Our Company

Meet the Nu-Designs Team

The Nu-Designs Web Marketing team contributes in unique ways to make the Web work for you. Since 1995 Nu-Designs has been designing and developing Web sites for businesses and organizations in Marin and Sonoma County. By carefully and meticulously hand-picking only the most competent design and development experts—artists in their own right—the Nu-Designs team has become the paramount Web design and development team in the North Bay.

Combining Creative Talent and Technical Know-How

Over the years our client base has grown steadily. We have in our portfolio a wide range of creatively-designed Web pages serving a variety of purposes. These diverse projects have imbued our staff with a depth of experience in Internet protocol and Web site development that is second-to-none, resulting in useable, cleanly-designed and robust Web sites for our clients.

Collectively our team has over 100 years of experience in Web design, development and marketing expertise and our clients are the beneficiaries of our knowledge. Combining real-world business experience with finely-honed technical capabilities, Nu-Designs provides practical, attractive solutions to Web site development needs.

Meet Our Team

David Keith

Vice President of Operations

David brings 15 years of business leadership to the team. He has a BA from California State University, Sacramento in Economics. He worked 10 years in business and marketing for Shell Oil Company. In 2002, David Co-founded and operated K2 Environmental, Inc, a successful specialty construction company. In 2006, David hung up his tool belt to join Nu-Designs and lead us in our future endeavors.

Ron Lowe

Vice President, Founder

Ron Lowe started Nu-Designs in 1995 from his Santa Rosa apartment. Ron has an innate ability (and years of experience) to gauge a Web site’s “usability”, the ease with which a visitor can access information and navigate, and its effectiveness in getting the attention of search engines. Unlike many computer and Web experts, Ron didn’t grow up obsessed with computers. Ron has worked as a grocery clerk, as a farrier (horseshoer), even a professional photographer. Somehow, that history added up to the proficiency that guided Nu-Designs to where it is today.

Michele Carter

Sales and Marketing Manager

Michele is the initial point of contact for new clients at Nu-Designs and emphasizes customized, personal service above all.  “I  believe in the talent of each member of the Nu-Designs team,” she said. “If I didn’t, I couldn’t sell it.” If you’ve been thinking about having a new Web site designed, Michele will be there to listen, offer suggestions and show you how Nu-designs can help. She has many years of experience as a Project Manager and Coordinator and has made a career of sales, sales support and customer service. She laughs a lot and hers is the desk in the office with the candy dish. She loves to garden and admits that she talks to birds and sometimes “just breaks out into song.” In fact, she has been known to sing using oven mitts as hand-puppets.

Paul Lear

Operations Manager, Creative Director

Paul brings over 15 years of formal software development and delivery expertise to Nu-Designs. He has 7 years web development experience holding a BS in Computer Science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Paul brings the requisite mix of right and left brain skills—a creative technician as well as our resident Fireworks and Flash expert. For the past 13 years he has also volunteered his time as a member of the Sonoma County Search and Rescue team and has been involved for 8 years with the California Rescue Dog Association. He is a coordinator and trainer for the National Association of Search and Rescue.

Nancy Giovannini

Senior Designer, xHTML & CSS Specialist

Completely self-taught, Nancy’s amazing Web design skills set the standard at Nu-Designs and beyond. Motivated to do her best in whatever she does, Nancy says when it comes to Web site design, it’s all about making the customer happy. She frequently rides her bike to work from Sebastopol to Santa Rosa (“It keeps me sane!”) and is a huge San Francisco Giants fan. A music lover, she has over 4,500 songs in her i-pod and hopes someday to reach its capacity of 15,000 at which time her life will be complete. She laughs easily, loves working with her clients and says with a smile, “they love me right back.” Our resident Photoshop Guru, Nancy has a twin sister and we’re always kind of wondering which is them is really sitting at her desk.

Lynn Ritzman

Project Coordinator, SEO Analyst

Lynn is the Jack-of-all-trades here at Nu-Designs. He applies his many skills on a wide variety of projects. Lynn says he’s the “lost soul” of the office, but the truth is he’s too good to confine to one department. His proficiency and expertise is highly sought after for a variety of jobs, from project management to search engine optimization, design, xHTML, and more. He has been in the Web development industry over 10 years. When he’s not here he’s getting beat up by the girls’ basketball and lacrosse teams he coaches at Sonoma Academy.

Jennifer Bradford

Lead Programmer, Database Expert

Jennifer has two great loves: ballroom dancing and computer programming, and, frankly, she could go either way at any time, writing code one minute and gliding across the room the next. Her father brought home a portable computer when she was very young and she immediately picked up a programming book and never looked back. She started ballroom dancing at around the same time and has thus far been successful in balancing these two disparate activities. Jennifer has been programming professionally for over 12 years (and teaching ballroom dance since 2003).  She is highly skillful at customizing ecommerce systems and online stores for our clients, as well as designing, programming and maintaining their databases. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the tango. 

Wayne Ingraham

Web Designer

Wayne brings over 10 years of solid web/graphic design and management to Nu-designs. He wears his multiple skills in Photoshop, xHTML, CSS, Illustrator, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Flash, JavaScript and Icon creation like tools on his personal Batman utility belt. A true renaissance man, Wayne can not only effectively design and build your new Web site, but work first-hand with you to make sure it’s exactly what you want. When nobody’s looking, Wayne likes to perform and teach break dancing. No, really. He owns a DJ business, loves drawing, hiking, music and working on his 1957 oval-window Volkswagen bug.

Quinn Supplee

Software Developer and Programmer

When a customer needs something special or unusual to happen on their Web site, something that requires software and programming that doesn’t come in a box, we call Quinn to make it happen. Writing custom software—from unique shopping carts for retailers to custom shipping calculators for trucking companies—is his specialty. He also handles content management systems for Web sites. A former digital color specialist on DC and Marvel Comics, Quinn studied fine art in college until programming became his first love (though now his first love is his baby daughter, Zoe). “I love writing programming code,” he said. “It’s like poetry that does something.”

Del Morris

Accounting

With all the wacky, creative types here at Nu-Designs, someone has to keep everybody in line. Del is in charge of payroll, accounts receivable and payable and generally keeping everyone’s ducks in a row. We’d be lost without him because, frankly, computer-types aren’t known for being good at this sort of thing. Friendly and competent, he is always available to help employees or clients with accounting questions or concerns. It’s rumored that he never buys erasers or whiteout because he never makes mistakes.

Jim Brumm

Production Editor

Jim specializes in helping business owners tell their story. He can hone in on those special qualities that set you and your business apart from the competition and write about them in a way that makes customers want to do business with you. With over 20 years experience in editing, writing and publishing, Jim can write your Web site’s content from scratch, or go in and tweak the existing copy to improve the flow and clarity. When he’s not writing, he’s either reading or playing air guitar. You can often find him and his band, Blacktop Moon, performing at various venues around Sonoma County, where he plays a real guitar.

Q

Office Dog

Q is our resident cheerleader here at Nu-Designs. A border/healer mix, when she’s not guarding Paul from predators, she enjoys sniffing and eating things. In fact, if she thinks you have something good to eat and that you might share some, she will be your best friend until it’s gone. Q is a working dog with the California Rescue Dog Association and holds three search and rescue certifications. This “search” training is why she always seems to know when there’s something good to eat in your trash can.