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DUXSPEAK
We realize that from a client's perspective it seems
that designers sometimes speak in a foreign tongue. Plus, if you have
been researching website design companies on-line or if you've spoken
to more than one designer in your corporate marketing department,
you know that different "experts" describe things in different
ways. To make it easier for you to understand the Dux approach, we've
included a few lessons in DuxSpeak.
We hope it will help you gain confidence in our expertise, so that
Dux D'Lux can begin learning the language of your company or organization.
CLICK HERE for a lesson
in Graphic Design DuxSpeak.
AWARD-WINNING
| CONCEPT PROPOSAL
| COPY |
DESIGNERS |
DOMAIN NAME |
ESTIMATE |
LINKING STRUCTURE |
LAUNCH |
"LOOK" |
META TAGS |
PROGRAMMING PHASE |
SITE ARCHITECTURE
AWARD-WINNING
You may have seen this phrase used in our
website to describe our design staff. It's true that Dux D'Lux
has received close to 100 professional, design & advertising
awards in our history, but you won't see many of them listed
in our portfolio section. Over the past few years, we have begun
to de-value these "prizes" on our list of Dux D'Lux
goals. You see, design awards are judged and awarded by designers.
Our goal of being client-centered is best reflected in the success
achieved for clients in THEIR industries. To our thinking, design
awards are simply not the point.
CONCEPT PROPOSAL
During the concept phase of a website development
project, Dux D'Lux creates a series of "screen views"
that show the "look" and feel for your website. We
include an example home page as well as example pages of each
level and sub-level of your site, showing how the "look"
is carried through, and how links are represented. We often
include in the concept proposal a chart of the linking structure
of the site with a list of possible content for each section.
We recommend that clients study the concept proposal carefully
and make any revisions to the look, organization and structure
of the site before we begin the programming phase.
COPY
We sometimes use this term to refer to the
verbiage included in a project.
DESIGNERS
We call ourselves designers. This means
that each person on our design staff has a degree emphasis in
Graphic Design from an accredited 4-year collegiate program.
It also means that we are commited to making sure clients' projects
are well-designed, whether we are arranging text to be printed
on an ink pen or designing a 40-page annual report.
DOMAIN NAME
Your domain name is simply your website address,
also called URL. Domain names are registered and administered
nationally, and require a yearly fee for ownership. When a domain
name is registered, it is assigned to a particular domain name
server (DNS) or website host chosen by the owner. Once a domain
name is purchased and assigned a DNS entry, it usually takes 36
- 48 hours before it becomes widely accessible over the internet.
ESTIMATE
We offer costs for design services as an
estimate RANGE rather than a flat fee. Our estimates reflect
an hourly rate and are based on the scope of a design project
and fees invoiced for previous projects of similar scope. Estimates
for contract services are generally based on specifications
from previous similar projects, and are usually re-estimated
when actual project specifications are determined. Most cost
estimates are valid for 30 days.
LAUNCH
When we are ready to launch or "go
live" with your website, we actually load your web files
to the server of your website hosting company. At this point,
your site will be available for the world to view.
LINKING STRUCTURE
The linking structure of a site includes
a recommended breakdown of content. It shows how the information
would best be organized so that you can keep a broad range of
visitors happy through a maximum number of click-throughs. When
recommending a linking structure, Dux D'Lux researches other
websites within your company's market to determine the typical
naming of links. We then organize the content so that it provides
the information visitors need without overwhelming them.
"LOOK"
Sometimes clients come to us because they've
never had one. Sometimes it's because they want an updated one.
Regardless, your company or organization definitely NEEDS one.
It's the character of how you present yourself to the world.
It helps people recognize your advertising as yours, even when
the message varies. We achieve a consistent "look"
by adhering to some firm guidelines for how your logo is used,
by establishing a consistent "voice" for your copy,
and by developing a consistent approach to using typefaces,
graphic images, photographs and colors. You'll note that the
word "consistent" appears often. Your "look",
like your identity, will not be effective unless it is used
consistently.
META
TAGS
These are a series of programming elements
that allow us to designate a title, page description and list
of key words for each web page. The title and description correspond
to the page link and description that appears in a search engine
results page. Meta tags are a key area of a web page that is
indexed by search engines, and can help your site gain a higher
placement in the search results list.
PROGRAMMING
PHASE
The programming phase is the stage of a
website development project where we begin to build the specific
pages of your site using style sheets, and/or HTML, javascript,
etc. It is recommended that all design & content organization
decisions be made prior to the programming phase in order to
minimize the cost of re-programming if core elements change.
We also recommend that clients provide us with the bulk of the
site content of the site before we begin programming. Digital
files are best since they eliminate the need to spend additional
time typing or scanning.
SITE
ARCHITECTURE
Sometimes called "wire-framing",
we use the term "site architecture" to
refer to the page structure chart for a website. It shows the
primary and secondary links at each level of a site, as well
as cross-links. Typically, each link represents a page that
needs content. The site architecture serves as a blueprint for
programming the site, and can also be a "to do list"
for preparing the content for a site. |
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