| Prior organization of web materials can save the web designer a significant
amount of time, which will in turn save you lots of money. This preparatory work
will go surprisingly quickly and will result in a better site design,
implemented in a more timely fashion.
Draw a visual representation. What are the five or ten "logical" divisions of
your organization that you want represented on your website? Draw and label each
division. How can you best illustrate each division? Is the division best
represented by a list? How is that list sorted? Does the list then link to
individual items? What information is displayed for each item? Often there are
certain "housekeeping" features which are common to all areas of the website
(i.e. "about us", "news", "contact us").
For each of the items on your paper you may already have some of copy.
Hopefully much of this copy is stored electronically in emails or documents. Cut
& paste it into a single document. Organize, label and fine-tune the copy.
Assemble a pile of the various brochures and promotional pieces used by your
organization. Hopefully there are available images, logos, and other graphics
that are stored in digital format (.jpg or .gif for the web). Assemble these on
disk or attach to an e-mail. Can you use materials from a parent organization?
Secure permission in writing. Often applicable images can be taken from clip art
collections. Prepare a "hit list" of missing images. Since web pages are
relatively low resolution, images of variable quality can sometimes be used. If
you are short images, borrow a digital camera or scan something from your
brochure at the local copy shop. |