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What do you call a millwright turned carpenter turned chainsaw sculptor turned internet marketer and website design professional? Around here, we call him William Muncrief. That’s the beauty of the web: it draws an amazingly diverse cross-section of humanity from every profession and occupation. (I’m going to prise more information out of William in the future about these sculptures. There has to be pictures!) William now owns and operates Logistics Studios, a boutique web design studio in the sublime Shasta region of Northern California.
Where Good Design Begins
-by William Muncrief, Logistics Studio
Designing a website for someone can be simple or complex.
Determining factors for website design complexity are influenced by a variety of conditions, and of course the budget. There are sometimes that creation cannot be all about the money. Consider charity work for example, where they still deserve the best you can offer.
Finding the right design for someone else is a complicated procedure at best. Investigative work is of the utmost importance to achieve what the customer is looking for in their site. As designers we suggest, show, but never push our ideas down someone’s throat. This can be hard for the creative mind to get a real handle on, but it is necessary to let the customer steer unless they relinquish all control. I try to keep in mind I may or may not see the site again, however, they are stuck with it. Design is a very personal aspect and should never really be about ornamentation.
This is where many people get it wrong. They design code-bloated beasts, with no SE,O that only serve their own desire to display their masterpiece. Good design is the marriage of written content, images, multimedia, and a solid web application foundation. When the design is good these aspects harmonize with the client,search engines, and visitors as well.
Getting to know the customer is beneficial from every aspect. Frequently we learn a great deal just from the e-mail exchange. Ask for ideas, resources, and input early on to save the embarrassment of someone who cannot stand your design.
Designing the site should always start in a concept form prior to starting with any software. The use of the pencil and graph paper allows for some quick layouts complete with measurements. This initial step helps tremendously when creating the CSS. Like all math make sure the numbers add up to what they are supposed to by adding all borders, margins, padding, container width and height, etc. Remember not to make things to tight other wise they can blow apart in different browsers and I am not naming names. These sketches work wonders for getting into the prototype, comp phase fast.
Design is all about accuracy, focus, and laying the proper foundation of trust with the client. By taking the time necessary, to EARN client trust we gain incredible value in their eyes. Value reflects competence and creates the environment where our great ideas may come to life.
William Muncrief spent most of his life as a millwright & building contractor. In 2006, William tackled internet marketing to sell chainsaw sculptures, and was quickly sucked into the world of web design. Visit his company Logisitics Studios.
Always, always check what your design looks like in Internet Explorer, even if you never use it yourself. IE can distort websites that look great in all other browsers.
.-= Gordie´s last blog ..Interview With Captain Australia. =-.
Gordie – IE took me right out of the web development game for the better part of 7 years. It was so much worse back in the late ’90s, early ’00s.
.-= Dr WordPress!´s last blog ..Made to Stick: Earworms for your brain =-.
Some project management should come in handy for such efforts.
Starting with a documented vision for the website and an outline of the specific goals that the site should achieve will keep all subsequent phases of the project within the scope, budget, and agreed on timeline.
Start with a documented list of high level requirements and then work on breaking them down to specific features.
The next step is to come up with a design that addresses each requirement and/or feature. Make sure there are client reviews after each milestone (vision and goals, Requirements, design).
The actual construction of the site should be integrative with frequent client input.
Things to keep an eye on:
• Client decisions should be timely as we will as their review and approvals of major documents and milestones.
• Make sure there are freeze milestones such as design freeze milestones or coding freeze milestone so that you can get to the next phase and keep the project on track.
• It natural to want to please the client and make them happy but you need to keep an eye on changes to requirement or design along the way. This should help manage the client expectations in the case when the timeline or budget will be exceeded. Clients tend to have short term memory so the only thing that will save you is you good documentation of the change.
Samad, relate this to developing a blog, and you have a blog post!
.-= Dr WordPress!´s last blog ..Google AdSense: text vs. image ads, which is best? =-.
Great idea!!! Will do.
.-= Samad Aidane´s last blog ..Being Economical with the truth =-.
The thing that a lot of web designers get wrong is that it’s not a one man (or woman job). A great website needs a great coder, talented graphic designer and a usabitily professional. I don’t know anyone who can successfully fill all these roles!
Yep. Getting the right team together is tough. Each needs to know a little bit about what the others do, and the client should know something about all of it.
.-= Dr WordPress!´s last blog ..Made to Stick: Earworms for your brain =-.
Did I hear “graph paper”?
That is music to my ears. Graph paper is one of the most valuable tools that I own.
.-= Deacon´s last blog ..Where’s Waldo Proves I Have Tech Cred =-.
I agree. It is astonishing how obsessed we have become with technology and automation tools. Yet, some of the basic tools (such as pen and paper) at times remain the most effective ways to express our creativity. On a different nore, I read somewhere recently that the Moleskines notebook is now considered the coolest gadget. I kind of agree with that statement.
.-= Samad Aidane´s last blog ..Being Economical with the truth =-.
Getting designs right with customers is a daunting task. In my former life, when we show creatives to the client, they inevitably choose the one we like least.
Anyway, IMO the best way to open a dialog about design is to simply ask them to name some of their favorite sites.
Gabe, that’s a great idea. What I’m doing with a current client is proposing designs similar to sites I believe will work well for their content. No decisions yet.
.-= Dr WordPress!´s last blog ..Google AdSense: text vs. image ads, which is best? =-.