Graphic Design Process

With the graphic design process there is a lot of back and forth between Heather and her clients. She starts with an idea based on the initial consultation and information about what the client likes and doesn't like. After that the design evolves. Web site designs need to factor in search engine optimization as well as graphic appeal. Here are some examples of the design process.

KevinKeady.com
INITIAL Here is the initial idea that Heather presented to Kevin, based on photographs that he had supplied her with. She had chosen a black and white portrait of Kevin for her main focus and created the color pallet based on that.	FINAL As you can see, the final concept is VERY different. Kevin wanted to focus less on himself, and more on his environment. He also really wanted the deep greens and forest colors.
	www.kevinkeady.com

SusanWilsonWrites.com
INITIAL Heather Goff presented Susan with two concepts based on their initial consultation. Susan chose the second theme and they created the web site based on that.	FINAL The final design is based pretty closely on the initial concept.
	www.susanwilsonwrites.com

Remax On-Island
INITIAL DESIGNS Design 1 Design 2	FINAL Heather presented two initial ideas to Remax On-Island, the first a graphic rendition of the Vineyard Haven Harbor, and the second using a photograph. Although they preferred the "feel" of the graphic rendition, the photograph was more fitting for a real estate site. Below is the final design.
	www.marthas-vineyard-real-estate.com www.marthas-vineyard-vacation-rentals.com
Graphic Redesign Sometimes when I'm asked to redo a site, all that needs to be done to the graphics is a slight re-design or face lift. At other times a complete re-design is called for. Below are some examples of sites that received a slightly more polished exterior finish when converted from static sites to database driven sites.
JOEY STUDIO
OLD VERSION: Joey Porwoll is a talented gift ware designer. Her old site was very dynamic, but was hard to navigate and did not communicate clearly. When she first showed me her site when talking about a re-design I couldn't figure out from the site what exactly she did. I had to ask her, "What exactly do you do? What is the site about?"	NEW VERSION: The challenge was to create a site that communicated clearly the services that Joey offered, that show-cased her portfolio, and was also business-like and easy to navigate. I wanted corporations coming to her site thinking of hiring a gift ware designer to see her work presented in a very professional way. The work itself is very creative. I felt the site needed to communicate that not only would they be hiring a creative designer, but also a business woman and a professional. We also wanted to design the site with a content management interface so that Joey could add and modify all of the content herself. The project pages are full of description, supplementary images and the ability to view enlarged images. Joey can also add her other services such as Trend Boards and Concepts.
	joeystudio.com
DEBORAH COLTER
OLD VERSION When Deborah asked me to make her site database driven so that she could update her gallery herself, she wanted a completely new look as well.	NEW VERSION: I convinced her that instead of a complete re-design just making the navigation cleaner, eliminating the gray, and surrounding the content with black would give her the fresh new look that she wanted.
	deborahcolter.com
CHRISTINA GALLERY
OLD VERSION: The old graphic version of the Christina Gallery site was very functional but rather plain. The owner asked me to add just a little graphic design to it when we converted the site to become database driven.	NEW VERSION: I added the image from their sign for branding, and a horizontal rule to suggest the gold leaf frames that they have on their work.
	NEW VERSION 2007: In 2007 The Christina Gallery had their logo redone by Kim Wells of Creativeworks on Martha's Vineyard. I redesigned the site using the same back end CMS and functionality but with the new logo and colors.
	christinagallery.com
SELLERS SIGNS INC
OLD VERSION: Susan wanted to convert a site that was primarily about her sign painting business to a site that would display both her signs work information, and her fine art paintings. This meant we had to add a whole new section of navigation. This old design, with the left hand navigation almost a third into the body of the page, did not have much room for content.	NEW VERSION: I wanted to keep the same look to the site, so returning customers would recognize where they were. We incorporated her new sign, and by pulling the navigation up to the top of the page, opened up the body for content. We also toned down the teal, at Susan's request. Otherwise, except for some detailing, we kept the design close to the original.
	sellerssigns.com