Web Design

Designing a website involves clear thinking and broad assessment. Developing a substantial site usually takes a considerable amount of research as well. Brand Development, content structure, information integrity, technical writing, graphic & media design, and production are all elements of the web design process. They should be met head-on to ensure that your project develops in a professional manner. Before the wheels start rolling however, take the time to draft a short statement of your primary goals for the site. This will serve as the foundation for future development, and will help those involved with your project to provide meaningful feedback as your project moved from concept, to design, and then to production.

You should know who your target audience is, and plan to organize the site to meet their needs. The experience of your users will vary from beginners who will need a simple, but well thought out home page, to power users who may be looking for quick drill-down access to the information they need. A good design should accommodate both.

You will want to consider a design approach. Your goal at this point is to identify effective online models that have been established by successful businesses, perhaps relevant to your own, and to evaluate the functional and aesthetic elements of each example from a user's point of view. This is helpful in two ways:

1. It exposes you to design and usability examples that very well could be "outside of the box" that currently encompasses your vision for the website.
   
   
2. It helps you to appreciate the basic needs of your audience by discovering first-hand how other websites have tackled usability concepts.

It is no secret that even the most talented, veteran graphic designers will often seek outside inspiration to get their artistic juices flowing. The best of them usually end up with a sizable library of collected works by other artists. Web designers are no different. In fact, if we did not continuously review and asses what other great web designer/developers are doing - today, not yesterday - then we could very easily run afoul of even the most basic web trends, eventually making ourselves completely irrelevant. So how is this process put into action without infringing upon someone else's website implementation? Simple - we routinely review hundreds of the best-of-breed websites out there. From a functionality perspective, we already know what our client's needs are. By exposing ourselves to some of the most ingenious examples, showcasing how other developers have dealt with similar requirements, we get ideas about how a particular strategy might be reworked to fit our client's needs. This might be something as mundane as how best to execute a horizontal navigation with an extensive set of dropdown menus, or as exciting as an interactive online classroom.

From a design perspective, we will look at background treatments, header treatments, body/content area treatments, and footer treatments. We will look at navigation, content clusters, color schemes, graphical elements, lighting, font usage, and separation. Separation in design can be likened to that of the artful pause found throughout any great song or musical piece. Without the pauses, the words and notes would all be strung together from start to finish in one continuous, monotonous motion. But it's more than just the pauses themselves; it's how the artist has utilized them that makes the song or the music great. Great design is a coming together of all of these elements in support of the client's core vision.

The Web Design Process
The importance of the web design process, and the designer's ability to effectively communicate that process to the client, cannot be understated. The success of your whole project; from concept, to design, to implementation, will be affected by how well this process is planned, and ultimately carried out. An experienced designer already knows what works, for him or her at least, and requires a level of control that might appear to border on narcissism, but in the end, aids in the facilitation of two very important results:

1. The shortest possible design time.
   
   
2. The most conducive environment for allowing the designer to capture the core of his client's business - assuming of course, that the client has a clear concept of what that core is.

Typically, a web design process will go something like this:

1. A design meeting is scheduled with 1-to-3 top-level company members.
• With medium-to-large organizations, where input is required from a larger group of people, it is recommended that meetings be carried out independently, and prior to the main design meeting with us.
• We are happy to provide you with our meeting guidelines, but it is ultimately the responsibility of one individual - along with perhaps one or two others - to determine the consensus of the group and the ultimate direction for the company.
• We will help you to refine your results during our meeting.
  
  
2. A list of pre-defined topics is discussed, at length, during the design meeting, and a design approach is established.
   
   
3. Within two weeks, a design preview is sent to the client.
• A client project area is created on our server, where design previews, versions, and updates can be accessed and tracked.
• All previews, versions, and updates are presented "as if" they were actual web pages. They are instead, single image Photoshop exports, wrapped in a web page with a background. This allows you to see the design in your browser, and get a feel for how it will look as a web page.
• There is no functionality it this point.
  
  
4. You are welcome to review the design at your leisure; acquiring input from those whose job it is to provide input, and coming back to us with any requests for changes.
   • Some clients invariably choose to seek the advice of an outside (or in-house) graphic designer. This is not a problem. We are very much aware that how your business is represented on the web is of the utmost importance, and having the fresh perspective of a talented graphic artist at your disposal would be a plus for you. However, we ask that you conduct any meetings or consultations with such an entity on your own time. Our process does not include working directly with other graphic designers.
   • If, by chance, you determine that the core of your company is not adequately represented by our design, a second design meeting is then scheduled. At this second meeting, we will discuss in detail what, if anything, is liked about the design, and what is not. We will go back to our previous meeting notes and look at how your answers can be clarified. Occasionally, these answers will change dramatically as you are able to compare them to their graphical representations in the design.
     
     
5. We will work closely with you until a web design is finalized - one that you are absolutely delighted with.
   • The only time limit placed on #5, is one you yourself set. We are perfectly happy to spend whatever time is needed to create the design you deserve; however many versions that may require. This is just one of many guarantees we offer.
   • Once a design is finalized, it is locked. From there we move into production. Locked does not necessarily mean that changes cannot be made, only that such changes will halt production, and could incur additional costs.

Contact Web Magi below for your free initial consultation: