Creative Graphic Design

Recently we shared a client’s Web site makeover, and suggested you step back to look at your Web site with fresh eyes. If you did that and realized your site is looking a bit dated, what’s the first step toward a redesign?

It may surprise you to learn that the first steps to creating your new design have nothing to do with the look of your site. That’s right, although it’s the first thing we see, it’s actually a secondary consideration. So, what should we consider?

1. How’s your current site working for you? Is your information presented in a way that’s easy to find? What’s the purpose of your current site?
2. Which pages on your current site receive the most traffic? Why? Are these the pages that you want to receive the most traffic?
3. Are you happy with your search engine ranking?
4. What size browsers do most of your visitors use? (from Google Analytics)
5. What’s the purpose of your current site?

Now let’s begin talking about your new site:

1. What new information (content) will be added to your site? Do you need or anticipate needing e-commerce capabilities? Will your new site’s purpose remain the same? Describe your target customer / viewer.
2. How frequently do you plan to update your new site? Do you want to maintain your own Web site or have the developer perform all updates? Depending on the answer to these last questions, we’ll direct you toward either a static HTML Web site or a content management system (CMS). We use, love, and recommend WordPress for clients who want to update their sites themselves.
3. With those questions out of the way, we can now plan the basic architecture of your site – what content can be re-used from your old site, what needs to be added and where, and how the navigation should work.
4. Finally, we arrive at the starting point for the actual design (the look and feel) of your site. Describe any ideas you have for your site’s design. Think about colors, images, and text, but also consider how video might fit into the mix and what elements would help your site be more socially interactive.

Overall, take the time to fully evaluate your current site and to carefully think through your new site’s architecture before beginning the design process. The end result will be a well-planned site that clearly communicates your message in a logical, useful format. Then turn your attention to its design to bring your content to life.

Part of our service offering is affordable business Web site design and hosting. The screen shots below show our most recent Web site makeover for our client, GrassWay Organics. This site is built on the WordPress blog platform and uses a customized premium theme. This is a combination public / membership site, meaning that several pages are only accessible through membership in their association.

Grassway Organics Before

Grassway Organics After

In the market for a Web site makeover? Contact us today for a free, no obligation Web site review.

Here’s another example of the design process … Web site design, this time. We’ve just rolled out a new Web site home page design for Sprue Brothers Model LLC. Sprue Brothers is an online hobby retailer for scale model builders. The “sprue” in the business name is significant. All plastic scale modelling parts arrive on a frame called a sprue. The store’s logo reflects this and now so does the Web site.

Before and after screenshots are below:

Before Website Redesign

New Home Page Design

My husband (and team member), Gerald, came up with the idea of sprue borders. Our graphic artist, Scott, took the concept and ran with it. I put it together as a working Web site. Despite a few technical glitches, this was a fun project that came together quickly. It’s also one that will continue to improve over time. Gordon, we hope your new landing page serves you well.

Have you looked at your Web site lately?

Is your Web site in need of a face lift? Believe it or not, most Web sites would benefit from a makeover every couple of years. It’s not only the look of a site that can become quickly dated, but also the technology running the site. If you’re doing your own Web site coding in Dreamweaver or FrontPage, and you’re not a code geek, your site is also likely accumulating excess bits of code … stuff that doesn’t really seem to cause any problems now, but give it time … it will.

So take a few minutes this week to review your Web site from the eyes of a first time visitor. Does it portray your business the way you’d like it to? If you’re using a blog rather than a static Web site, is your blog installation up-to-date? Do your links all work? And if you know what you’re doing, take a look under the hood and check your HTML coding. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask me.

Another Reason to Subscribe by Email to Inside Line

We’ll have a free gift for email subscribers to Inside Line this week. Mum’s the word … can’t tell you what it is until it’s ready to go, but I will say that it’s NOT some bonus offer for buying some guru’s Internet marketing course. In fact, it’s not even educational … just something to use and enjoy, and the only string attached is that you must be a current email subscriber to Inside Line. Are you an email subscriber yet?

When I was first contracted to create a logo design for Via-Cell, their idea was a genie, possibly emerging from a lamp, holding coffee, food, and other goodies that can be ordered “via” their “cell-” phone and web-based system. I went to work sketching what I hoped would become the next Chester Cheetah, Tony Tiger or Michelin Man.

Unfortunately, a lot of the logo design process consists of sketching out what DOESN’T work. In this case, the primary use of the Via-Cell mark would be tiny, used on app button-sized and even smaller icons, including bookmark icons and buttons within their own application.  We had to whittle away the details and – despite my Illustration-loving ways – to arrive at a simple, recognizable Icon that would still embody their brand: a Magic Lamp that brings your wishes with a touch. (Their marketing tag-line at the start was even, “Your Mobile Bazaar.”)

Their web site went online recently, and they hope to expand rapidly beyond their Woodside, CA neighborhood. The system utilizes no special software or dedicated equipment and works entirely through the internet.

A recent article in Website Magazine cautions e-commerce entrepreneurs: “Keep Your Graphic Designer on a Short Leash.” Ouch! It wasn’t a case of reigning in their renegade Artist, it was an experience we shared as we zeroed in on the brand and its end-use. Note that the Via-Cell Site is also designed to communicate the process at a glance, without reliance on text or even English-language proficiency). Point-of-sales pieces for merchant use are being developed with the same quick, visual message.

Stages Of Logo Development

Well, at least Via-Cell has plenty of  ideas ready at hand should they decide to develop a Mascot or “The Animated Series.”  K.I.S.S.: Keep It Simple, Scott!

If you’re interested in more articles like the one referenced above, consider signing up for your own copy at Website Magazine, and see what industry professionals are talking about.