suzumebachi design: web design process faq

• What will be the cost of my website?
  The cost of your website will depend on its size, whether it requires custom graphics or programming, whether there are copy writing tasks, photography or video development, whether we need to interface with a database or image server, or an online, secure shopping cart. Website design is pretty open-ended, in terms of cost and the labor involved. It can cost as little as $1,000 or as much as a million dollars, depending on what you want and what you need. If there are change orders, then the additional labor adds to the cost. As a client, you can minimize the cost by thinking long and hard about what you want to say and how you want to say it, before the heavy lifting begins. Have as much of the copy and photography done in house as possible, and consider what kind of ongoing maintenance and upgrade scenario you are comfortable with. Discuss a budget with your website designer before the work begins, so that he has a clear idea of what you are willing to spend.
  
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• What kind of website is best for me?
  That is a question that we must answer together. I know a great deal about my own business, and very possibly nothing about yours. I am in the business of presenting information so that it is compelling and easily navigable. As an artist and designer, I know how to get people's attention. I also know how to present information in a simple to complex, drill down for detail kind of way.
  
  I assume that you know your business better than anyone, otherwise you wouldn't be doing it. I can help you sift through complexities of your job, and help you make the information comprehensible to your audience.
  
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• Will I have to learn anything technical?
  That's entirely up to you. I can produce a self-sufficient website, and maintain it over time. I can train your staff to maintain a website, or I can build a website that has built in content management that allows you to access and change your website. All of these options are relatively low tech, but do require some hands on mucking about with a computer.
  
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• What kind of information will I have to provide?
  You will be required to provide all of the written copy that goes on your website, and all photos related to your business. If you have a professional logo, then that must also be provided, preferably in a scalable format like eps or Adobe Illustrator. I can provide copy writing and editing services, and I can provide reasonable photography services, but they will necessarily add to the cost of doing your website. Fortunately, with the easy availability of high quality and low cost digital cameras, and of computer word processing programs, most people can generate their own raw material for building content into a website.
  
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• What additional material might be necessary?
  There may be additional costs involved in developing your website. Stock photos cost money, but if the photography is good it can grab attention. We may conclude that your website requires additional proprietary code, especially if your site is dynamic, and has built in animations and interactivity. One thing that we cannot use in your website is material that is protected by copyright laws, such as music or artwork that we do not have permission by their authors to reproduce, or proprietary code that we have not ourselves licensed to use.
  
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• How can I provide you with the materials you need to design my website?
  You can either send them via email, if the files are sufficiently small, or you can upload them via the file uploader provided here (accessible from the link in the sidebar or navigation menu, under 'contact'.) I will provide you with a password, and you merely select the files that you want to send and then upload them according to the instructions provided. Images can be in any format. It is better that they be high resolution, so that I can downsize them as necessary. Text should be in 'text' format, and can be saved as such in most applications, e.g. in Microsoft Word go to 'file' menu, choose 'save as' and select 'Plain Text (.txt)', not 'Plain Text Format (.rtf)'. top