Professional & Creative Websites

The Web Design Process

Professional Website Design

Though not immediately apparent, Web Development is different from Web Design. The design phase is the act of planning and creating a visually appealing website. What colors will you use? How many elements will be a part of your site? Are you looking for something fun, serious or classy? That feedback will help us create the framework of what will become your website. When done correctly, web design can have a powerful, psychological and even emotional response on the person that visits your website. As cliche’ as it may sound, we live in a fast paced world and capturing your audience’s attention is more difficult than ever.

“A DESIGNER KNOWS HE HAS ACHIEVED PERFECTION NOT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO ADD,
BUT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO TAKE AWAY.”

Design Principles

CONSISTENCY

No matter where you drive within the United States, federal highway signs are almost always white text (Highway Gothic) placed against a green background. No matter where you travel it’s always the same familiar signage. This type of consistency should be no different on your website. As your customer “travels” through your website, each page should be consistent and familiar to your brand.

EMPHASIS

These are design principles used to intentionally highlight or draw a user’s attention to a particular area of your site. Perhaps you want to advertise a new product or push a customer towards signing up for your monthly newsletter, the designer ensures these areas are carefully created to draw attention to the subject matter without becoming distracting. (For example most users will start with their mouse towards the top left of the page and gradually end up in the middle. Not dissimilar to reading)

BALANCE

It’s important that the designer creates a balanced website. This means using the perfect balance between darks and lights and proportioning everything correctly.

The Design Process

Understanding Your Goals

During the initial stage, we’ll sit down and discuss with you what your specific goals are. Who is this website for? What should users expect when they arrive? Is the focus of the website to inform, sell or entertain? What colors will you use? How many elements will be a part of your site and what functions would you like to see implemented? If you have competition, we’ll discuss creative ways to make you stand out from the crowd.

Page Mapping

Page Mapping & Creation

Now that we understand the scope of your new website, we can start digging into the sitemap. This involves deciding the location of new pages and how they correlate to each other. Like team members, each web page should have a specific job. The page your on now for example, has helped explain what Web Design is, it will hopefully hand you off to our “Web Development” page where you view what happens when we “breathe life” into an element.

Defining the Scope

Define the Scope

defining the scope of the project may include what pages and features the site needs in order to fulfill your goals. Together we’ll discuss each person’s role and respective tasks, and time required to build out and complete those tasks. This is a great time to address any questions about rates and pricing. A tight budget means we must work within those constraints. A more relaxed budget does not mean your final quote will be higher. Rather, we will present you with multiple options, features sets and ideas. You can then comfortably choose between those options before making a final decision.

Visual Elements

Visual Elements & Color Psychology

With the site structure and some content in place, we can start working on the visual elements. This part of the design process will often be shaped by existing branding elements, colour choices, and logos. How should the website make the user feel? What colors will be used and why? Color influences perceptions that are not always obvious , we’ll discuss this in depth. High-quality images give a website a professional look and feel, but they also communicate a message, should be mobile-friendly, and help build trust. Visual content is known to increase clicks, engagement, and revenue.

DESIGN

DEVELOPMENT

LAUNCH

PROTECT

Let’s Start Something New

If you’d like to chat, drop us a message. No sales pressure. We’ll answer your questions and once you’re ready, return back with us and we’ll get started.