I’m happy to announce that the efforts to relaunch my long-dormant Maui Wall Candy website are just about ready for prime-time.
And, as you would expect from a redesign that’s taken this long, it’s coming back bigger and better than ever.
What is Maui Wall Candy?
Although it sounds like a dessert for tourists (although, I suppose it could be), Maui Wall Candy is my online storefront for selling prints of all my favorite Maui imagery from our previous trips to the Valley Isle.
Over the years, most, if not all, of my work online featuring a Maui theme has been centered around sharing my images digitally. Whether it’s been on websites, via social media, eBooks, or in my mobile Apps, you need a screen of some sort to take in the Aloha.
With Maui Wall Candy, however, the tagline of “Aloha for your Walls” make it pretty clear that the goal is to offer a more traditional approach of enjoying the beauty of Maui in your home or at work.
What’s New this Time?
With this relaunch, the Maui Wall Candy experience will consist of three major elements:
- A full website and blog to showcase individual images and specials,
- The online storefront for ordering prints and other items – powered by SmugMug,
- And a soon to be released iPhone and iPad App that offers free and for-purchase wallpaper and other digital images for your digital life.
The New Website
The latest version of the Maui Wall Candy website still has a few things to tidy up, but it’s by no means hiding from search engines at this point.
Sticking with the WooThemes approach to my other website redesigns, the new website features many of those same elements and give it a consistent feel with my other Maui websites.
As I fill out the Gallery section with more images and links to the online storefront, the promotion and blog posts will start to follow suit.
The Online Storefront
As before, the online ordering process is all managed through my SmugMug Pro account, but this time it’s consolidated under my Kris Nelson Photography moniker.
There are still a few customizations to be made, as well as a full fresh of all the images offered, but that will be where my time is spent over the next few days.
The New App
The upcoming Maui Wall Candy App for iOS is where the majority of my recent development time has gone to the last few weeks.
I’m excited because it continues in the path of my other Maui Apps, but also raises my personal bar just a bit by offering a more elegant interface than what I’ve done before (geek speak for “it’s pretty”).
It’s also the first App I’ve created using Apple’s In-App Purchases functionality, which was a good learning experience, too.
But all you need to know is that there will soon be a super easy way to add some Aloha to your iPhone or iPad that will make you dream of Maui every time you turn it on.
At the time of this post, the App itself is current awaiting review for the App Store, but you can check out all the details in this App preview post.
Stay Tuned
I’ll have an official App announcement once the App goes live in the App Store, and then further news on the Maui Wall Candy updates on my other Maui websites.
Until then, if you’re looking for more of Maui work to-date, be sure to check out my Maui Portfolio site over at http://mauiby.me.
Mahalo! – Kris
