Process

DH Creative believes in developing only custom-designed work. Each client is a unique and important individual, therefore our solutions are designed specifically for that client.

We gather information about your business and the purpose of your creative piece before proposing design solutions. As a client, you will be asked to complete a client survey (see an example here), as well as a project spec sheet in order to plan your solution. Based on your input, we will provide a proposal to outline the goals of the project, and clearly indicate each phase of the design process.

As a client, you are encouraged to participate directly in the design as it progresses, via a password-protected review site. By encouraging you to closely review our work and provide detailed feedback, you can be assured that the goals of your creative piece will be met appropriately, efficiently, and to your liking.

Some things we will discuss with you about your project needs are:

  • Identity (logo, company or product branding)
  • Project Scope (number of pages, project complexity, goals, etc.)
  • Graphics (photos, diagrams, or related artwork)
  • Forms (feedback forms, downloadable files, etc.)
  • User Interactions (games, message forums, chat rooms)
  • E-Commerce (online catalogs, shopping carts, etc.)
  • Animations (Flash or an animated GIF)
  • Domain Name Registration (www.yourbusinessname.com)
  • Web Hosting (required for all web-based projects)
  • Site Maintenance (text / graphic content updates, search engine submission, etc.)

With that said, here are the steps involved in producing your website:

  1. Design & Pre-Production
    This phase will determine the visual appearance and content layout of your project. Client-submitted content and source materials (photos, product samples, brochures, diagrams, promo items, etc.) are required at this time. During the design phase, samples will be presented on your client review site in static (non-functional) form. Pre-production will culminate with approval of a working template of the site interface (GUI).

     

  2. Production
    Final visual design must be approved in order to commence this phase. All content pages will be produced based on the interface template, unless specified otherwise. Individual page graphics, illustrations, or animations will also be produced at this time; as well as forms and other interactive elements (message forums, shopping carts, etc.)

    A merchant account and shopping cart are required for online commerce. This will increase your monthly overhead (rates may vary), and may require application fees. Contact us for more information.

     

  3. Quality Assurance
    Before and after your site is launched, issues involving minor adjustments and debugging will take place, based on your target browser's specs. This is to ensure that your site is in perfect working order before your project is considered complete. All clients are encouraged to take an active part in this phase.

     

    At this point, your new or redesigned website would be launched (made live on the web).

     

  4. Search Engine Submission
    As part of the design process, your site will be submitted to up to major search engines of your choice. The current submission list includes Google, Yahoo! Search, AOL Search, MSN, Netscape, Lycos, and many others. We have found our combination of HTML page architecture, meta tag design, and search engine submission to be an effective part of clients' web promotion plans. Test any site in our portfolio to see for yourself.

     

    DH Creative cannot guarantee you top placement in any search engine, as your placement may change frequently due to factors we cannot control. However, we will work with you toward Top 10 placement for the target keyword of your choice.

     

  5. Webmastering / Site Maintenance
    Regular maintenance to your website will be required to keep your site content up to date, including updates to text and photo content, re-submission of the site to search engines, and monitoring to ensure that the site is up and in working order. DH Creative may be contracted for site maintenance (low to mid-level maintenance) or webmastering (high-level maintenance) for your web presence.

     

    Please be advised that maintenance fees depend on the amount of maintenance required per month, and may be changed at the discretion of DH Creative.