Hire the RIGHT Web Designer!

“My web designer took my money I never heard from him/her again,” is something that I've heard more often than you would think. Although I keep hearing the same sad story, I am still amazed each time I hear it. Usually the story goes something like this: the client hires a web designer or web design firm and they put down a 50% deposit. After the deposit is received the client finds it nearly impossible to get in touch with the web designer. If they get in touch, they are shown a non acceptable site that doesn't work as was promised. The client tries to reach the designer and just never gets the product that they thought they were getting or what they paid for.

Whether you choose to work with us at Accent Graphix Design Studio or not, we want you to receive a quality product that you are more than happy with.   So, I'm providing the following 5 Key Rules for Finding a Reliable Web Design Company", so you all can avoid the perils of losing deposits and receiving sub par websites in return.

Does the Company Have a Website

Common sense would tell you that a company that claims to specialize in website design should have their own website. If they do not, take caution. If they do have a website, it should contain a portfolio of their past work. Browse through the portfolio and see if the company has the design sense that you are looking for. Also make sure to check that the sites that are listed in their portfolio are in fact live and working. This is a key indicator of whether or not they pleased the client.

Ask For References

If the web design firm is professional and as good as they say, they should have no problem providing references to you. If they refuse, an alarm bell should go off. The best way to find a credible company is to ask others to refer you to a designer that they have used and trust.  WORD OF MOUTH - This is how we are introduced to most of our clients here at Accent Graphix Design Studio.  Someone likes our work and passes it on!

Pay Attention During The Initial Meeting

When meeting with the web designer or firm, make sure to pay attention to every detail. Did he or she ask you about your business, goals and target market? Did he or she take detailed notes and offer suggestions of what type of site would be effective for your business? Was the web design process explained to you, so that you would know what to expect?

These are all things that any professional web designer should do during an initial client meeting. If he or she didn’t take notes and asked you nothing about your business, that is a big indicator of a sketchy company.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions

During the meeting ask the company how familiar they are with your industry?
Ask them what programming languages they use? Ask them if they can build content management websites or sites that will allow you as the client to update the site in the future. Have them detail their web design experience and tell you how long they’ve been in the industry. Also ask them if they are familiar with search engine optimization techniques. You are the client, so do not be afraid to ask questions.

Go With Your Gut Feeling

Most of us have pretty good intuition. If something seems fishy, it most probably is. If this is the case, continue with your search until you find a company that you can trust.

Does your website need a facelift?

Just like your body, websites need maintenance, upgrading and some TLC. If your site doesn't get this, it becomes downtrodden and "old"...  

The current design of your site may not be the search engine friendly due to outdated technology!!!!  

Take this quick survey to determine if your website is getting "hit" as much as it should be. 

You might be surprised by the results!

7 Key Principles to Successful Web Design

Everyone, their brother and fish have a website these days.  The Web is getting more crowded by the day.  It is becoming harder to get noticed among the masses. 

Fortunately for us designers, not everyone seems to understand what makes or breaks a website.  To a large extent, web design is based on the creative process and as long as you have the technological tools to go along with it, you should come up with a good site, right?   Well, not so much.

So....  what makes a website aesthetically appealing? Memo to everyone:  It is not Flash. Not that Flash is a bad design technique, but Flash alone doesn’t make a design good (and it's difficult for the web crawlers, so not great for SEO.) Web Design, instead should be considered an interaction of various different elements: No single element counts the most; rather, the sum of the elements makes a design look good.

These elements are the 7 key principles that make a Web design look good:

    •    Balance:  Ensure that your design does not tip to one side or the other. It is like the balance of weight in achieving symmetry,

    •    Grid layout: Compartmentalize your design to improve readability.

    •    Color: Pick two or three base colors at most and use shades and tints to expand the palette where necessary,

    •    Graphics: A great site doesn't need fancy graphics, but poor graphics will definitely show up like a sore thumb.

    •    Typography: Always remember Web typography is completely different compared to print typography; meaning we have a lack of control over the appearance on the web.   One sure fire way to improve the appearance of your site is to use font stacks

    •    White space: Use white space, lots of it. It represents simplicity and style and your content should not look cramped.

    •    Consistency: Make sure everything fits together so that your viewer follows unity browsing through your pages

Welcome to Accent Graphix Design Studio

Accent Graphix, nationally recognized for specific web design, uses the latest in programming and graphic media utilities to enhance your company's business advertising online and in print. Simply put, we love what we do...we love web, graphic and media design.

At Accent Graphix, we specialize in dynamic website design & development, graphic design, print media and animated flash media that will surely catch your audiences' attention. We know what is pleasing to look at, while also being functional, sophisticated and professional.