For many people, especially many churches and small charities who are looking to get a website, hiring a web designer is a big step. It’s something that they have never done before.
Suddenly, they are in discussions about exciting things like white space, identity, colour pantones, grids and key messages, feeling like they are running all the time to try and keep up with the pace of conversation. At the same time, they are conscious of the fact that they are paying valuable money for this process and are worried that they won’t get the result they are after.
This often leads to frustration on the part of client – they just can’t seem to get the look they are after or express why an idea doesn’t work. The web designer is off doing his or her own thing, only coming back now and again to ask for more money – and the vague idea at the beginning turns into a vague idea at the end.
DoDifferent – a breath of fresh air
This is where DoDifferent is different. When you hire me to design you a website, you don’t hire me to work for you. You hire me to work alongside you. You hire me to learn about your church and to ask you questions to enable you to articulate a story of who you are, where you’ve come from and where you’re going.
You don’t just hire me to push colours, lines and pictures around a website – in my opinion, that’s more painting by numbers than design. Instead, you hire me to take the kernel of an idea from your dream and vision and create a full-featured, functional website that encapsulates your organisation. You hire me to work alongside you to create something more beautiful than either of us could do by ourselves. This is what makes DoDifferent unique. This is why you should hire me.
What does this look like in reality?
You might be reading this thinking “this all sounds great – but what does this actually mean in reality?”
In order to explain, allow me to describe the process that takes place with many web designers. Many designers or agencies simply ask for a specification, which they then design to. Think of it like an architect’s drawing for a building – the specification will say things about colour, identity, brand and feelings and the designer will go away, make a large pot of coffee, and implement the specification. That works brilliantly for buildings – but web designers are not constructing buildings.
I work with the web every day. I take the time to keep up to date with the latest technologies, ideas and discussions about best practice. Therefore, I bring knowledge to the table that would be lost simply by giving me a specification. Likewise, I bring the experience of working with countless churches before, helping them bring their community to life on the internet.
I also bring something else important, however – I bring the knowledge that sitting alone in a room designing things does not make great website. The average person doesn’t have the conceptual knowledge to present instructions for a future project. I also don’t have the ability to read minds. More than that, however, I care too much about your project to offer something generic, ill-thought-through website design – instead, I believe that team work and working alongside you will give a much stronger website.
This means that you are paying me to be both web designer and web consultant – and the finished design will be better for it. Here’s some ways that it will be better:
- Drawing on my knowledge of working with churches and smaller budgets, I will make sure the features your website ends up with are exactly the features you need. This means that you will be paying for what you need and not paying for what you don’t.
- You won’t be just paying for a one-off web design that will then languish in a corner and go rusty for five years until another redesign. Instead, you are starting a partnership that lasts the life of your website, building a relationship with me that allows for continual incremental improvements over time. This saves you much more money in the long run because it means that existing investment isn’t simply thrown away.
- It means that as project and budget requirements change, the website project can change along with them. If there is the need for something new, it can either be added in or substituted for something else that is less important. Flexible development works better for both you and me.
- Because we keep in constant communication and because we are working alongside each other as designer and client throughout the process, there are no nasty surprises. You get to see the evolution of an idea through all its phases and therefore you can be confident you will get the project that you want.
Problems with this approach
Of course, this model of development doesn’t work for everyone. Some people just want ‘a website’, and they don’t care whether it is suitable for their organisation, fulfils their needs or is cost-effective or viable– they just want small short-term outlay, regardless of the fact that it isn’t value for money in the long run. However, I feel sure that that person isn’t you. And, if it is, you probably wouldn’t enjoy working with me, anyway, would you?
Assuming, therefore, that you are the type of church or individual that really takes their website seriously, really understands the benefits of being involved throughout the development process and crafting the gem of an idea that will make you stand out amongst the crowd, it might be time that we worked together. Simply get in contact and let’s begin a partnership that will hopefully last years.
Let’s talk!
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