My Design Philosophy
Why I Design as I Do
I design sites using proven techniques that get your message across clearly and without distracting the viewer.
I take your ideas and shape them to ensure that you are going to accomplish the goals you've set for your website.
Professional Sites That Reflect Your Goals
I work with you to design a site that reflects your values and accomplishes your goals while using my knowledge of the technology to make optimal use of the Internet.
- I design sites to accepted current web standards so they are usable, easy to navigate, simple to maintain and more future-proof.
- I focus on the task of making your site visible to the greatest number of people possible while retaining a professional image.
- I work with you to use the Web to enhance your company image in coordination with your other publicity projects.
I Built Original Designs
My designs are each unique. While certain elements may be similar within the various sites I've designed, I don't approach each project with a cookie-cutter solution.
No Templates
Templates are used by many designers to speed up the production process. This allows them to appear more competitive, but this costs you in flexibility and ability to make needed changes in the future.
I believe that you want a site designed to meet your goals and needs, not to fit an existing template or the legal requirements to use it.
Tested on Current Browsers
I test my designs on the current popular web browsers. This ensures that the majority of the viewers on your site are going to see your site as it was intended. The view on older browsers will degrade gracefully rather than not work at all.
Reasonably Priced
I know that both cost and performance are issues and I price my design work accordingly. I don't charge like the big design companies — but I am a professional with extensive experience — not an amateur.
Why Web Standards?
Web standards, while not an end in themselves, do provide a guideline to minimize the limitations of the various web browsers, operating systems and hardware that are in use and what is planned for the future.
Designing with the accepted standards in mind also reduces the cost of bandwidth (pages load faster because they're smaller) and helps to avoid obsolescence. Separating content from layout means quicker edits and changes to the site design in the future are much easier (and less expensive) to accomplish.
Web Standards Make You Money
Sites built to current web standards open your site to a larger portion of the web audience than sites built to accommodate a single browser.
- Newer technologies like cellular touch phones and other portable devices tend to be adopted first by those with larger disposable incomes, thereby increasing your sales potential.
- Search engines are an important way for people to locate you and standards-compliant sites tend to have a greater portion of their content indexed. Sites that load quicker also benefit in search engine prominence.
- Those with older browsers and technology are less likely to use that technology to evaluate their purchases.
Web Standards Save You Money
I found that approximately fifteen percent of my time was spent mired in invalid code. Invalid sites may look the same as those built on a foundation of valid, well-formed code, but in my experience, they invariably cost more to maintain. This is the silent weight of invalid code, a hidden cost we don't discuss nearly enough.
— A List Apart (emphasis mine)
Building a site correctly will save you money in maintenance and in future design updates.
- Changes to the site's overall look can be accomplished site-wide by simple changes to a single file (the CSS file) which saves you on the costs of updating your site.
- It also makes it easier and quicker to update the site's content.
- Verifying standards compliance is a very quick and easy way to locate and deal with potential problems.
IE6 is Holding Back the Web
Internet Explorer 6 is now holding back development of the Web because it doesn't support many of the more recent advances in web design that would allow for a richer user experience.
As well, developers have spent a disproportionate amount of time catering to the special requirements to make IE 6 display properly — particularly considering the diminishing user base (now less than 1.5% of Canadian users and less than 1% of U.S. users).
CSS Enhances Usability & Flexibility
Cascading style sheets (CSS) can be used to allow for an enhanced experience when viewed by various computers and devices. CSS is tremendously powerful when used properly.
css Zen Garden is a wonderful example of how content can be removed from layout, allowing for different views for different tastes.
Try clicking on the various links under the Select a Design section to see the css Zen Garden page in a variety of visual layouts. The text content is always the same — only the CSS and images are changing.
Separating Content from Structure
The separation of content from layout also makes it easier for you or your staff to manage the site with only minimal knowledge.
The site's look can be updated quickly instead of requiring the site be updated page-by-page, line-by-line as traditional methods required.
Hand Coded
My sites are hand-coded to allow easy editing and update whereas sites built with software packages often require those expensive packages to make updates or changes to the site.
Content management systems (CMSs) may appear attractive in terms of allowing you or your staff to update your site. However, they work best on websites where you're replacing frequently shifting sales data — such as sites for car lots or electronics stores.
Without an understanding of design or HTML, your staff may not be able to make effective and attractive edits to your site.
CMSs place limits on the structure of a site. Unanticipated content or uses for your site require a site rebuild. If the CMS is private, you cannot make changes if the company is no longer in business.
CMSs can also place your site in jeopardy if a vulnerability allows someone to alter your site content without your permission.
Make Content Accessible
Don't Let Technology Get in the Way
I design sites to make the content accessible. The site must look clean and professional, and be easy to navigate no matter what technology the viewer has available.
Your site serves the wrong purpose if the content is obscured by the technology or excessive "eye candy."
Content is King
It has been said many times that content is king. Web sites should be designed to encourage access to the information on your site, not to showcase someone's ability to create interesting effects with wiz-bang software.
After all, isn't the point to reach the viewer with your message?
Search-Engine-Accessible
Accessibility is not limited to people. Search engines often cannot "read" all the content of flash- or Javascript-dependent content.
Since most people use search engines to locate content, you'll want to ensure your site is as accessible as possible.
Use Animation Discriminatively
Multimedia and animated presentations on the Web can be stunning — provided you have the bandwidth to download the information, the proper plugins installed and the computer to run it on as well as the right target audience.
If not, such "enhancements" can be annoying to your viewers.
Emerging open video and audio formats will allow incredible new ways for sites to display rich content that will run without additional software so you won't have to wonder if people can see your enhanced content (unless a large proportion of your intended audience is using outdated browsers).
Avoid Flash Landing Pages
Did you know that most of visitors to Flash landing pages spend all their time looking for ways to skip the introduction so they can to get to the content? Since you'll pay a great deal for these gateways (they take lots of time and expensive software to create), that's money wasted you could have been better utilized elsewhere.
Ensure Easy Access
All my sites are designed to be viewable by the greatest number of browsers, operating systems and hardware configurations possible.
No Frames
I do not use frames in my designs. Frames create challenges for the end-user when printing, linking and bookmarking specific pages on your site. These problems can make it more difficult to both use and to promote your site.
Tables for Tabular Data Only
Tables were designed to present tabular data, but have long been used for site layout, particularly in attempts to duplicate print media.
Tables-based sites suffer from longer page download times, difficult editing and create display issues on modern mobile devices.
When the layout is completely embedded in the content it becomes more expensive to modify content. More…
Enhance Your Overall Corporate Image
Improve Your Corporate Image
Your website should be designed to increase your visibility and make your company more accessible.
Part of a Unified Plan
Your website should be a part of a unified advertising and communications plan. For many visitors, their impression of your company will be determined in the first few seconds on your website.
A Creative Process
The design of a site is a creative process that evolves into the finished product. The design process should include:
- A distinctive look to enhance branding.
- A compatible look and feel to your business cards, letterhead and other promotional material.
- A plan for implementation including staff training or alternatives for regular site maintenance.
- Future expansion plans, so you don't lock yourself into a narrow concept.
I Work to Provide the Best Solution for You
I can work with you to provide the best solution for your particular needs without compromising quality. Maintenance agreements can provide for less expensive routine maintenance if the requirements are constant.
www.russharvey.bc.ca/philosophy.html
Updated: January 24, 2012