The Business Challenge
In early 2013, Cognito Motorsports was a rapidly growing brand trapped by its eCommerce platform. Their site was managed on a closed-off, proprietary system that severely limited their agility. The business pain was acute: the platform was so restrictive that the client was charged a $50 minimum fee for simple updates, like changing their own company address, and was not granted access to make these changes themselves. This model created a significant bottleneck, preventing them from controlling their own brand and marketing destiny.
My Evolving Role: From Strategist to Sole Architect
I was initially brought on as a Strategic Marketing & Design Consultant to build their first-ever marketing program. After defining a “hub and spoke” strategy that required a flexible and powerful website at its core, my role quickly expanded. I became the Lead Architect and Sole Developer responsible for leading a full platform migration from their restrictive system to a new, open-source Magento 1 platform that they would own completely.
Process & Execution: A Custom Build from the Ground Up
As the sole person working on this project in all phases, I executed a complete, end-to-end build. This was not a simple “re-skinning” of a purchased theme; it was a foundational development project.
- Design & Architecture: I created the initial theme mockups in InDesign, using custom elements from Illustrator and Photoshop. I then architected a new Magento 1.8 site designed to be the central hub for their marketing.
- Custom Theme Development: I personally coded all of the CSS, PHTML, PHP, XML, and JavaScript files for the new, responsive theme, building it from the Magento default theme to ensure adherence to best practices.
- Content & Commerce Integration: A key strategic goal was to blend content and commerce. To achieve this, the new site was launched with WordPress integrated from day one, allowing the marketing team to seamlessly feature products within blog posts and other content.
- Data Migration: I managed the full data transfer, custom-building the CSV files required to migrate their product and customer data to the new Magento platform.
The Result & Business Impact
On August 21, 2013, we launched the new Cognito Motorsports website. The project was a transformative success that placed control of the company’s digital presence back into their hands. It eliminated the costly and restrictive third-party dependency, empowered their marketing team with a flexible and integrated content/commerce platform, and provided a modern, scalable foundation for future growth.
A Multi-Year Partnership in Technical Evolution & Enhancement
The Business Challenge
Following the successful 2013 launch, Cognito’s business continued to grow, and so did their technical needs. In 2014, a new Marketing Director identified critical issues hindering their progress: the Magento site was slow, not fully mobile-friendly, had cross-browser compatibility problems, and lacked key features like advanced product options and sponsorship forms. In 2016, the company’s evolving brand identity required another full redesign.
My Role: The Trusted, Long-Term Technical Partner
My relationship with Cognito Motorsports evolved from the initial site builder to their go-to, long-term technical expert. For both the 2014 and 2016 initiatives, I was re-engaged as their Lead Magento Developer to execute on their new vision and solve their most complex technical challenges.
Process & Execution: A Multi-Year Engagement
My ongoing work demonstrated a deep, evolving partnership focused on continuous improvement.
- The 2014 Technical Rescue: I was brought in to execute on a “HOT List” of critical items. I performed a core Magento version upgrade, installed and configured key extensions for Advanced Product Options and Webforms, built out their custom sponsorship and warranty forms, and fixed numerous bugs related to performance and browser compatibility.
- The 2016 Theming & Implementation: For the second major redesign, the client provided the new design, and I was entrusted with the full technical execution. My role was to take their visual concepts and single-handedly code and implement the new, modern theme onto their existing Magento platform, ensuring a seamless transition and a polished user experience.
The Result & Business Impact
This multi-year partnership highlights my ability to serve as a consistent and reliable technical leader for a growing brand.
- Enabled Marketing Agility: The 2014 enhancements directly empowered the marketing team, providing them with the features and stability they needed to run their campaigns effectively.
- Demonstrated Versatility: I proved my ability to not only design and build a platform from scratch (2013) but also to expertly execute on another team’s vision (2016).
- Built a Foundation of Trust: By successfully navigating multiple redesigns, upgrades, and critical bug fixes over several years, I became a trusted, long-term partner, helping to ensure their primary sales channel could evolve and scale along with their business.
