Okay so here is a little insight into the design process…

Firstly you should produce a wireframe for the initial design which essentially lays out the skeleton of the site before any style has been applied. This is best practice as many clients often can’t see beyond the visual and will almost leave the information architecture as an afterthought. In my early days in print design we would apply a similar principle to logo design where all logos were presented in black and white form so again the initial focus was on the core structure of the logo shape rather than clients being blinkered by the actual colour. Many clients are not used to working like this and it may take some getting used to but I believe the benefits are segmenting the design process will lead to a more polished finished article. These initial sketches should be kept rudimentary and in black and white.

How many design revisions?
The next stage in the design process begins stumbles upon the question of: ‘How many revisions of design should you produce before settling on ‘the one’?’ In my early days as a web designer I would produce what we termed ‘3 nuggets’ for the client to look at before selecting their preference. But in hindsight this approach presented an array of problems as the client would often cherry pick elements from all 3 designs, amalgamating them into a mishmash of a design (which I term a blue peter job!). In an age where everyone thinks they are a designer, the more control you give the client in terms of design the worse the finished design will be.  Would you begin to advise your electrician on how to rewire a socket? No.  So let the professionals do what they have trained for! At IHM we settle on producing one design –in essence the best solution; why present the client with a design which is second best? Offering only one solution also simplifies the process. Don’t get me wrong you should experiment with your design and let it evolve; but the finished design should be presented as ‘the one’.

Inner Page Development…
Should inner pages be designed and developed in the same vein as the homepage?
Sometimes inner pages can be just as important if not more important then the homepage itself. In these instances it is essential to design these pages with the same thoroughness as that of the homepage. The homepage will often be used as a style guide for the rest of the site; but please don’t get caught up in the trend that every page has to be heavily influenced by the homepages style. There is now a shift in design circles where each page can be distinctly different from the last and carry its own unique flavour.

Don’t rip competitors…
When designing factors like researching your client’s competitors is often a pretty standard requirement and this is beneficial in that it can tell you what features and content should be included. But just be wary of moving too close to the actual design of your competitors; often your client will like a competitor’s site and religiously stick to its style to the point where you could end up with something nearing a clone of the competitor’s original site! Don’t let this happen as there are design mistakes which clients make time and time again including:

• Wanting a flash intro on the site
• Cramming too much information into the design (thus detracting from any clear message.)
• Wanting the logo bigger
• Ripping off someone else logo or site!
• Requesting a terrible font
• Wanting the word welcome on the main H1 tag refusing to acknowledge that this needs to be keyword relevant.

I recently read a great article on this topic which you can read by clicking here.

Get your sketchbook out…
Also remember to get your sketchbook out and take a step away from the screen before you begin the design process (See my previous article – Offline inspiration). Remember to have a copy of the brief close at hand as you design (which you should refer to every so often); this will help keep you focused and make sure you don’t go off on a crazy tangent!

And one more thing…
Right the design has been approved. Now comes the satisfaction of bringing the design to life by slicing up the image and coding it up….

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