Process

Design is a product of critical thinking and problem solving. There is no magic. Just hard work. (Sometimes though, it would be cool if there was a little magic involved.)

A design with no function is forgettable, hollow and useless. For it has no problem it attempts to solve.

Strong solutions come from the:

• Understanding of human behavior
• Understanding of one's target audience and/or positioning
• Understanding website building tools and technology
• Proper implementation of Information Architecture
• Consideration of specific expectations, brand definitions, and goals
• Setting of attainable goals and understanding them
• Understanding the constraints such as budget and time

And all of these involve an investment of time.

Purposeful

Definite Heft employs processes that are brand and product centric, taking advantage of available information to make a brand shine clearly, effectively and in a way that is memorable.

Effectiveness of said solution is directly proportional to the amount of time and resources invested in developing that solution and of course to the amount of appropriate marketing employed outside of the design process.

Extensions of your Brand

A website, a business card, a video are all touchpoints for your brand. Some say that your website, for example, is your brand.

A website touchpoint works best when it owns a purpose and all of it’s components work toward that purpose. These components are items descend from a set of clear, concise, expectations and brand definitions.

Building Effective Websites

So, what are the components of an effective website? Well, first you have to be clear and decisive on what defines “effective”. The rest depends on your target audience, among other things.

Effective websites include:

• Meaningful content
• Proper information architecture of content
• Effective copywriting
• photography
• Purposeful graphics
• Ongoing search engine optimization based on fact not myth
• Marketing on and off the web
• Long-term website scalability
• Content management

This list could expand based on one’s needs.

The most important website component is goal-oriented content. Content IS king. Websites with only cool-looking, trendy graphics, color schemes and layouts are hollow and useless.