COCOA ARMY NAVY | 2004 | Expression Engine CMS, E-commerce, CSS

My Role: I was the sole website designer, developer, and graphic designer for the Cocoa Army Navy website using Expression Engine. I also designed all site elements, including typography, graphics, colors, and branding, to align with Cocoa Army Navy's branding.

Project Description: I designed and developed an e-commerce website for the Cocoa Army and Navy store in Cocoa, Florida, using Expression Engine. Cocoa Army and Navy is a brick-and-mortar store selling high-end military products like clothing, backpacks, and memorabilia. This project was one of my early ventures into e-commerce site development. Back then, creating a visually appealing website required constructing a large image, slicing it into smaller pieces, and loading each piece separately with HTML and CSS, assigning different functions to them. I created or modified all the graphics using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Challenge: Design an e-commerce website for a public military supply store that is visually appealing and represents the high-end products they sell, with a distinctly recognizable military aesthetic. The website needed to support online purchases and provide administrators with the ability to upload, delete, or modify product images, descriptions, and pricing.

Solution: Working within a fixed budget, I created and modified several public domain images to achieve the desired look, optimizing for speed. Utilizing Expression Engine's features, I built the site using HTML, CSS, and PHP, enabling administrators to make backend changes without knowing code. Given the project's budget constraints and its early e-commerce stage, I chose PayPal as the payment gateway and implemented a shopping cart with PayPal buttons.

About the Expression Engine CMS: Expression Engine is a highly adaptable CMS, above and beyond WordPress, granting developers full autonomy over design, markup, and site architecture. With EE, there's no interference with my code or the client's vision, making it ideal for bespoke development. The developer meticulously customizes every aspect, from frontend aesthetics to backend functionality. By constructing a site within the EE platform, I can ensure there will be no compromises in realizing the client's vision.

Client: Cocoa Army and Navy

Date: 2004

• Website Development

• Website Design

• E-commerce

• Expression Engine CMS

• Internal Search Engine

• CSS, HTML, and PHP

• PayPal

• Custom Images and Graphics

• Branding

• Site Optimization