Designing a website is a daunting task.There are so many aspects that, when combined, have to create the perfect message the owner wishes to convey. First, there's the overall impression....

Sites usually fall into two categories....the black,dark,elegant, ominous look, or the white,light, informational, non-distracting impression.

The client's own sense of self will help determine which course to take. Law firms and soup kitchens may not fall into the dramatic dark category. Color pallettes can sometimes make or break a site.

Sometimes pallettes are easily dictated by the client's logo. What should also be considered is that the logo, calling card, and stationary should all match within a very close margin of appearance.

Images are very important. I don't like a webpage busy with fluff. I try to choose a few appropriate pictures to convey the message. Then using perspective, shading, shadowing, framing, etc help bring them to life.

Fonts are important too. Insurance companies aren't going to go for the grunge look that often. Everything goes into creating the memorable impression. I like embossing and drop shadows alot. They lift the words off the page.

I like MAPPING. You can do so much more with Photoshop than with HTML. I like to make the frontpage an entire picture, and map the links. Of course this depends upon how volatile the information on the home page will be.

Most of the time the menu items won't change much during the life of the site (especially if you've done your homework from the start). If they do, you go back into Photoshop and change things.

Not everyone needs a website. That's a given. And some sites will be more utilitarian than others. It's in the nature of the subject matter.

Some sites will exist merely to present information about their products or services. Others will attempt to lure in customers with a flashier approach.

Some sites will be playing only to the local market, so creating foot traffic is the main intent. Others will be selling to a wider geographical area, maybe even nationally, so information is more critical.

Currently, I don't do e-commerce. No databases, mailing lists, or shopping carts, etc. I personally believe that anonymous purchasing isn't going to create a solid customer base.

That having been said, there are plenty of organizations that benefit from e-commerce automation, such as ticket sales, and charitable contributions.

Eventually I'll expand my horizons but not just yet. There are plenty of companies and individuals who can benefit from just having an internet 'presence'.

Pricing is usually the first thing potential customers ask about. That depends on the intricacy of the site, it's size, it's volatility etc. There will usually be an initial site creation cost, then update fees when information changes.

However, there are several fees which are beyond the designers control, namely the domain name registration, and the webhost lease. Domain names are relatively cheap but

Webhosting costs can vary widely...mostly depending upon the amount of space the actual website needs plus any e-commerce aspects of it's use.

My research has shown me webhosting prices from $1.50/month to beyond $100/month, so the 'big picture' of the client's needs should be examined before any webhost is chosen.

I'm also finding that spcific domain names are becoming harder to acquire. A company has to compete internationally for the rights to their name.

Some names are also being hoarded, and ransomed for exorbitant amounts of money. This is inexcusable, but it's the nature of the web these days.

Lastly, I like efficiency. I don't like what Dreamweaver does in creating HTML code ten times larger than it needs to be. Some lazy software designers have been looking for short cuts for 30 years.

There was a code generator for COBOL (the premier business programming language for mainframes) in the 80's which did the same thing - create humongous programs for very little effort savings

I write simple, basic HTML with a CSS style sheet. It does the work, and doesn't waste bandwidth.

If any of my philosophies (or my artwork) interest you, let's talk...