Getting started on your new website can seem like an overwhelming task at first. But with some initial thought and planning, the process is pretty simple. First, you'll want to decide what sort of style fits your organization.

 

We provide a Design Questionnaire to help you think through a few possible options. If you don't have preferences about certain aspects of your site, that's okay. You may actually leave us more room to be creative. But, of course, the more you can communicate to us about the preferences you do have, the more likely we are to find something you really like with our first set of designs.

 

Following are examples of the types of questions found on our Design Questionnaire. NOTE: Images marked with an asterisk (*) are used here as examples only and do not represent the work of Crate Media.

 

 

COMPARISON

 

1. First, think about what you already know and are naturally drawn to. Are there any well-known companies with a look you particularly like? For example:

 

 

Crate & Barrel*

 

 

Mini Cooper*

 

 

Starbucks*

 

 

 

ADJECTIVES

2. What are some adjectives that describe what you hope to communicate with your website? For example: professional, strong, exciting, warm, welcoming, inventive, etc.

 

 

 

LIGHT / DARK

 

3. Do you prefer a light or a dark site?

 

 

Light

 

 

Dark

 

 

COLOR

 

4. What are your color preferences?

 

 

 

CONTENT

 

5. Would you like a content-based or an image-based home page?

 

 

Content-based

 

 

Image-based

 

 

 

STYLE

 

6. What sort of style do you envision? Examples include, but are not limited to:

 

 

Modern & Clean

 

 

Arty / Illustrative*

  

Ancient / Old World

 

 

Vintage / Retro*

 

 

Rock n' Roll

 

 

Ethnic

 

 

 

SYMBOLS

 

7. Do you have any particular images or symbols you associate with your product or company?

 

 

 

CONTENT MAP

 

8. Create a Content Map for your website. List the sections, pages, and functionality you desire for your website. This will become your menu navigation structure. This can be further changed and customized down the road, but for now this will give us a starting point for creating a site and a design that best fits your needs.

 

Example Content Map:

 

I. About
    A. Philosophy
    B. Team Profiles
    C. Testimonials
II. Products
    A. On Sale
    B. New Features
    C. Widgets
III. Resources
    A. Articles
    B. Downloadable Resources
    C. Podcasts
    D. New Videos
IV. Contact

 

 

BUTTONS

 

9. Now that you’ve created your Content Map, please list the major “buttons” (links) that you would like to be featured on your home page, incorporated into the original web design.

 

 

 

 

EMPHASIS

 

10. Web pages can feel cluttered if too much is going on. What are the item(s) you would most like to visually emphasize on your home page? For example:

 

Flash movie with images and text

 

 

Personal Photo

 

 

Testimonial

 

 

News Item

 

 

Blog

 

 

 

FLASH ANIMATION

 

11. If you'd like your site to incorporate Flash animation, do you prefer more subtle types of motion or more attention-getting motion?

 

 

Subtle

 

 

Attention-getting

 

 

 

PHOTOS

 

Team Photos

 

12. Please send us professional, high resolution digital photos of yourself and your team members. If you do not have any, talk to us and perhaps we can recommend a good photographer in your area. Photos are very important to any professional site.

 

 

Website Images

 

13. If you have professional images, please send digital versions to us so we can use them in the design process. If you don’t, consider hiring a local photographer, or authorize us to purchase stock photos for your site design. This usually costs about $200 for royalty free photos (or much more for rights managed photos).

 

 

NOTE: Images marked with an asterisk (*) are used here as examples only and do not represent the work of Crate Media.