Next Question
RSS
First, do some research into exactly WHAT you want your site to do. Find out if you need a catalog, multimedia, payment system, blog, etc.
Then, find someone with design sense. This can either be a friends WHO IS A DESIGNER (not just a friend who wants to help), or hire someone.
Thievery is alive and well on the web. Now, don't outright steal content and designs, but I suggest hitting the web to have a look at whats out there, noting what you like, and formulating an idea based on that. You're not limited to websites either. Don't be tacky about it, but you can get a lot of great ideas from the meatspace, like business cards, poster ads, etc. Some places to start for design inspiration are
http://csszengarden.com
http://webdesignledger.com/category/inspiration
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/
http://www.webcreme.com/
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/16_sites_web_design_inspiratio/
http://www.asiteaday.org/
Once you have an idea of what elements you want on your page, STOP THINKING ABOUT THE DESIGN.
WORK. ON. CONTENT. Seriously. A great, killer design means precisely squat without content to sustain it. Plan out content. Write some stuff. Hire a copywriter if you need to. Just don't try to design a container (website) for an unknown volume (content).
Now that that's out of the way, back to the design.
My advice is wireframing. You can do this in almost any graphics editor, or you can do it with construction paper and scissors. Your choice (the construction paper is more fin, though :) )
Some wireframing resources:
http://www.boagworld.com/usability/quick_and_dirty_wireframes/
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/wire-frame-your-site/
There should be a bunch of info in here about selecting/building a CMS, using frameworks, etc: but that's beyond the scope.
What should be said is to remember that there is a tool for every job.
CONTENT = HTML.
PRESENTATION = CSS.
BEHAVIOR = JAVASCRIPT.
*Inset web standards lecture here*
Source(s):
http://csszengarden.com
http://webdesignledger.com/category/inspiration
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/
http://www.webcreme.com/
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/16_sites_web_design_inspiratio/
http://www.asiteaday.org/
http://www.boagworld.com/usability/quick_and_dirty_wireframes/
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/wire-frame-your-site/
Permalink | Report
Permalink | Report
- compare prices?
- compare features?
- find out about features and benefits?
- learn how to use your products and services more effectively?
- get support?
- check project status?
- buy things?
- find out where to buy things?
- communicate with your staff?
- evaluate your expertise?
Once you have a prioritized list of tasks and users, work out the type of site that can best matches those tasks - blogs, e-commerce, project, portfolio etc.
Depending on how standard or unique your site is you might want to get straight on with building something, or go through a couple of prototyping phases. Ideally involve end users in building and evaluating your prototypes.
Unless your site is a unique technical innovation, build it using some standard, robust systems or frameworks. If you have competent IT staff host it yourself. If you don't, run with a hosting service that updates and maintains your cms/blog or use a product/framework that has commercial support available. (Wordpress, Concrete5, Acquia Drupal).
At all times keep a focus on the end user whilst balancing aesthetic and functional designs.
Source(s):
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030414.html
https://gettingreal.37signals.com
http://savethepixel.org
http://www.balsamiq.com
Permalink | Report
Answered Question
M$1
February 16, 2009 01:27 AM
How do you plan and design a website layout?
What methods would you recommend to plan and design a website? Do you initially formulate a layout on paper and then translate it to Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, or some other graphical application? If so, what is the best program to use? Do you layout the graphics and then cut them into individual pieces to work with for the coding of the site?
Interesting Question?
Yes (2)
No (0)
- In Web Design |
- |
- Report |
-
Share
RSS
Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| February 16, 2009 01:52 AM |
Then, find someone with design sense. This can either be a friends WHO IS A DESIGNER (not just a friend who wants to help), or hire someone.
Thievery is alive and well on the web. Now, don't outright steal content and designs, but I suggest hitting the web to have a look at whats out there, noting what you like, and formulating an idea based on that. You're not limited to websites either. Don't be tacky about it, but you can get a lot of great ideas from the meatspace, like business cards, poster ads, etc. Some places to start for design inspiration are
http://csszengarden.com
http://webdesignledger.com/category/inspiration
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/
http://www.webcreme.com/
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/16_sites_web_design_inspiratio/
http://www.asiteaday.org/
Once you have an idea of what elements you want on your page, STOP THINKING ABOUT THE DESIGN.
WORK. ON. CONTENT. Seriously. A great, killer design means precisely squat without content to sustain it. Plan out content. Write some stuff. Hire a copywriter if you need to. Just don't try to design a container (website) for an unknown volume (content).
Now that that's out of the way, back to the design.
My advice is wireframing. You can do this in almost any graphics editor, or you can do it with construction paper and scissors. Your choice (the construction paper is more fin, though :) )
Some wireframing resources:
http://www.boagworld.com/usability/quick_and_dirty_wireframes/
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/wire-frame-your-site/
There should be a bunch of info in here about selecting/building a CMS, using frameworks, etc: but that's beyond the scope.
What should be said is to remember that there is a tool for every job.
CONTENT = HTML.
PRESENTATION = CSS.
BEHAVIOR = JAVASCRIPT.
*Inset web standards lecture here*
Source(s):
http://csszengarden.com
http://webdesignledger.com/category/inspiration
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/
http://www.webcreme.com/
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/16_sites_web_design_inspiratio/
http://www.asiteaday.org/
http://www.boagworld.com/usability/quick_and_dirty_wireframes/
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/wire-frame-your-site/
| Asker's Rating: |
Permalink | Report
Reply
Other Answers (3)
February 16, 2009 01:42 AM
First, I draw the layout in a piece of paper then transfer the drawing to Adobe Photoshop. Do not use table when creating websites because it will ruin your page rank. Instead, use CSS. Cut the pieces through Adobe Image Ready and code the CSS to your favorite text editor.
Permalink | Report
Reply
February 16, 2009 06:02 AM
Start with the end users of your site. What are the most important tasks that your most valued users want to do when visiting you site? - compare prices?
- compare features?
- find out about features and benefits?
- learn how to use your products and services more effectively?
- get support?
- check project status?
- buy things?
- find out where to buy things?
- communicate with your staff?
- evaluate your expertise?
Once you have a prioritized list of tasks and users, work out the type of site that can best matches those tasks - blogs, e-commerce, project, portfolio etc.
Depending on how standard or unique your site is you might want to get straight on with building something, or go through a couple of prototyping phases. Ideally involve end users in building and evaluating your prototypes.
Unless your site is a unique technical innovation, build it using some standard, robust systems or frameworks. If you have competent IT staff host it yourself. If you don't, run with a hosting service that updates and maintains your cms/blog or use a product/framework that has commercial support available. (Wordpress, Concrete5, Acquia Drupal).
At all times keep a focus on the end user whilst balancing aesthetic and functional designs.
Source(s):
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030414.html
https://gettingreal.37signals.com
http://savethepixel.org
http://www.balsamiq.com
Permalink | Report
Reply
Answer this Question
Related Questions
Ask a Question
Buy Mahalo Dollars with Credit Card or PayPal
Top Members
Most Popular Tags
Categories
- Anonymous
-
Arts & Design
-
Beauty & Style
-
Books & Authors
-
Business
-
Cars & Transportation
-
Consumer Electronics
- Coupons Deals
-
Education
-
Entertainment
-
Environment
-
Fitness
-
Food & Drink
- From Email
- From Iphone
- From Twitter
-
Health
-
History
-
Hobbies
-
Home & Garden
-
How Tos
-
Humor
-
Jobs
-
Legal
-
Local
-
Love & Relationships
-
Mahalo Answers Community
-
Money
-
Music
-
News
-
NSFW
-
Parenting
-
Pets
-
Science & Mathematics
-
Services
-
Shopping
-
Social Science
-
Society & Culture
-
Sports
-
Technology & Internet
-
Travel
-
Video Games
Welcome New Members
- chithirathony, November 12, 2009 12:54 AM
- patcs, November 12, 2009 12:39 AM
- siddharthmag, November 12, 2009 12:38 AM
- 5newsnow, November 12, 2009 12:34 AM
- nickiealbrecht, November 12, 2009 12:33 AM
Mahalo Dollars are the currency of Mahalo Answers.
Each Mahalo Dollar costs $1.
Once you earn more than 40 Mahalo Dollars, you can request to be paid via PayPal. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. Learn More
I'm redesigning a company website which will basically just communicate the services we provide, testimonials/case studies, etc. - fairly basic stuff. I have most of the actually written content created. I plan to build the site using xhtml and css.
I'll read up on how to create a wireframe and piece one together once I've drawn inspiration from other well designed sites.