Design & Development
We provide graphic design and branding services, along with web designs to fit the needs of our clients.
For web designs, projects are broken down into three major phases: Discovery, Design and Development. More specifically, here is how we structure our projects to optimize success:
- Discovery:
- We start out the project with an initial meeting with the entire team and all client stakeholders. We like to vocalize the project details and talk through some potential paths we can take for the project based on needs. We like to really understand the target audience and put ourselves in their shoes to understand how the client’s content can be structured and incorporated into a modern design while still keeping needs at the forefront.
- We find it helpful to discuss in detail any technical setup, plugins or applications on the client’s existing or future website so we can talk through potential solutions. What are challenges run into as a WordPress admin that we can alleviate in the new theme or what pains have been felt on the current website platform? Our company provides web design along with custom development, web hosting, domain and SEO services, which we can leverage for the project if it makes sense and provides value.
- We like to understand what we are working with on branding assets. Is there a style guide completed or will we need one for this project? Will logo updates be needed? Any changes needed to the color scheme to freshen up before the web design is started?
- After we get a consensus from the group, we will begin working through a few design concepts to get the ball rolling.
- Design:
- Our design team will create design mockups that fit into the style guide, color scheme, voice and tone for this organization. The client will have an opportunity to provide feedback over 3 revisions until a final design decision is reached.
- We like to provide designs with actual content provided by client to allow a better feel for the new website.
- We like to have another meeting in person at this stage to talk through the designs. How are we feeling about plans set forth in discovery? What plans should we change before the rubber meets the road in development?
- Development:
- Our development team will begin developing the new WordPress theme and setting up any plugins. Some design tweaks may be needed on plugins to fit theme.
- The website will be developed on a test server and available to preview as it is developed.
- We provide assistance in placing actual content so it fits into the new theme seamlessly. Client may interact with test server and input content optionally.
- After the website development is complete and approved, we like to schedule a meeting in-person to make sure everything requested was delivered. We like to provide any training over managing content and configuring installed plugins within this theme.
- If SEO assistance is required, we will provide training on using the Yoast SEO plugin.
- As the final step, the development team will provide assistance with setting up 301 redirects for old website URLs, setting up the domain settings (if needed), moving the new theme to the live domain and archiving the existing theme.
Best Practices
Here are a few best practices our team follows on our projects:
- We recommend combining multiple pages and redirecting old URLs to slim down the navigation and provide better user experience
- We recommend using the Gravity Forms plugin for donation and subscription forms as it integrates well with PayPal (or other payment processors) and Mailchimp (or other email marketing tools).
- Social media integration may be in the form of simple social icons in the footer or an integrated feed of posts listed on the website.
- We recommend using a home page slider plugin that is easy to manage and fits beautifully into theme.
- We recommend video content integrated below home page slider and/or on other pages.
- We provide content recommendations and strategy for home and other pages provided as part of design process.
- We incorporate 301 redirects on the web hosting space to ensure all old website URLs have a proper replacement or are sent to a generic page with enough detail so target audiences will not see a Page Not Found error.
- On gathering feedback through the process, we use email, Zoom or in-person meetings. We like the project process to develop as a personal relationship would. We build websites and client relationships for the long haul and care about our clients’ missions.
- Our ideal client would be engaged in the entire process and ask as many questions as their heart desires. We love getting feedback to improve our clients and ourselves constantly. Our dislikes would be the opposite, in the case of a client who we meet at the beginning of the project and not again until the end. Too many mistakes can happen in the process when the client is not well engaged.
Projects
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
HOSTING & DOMAINS · CUSTOM WEB PLUGINS · DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
White Pine Wilderness Academy
HOSTING & DOMAINS · DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Hoosier Environmental Council
HOSTING & DOMAINS · DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Improving Kids’ Environment
HOSTING & DOMAINS · DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Opportunities for Positive Growth
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT · HOSTING & DOMAINS
IndyHub
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
South Bend Brownfield Coalition
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT · HOSTING & DOMAINS
Persimmon Herb School
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT · HOSTING & DOMAINS
Greenways Foundation
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Indiana Forest Alliance
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Garfield Park Farmer’s Market
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Full Hand Farm
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT