Ginandtonics – Web Development by David Rushton |

Hello

Hello and welcome to Ginandtonics, my personal portfolio of websites and applications.

My name is David Rushton and I'm a Computing Science Honours graduate from Glasgow Uni, turned web designer and developer based in Glasgow. I offer a refreshing and professional approach to web design and online business development - without the heavy agency fees and small print.

What I do

I'm a web design fanatic, and pretty much all-round computer geek at your service. More importantly, as well as being passionate and enthusiastic about what I do, I am bursting with great ideas on how to use a beautiful design and cutting-edge technologies to promote and shape your business on the web.

If you got questions, please do contact me - I'd love to hear from you.

Work with me

I design and build bespoke websites and web apps for a variety of clients, and no project is too big or small.

About

Being an enterprising chap myself, I understand the passion people have for their own business and I know my skills and expertise can make an impact, no matter what the business or idea. (And since I’m in the mood for blowing my own trumpet – I was voted one of the most enterprising students in the UK at the Shell Step 2008 final for increasing an e-commerce website’s sales by over 500%).

Design is very important. I can make your website stand out from the crowd in terms of both the aesthetics and the integrity of the overall design. If you have your own design ideas, that’s great too and I’ll try my best to get your vision online!

My Services

In a nutshell, I design and build functional websites which make a difference.

Here are some of the services I offer:

Web design
XHTML/CSS development
Bespoke web app development
E-commerce projects
Content Management Systems

No project is too big or small.

Portfolio - A showcase of my latest work

Paleface Cosmetics

The UK has one of the highest percentages of fair skinned people in the world. Paleface Cosmetics provide products for people who want to purchase lighter tones to make their skin look natural as well as products for other medium to dark skin tones. The founder, Leoni Jesner, approached me to discuss creating a web presence for the business and selling the products online through an e-commerce site. Using the open source system CubeCart, I developed the website with products in mind – including functionality to allow buyers to view and choose their desired colour or shade of the make-up

David was very helpful and willing to meet all my requirements when setting up the Paleface Cosmetics website. The price I paid was very decent considering the amount of work involved. David also provided me with training to run the website after it was set up and is always provides support when I have questions. I would recommend him to anyone looking for a professional website.

Leoni Jesner, Paleface Cosmetics
Equipment for Independence

Equipment for Independence Ltd is a disability equipment supplier based in Glasgow. Having recently set up, the company wanted to develop a firm online presence with an e-commerce store, providing all of their products online alongside free, professional health advice. After having an unsuccessful experience with another web designer, the owner contacted Ginandtonics for a preliminary meeting and quote for the e-commerce site. Over a period of weeks, I worked with the owner to collate all of the information required on the website while developing the underlying presentation and shopping experience on the website. The new e-commerce website makes use of the open-source Magento engine. Building on top of this, I have created an automatic registration system which allocates the tax payable dynamically, depending on the users health condition status, ensuring that those with a disability are exempt from paying tax on certain products.

David’s approach to developing Equipment for Independence Ltd website has been a cool, calm and collective one. Before stumbling upon Ginandtonics and David, I approached several other web designers to undertake this project, but to be honest, they found it to be too difficult, complex and perplexing to undertake.

The nature of my business requires certain criteria to be met to ensure that my website is accessible to all potential customers and has capacity for customers to be charged various prices depending on their VAT status. David met this challenge without difficulty or over complicating the situation when explaining it to me. David’s approach throughout has been one of clarity, patience in understanding of my business needs as well as taking into account my limitations in web design. He always took time out to ensure that I was competent and comfortable in undertaking various tasks involved in maintaining or updating the website. I have also recommended David to many of my associates, not only for his web design but also for his helpful and understanding approach. Simply put David makes the complicated, uncomplicated.

Justine Griffin, Equipment for Independence
MEL

MEL are a specialist company in Glasgow, providing fume extraction solutions including ducting, fans and filters. As the website had not been updated in a number of years, both in terms of content and design, the owner decided to contact Ginandtonics to arrange a re-design and re-development of the website. The client requested that the design be immediately identifiable with their services, and provided me with a library of images of products and installations. The new design is intended to be relatively simplistic overall, yet immediately identifiable as MEL and corresponding to the services and products they provide.
Boudiche

Boudiche are an award winning, exquisite lingerie retailer based in Scotland. With an already strong e-commerce base, the web manager at Boudiche approached me to discuss extending the functionality of the website to include RSS feeds.

Working from specifications from companies like Google, Designer Clothing and Webgains, I developed a standalone web application which integrates with the e-commerce database and generates a detailed RSS feed of products. This feed is parsed by the receiving company and allows Boudiche to easily communicate and update their catalog on these popular directories and affiliates. Customers searching for any of their products ultimately have a better chance of landing on the Boudiche store, increasing conversions and sales.
CBAN

CBAN, a business angel network, were looking for a bespoke web system which would ultimately act as a gateway for bringing together businesses seeking funding with angels looking to invest. Starting from scratch, I have developed a PHP / MySQL database driven system plus underlying framework which allows businesses to upload and manage their plan, shows angel investors businesses of interest, and has an advanced administration panel to manage users, interactions, content and website settings.

This project was completed in collaboration with Subliminal Creative, a creative design company in Cumbernauld, who supplied the graphics and design for the website.
Zone Letting

Zone Letting are a well-established letting agency with properties across Scotland including Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling. Their existing website, while already providing company information and properties available, was restricted by limitations of the search and property listing application and an outdated design.

Having proposed a solution to the directors at Zone Letting – involving a fresher design, map integration, pdf downloads, online viewing enquiries, and ultimately improving the user’s search experience – I was contracted to begin planning, designing and developing a bespoke listing application from scratch.

The new website is powered by a fully integrated backend ‘admin’ system, allowing the staff to manage all of their properties to rent, plus all of the content on the website, without the need to rely on third-party property portal websites or systems. The system then seamlessly feeds the information from Zone Letting’s own properties database to other popular properties search websites, including Letting Web.