WireMedia Communications

A designer’s secret weapon is the ability to solve business problems with good design. But clients don’t always realize we can do this. The result can be an awkward situation where the client starts giving design direction, the design team becomes surly, the design starts to drift away from what it’s supposed to accomplish, and everybody gets a little cranky. 

Last night I went to an AIGA meeting featuring a panel of design industry leaders in Los Angeles (AIGA is the professional association for design). The panel’s focus was on the future of design in 2012 and how it might be changing with new technologies, social media and other dramatic cultural shifts such as the loss of Steve Jobs.

What if your website could magically transform itself to look absolutely great on any size monitor or viewing screen — not just on your laptop, but on you iPad, your phone, and even on the giant 23 inch Apple monitor you guiltily have on your desk at home?

It can!

You’re probably thinking about how expensive that would be, and how you’ll have to maintain multiple versions of your site.

You’re wrong!

We’ve compiled a list of free tools and services available online to non-profits (typically you must be a 501(c)3 registered in the US). This list includes some of the best freebies we could find. The tools are not just cheap, little freebies. They include some serious help such as free website hosting; free expert services in design, SEO, marketing strategy; or even free software from companies such as Adobe and Microsoft.

WireMedia was hired to update the Cottman website to help improve usability, while maintaining their brand. We installed an easy to use Drupal CMS and made pecific changes to the position and functionality of parts of the site. These were a series of quick updates designed to have the site ready for a specific deadline. We identified priorities to determine what needed to get done, and everything else went to a "phase 2" list.

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Your website is a living creature. No it doesn’t have bones and blood and muscles. But it’s alive nevertheless. Websites are built on technologies. Technologies change — rapidly and often. That means that your website can, and should, change as well. You’ve probably heard of Web 2.0. Remember the internet before that? The point is that like any living creature, a website needs a lot of TLC to keep it in good working condition as time passes and the environment in which it lives changes.

Paper has been around since it was invented in China during the Han Dynasty (about 105 AD). Its use spread across the globe and paper mills started to spring up as demand for paper grew and the manufacturing process became less expensive.¹

More recently the environmental movement has worked hard to slow or stop the use of paper, and to promote recycling. As a result, many non-profits and companies are concerned about their impact on the environment if they use paper to promote themselves, to fundraise, or for other reasons.

The redesign of a website is a complex process involving decisions about content, hierarchy, design, programming, marketing, internal buy-in, maintenance, budgets, and more. It can be overwhelming and confusing. The information that follows is deigned to help you to identify what you need from your new website, and to help you plan to write an RFP or requirements document that will result in quality proposals.