Client, Plan, Readings

Creating an appropriate client can be very challenging because the outcome is based off of so many different factors, including your abilities as a designer. That being said, it is essential to gather as much information as you can about the client and their needs before jumping into a design plan.

The Killersites reading was nice in that it offered many ideas from different people about the possible questions to ask your client in an initial interview. Although not all of the questions pertain to this project, such as a budget, each of the posts had something interesting and informative to add.

Following the interview with your client, its time to start brainstorming with some ideas as long as their is an understanding about what you as the designer are capable of. You don't want to beef up your skills and disappoint the client in the end with something less than they were promised. :(

Start with some major background work, then follow with a goal you want to achieve. Digital-Web suggests learning more about the client and presenting them with a goal you think is something they way want to consider, rather than asking them what the goal is of the site. Furthermore, "everybody needs something": the user and the business. You, as the designer, must help the client understand why things "won't work" or why "this idea might work better" based on your ideas about the user and their understanding of the internet, for example, as a constraint.

Finally, the Dreamweaver book is instructional, not much more to say about it. It is straightforward and informative, but until I break into the actual program on the computer its just a set of instructions.