About Being Wicked

We are a small, smart, experienced team who are out to create excellent online projects, whether they be websites, applications or games. We've been designing and developing such things for over a decade now; we're pretty good at it!

the team

Lorissa Shepstone, Creative Fundi

Lorissa started her design career in the late 90's and is a keen advocate of elegant, clean design and web standards. When she's not working on a design project, she can be found with her camera exploring her other love: photography. She's easily bribed with soya cappuccinos and chocolate. Just saying.

Gordon Clemmons, Codemonger

Since the age of 9, Gordon has had a passion for programming. His passion for games probably arrived around the same time. He believes in using the right tools for the job and, through experience, knows the pros and cons of many.

clients

Our clients include:

  • Random House, Inc
  • Little, Brown and Company
  • Penguin Group
  • HarperCollins Publishers
  • Workman Publishers
  • Freakonomics
  • mental_floss
  • McCormick & Williams
  • We also have a full client list to peruse »

You may be interested in reading what our clients have to say about working with us.

Being Wicked has ruined me for ever working with any other web designers, ever. They were more literate than most writers I know, more responsive than 911, and more clever than anyone deserves to be. Miraculously, they also fail to overcharge.


—Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics

for the love of books

We’re a bunch of bookworms. We love books and we’ve been fortunate to work with numerous authors and publishers in creating great websites, applications and games. We are well-versed in best practices for the publishing arena, and in working with authors and publishers to meet expectations (not to mention those book launch deadlines!). It’s exciting to launch a new book and we love being a part of that. If you are an author or publisher who isn’t already working with us, you should hire us. We know what we are doing and we love our work. A great combination when you want someone to put every effort into getting your book seen.

What we take seriously…

and what we don’t…

how we work (our approach)

We don’t believe in over-complicating things or using a lot of buzzwords and tech jargon to make ourselves sound important. In the same way, we don’t over-complicate how we work with you. Every project is different, but we follow the same standards whether we are dealing with a large application, or a small website.

  1. Let’s chat. This is all about us getting to know more about you and your project. You’ve sent us a Request for Quote. We’ve asked any questions we may have had and followed-up with a proposal for the project. You found the proposal agreeable and the quote reasonable and you have hired us.
  2. Getting wicked creative. This is where the real fun begins. Depending on the project and the size of the website/application, we may take several steps during this phase. Usually we put together design concepts for your approval, and work with you to hone in on the best design for you.
  3. Time to be wicked clever. Now we take that great design and we build the site/game/application. We are big on web standards and accessibility, and although we could go into all the details of why, here is what you need to know: web standards and accessibility mean your website or application is accessible to more people, including people with disabilities. This means more visitors are seeing and hearing about your book. It also means your site is easier to view on mobile devices. And to top it off, it means the project is easier to maintain. All good stuff.
  4. Testing. We never really liked tests in school, but when it comes to websites and applications, we know how important it is to test across all major platforms and browsers. During this stage you’ll review the work and make sure it meets your expectations.
  5. Celebrate!

even more

Our history
Before we were Being Wicked, we were Dynamic Vantage—a name you may still see around if you Google us, or if you see one of the Author/Publisher sites we built before the name change. We started under this moniker in 2002, and by 2008 we felt the time was right for a change. We wanted a company name that better reflected who we are—one that allowed us to show more of our personality to our clients. We’re proud of the work we did as DV, but the name felt a bit stodgy for us. It didn’t quite have that wicked flair, so we went with something more us!

Need to know more?
We are happy to answer any and all questions you may have about us, our work, or what you can expect from us. Get in touch and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.