Web Design
I have been designing, engineering and maintaining web sites for clients small and large for 10 years.
I specialise in creating elegant, easily managed and maintained sites with scalability.
Planning and Wireframing
Any design project starts with a deceptively simple question. What does the client need?
A beautiful piece of work is no good if it doesn’t convey vital information or is confusing to navigate.
I start all projects with a discussion with the client to find out what it is they want from the website, but also what they need. I then work with pen and paper listing out the site’s requirements and drawing basic page and navigation layouts. I will then usually create a graphical home page mock-up that demonstrates the look and feel of the site incorporating fonts, colour schemes and showing how the site will be navigated.
Standards Compliant Code
I build search engine friendly sites using XHTML and CSS that meet web accessibility standards and use Javascript frameworks to enhance the user experience.
Building xhtml/css compliant sites not only helps search engines and the visually impaired to access your site, it also makes it easy to create printable versions of your site pages, make seasonal style changes or translate your site’s content into other languages.
Easy Content Management
Designing a great looking website is no good if it’s impossible to maintain.
I create sites built around simple, elegant, content management solutions that make it easy for you to update and maintain your own site without having to know things like html tags or ftp applications.
Working with stable, supported, open-source solutions such as WordPress makes it very easy (and affordable) for small businesses to have a flexible, easily updated website that can grow with your business.
Interactive Content
The web has come a long way in a short time. Bandwidth increases have made web video actually watchable, Flash is now the means for delivering rich media rather than infuriating site intros, and scripting frameworks have made web navigation much richer and more intuitive.
I utilise interactive content to enhance the functionality of a client’s site. Whether it’s a javascript based standards-compliant tabbed panel for in-page section navigation, or a flash mp3 audio player to show off a musician’s catalogue, the idea is that these elements integrate seamlessly into the site and enhance the user’s experience.