Week 9 Portfolio Design Basics Role of a web designer Designing for the medium Best practices for personal portfolios

CLIENT’S NEEDS DESIGNER’S EXPERTISE RESULTS Branding Exposure (site traffic) Results (ROI) Experience Artistic ability + style Technical knowledge Successful website Week 9

Role of a Web Designer Listen to what the client wants and determine the best combination of technologies to achieve this must be able to distinguish between client wants and client needs negotiate with the client re: value of the site and price present multiple drafts of the site and make adjustments as needed construct a working draft of the site (wireframe – no real content) invite client and/or market researcher to test the site for usability, navigation, etc. at each step in the process If no domain yet exists, set one up for the client Optimize for search engines, launch the site ongoing maintenance will be required – who will do this? Designer or client? In many cases these functions will be performed by a team, but not always. Week 9

Designing for the Medium Designer’s Expertise / Technical Knowledge HTML, XHTML, XML CSS Javascript AJAX (Asynchronous JAvascript + XML) other scripting technologies:.asp, PHP, ColdFusion,.NET, Ruby database development and design – MSSQL, MySQL, Oracle Typography Illustration skills: Illustrator/CorelDraw, Photoshop Flash Web video: Windows Media, Quicktime, Flash Video Information architecture & interface design Various browsers and their quirks: IE, Firefox, Netscape, Safari Accessibility & related issues Security issues & network architecture Web servers: Windows, UNIX, Linux, Apache, WebSphere

Week 9 Designing for the Medium Designer’s Expertise / non-technical Knowledge Writing skills Negotiation skills Copyright & legal issues Understanding of the web as more than just a technical or computer- based phenomenon A good designer is up to date on the latest web trends – social, political, commercial as well as technical

Week 9 Personal Portfolios : Best Practices You are the client and the designer! Things to consider when building your personal portfolio: Purpose Why construct a web portfolio? Who is your audience? Do you need a web portfolio?

Week 9 Personal Portfolios : Best Practices You are the client and the designer! Things to consider when building your personal portfolio: Content What is essential to include? How is a your portfolio site different from another type of site? Think about portfolio vs blog, commercial site, experimental site What kind of material are you showcasing? –Photography, video –Illustration –Creative writing –Photojournalism –Public Relations What would you do differently for these different types of portfolios?

Week 9 Personal Portfolios : Best Practices You are the client and the designer! Things to consider when building your personal portfolio: Upkeep How often will you be adding new material? How will you keep your content fresh? Your Brand & Identity Is a blog good enough? Domain name: your online identity. complementary (i.e. Non-web) material to help attract visitors Social Marketing: Facebook, LinkdIn, Google Ads

Week 9 Domain Name Registration 1.Registrar You must register your name with a domain registrar first (there are hundreds – just google ‘domain registrar’) For.ca domains, begin at CIRA.ca (Canadian Internet Registration Authority).ca is a ccTLD: country code Top Level Domain For other TLDs, pick a registrar and search the domain you want, if it’s available register it. It’s inexpensive, but shop around. Prices vary.

Week 9 Domain Name Registration 2. Host / ISP (Internet Service Provider) There are hundreds of hosts with various hosting plans available. Beware ultra-cheap or even free plans that require you to display ads. Sign up with an ISP. Tell them what domain you will be using. The ISP will provide your domain with an IP address and the urls for 2 name servers. Give the name server info to your registrar. Using the FTP info from your ISP, upload your site content.