Guide to an Effective Web Design Process

Before starting any webpage design, whether it is a small website for a sole trader or a huge website for a blue chip company it is important to gather a few fundamental pieces of information first.

Find out from the client what sort of company they have, what sort of image they want to convey and what type of demographic their client base will be made up from.

It is also a good idea at these embryonic stages to find out what websites your client rates highly themselves, and more importantly, why they think these websites ‘work’. It is always worth finding out which website designs they don’t like! This should give you a first impression of their expectations. Ideas can now start forming in your own mind as to what the client wants. Don’t just scurry away and start designing. Relay your thoughts to the customer, by use of webpage layout diagrams if necessary.

Many clients from large and established companies will already have a corporate identity in place or at least their own logo. It is imperative to replicate corporate identities perfectly, which can be made easier if the client furnishes you with all the relevant files they hold. However, many clients that are just starting out with an idea for a website will need some sort of logo or identity. I would advise you to create a selection of logo ideas for them to choose from, taking into consideration the loose design specification they have already given you.

When the client has chosen a logo you can now start designing the ‘home’ or ‘landing’ page for their website. Remember that this should almost always compliment the shapes and colours incorporated within their logo. I find it quicker and more organic to start the design process with a pen and paper.
You can quickly see if a design ‘works’ or not. If you are not feeling in a particularly creative mood it is not a good idea to ‘crash away’ on the computer, creating images that don’t work. Images onscreen somehow carry more gravitas than sketches in a notepad, so tend to de-motivate you more if they’re not working out well.

When you think you’ve come up with a very basic layout on paper, it’s time to get it onscreen. I have found adobe illustrator to be the best ‘backbone’ of my web design projects. I am surprised how many people use adobe Photoshop for designing an entire webpage. The clue is in the name, ‘Photoshop’ it was devised primarily as a photo editing and retouching software and although it has many more capabilities than a mere photo lab I find illustrator much quicker to use and has the added bonus that all images created in it are ‘vector’ which means they are mathematically defined by lines and curves. The important thing is that all images created are resolution independent, which means they can be re-sized or stretched without losing quality.

When designing web pages in adobe illustrator, make sure you utilise the layers panel and label similar objects clearly. When you have created a basic design it is very easy to experiment with different colour harmonies by using the layers panel. Always re-size and re-touch pictures in Photoshop and import them to Illustrator. When saving photographs for the web as part of a webpage I use the j-peg file format.

When organising the navigation bar and essential links on your webpage it is important to be aware of the potential growth of the company you are designing for. There is no point opting for a top navigation bar, filling it up and leaving no space on the left hand side for links. Only to find out six months later that the company has doubled in size, has got twice the products and wants more links! Some web designers have a very blasé attitude claiming, ‘’well, they got what they paid for’’ This attitude won’t win you any friends.

Most page layouts are comprised of a series of boxes or compartments to separate different pieces of information. It is a good idea to be aware of the standard Google advert Sizes so that you can make some of your boxes in those sizes so that Google adverts can be added later, if the client so wishes.

Another ‘trick’ that fine artists have used throughout the ages is the golden ratio. I often try to use the golden ratio in my webpage layout. The golden ratio is approximately 1.6 this means if you are creating a rectangle with a height of 100 pixels; the golden ratio would determine that the width should be 160 pixels.

Another piece of advice is to constantly check what your Illustrator file looks like when saved for web & devices. This could save you time re-touching pictures etc that don’t need attention when viewed as a web file.

When you’ve got a design that you think is good enough to show the client. Don’t. Spend some time away from the design then when you come back to it you can look at it from a fresh perspective and do some all important tweaking. This often overlooked process makes the difference between a good website and a great website.

Finally when your design is finished, always take time out to ask your client about the feedback they’ve received from people about the website design.

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