About ruby slipper designs
ruby slipper designs founder
Erin O'Kelley Muck
Photo by Debra Thornton Photography
Who Is Ruby? The name came about as a fun reference to The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy clicks her ruby slippers two times to "go home." And although there isn't a Ruby, there is an Erin, who gained a web background in the '90s working at a video game company, and then later at a posh strategic design firm in Seattle.
Erin founded ruby slipper designs with a vision for creative collaboration balanced with thoughtful planning. She loves the energy that comes from strategic planning, the sexiness of design, and the challenge of the intricacies of code (whether it's HTML5, CSS 3, SEO, social networking, content management systems). No two projects are alike and the experience is always exciting! Located in Ashland Oregon, Erin has been in the web business for a decade.
Prior to launching ruby slipper designs, Erin's experience spans several years at Girvin Strategic Branding and Design in Seattle, at VR-1 game company in Boulder Colorado, and at Quark desktop publishing headquarters in Denver.
PRESS & NEWS
ruby slipper holiday newsletter...
December 16, 2011
Celebrating over 10 years of web design in 2012! Our very first enewsletter features heart-felt thanks to everyone, from our first client to those who have launched sites this year. Client Spotlight on NCHERM. Our newest colleague, Hillary Demmon, documentary filmmaker and new media storyteller. Green Web Hosting with Canvas Dreams. The new ruby slipper site! ... read more!
ruby slipper Website Wins Award...
February 22, 2005
Chambers Family Fund Website
WINS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING COMMUNICATIONS... read more! (PDF)
ruby slipper in Ashland Daily Tidings...
January 20, 2005
There's no place like Ashland for 'Ruby Slipper' For more than three years, Erin O'Kelley has called Ashland home while running her own web design business, ruby slipper designs... read more! (PDF)
Ashland Oregon
Ashland as seen from Water Street
Photo by Mark Mularz of Acorn Design
ruby slipper designs is located in Ashland, a charming town in the heart of southern Oregon. Nestled amidst the lush mountains, Ashland bustles with the vibrancy of our world-class Shakespeare Festival, beautiful art galleries, holiday festivals and parades, delicious restaurants, and a colorful cast of characters. This sweet, old-fashioned town is wonderful year-round.
ASHLAND WEBSITES
Web Design Testimonials
OneJourney
"From beginning to end, just a wonderful experience working with Erin on our new website. Not only is Erin a fantastic designer with a keen eye, she also possesses all of the qualities you want when working with a consultant — very organized, thorough, responsive, accessible, flexible, always on time with deliverables, maintains expectations throughout the entire process perfectly... and somehow she manages to balance all that professionalism with a bright, warm, open, fun, genuine personality, too. I've worked with many consultants (and been one myself) — Erin is truly a rare find!"
Kate Cremer, Webmaster, The OneJourney Project
Louie's Restaurant & Bar
Thanks so much Erin! I love love love that amazing website, and so does everyone who's visited! I just can't thank you enough! Much appreciation!
~ Melissa Jensen, Owner, Louie's Restaurant & Bar
Chambers Family Fund
"Ruby Slipper Designs produced our award-winning website that received the Council on Foundations’ Excellence in Communications award in 2005. Erin continues to update the website and does special projects for us. She is a talented and creative professional. Erin is always thorough in her conceptualization of projects and in their implementation. Over the years, we have worked with many consultants and Erin has been, and continues to be, the best and most responsive of them all. She knows our foundation well and can meet our needs without direction. She maintains open communication throughout every project and we love working with her."
~ Angela Lee, Program Assistant, Chambers Family Fund
"Working with Erin and Ruby Slipper Designs was a great experience. Erin's professionalism, patience, creativity and willingness to work with us throughout the whole design process were what made us want to continue working with her beyond the website design phase and to seek her out for additional projects. She was a joy to work with and made what could have been a stressful project a lot of fun and ultimately very successful. We are grateful to her for all she has done for our organization and highly recommend her to others."
~ Margi Sullivan, Program Assistant, Chambers Family Fund
Advanced Vein Center & Oregon Surgical Specialists
"Ruby Slipper is a delight to work with. It is rare that you find a web programmer with such honed design skills. Erin’s sites not only match our branding elements but enhance them. She has a keen design sense, but also respects other design team input and works incredibly well with our art director. Erin creates extremely logical sites that are easy to navigate, and she stays on task, and on schedule. Erin is also an excellent communicator and helps me stay on task and on schedule. I couldn’t give her a higher recommendation."
~ Vicki Chamberlain, Marketing Consultant/Content Coordinator, Oregon Surigical Specialists and Rogue Valley Physicians
US Fish & Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory
"Working with Erin was a delightful process. I was apprehensive that it could potentially become a difficult management situation, but with Erin’s organizational skills, it was a collaborative, creative and positive process. We came in with some very special needs — to present information scientifically and academically, but not come across as bureaucratic. And that’s exactly what we accomplished. I continually hear 'WOW, you guys don’t look bureaucratic!'”
~ Dr. Edgard Espinoza, Deputy Director, USFWS Forensics Laboratory
Joe Romano ~ Artist
"What I can say without any hesitation or prodding is that my website would not be as successful as it is if it were not for Erin's input. Because my site is an artist's site I had very strong beliefs in what it should look like. Erin's own insights made my site come to life in a way that surpassed my own expectations. Her creativity was of the highest caliber, and complemented my own ideas so that together we came up with the perfect site for me. The proof is that my site is very successful and has been the most important new aspect of my art business."
~ Joe Romano, Artist, Joe Romano Fantasy Art & Sculpture
His Favorite Shirt
"While I have come to expect great graphic work from Erin, it's the pleasure of working with her that puts the icing on a great design experience. Her easy laugh, amazing intuition about the project, and timeliness have made each project a pleasure and a success."
~ Ken Silverman, Co-Owner, His Favorite Shirt
encanto press letterpress
"Erin did a fabulous job with my website! She has a great design aesthetic, was very flexible and open to my suggestions and communicated well about what needed to take place at each step of the way. I really enjoyed collaborating with her. I would recommend her to anyone who is wanting a beautiful easy-to-navigate site!"
~ Angie Clark, Owner, encanto press
Center For Enlightened Leadership
"I give you my highest and unequivocal recommendation for professionalism, quality, artistic creativity, client sensitivity, attentiveness to detail."
~ Steve Sokolow, Co-Founder, CFEL
National Center for Higher Education Risk Management
"Erin is a perfectionist, and she won't be satisfied until you are. She has great vision, and an intuitive knack for how people use websites. She has been able to continuously improve ours. Her costs are reasonable, and she is good at meeting timelines. She is communicative and often has taken the initiative to improve parts of our site when she sees a problem."
