exactly what they can expect up front.

Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, et. al.

Off-the-shelf ecommerce platforms like these have a lot going for them: they’re easy, affordable (even free!) and widely supported. I rarely recommend or use these platforms since they also have a ton of limitations. Developers tend to avoid them for several reasons: lack of portability (i.e., you can’t move your site), ownership issues which effectively prohibit you from copyrighting your own content and instability. I’m happy to discuss your needs in general to see if these are even a choice for you.

OTHER STUFF I KNOW:

Imaging & Design

Design is extremely important in web development. I am skilled at most imaging software, including Photoshop. I have a solid understanding of design fundamentals, best practices, trends and theory.

Copywriting

I am, at my core, a writer, so copy is a fun job for me. I also understand that what works in print does not always translate into a digital format. I specialize in short and long form copy and am a published author in both print and online.

Research

I love my job because I get to learn constantly about new technology, new markets and new marketing techniques. Previous research has included comprehensive analysis of the mobile market, entertainment technology and lifestyle research.

SEO

I am not an SEO marketer for various reasons; chiefly, there are people much better at it than I am. I do, however integrate fundamental SEO best practices into every site I build.

Geek Stuff

Of course, I offer all the technical details that bore most people: domain registration, email, server configuration and I do it all with a smile and patience!