A community website is a nuanced and powerful new tool for consumer companies to engage customers. On opposite ends of the spectrum, typical brochure-ware corporate websites offer limited options for two-way interaction and social media presences remain floating communities that lack a sense of brand cohesiveness, impact and depth.

For many small B-to-C businesses, the hardest working member of their sales team is their webstore -- working 24 hours a day and seven days a week. As local artisan chocolate makers Taza Chocolate work around the clock to recover from heavy flood damage to their recently renovated factory and brand new retail store, they have enlisted the help of the e-commerce system to do more than just sell products.

Silverscape and The Walden Woods Project announce the launch of the Project's newly-designed web site --- www.walden.org -- on Thursday, April 22nd, in celebration of Earth Day and the Walden Woods Project’s 20th anniversary (April 25th). Founded in 1990 by recording artist Don Henley (the Eagles), the Walden Woods Project is leading the effort to preserve historic Walden Woods in Concord and Lincoln, Massachusetts - the landscape that inspired the modern conservation movement and holds worldwide environmental, literary, and historical significance. Over the past 20 years, the Walden Woods Project has preserved nearly 160 acres of land in Thoreau’s Walden Woods, much of which had been threatened with commercial development.

Here's what I find sexy: The perfect red lip and a complex e-commerce system with an extensive product catalog and zillions of SKUs! Lately, I've found myself really applauding the brand Sephora for the fantastic and cohesive user experience offered to their customers through multiple mediums on the web.

From last-minute Christmas shopping on amazon.com to working on design for DRIFIRE's webstore, our 2009 was chock-full of e-commerce. Here’s a rundown of the five most interesting and innovative ecomm site features of '09, from both inside the studio and out.

As promised in an earlier blog entry, we have completed the sixth version of Common Goal WebManager! While I hold a certain fondness for the earlier versions, I know I speak for the whole team at Silverscape when I say that I am very excited about the new features, the new interface, and some of the technology we have brought into it to make the maintenance of site content even easier than it was in earlier versions (and our clients can speak to how easy it has always been)!

Big News: the FCC announced that it would prevent broadband carriers from limiting your access to high speed Internet for things like Internet-based voice calls (VoIP), video streaming, and legal file sharing - things they would love to make you pay extra for, or even block. What's more, is that the FCC is looking to extend these rules to cellular networks with the rise of smartphones and 3G equipped netbooks.

Silverscape is teaming up with Arnold to create the new website for The Walden Woods Project - an organization whose mission is to preserve the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

One of the things that I love most about being a designer is that I’m constantly learning – both inside and outside of my own industry. At Silverscape, we’re lucky enough to have a broad client base and it’s allowed me to get knee-deep in the science behind fire-retardant performance garments, what separates artisan chocolate from your run-of-the-mill Hershey Bar, the technology that propels secure data protection and control, and even the details of safety and environmental compliance within the construction industry. Getting to really know a client once they’ve come on board is an exciting process, but beginning an engagement with a client whose services are already close to your heart is even more rewarding.

Flame Resistant Clothing Firm, DRIFIRE, Launches New Website To Better Serve Customers

06/03/2009 COLUMBUS, GA – Leading flame resistant clothing developer and manufacturer, DRIFIRE®, recently launched a newly re-designed, user-friendly website created by Silverscape. To better serve customers, the website http://www.drifire.com has been completely overhauled, providing an even wider selection of high quality comfortable FR apparel. In addition to the expanded product line, the fresh, new design includes powerful action photos of various situations where DRIFIRE clothing was used, including firefighting, electrical work and military applications.

We all know that times are tough. Everyone is working hard to get through this downturn to the brighter days that lay ahead. But, at Silverscape, we're proud to say that we're keeping busy with some of our most interesting projects yet! We were thrilled this month to launch the new website and e-commerce store for Taza Chocolate, and organic, bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer, and the only chocolate maker in the US that produces 100% stone ground organic chocolate. Yum!