Myrna Arnold
Owner – Noble County Disposal, Inc.

What is the Designer’s Job?

We will design the layout for the website, develop/code the website files for presentation on the internet, test the website rigorously in multiple browsers to ensure the integrity of the design across different platforms, and upload the files to an online host to present the website to your customer base.

One thing that most clients overlook when pursuing a web presence is the information that is to be placed on the website. As designers, we are not experts on your business, products, or services. We can plan the layout of the information and images on your website, but we need your help to generate the content that is to be placed on the website…this is where you come in.

What is the Client’s Job?

In addition to footing the bill, the client is responsible for providing the designer with feedback about the design to move the process along and provide the content and information that is to be presented on the website. This information is the heart of the website, the real reason that your customers will stop by. Granted, a engaging design and good informational positioning can’t hurt and will help bring visitors to the website and encourage people to talk about your business, it is not the whole reason they are there, and without content that matters, they will only stick around for so long.

Your feedback is also very important to the development process. Too often a client drops the ball, taking too long to approve a design change, provide content, or answer any questions the designer has. In addition to being increasingly frustrating for the designer, it delays the completion of the project and pushes deadlines out farther than they have to be.

So if you are planning on developing a website, here are a few things to keep in mind:
• Organize your thoughts
• Collect text for pages (i.e. About Us, Products, Services, etc.)
• Collect images for use on the website
• Make a list or bookmarks of websites that have features or design elements that you like
• Take notes on ideas you have as they happen

Staying organized and preparing for the development of your website beforehand will be invaluable and help expedite the process of building your website.

If you need help organizing your thoughts or if you would like to discuss starting your website project, please Contact Us!

The goals for this project were to create a simple site that was easy to navigate and informed customers about the products that Kurt had to offer. In addition, he wanted the ability to have customers submit insurance quoting information.

This site has a nice clean look and feel and is simple and to the point featuring general and service information about the business as well as some background into the company and its staff.

To see what they had to say about us, please visit the Testimonials Page!

But that was last year. This year is a new year, a new decade, a fresh start to what will hopefully be a bright future. The last 10 years have given me a large list of lessons learned that will be used to better my business, better serve my clients, and help us all overcome the challenges of the next decade.

Ideas for your business

Just as I am trying to better my business and find new and cheaper ways to operate and be successful, all of you should be doing the same. We are constantly trying to do more with less, because less is all we have right now! But it will not always be this way, the gloom will pass, business will return and hopefully so will profits and success. But the downturn in the last 10 years can help us be better in the next 10 years by showing us what goals we can achieve and exactly what resources it will take to reach those goals.

Once such idea is that of reduced advertising costs. Most businesses advertise with a large number of sources: newspapers, trade-journals, phone books, billboards, direct mail, television, radio, and websites. Have you really studied the impact that each of these types of advertisement has on gaining your business customers? In working in retail, I have felt the decline in interest in most of the advertising methods listed above, with the exception of one…websites.

Websites can be the core of your advertising and cost a considerable amount less than most advertising methods. They offer more information than most traditional advertising and can be viewed in more places than ever before. Your website can be accessed by individuals from anywhere in the world…how far will your direct mail, phone book, and newspaper ads get you? Websites allow your customers to find you easily via search engines and learn about your products whenever they want, not just when they tune into a specific television channel or tune into their favorite radio station.

The next 10 years will provide more advancements in technology making it easier than ever to access your business information via the internet, a method that is rapidly growing among generation Y. This generation is FULL of your next customers and is more expansive than the baby boom generation with a higher understanding and dependence upon technology and using it to access information on the go. Website advertisement also allows you to continually update your business and product information keeping customers interested in what you are doing and how it will benefit them, on a minute-by-minute basic.

If you have not taken the steps toward a web presence, you are missing out on loads of potential customers and reduced advertising cost. The new year and decade has begun. Will you take a step forward or stay in the past?

I am excited to see what this decade has in store for Gradient Graphics and if you would like to see how we can help you in 2010, please Contact Us and together we will continue to grow!

My wife’s passion for photography is just as strong as my passion for design and creating beautiful, usable websites. She has been taking pictures for a long time and spent most of that time using a gold old trusty 35mm camera. We recently purchased a Canon 40D digital SLR camera and we both love everything about it!

We just finished up two weddings a few weeks back and the pictures turned out amazing. There is something special about capturing one of the happiest moments in someones life. It is fun to ride along as the bride and groom begin their wedding day all nervous and follow them throughout all the craziness, capturing every moment as it happens. Some of the best moments and pictures are the ones that are not planned. For example, unexpected rain may seem like the downfall of any outdoor wedding, but it makes for some very artistic and fun pictures – you just have to learn to make the most of it!

In order to accomplish this in a website that Doug could maintain, we built a blog style website that was both attractive and functional.

The theme was developed around playing on the name of the business. We ended up with an airy looking, cartoon-like website that is fun to look at and easy to navigate.

Thank you again for adding a much needed touch of professionalness and modernization to our business!

Jeff Snyder
President – Snyder Distributing North, Inc.