Web design from scratch - HELP!

AGD

AGD

AGD

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2007
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Hi there, I said to someone I'd make a website for them with a basic initial design ready by the end of this friday (19th) but I am having 'designers block'. I am getting paid a little bit of money for this and it's for a friend of a friend so I don't want to let them down.

My question is really to do with how you approach the design process? The company has no branding but assuming you have the logo and target audience set in your mind where do you go from there? My thought process has been - upmarket so maybe some serif headers and simple with white background, clean layout, small colour palette. Now these things might all be correct (or not) but what would you guys do first:

get basic block layout sorted
choose typography
choose colour scheme

And when you have these things in place, how do you make the transition from a simple layout obeying good design principles but which is rather basic and barren to a final 'professional' look? Are there any rules which help with this?

I think I know the basics to with accessibility, web standards, complete separation on content and styling etc but I have difficulty arriving at a professional looking product. Any tips from you pros? I know some people can knock off a prototype (for a basic website) which looks quite professional in a day and reckon they must follow some kind of standard method!

Sorry for the long post and thanks a lot!
 
I always choose the design elements first. I start with the a logo, then move on to doing branded stationery; I find this helpful because it allows me to flex my legs with the brand.

Once those are done and signed off on, I start work on the site itself. I usually work from the outside in; that is; putting the basic structure in place and then refining the small details. But I certainly couldn't start work on the website itself without having the brand, typography and colour scheme in place first; as they inform the design.
 
Thanks for the advice reflux. Nice to know how other people work. I've got a basic design in place and was looking for some c & c. Went for a very minimal look (heavily inspired by a few of my favourite sites). Does it look too bare? Still not sure if it looks professional enough....
 
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Looks good sofar,

What about coming up with a simple logo to watermark the background or something so it doesnt look so plain?

Or have the colour fade into another colour from top left to bottom right at say a 30degree angle?
 
I do think I need to breakup the background a bit. A gradient might work... Not sure where to put it though. Was thinking of separating the header a bit more but again don't know the best way to do this, maybe have a horizontal bar in a different colour which incorporates the logo. Any more advice would be much appreciated! :)
 
Good job. I think the minimalist design works pretty well, though it could perhaps use a tastefully-chosen image or two to break up the text.

The one thing I'm not sure about is the colour you've used for the footer background and to highlight the active link on the left. I realise it fits in with the site's colour scheme, but I just don't think it's very nice - might well be a personal thing.

I think the footer could use a bit of work too. I'd change the font to something a little less generic, and put the copyright text underneath the links. It doesn't look centred either, but I think that's probably just the screenshot?
 
I was going to put some images in the main content area (just need to find/buy some good ones). You're correct, the footer isn't centred so I'll change that.

I sort of agree with you on the dark green but I'm useless with colours...
 
Ok so I centred the footer and added some images with borders as so:

I sent it to the owner of the company and his reply is leaving me in a bit of a pickle. I've never had to make a logo/brand identity before and didn't really factor that in to my costs. He originally said he'd pay me £400 for the website. We didn't really talk about what he'd get for that and basically my inexperience is telling. He wants multiple options to consider with regard to logos and possibly site designs but I'm thinking that it'll already take me 2 weeks in total (so £5 an hour) and so adding more work would be unreasonable for the price. Obviously we should have discussed this originally but as I said, I'm new to this and made a mistake.

He's sending me links to very upmarket websites which will have cost thousands (not including logo +brand identity) as what to aim for. Is he being unreasonable? I feel that the design I've produced +brand identity is already worth more than what he's paying...

On the other hand I could really do with this money which is why I said yes initially!

Edit: Already included in the £400 is using joomla cms and teaching him how to use it.
 
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I do all my design around a CMS, throw together 2 or 3 templates.

Create 2 or 3 different logos.

Stick in some example content.

And then present. Which gives you up to 9 different options.

I can do that much in about a days work. Then after that I'll take the design they choose and refine based on that.
 
Yes, he's being unreasonable. Whilst obviously you're in a difficult position, £400 for multiple logos and site designs is far too little.

At work, we offer our basic package at £1200; that's one site design and one logo. If they want different options, they have to pay. It's just not worth our time sitting there going through multiple different options unless we're being compensated for it. I don't think people fully appreciate the effort that goes into creative work.

Do not on any account get bent over a barrel on this. Whilst you need the cash and presumably the work will be useful to you in the future if you continue in web design, you shouldn't have to work for next to nothing.

Stress the value for money he's getting; that most web agencies won't get out of bed for less than £1k and that if he wants more, he'll have to pay. State this in the nicest way possible; try and emphasise the effort that goes into design and branding, and the amount of money that these example sites have had thrown at them.

Maybe tell him he can have another couple of site designs for £200 extra, or a few logo variations for the same amount and he can prioritize based on budget.
 
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Thanks for all the advice guys - it really is much appreciated.

I decided to send him an email detailing what extra costs would be in the event of him wanting alternative designs/logos. By the way, I didn't want to give the impression that he was being deliberately unreasonable - he literally knows nothing about website costs and design work in general so wouldn't have known how much this costs really.

Once again, thanks a lot.
 
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