Merlee Designs Blog

I will be on vacation from July 11 to August 20.  I know, it is a long time, but I am driving up to the Yukon!

I simply cannot wait!  I grew up in the Yukon for 14 years, and left when I was 16.  This will be my first time going back, and I am so excited to be going “home”.

I will have sporadic access to the internet, and will be checking my email as is possible.  However, I don’t anticipate getting a whole lot of work done, at least, I won’t promise too.  I can’t imagine that I will be able to go 5 weeks without work, but…no promises made, none broken.  :)

When I get back, I will upload some photos to take a peek at.

Thanks!

Merlee

We are moving forward with the new redesign and rewrite of Cambridge Partners, Inc.  This is a huge project, as we are completely redesigning and rewriting from scratch.  We will be putting the site into PHP, cleaning up the code, optimizing and adding increased functionality for the benefit of both visitors and residents.

Once the site(s) are complete, I will drop a note and update the Cambridge Partners portfolio/case study page.

The new year is a great time to get things done that you may have been putting off for some time.  A new website, or a re-design is a great way to kick off the new year and strut your stuff!Just a reminder that I have a couple of website design specials running through to the end of January. Please visit my pricing page for more information. 

I just found out that Michigan is instituting a new 6% services tax that is supposed to go into effect December 2007. See details here: http://arborlaw.com/blog/2007/10/01/new-michigan-tax-on-services/

Now, I am not an economist, or a politician. However, this just seems ass-backwards to me. Here in Michigan we have the highest unemployment rates, high foreclosure rates, and a plummeting economy. Our state is in trouble. The state is always saying they want to bring more business and jobs to Michigan….but….with this new tax, people will steer clear. Michigan residents are already fleeing the state at a phenomenal rate.

Michigan governments answer? To raise taxes. Last year Michigan introduced a new 4.95% business income tax, which will be applied on top of the sales tax. This year, the state’s personal income tax will rise to 4.35% from 3.9%, and there is a new 6% sales tax on business services.

Speaking from a common sense point of view….how does making things more expensive, for both business and residents, draw in more business and people? It doesn’t. This is just ridiculous.

As it is, there are no jobs in Michigan. In 2004 I was basically forced to go into self-employment. I have not regretted it, it is probably the best thing I did, however, I am hardly doing well. I make enough to barely scrape by. I don’t have health insurance or any other of the benefits of working for someone else. I certainly don’t have a regular paycheck.

Add to this an increase of 6% on all of my service purchases, whether for business or personal use. Add in the increase in personal income tax. Add in the fact that clients will move to someone else to save the 6% tax that I will have to charge them for my services. And also add in the increased accounting required to collect, report, and pay this new tax. Whew! How does this help small businesses or the people who are barely getting by in Michigan?

Granted that Michigan’s economy is largely tied to the auto industry, wouldn’t one think that it is time for Michigan to reinvent itself? Remove that dependency? Hmmm….let’s see, how could that be done? Possibly doing everything possible to bring in new industries? We have a great educational system…why not leverage it and the people who are born from it and go down a different path instead of remaining dependent on manufacturing?

Dunno…perhaps common sense is not a requisite for being a politician.

For more insights and information, please visit the following links:

Michigan Economy At a Glance - US Dept. of Labor

Worst Yet to Come for Michigan Economy - Detroit News

Michigan’s Economic Woes - NY Times Blog

Todays GOP Debate: Its Jobs Stupid! - AOL News (Great stats here - well…scary)

Maryland and Michigan Committing Economic Suicide - Cato-at-Liberty

Being a designer can be a challenge. And like most professions I think, it is much more difficult to work on your own projects, than it is to work on ones for other people.

Ever since I started going freelance, and had my own website, I have faced the challenge of designing my own site. I have no problems coming up with ideas for other people, other businesses, but my own….is hard. I think perhaps because one has to take into consideration so many different variables and tastes. Plus…the lack of a definate theme…I mean, DESIGN…it’s so open to so many options.

So, to combat this problem, I have decided to do multiple designs. This way the visitor can view different styles applied to the same site/page. Rather than re-code/re-design the entire site for each different layout, I have simply redesigned the home page, and kept the remainder of the site in a very simple, clean format so as not to “clash”.

I would LOVE to hear any feedback on these different designs, along with your comments on the idea in general.