| Website Development |
How to design a Website? |
| |
As with most design projects, the first step when creating a website is to perform research. Some of this research will be done with the client to get an understanding of their needs, and other research will be done to learn more about a specific industry. When meeting with your client, you’ll be looking to discover as much as possible to help you develop an outline for the site and eventually design it. This includes asking about their target audience, goals, creative direction and other variables that may affect what you can offer the client, such as budget and deadline. Most likely before (to be prepared) and after gathering information from the client you will perform some industry or market research. This can be as simple as looking to see what other websites in the field look like to in-depth research with focus groups. The level of research performed will depend on the client’s budget and your existing knowledge of the industry.
Once you know what the project is all about, it’s time to get some ideas together, and brainstorming is a great start. Rather than looking for the perfect idea to be your first, throw out any and all ideas or concepts for the website as a start. Some websites might call for a standard web interface, with navigation (a button bar) and content areas where users are most likely to expect them. Others may require a unique concept to present the content. In the end the content will drive the design… a news site will have a much different approach than a photographer’s web portfolio.
Early in the process of developing a website, decisions need to be made regarding the technical requirements of the project. Such decisions will affect the budget, time frame and in some cases the overall feel of the site. One of the primary decisions is what the underlying structure of the site should be, which will determine what software is used and what system makes the site “work.” Options include:
- Basic HTML: A standard HTML site in which each page is edited manually. This may be relatively quick to develop but leaves little flexibility and a lot of ongoing maintenance.
- Use a Content Management System: Using a CMS generally allows a client to perform regular content updates, while the designer controls the overall look and feel of the site. Some systems may be developed from scratch, others purchased and tailored to the client’s needs, and others available as online systems (sites such as Blogger and WordPress are free and include a basic CMS).
- Flash: Flash sites are developed within Adobe Flash and can offer a rich, animated, multimedia experience. While layout work in Flash is often easier than coding a site, Flash development (making the site operate) can be time-consuming and complicated, but rewarding.
Now that you’ve gathered the necessary information and brainstormed some ideas, it’s a good idea to get it all down on paper. An outline of a website should include a list of each section to be included on the site, with a description of what type of content will be shown on each page. It should also describe in as much detail as possible what features would be on the site, such as user accounts, commenting, social networking functions, video, or a newsletter sign-up. Aside from helping organize the project, the client should be presented with the outline so they can approve it before the project continues. This will allow them to add, remove or adjust any sections or features, and will ultimately help you develop a budget and time frame and build the site. Agreeing on a price for a website project based on an approved outline will help to avoid additional fees or differences in opinion late in the project.
Wireframes are simple line drawings of website layouts that allow you (and the client) to focus on placement of elements rather than color and type. This is extremely helpful as it determines what content deserves the most focus and what percentage of the space on the page. Without being distracted by other visual elements, approved wireframes provide a framework for your designs.
Once you and your client are happy with the wireframes, it’s time to start designing the site. Adobe Photoshop is the most common tool for creating the initial designs. The focus of the site design should be to present the content…. while flashy designs and animation have their place, they should not overpower what the user is looking for. Consistent navigation will help your visitors find all your main content areas, while clean use of type (in the case of a text-driven site) will keep them reading and coming back for more. Before you have actual content for a site design, text will help fill spaces without distracting your client.
When your design is approved, the pages need to be turned from mockups into actual web pages written in HTML and CSS. Experienced designer/developers may choose to take on all the coding, while someone focused on the design side of the web may work closely with a developer to bring the site to life. If that is the case, the developer should be involved from the start, helping to make sure the design is a realistic and an effective web layout, and that promised features are both possible to execute and beneficial to the site.
Software such as Adobe Dreamweaver can help a designer turn a mockup into a working web page, with drag-and-drop features, pre-built functions and buttons to add links and images. If the site is done in Flash, it will be built within the Flash software rather than in HTML or other languages.
Once your layout is completed in HTML and CSS, it needs to be integrated with the system you have chosen in order to build a functioning website. This may mean developing templates to be read by a content management system, altering a WordPress template, or using Dreamweaver to create links between pages and more advanced web features. This is again a step that may be left to another member or members of the team.
With your website online, it’s time to promote it. Driving traffic to a site can include optimizing it for search engines, sending newsletters to highlight new content, advertising with Google or with banner ads on other sites, and more conventional methods such as print advertising and word-of-mouth.
One of the best ways to keep people coming back to your site is to keep the content fresh. With all of the work put into a site, you don’t want it to remain the same for months after the launch. Continue to post new content, photos, videos, or music… whatever the site was built to present. A blog is a great way to keep a site updated, with posts of any length on any topic related to your site.
The Benefits of a Graphic Design Blog
|
| |
|
 |
|
