The web design process reminds me of a story that I would like to share with you before I give you the process. The reason why is because I want you to see the clear picture of the process from beginning to end.
The other day I bought a computer desk. It cam e with instructions and the pieces that I needed to get the job done. So I began unpacking the desk from the box and pull out the instructions. So I thought to myself-”Ah man…”. Because now this was looking overwhelming for me. So I dismiss that thought quickly and began to think of a plan to get the desk built and not take all day to do it. Then POW! it hit me. I now thought of a process to get the desk built and get it done fast. And here ‘quickly’ is the process that I developed.
First, I pulled out all of the pieces from the box and placed them in sections across the floor. (The pieces were labeled with an alphabet: A – J). Then I started reading the instructions page by page, executing every direction perfectly. Then two hours later I was done.
In the above example the process is simple. Pretty much the same way as web design. However, it takes more time but only 3 steps. So let’s go over them shall we?
Webpage Layout in Photoshop
This is the very first stage of the process. This is where the graphic design specialists communicates with the client and find out their needs, wants and goals. This process is a specialized skill that is performed by someone who has at least 6 years or more experience and who usually an entrepreneur also who owns their own business IN graphic design.
Once the graphic design specialists has received all of the information from the client. It’s time to go to work. The graphic design specialists will usually create 2 mock-ups (fancy word for sample) or more for the client to view for approval. All clients aren’t the same, so sometimes this process can take anywhere from 4 – 5 days and in some cases ‘weeks’.
So once there is an approved layout. The graphic design specialist will pass it on to the web developer and the web developer gives to the web designer. However, this is how I like to operate my internal affairs.
Webpage Layout To Web Designer (front end developer)
This process can go two ways. If you are working with a person who is doing all three of the steps alone, then they are probably skipping this step. This step is a time saver for the last step. So here it is. The graphic design specialist will give the photoshop file that she has sliced as much as she can and gives it to the web designer.
The web designer will create the HTML version of the website. This means the web designer will create HTML pages from the photoshop files given to her by the graphic design specialists. The web designer is responsible for writing all of the aesthetic code (html and css) to produce the page just as it was given to her as a photoshop file. Let me break it down even further. The web designer will add all of the color, links and graphics through the technique of writing code. They write the code for all of the pieces that were sliced in photoshop.
This process can take hours, days or weeks. Depending on the complexity of the design or the number of pages. You see, each page may have a different design layout. So this will add more time to the web designer’s job. Any good web designer will have a base framework that will increase her work speed.
Web Designer To Web Developer
Now on to the last step of the process. The web designer now hands it over to the web developer. The web developer will add the functionality like forms, slideshows, pop up windows and all the cool stuff that happens on your computer screen. The web developer is the last piece of the puzzle. She is one that makes sure the website and all of it’s components. She works in what is called the backend of a website. She writes the language that makes things work. She is responsible for security for the website and the list goes on and on.
Once the web developer is in control. Again, it can take hours, days, weeks or months before this stage is complete.
One thing to take note of as well is that everyone on the team is always in constant communication.with one another to ensure that the process goes as smooth as possible.
The time was 9:07 pm on Wednesday, central-mountain time and I am getting prepared for my 9:30 pm meeting with Madonna. My task: To help her add a sitemap to her WordPress website, and this is how it all went down.
Searching for pages in your WordPress backend can be time consuming when you have more than 10 pages created. However, WordPress has a neat feature at your disposal when searching for a specific page you created.
Image credit goes to 