Any web designers?

[Elenril]

Hey all,

I'm designing a website for my yr 12 Design and Technology major project, and I have to address 'design and production processes used in industrial and commercial settings in comparison to those used in the major design project'.

Basically, is there anyone here who is a web designer, and would be willing to share the processes they go through in designing and producing a website?

[crenn]

Concept > Feasibility> Implement > Maintain

[Elenril]

Thanks crenn, but I was hoping for something a bit more detailed, like research of existing products, brainstorming, concept development, sketching, etc etc

[Eclecticos]

You may want to search for some Web Templates, Here (http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/) <=-
. .and get a general idea of how you want the layout to look first.

You could modify the template graphics, and keep the layout.
I would recommend you left the file names "exactly" the same.
Otherwise you will have to edit the style.css document.

You can edit the text and links in MS Frontpage, or similar.
I prefer notepad. :D

After your satisfied with the graphics and layout
. .all you'd have to do is make new pages with the layout add content i.e pictures, products.
and add the links to the homepage. Or just use a template with sub_pages you can edit.

[Elenril]

I don't think I made myself clear... I've already made my website, I was hoping that someone here would be able to tell me the process that a professional web designer goes through, in order to compare my process with theirs.

Thanks anyway :)

[.Maleficus.]

First, you need an idea for the webpage, ie, is it for a product, service, blog, personal website for art, forum for a Satanic cult, you get the idea. That is the main problem, and will dictate how the page will be styled, laid out, and even the content.

As soon as that's done, I (this is just my process) go into Photoshop or Gimp and try out some styles. Making a layout in a graphics program is a very good thing to do IMO because you have a visual to work with. You can easily see flaws in the design, find good placements for menus and pictures and once it's done, you can go in, chop it up and use a CSS file to display it exactly how it was designed.

After this, I guess the content comes up. As the dev, you get to decide if you want a CMS, don't want one at all, or maybe even design your own CMS (not fun). I myself really like Django, and while it's just a web framework (for making web apps like forum software), not a CMS, it has a lot of the same types of functionality that a CMS would, and since it's Python I already know the syntax. Again, as the dev you decide what to do. Straight up XHTML would work.

After that, it's testing. Before deploying, definitely test on a host of different browsers, different screen sizes and resolutions, and different OS's. Like writing a CMS, this isn't exactly a party, but trust me, it's a critical step, especially using Ajax or Silverlight. Working out bugs before launch is pretty critical.

Last up is deployment. Put it on the web. Do some good SEO and spread the word.

[Elenril]

Thanks :)

+rep

[Eclecticos]

So you made a website, and your not even going to show it to us? :think: