Adobe Business Catalyst Showcase
On behalf of everyone at Chicago Digital I would like to show our appreciation for being included in the Adobe Business Catalyst Showcase located on Adobe's website. We are honored to be listed among other amazing companies and success stories. I also want to thank our fantastic customers for giving us the opportunity to work on some really great projects.
Read the case study: Small Agency, Big Results (published by Adobe)
Business Catalyst Experience & Dedication
Business Catalyst and the Adobe Creative Suite have been instrumental to our growth. From almost the very beginning, Chicago Digital decided to only develop websites on Adobe Business Catalyst. We started over 3 years ago as 2 long-time friends with a dream of running a web agency that helps small businesses grow their business online. To date, we have built over 200 sites in Business Catalyst either for our clients or for other Business Catalyst Partners. In addition, we have provided Business Catalyst training and consulting for both partners and end-users alike. We absolutely love the work that we do and are extremely thankful that we get to do this everyday. Although the size of our team and location have changed over the years our dedication to our clients has not.
Customer Highlights
I would like to take a moment to highlight the customers that are featured in this case study:
The Surgery Center
The amazing aspect of this project is that both the digital sign in their lobby and the website run off of one system: Adobe Business Catalyst. It is built in a way that allows non-technical office staff to update the information.
Visit the Surgery Center website
View the Surgery Center in our portfolio
Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce
This project is a great example of what can be done in Business Catalyst. This feature rich website gives members of the community a whole new experience in engaging with the local community. BC allows the Chamber staff to maintain the various components of the site such as memberships, advertisements, events, deals, itineraries and more.
Visit the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber Website
View the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber Website in our portfolio
Take it to the Cloud
Today, Adobe Officially unveils the Adobe Creative Cloud, a suite of tools and services that will change the way we work. The Creative Cloud embraces the SaaS module by combining many Adobe Products into one monthly fee (starting at $49.99/month). The Creative Cloud includes the essential tools for Web Developers such as: Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Business Catalyst as well as some new tools like Edge, Muse, Shadow, and Proto. The Creative Cloud is now available for Preorder with an Estimated Availability Date of May 7, 2012 (as reported on Adobe's website).
Tools To Get Excited About (besides Business Catalyst)
The following is a preliminary look at just a few of the tools included in the Adobe Creative Cloud.
Proto
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Create interactive website wireframes (prototypes) from your tablet. Integration with the cloud means that files can be easily accessed back at your computer. Proto fits into the web development process as follows:
- Rapid Prototype with Proto
- Design in Photoshop
- Develop in Dreamweaver
- Publish with Business Catalyst
Visit the Proto Product Page at Adobe
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Shadow
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Improve your productivity in developing websites for Mobile and Tablet devices. Adobe Shadow allows you to preview websites across your devices in real time. My brief experience with the beta version of this program has garnered excitement for its official release. Visit the Shadow Product Page at Adobe
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Files
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At this moment, "My Files" is the only feature available at https://creative.adobe.com. The main benefit of the cloud storage is the integration with Adobe Products across multiple devices and platforms. Collaboration features allow you to then share your files with clients, colleagues, and friends. Altough not completely ready, I couldn't resist the urge to start messing around. Below I will outline some of the features of the "My Files" section and share with you my first file on the Adobe Creative Cloud.
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Viewing Files in the Cloud
Adobe made the experience of viewing digital media in the browser an enjoyable one. Below you can see a sneak peak of a website homepage that we designed for a new website: Virtual Horse Help. This is a representation of how .PSD files are presented in the browser. The first thing to notice is that the site is properly rendering this PSD. To take this a step further, you can toggle on and off the different layer groups of the file (shown below). Upon upload, the website analyzes the image to determine the color theme (or Kuler theme to use Adobe terminology). You can then download the ASE file for use in Photoshop.
Sharing Files in the Cloud
As a demonstration of this in use, I have shared this file. There are 2 options when sharing the file: allow comments and allow download. In this case, I selected "allow comments" but chose not to make this file available for download. Please fell free to leave a comment on the file.
Business Catalyst
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Business Catalyst is part of the creative cloud, but you do not have to wait until the Creative Cloud is released, as Business Catalyst is available now (and has been an Adobe product for a couple years). Business Catalyst is an all-in-one platform for websites and online stores. As of today, Business Catalyst has an official product page on Adobe's website: http://www.adobe.com/products/business-catalyst.html
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Release of the Creative Cloud
As the Adobe Creative Cloud becomes available and I have had the time to work with different components, I will release future posts.
