SQUARESPACE MINI-SITE. Details & Process

Transcription

1 SQUARESPACE MINI-SITE Details & Process WINTER SESSION 2018

2 About our Philosophy at the Studio The process philosphy in our studio is to make sure that we have a solid foundation before we jump into complex design issues like web-deisgn. Through a brand foundation, and in this case a mini-site design, we make sure that the fonts, colors and art direction and mood are in place before we implement a stich of design. This is why the process is a full week of design and prep, and then a secondary week of implementation and refinement. Without a solid foundation and path, you might just get stuck in the weeds. My design philosophy is to use design in a tactical, and practical way to showcase your contnet to it s max. We plan a strategical design approach that doesn t take attention away from what you do best, whether that be your photographs, service options, blogging style or whatever your niche may be. SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 1

3 RESEARCH + PREP The research and prep stage happens in the first couple of days. We get a better understanding of what your site needs as well as what you are working with in order to know how to tweak it best. We bring in ideas and prep how to implement. DESIGN + IMPLEMENT In this stage we take your content and tweaked style for our type and color with your brand moodboard and implement it not only into a pdf version of your homepage, but then implement it in full on your site so that your homepage is fully styled, new template adjusted etc. REFINE + LAUNCH In the editing and refining stage we make any refnements to the overall style and implement any edits to the hompage on your site. If we need to edit the brand pdf we do so at this time. Then it s launch and learn time! We go over everything in your new site live before launch! SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 2

4 CHECKLIST FOR START DAY Checklist for Start Day (what you need) SITE AND CONTENT PREP CLEAR YOUR SHEDULE Site Prepped see our site prep page - for a list of to-dos including a cover page, saving content and more. Content Prepped check out our content prep page to know how to prep your content and send it over in your collaborative dropbox. Your checklist text here, donec nunc mi, fermentum vitae justo ut, blandit posuere orci. Mauris blandit, velit vel iaculis volutpat, metus eros elit varius. Write down dates for what you will be doing this is outlined in our detail day-day timeline in here, just be sure you have time each day to participate in refinements, s and more. Let us know! Are ou out one day within the two weeks where you can t give feedback at all? This might change the schedule so let us know! Prep your post schedule. We are doing a full make-over on your home-page, but know you might need to prep some time later on to do any edits on your own for other pages. MISC AND ADMIN THINGS Go through this packet in full do you have any questions, let us know right away before beginning the project. READY FOR AN ADVENTURE? Final Invoice Prep, just a reminder your final invoice will be due on the final Friday BEFORE we hand over the site to you, or launch our site so be ready to have that set. Get excited! Web design is usually much more in depth than clients expect, but at the same time, extremely rewarding. We are always excited about getting your dream site designed so you can focus on your craft! SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 3

5 RESEARCH + PREP STAGE ONE Content Planning Checkliest YOUR SITE IS PREPPED: PAGES Save any old content from your site, anytime you have someone work on your site make sure you have things backed up. SS saves old pages, but this is just a caution. Homepage Content. Start by thinking about the fast facts you want your audience to learn about you. What s most important, is it your blog or instagram? About you? Save any old code, we might need to change templates or over-ride old code, so any custom css and injected code save in an external document for safe keeping. Your cover page is up for edit time, add a cover page to your site and set it as the homepage before beginning the actual site edits. Ask us if you need help doing this! COPYWRITING Write out your homepage headlines, make sure to write out all of the kind of headlines you might want on your site. We might need to tweak/add some but this way we can start with something. Mini Bio Section a lot of people have a learn more about YOU section on the homepage, consider an intro or mini bio that leads them to your full about page. Whether about you or your business. Sections of content mark out all the sections of content you will need for your homepage! Plan other pages even though this mini-site design doesn t include the edits for your new site in terms of design and layout on other paegs, you will want to check them and go through each, so keep a running track of each page and what you want to accomplish or have your audience accompilsh on each page. Count your pages, if you are on the old (grandfathered) personal plan you have a max of 20 pages in your personal plan. Make sure we have room to add 3-5 new ones (because of indexes in your new homepage.) PHOTOGRAPHY All photos, all photos need to be downloaded at their highest resolution and handed in as files png or jpeg. This way we can make sure we are getting the best possible output. Looking for new photos?, try some of our favorite stock photo sites: stocksy.com, unsplash.com or creativemarket.com SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 4

6 RESEARCH + PREP STAGE ONE Detailed Timeline 1 BOOKING Inquire with an !, it all starts with an , which is how you got here! Chat with Meg and Pick a Date pick a date out of the available mini-site dates for your two-week timeline. Booking Invoice, make sure the booking invoice, contract and proposal have all been completed after our phone call. 2 ONBOARDING + DISCOVERY Onboarding + Asana for onboarding we will invite you to our asana workspace, which will have a detailed date by date timeline with each of the stages we will be describing in this welcome PDF. Make sure to watch the intro to Asana video to get familiar with the platform. Discovery Questionnaire, our discovery questionnaire is our first step to learning more about YOUR needs and your site s needs. Please make sure this is done BEFORE the tiimeline on Asana. Content Sharingand Dropbox all content is due before day 2 is over in our timeline. Meaning all text and images in folder (not on your site - uploaded to our collaborative dropbox). Access to Squarespace and Template Discussion with Meg S., based on yoru questionnaire we might ask you whether you are ready to change templates in Squarespace - this might mean extra work on your end after our mini-project is over. BUT this will help you be on the best template for your strategy and site goals. We will also be asking you to invite us to your site. For that please send and invite to us megsheeley@icloud.com or hello@megsummerfield.com SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 5

7 RESEARCH + PREP STAGE ONE Detailed Timeline 3 INSPIRATION AND MOODBOARDS Moodboard, the next stage where we will take your questionnaire and make a visual inspiration board to guide us for the proejct. This helps us make sure that we are on the right track for the project. Brand Guide PDF with the moodboard you will also get a brand guide PDF. This will take parts of your brand that exist already (logo etc) and mix it with fonts and colors to help update and better express your design needs. 4 THE HOMEPAGE DESIGN Here you will receive a full pdf design of your homepag. In PDF form you will see the new version of your site with our edits. Included is one round of edits. 5 STYLE + IMPLEMENTATION Squarespace Editing the first thing we do is implement all the branding (font and color) changes we have approved. Homepage design + any header/footer edits, we also implement the full homepage/header and footer here to make sure it s perfect. Edits and refinement next we take your lead on any edits that you want to make to the site/brand guideline. We update the brand pdf if needed. 6 LAUNCH AND TRAINING Invoice #2 be sure here to have the last invoice set before our training date! Training + Launch we do a LIVE 1hr training session on your launch Friday where we walk you through your site and get it prepped for launch! This way you are confident about any changes and are ready to show the world :) SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 6

8 PRE-PROJECT Onboarding and Asana At this stage we are going to prep you with proposals, invites to asana, and getting you prepped for our project. COMMUNICATIONA ND PLANNING Us web designers sometimes go overboard in planning and outlining projects, but its paramount that you undestand what you are getting involved with. In comparison to a brand/logo design, web can be much more client-intensive because there is a TON more to get your approval on or ask about functionality needs along the way. Asnana is our chosen project management system. Please make sure to keep all conversations in Asana after you have been given access so we can find and keep track of everything by subject/task. SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 7

9 DAY 1-2 Content Planning + Dropbox For content sharing, we will be sharing a dropbox folder where you can jump in and check out the sample site content, and then share your photos, text etc. SENDING OVER CONTENT Creating and Organizing Files for Your Designer FOLDERS = PAGES HIERARCHY 1. Create a folder for every page you want included 1. Folders get labeled 1 - X for any pages you want in the in the site. This needs to be including your blog. navigation bar. Example: 1_home 2_about 3_services etc. 2. Create sub-folders for any content that needs to 2. Images get ranked (at least top 5) so we can be sure to be organized within a page example: Blog Sidebars! feature your favorites on the page/site as a whole. Your Site Name UPLOADED TO: GOOGLE DRIVE OR DROPBOX OR ZIPPED AND ED Content for web design is the hardest part of this process for the client. It s one of those perpetural chicken and egg questions in the industry, but really - we have to know what we are working with in order to figure out what the plan really is. 1_Home Copy goes in a word document. 1_ImageName: Must have image 2_About 2_ImageName: Second favorite 3_ImageName; Alternative Photo 3_Contact Sub-folders for galleries or sidebars Please let us know if you would like to outsource some of these difficult tasks. We have some great partners who are copywriters, photographer and content creators we can put you in touch to craft your perfect message. When sending your designer content make sure it s labeled to a T. Consider making a favorites folder for images, or even numbering them if you have favorites. This then lets us know your preferences instead of guessing while we are implementing a design for your site. SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 8

10 DAY 2-3 Inspiration and Moodboards where we set the stage for the mood and design of your proejct. MOODBOARDS Why are moodboards important? These might seem like a silly stage, but it s all about making sure you and your designer are on the same page. Is the feeling of the board as a whole how you want your audience to feel when they look at your site? Are the colors of your brand represented in the same proportion as you want them on your site? Are the font-styles similar to what you expected? SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 9

11 DAY 4-5 Homepage Mockup Design The real meat of the project, the majority of the actual design is going to take place during this stage, so make sure to pay attention. ABOUT PODCAST THE DAILY CONTACT HOMEPAGE DESIGN IN PDF WITh this stage you can expect to get a THE LATEST post title goes here DISCOVER PDF sent that is the equivalent of your site in a flat PDF. We are planning out the layout, style and content for your homepage in flat design because it s faster for us to see it at a high-level and make sure it s visually perfect. We can make changes ABOUT TDD much faster in this stage than on the web. YOUR DAILY DOSE OF DESIGN Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam We do a full editing round here with the flat pdf, so make sure that you really speak your mind when we ask for edits. On Cue The Daily Spotlight Design SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 10

12 DAY 6-7 Implementation and Styling This stage is the easiest for you, since it s all work on our end :) STYLING + IMPLEMENTATION This part is where you can sit back. We will be opening up your site and doing the hard work. We will make sure that your brand is represented perfectly from our brand guideline in your site, for all fonts and colors and then working on the homepage. From there, we will open the site in a few different browsers, ipads and phone sizes and also makes ure tha it is formatted for all sorts of screen sizes. We do ask that you not touch the site during our work here, as well as wait till we are done to look/comment, sometimes the process LOOKS messy :) SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 112

13 DAY 8-9 Edits and Revisions in Squarespace Here we will refine what we have devised and implemented to make your site the dream site you have always wanted. EDITING PERIOD/REVISIONS We have already completed the PDF edis for your homepage, but at this point, we want to complete any edits that we might have found during the actual implementation preiod. Do things look like what you expected? How about on mobile? Are the new edits/colors/fonts as you want them for your new brand? Do all links go where you expect them to go? SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 12

14 DAY 10 Launch and Training Session Our last day is all about your training session and making sure you are prepped to go into the world with your new updated site (ok that s dramatic I know...) OUR LAUNCH SESSION Together on skype or google chat, whichever you prefer we will do a live session! We are going to go over any changes we have made to your site, and make sure you have the knowledge to know how to update your new homepage. During the session, if there is time left, we will also go over any questions you might have about Squarespace in general. We can answer whatever pressing questions you might have about pricing, plans, or even blogging! This way you are prepped to do any extra updates on other pages you might want to complete :) SQUARESPACE MINI SITE P A G E 13

15 THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR STUDIO