Custom WordPress Design
Sometimes you really need make your site stand out with design, imagery and interface that is uniquely yours. Our Concepting, Design and Development talent can work with you to create your vision. Whether you are creating a new site from scratch or taking your existing WordPress site to the next level.
We work with you. From the beginning we want to hear about your vision and your goals. We can offer as much or as little guidance and consulting as you need. From ready-to-roll clients that just want us to take their existing, programming-ready Photoshop files to blue sky concepts starting completely from scratch.
The Process
Discovery Phase: This is our thumbnail estimate phase. We will ask you for various information regarding your project ranging from your existing technical resources, new resources needed, site functionality, features needed, technology integration, special needs, content needs (written, imagery, media) and general scope of the site. During this phase we will also assess the design complexity of your site as well as possible need for media purchasing or any third-party licensing you may need. Bring anything you like that helps you express your practical as well as aesthetic goals… color samples, inspirational photographs, similar/dissimilar sites, etc. Once this phase is complete, you will be presented with a project outline/summary and estimate.
Relationship: If you accept our outline, you will be provided with a contract and deposit invoice . Upon contract signing and deposit payment, your project will commence. From this point forward, additional features and requests are absolutely feasible and will be added as addendum to your work order at an hourly rate and may impact delivery dates depending on scale. We will also establish a time line of Client and Designer deliverables to keep your project moving in a timely and dependable manner
Planning: Here is where we lay the foundation for the future site. As with a construction project, stable yet robust commitments guarantee that your project can move forward towards a realistic and functional launch. It is at this point, we make our recommendations for resources and assist our clients acquire those resources. Additionally, we draft our initial site Wire frame and outline the site Architecture. Once we have this locked down, we will begin the graphic design and back-end technology that will begin the translation of Concept into Reality.
Design: Drawing from our previous stages as well as incorporating our research and knowledge of audience, peer and competitors, we will present a graphic mock-up of the conceptual appearance of the site. In the case of WordPress this generally means a single home page as well as interior pages (such as single post, category pages, blog listings, etc), however, in very complex designs it might also include specialized “sub-designs” such as a Gallery, eCommerce Store, etc. Once your design has been finalized, you will be allowed up to two “tweaks” to fine tune it. We recommend that these tweaks take place as early as possible to avoid unnecessary overruns and/or delays. Once the Design has been signed off on, we can begin to transform it into a living, breathing website.
Development: Bring together Design and Technology, we weave form and functionality together. In a secure, private hosting environment on our servers, we create the fully functioning website. In this environment we can test functionality, check compatibility and iron out any difficulties before your site is launched. You may be asked to periodically review milestones in the site development and if training and orientation was part of your project, we can often provide it in the safety of the testing environment so you will be ready for your live site.
Deployment & Delivery: Once we have completed our development cycle, we will lock the site to further development, prepare a backup/archive of all assets and initial our Delivery or Deployment process. At this time, an invoice for the balance of your project will be issued. If you requested Deployment we will set up the site and all dependencies covered by the project the pre-agreed hosting server. Alternatively, if you requested to deploy the site yourself or through other means, we can provide the full backup/archive version.
Closure: We will monitor the post-launch site in case of Deployment or contact you for follow-up in cases of Delivery. Our goal here is to guarantee satisfaction and make sure the process was executed smoothly. If you have established a service contract, we will be available at our stipulated level. Otherwise, we can always be contacted for service on demand as needed or by quote.
