Purpose of a website
Promoting ourselves as creatives
Informing potential clients and agencies
Contact, clients must be able to get in touch with us easily and quickly
Entertainment. Some websites will provide entertainment only, however there is often an underlying aim to sell a product or service.
Audience
The target audience for any website should never be everyone, even if it is a broad range of people.
Defining factors of a website
user-ability - does it work well?
aesthetics - does it look good?
functionality - does it work?
Landing page
A general rule of industry is that only top notch designers or agencies, design firms etc. can achieve a successful landing page.
The main points raised by the whole group : why is it there? what is the point? if you can't justify it then it is always best to leave it off the website.
contact page
Email and telephone are essential
Address is necessary for business purposes but also gives confidence to possible clients that you exist and are trackable.
Social networking - twitter, Facebook, Behance (Could this be on the Home Page?)
Shop - etsy, big cartel etc
All of the contact info could be a footer on the Home page if the website has many pages already.
Biography
Same as the landing page, do people care where you studied or what you like to do in your spare time?
Work placements can attract clients but should really be placed on a CV, there is an argument that Bios can add a quirky edge to the website but this is only if you want to work with specific clients all the time
CV
selected work
clients - major companies can add professionalism
exhibitions
previous experience
education
timescale
if you're freelance a cv is maybe not necessary
can be creative to further promote your work, doesn't have to be the standard forma
Portfolio
Examples of work should be separated into different areas if you do a lot of work and it can be clearley categorised.
Shopping
Etsy and other store systems can be great if you are in the crafts market or selling prints, however it may be best to have asmall link within the About or Contact pages
Blog
Current projects can be placed here, but is it worth it if you are not going to update all the time or get much traffic?
Homepage
Difficult to judge and is a personal thing, this is the first impression. Olly Moss has a simple and plain home page however he is well known and is confident that people will explore his website.
http://ollymoss.com/
The homepage could include what you do including branding, letterpress etc. or your job title. News/updates could be included to show that you are an active designer and working on big or eco projects. Teaser images of one image of design or several thumbnails could be included. Manifestos can be placed here also.
Fees
Easy access for a potential client but could seem like you are all about the money, money, money.
Prices vary on each project and clients so it is a rule of thumb to ask for a client to "Contact for quotes"
Navigation
Keep it simple stupid!
Scamps
My website and Crit
The crit proved to be very useful and raised a good issue about having the home page link present on the page. Most people are now aware (through using social media) that a logo is a quick link to the websites homepage.
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