Designing a website in the modern day may be achieved by a layperson with a few clicks on more modern web hosting companies, however, none of those solutions truly take in the business objectives on a case-by-case basis. Each public website or application that is assigned to Alison Fulton is hand-crafted first with pen and paper after all of the business needs are known and discussed with key stakeholders. After a solid direction is formed, those crudely drawn ideas are transferred to a formal wireframe in Adobe XD and presented to stakeholders.
Once the direction is refined, depending on the nature of the project, Alison will either move into design development directly in-browser, or further develop the wireframes into compositional layouts with colors, fonts, and mock photography.
Below is a selection of some design and development work primarily from the last five years.
“Alison is a very talented designer. Her work is exemplary, and she understands what is needed to execute eye-catching and effective web assets. It has been my pleasure working with her.”
Allison J. FouchĂ© , Director of Communications, Mayor’s Office, City of Memphis
2021 – Present
City of North Little Rock (NLR)
Alison was responsible for the design, development, migration of existing content, and full implementation of the new NLR website.
After suffering from a proprietary content management system (CMS) for so long, NLR desired not only a new CMS, but a fresh design that was reflective of the character and history that the city holds.
Using the new WordPress Full Site Editor (FSE), NLR is now able to control every aspect of their template with a mere point-and-click solution.
Mountain Home Observer (MHO)
With the branding completed, Alison began work on building a news website with a focus on readability. Carefully selecting typography that general audiences would find pleasing to read, Alison built the layout with a nod to traditional print newspapers. She also set up a subscription and leaky paywall system to give prospective customers a preview of what MHO has to offer.
Coin Connection
Coin Connection is a Bitcoin-to-Cash ATM service. Alison designed the brand elements, color palette and website, then mapped out each Bitcoin ATM using Google Maps API. The website is built on WordPress and is completely editable by the Coin Connection staff, including adding, removing, or editing Bitcoin locations.
Paul Young for Memphis
Now the Mayor-Elect for the City of Memphis, Paul Young needed a new website for the critical function of reaching voters. Alison designed and developed the website with accessible and easy-to-use web forms for maximum voter engagement.
LeMoyne-Owen College
This HBCU college was suffering from classic WordPress plugin and theme bloat. Alison re-designed the site using WordPress’ new FSE and eliminated unnecessary third-party builders that were weighing the website down.
ISACA West Florida Chapter
ISACA West Florida’s hosting environment was outdated using PHP 7.4 and needed to be upgraded to 8.0. Unfortunately, their current WordPress theme was not compatible with PHP 8 and all upgrade attempts broke their existing website. Alison converted their WordPress classic editor content to block editor content and implemented a new theme and web design that was compatible with newer server-side technology. After which, upgrades to PHP 8.x were smooth.
Slow Down Memphis
April is speeding awareness month for the Tennessee DOT. In a partnership between State, County, and City law enforcement agencies, this website serves as a vehicle to communicate what the local speeding ordinances are as well as the current crash and fatality data within Shelby County. Alison designed and developed the website based on an initial billboard campaign.
2018-2020
Memphis Transit Vision
The Mayor’s office needed a stand-alone website to communicate Memphis’ transit vision outlined in its award-winning 3.0 plan. Alison created the exciting logo and graphics, inspired by the transit maps created by a local consultant. The website was then created after approval of the branding to easily communicate the plan to Memphians.
COVID-19 Hub
Alison was responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the City of Memphis’ COVID-19 information hub. The site was designed with an accessibility and mobile-first approach. Each page was tested with various screen readers to ensure every Memphian had all information available during the pandemic. When the State of TN stepped into remove Shelby County from vaccine operations due to mismanagement in early 2021 and instead assigned vaccine distribution to the City of Memphis, Alison designed and developed an easy-to-use interface to schedule a vaccine appointment for the public at large. Several weeks after, the City migrated to the State’s VRAES system for vaccine appointments but quickly abandoned it the next day after public outcry to return to Alison’s existing interface in conjunction with Signup Genius for ease of use and simplicity.
Memphis ePayments
The City of Memphis collects traffic fines and property taxes through their internal ePayments website. The portal desperately needed a designer’s touch and Alison was assigned to make this happen. After giving the portal a brand identity, she also designed several brand elements and stylizations that would make paying taxes and fines a more pleasant experience.
Healthcare Navigator
Division of Fire Services needed a website to communicate to the public and to providers about the Healthcare Navigator program. HCN is operated out of the EMS department of Fire Services. The Program Director commissioned branding and rack cards from an outside agency. Alison took what was already designed and translated the message to web. During COVID-19 vaccine operations, she created a simple application process for home vaccinations that the HCN department handled.
Reimagine Policing
The summer of 2020 also brought protests nationwide after George Floyd’s death. People took to the streets of Memphis to protest, pushing the Mayor of Memphis and the Director of Police Services to act and change policies to stop and prevent a tragedy from happening again. “Reimagine” was created in response to public outcry. Alison worked closely with the Mayor’s office and the Director of Police’s staff to communicate the policies being changed across the Division. The website was created to be as simple and easy to use as possible.
2012-2017
TotStart Tennis
Alison oversaw the branding and logo design while she created the website design based on the new color palette. Alison built a subscription system based on WooCommerce and Gravity Forms for tennis students as well as an e-commerce store to sell tennis products.
PM Kinetics
An independent IT consulting resource needed a refresh of the existing web presence to update it to modern standards. Using a custom blank WordPress theme that was built by Alison for this specific purpose, she created brand elements in line with the existing color scheme and create a responsive layout.
Custom Insurance CRM (company confidential)
A CRM designed to manage various sets of data. Notable features include an automated document attachment process via a dynamically generated PDF, automated correspondences and email logs and tracking. The platform is based on WordPress to manage user sessions while the plugin is entirely custom built.
Academy at the Lakes (AATL)
As a pre-K through grade 12 private school, AATL needed a design refresh to better cater to its two audiences: prospective families and existing families.
