The Newport News Public Art Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to bringing works of art by celebrated sculptors from around the world to Newport News, hired Mellen Street Graphics to rebrand them with a new logo, brochure, various marketing pieces and a new website.

The Foundation’s goal was to create a fresh identity and website that would present the stories behind the sculpture in the city and build pride among the citizens of Newport News. Mellen Street Graphics helped the Newport News Public Art Foundation accomplish its goals creating a logo and website that are just as unique as the Foundation itself.

In order to bring the site to life, Mellen Street reached out to a partnering website development company United Networks. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, United Networks worked with Mellen Street Graphics to provide the Newport News Public Art Foundation a website with all the bells and whistles to make their new website pop. The site is integrated with Facebook, includes image galleries, videos, audio-elements and is fully search engine optimized.

Mellen Street Graphics is thrilled to have created a website that will keep pace and contribute to the Newport News Public Art Foundation’s continued success.

About Mellen Street Graphics: Since 1989, Mellen Street Graphics design firm has provided innovative and unique marketing and branding solutions to meet the individual needs and aspirations of its diverse consumers. Located in the renovated building at #9 E. Mellen Street in Phoebus, and under the leadership of Jan Miller, the team of imaginative and resourceful designers provide a wide variety of print and web design services, large-format printing products, as well as consulting and brand strategy.

We published a launch page to give them a corporate presence while they continue building the company and fundraising. Be sure to visit the new site and stay tuned for the launch of the full site!

VCV now has a dynamic website based in WordPress where they have complete control over their content and their users have easy access to sharing and social media. With active accounts on Facebook and Twitter, VCV needed a website that connects to these two services but is powerful in its own right.

Be sure to take a look at the new VCV website at www.vaconsumervoices.org. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Interested in having United Networks develop your online presence? Contact us today and let's get started!

Google Apps brings simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools to organizations of any size – all hosted by Google to streamline setup, minimize maintenance, and reduce IT costs.  With Gmail (including Google email security, powered by Postini), Google Calendar, and integrated IM, users can stay connected and work together with ease. And, using Google Docs and Google Sites, which include word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and website creation tools, they can share files and collaborate in real-time, keeping versions organized and available wherever and whenever users work. 

The Google Apps Reseller program includes resellers, consultants and independent software vendors that sell, service and customize Google Apps for Business for their customers. United Networks received training, support and deployment services from Google, as well as access to APIs for integrating Google Apps into their customers' business operations. United Networks is able to retain a close relationship with their customers in order to provide additional service and support. The businesses receiving Google Apps will benefit from the additional attention to their specific needs.

Interesting in learning more about how you can sign up for Google Apps through United Networks? Click here!

They wanted a fresh look and a website that was both robust and easy to manage. After meeting with NSCA we recommended WordPress and a template utilizing the Gantry Framework. This gives them the power and flexibility of a modular site without having to learn code or hire a full time web developer. We also implemented an event registration system which includes an event calendar, integrated Facebook, created modern photo albums which they can easily manage and provided a SPAM proof contract form.

Their logo was redesigned to give it a bold new look that is professional and modern while remaining colorful and fun. The new logo has been incorporated into all of their marketing materials and their new website which were all rolled out at the same time at the end of September.

Be sure to take a look at the new site today at www.norfolksistercities.org. We thoroughly enjoyed working with NSCA and look forward to seeing what they do with their new website!

In addition to their new Club website we’re also developed a website for their annual 5k event – The Taste of Town Center 5k.

We’re looking forward to seeing what the Kiwanis Club does with their new sites!

WordPress platform

A look back

• Live website preview portals – Our customers can watch us develop their sites in real-time.
• Help Desk system – We provide an advanced help desk system to our customers.
• Webstore – In 2006 we launched www.shopunitednetworks.com, offering discounted software for the masses.
• Expanding our network – Over the years we’ve launched many other sites, including www.AVGForums.com – a community support forum for the wildly popular AVG Anti-Virus and AVG Internet Security software.

Let us know what you think

Let United Networks help you migrate your existing systems to Google. We can make the transitition easy, and even move over your existing E-Mail, calendars and more from Outlook and other programs. We’ll minimize downtime and handle everything for you, so all you have to do is learn the new products – which are amazingly easy to use – and adopt the new functionality that will save you time and money.

Contact us today to learn more about migrating to Google Apps for Business.

1Backup and Testing: Before proceeding with any major upgrade we always make a complete backup of the live site and create a duplicate on our development servers. This allows us to test all of the updates in a safe, non-production environment and work out any issues before attempting the update on the live servers.

2Adding New Features: The best time to test new features is while you’re working on the development server, so while we were testing the upgrades we went ahead with implementing optimized code and new functionality for AltDaily.

3Performing the Live Upgrade: After extensive testing on the development servers, we were ready to implement the new code on the live servers. We always schedule these for the lowest usage times and because we had already worked through all of the potential issues prior to the upgrade, we were able to complete it with negligible down time.

4Final Testing: After completing the upgrade and performing our own tests, we always ask the client to test everything fully as well. Everything checked out and the site was ready for more growth!