How I Work

After the initial contact, I will learn all that I can about your needs, your budget, time constraints and the general workings of your business, group or point of view. Usually, a meeting is set up where we will talk over your project and decide the following: 

• Your goals, site purpose, audience and scope of your project
• Site structure
• Thematic elements like banners, image branding, and basic layout
• Execution time-line, indicating major deadlines and action items
• Copyright assignment
• Fees 

At this point, we will drawn up and sign a contract after a through discussion of these issues. This keeps surprises to a minimum and helps to keep both parties on track for a speedy launch date. 

Once I receive some basic idea of content, themes, basic color, navigation and layout ideas, I will quickly create one to four single page mock-ups in FrontPage and/or Dreamweaver. These ideas are then posted to a subdirectory of my site where clients can see them. I may use stock graphics and simplified buttons to indicate how the page will be chunked. I may throw out several very different color schemes that should elicit some strong feedback from you. 

This stage is critical.  Be honest and as specific as possible in your feedback. Web design is a creative endeavor and there is rarely a right way of approaching any given project. On the other hand, there may be "more right" ways of doing things based on your needs, budget and the needs of your users. 

After a series of refinements on these mock pages, I will create a template page based on our discussions. I can make minor adjustments to the layout, image-choice and color scheme, until you are satisfied. 

Once the template is approved, I will then create a full site mock-up. At this point, I should have most the content in my hands ready to fill all the pages. Some pages may only have a title, but the entire site will be mapped out as if it were live. This will give us a chance to make sure that our navigation is logical and easy to us and discuss any required changes. At this stage, I can accommodate minor changes to the template.

Once approved and once I have all the content for the site, I will create a fresh template using the best practices and standards required for the job, using the latest versions of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and any other technologies necessary. I will hand code where necessary and validate all code as it is written. I will double-check my work in a variety of operating systems, browsers and monitors to ensure compatibility and aesthetics based on your requirements. Using the new template, I will create the final version of the site and post it again. This process may take a day or two depending on the size of the project. 

You will then be required to double-check the site for content and typo errors. After you are satisfied, I will then double check the code, spam-protecting email addresses, optimizing metatags, and giving the contents a thorough read through. I can then post your site to your domain or send you the files necessary for you to upload. 

I usually keep an eye on a site for a week or two after completion, checking it on different computers as a final quality check. I will gladly do minor corrections during that time.