"Creative Bureau 77" has been doing web development since 2000. Before that our main focus was graphic design – we started in 1995 creating advertising modules for print ads for "Menatep" bank. Hundreds of promo and ad campaigns followed, giving us enormous experience shaping visual representations through graphics, typography, color solutions, and more. The set of graphics programs we used in day-to-day work shifted from PageMaker to QuarkXPress, and settled on the Adobe suite – Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign – together with the WebStorm + PhpStorm IDEs.
The development tools listed above produce graphic files for the client in psd or ai format, source layout files in indd format, fonts in ttf or otf format, plus a standard web source set (html, scss, js) and a distribution build (html, min.css, min.js). The client receives all of these files at project handover.
Before starting site development, we'd like to receive from the client:
- a brand book;
- a logo and fonts;
- source files of previous ad campaigns in psd, tiff, eps, ai formats.
Without the materials above, "Creative Bureau 77" offers the following solutions:
- develop a brand identity from scratch for an additional fee and use it in development;
- use one of the ready-made templates for development (free of charge);
- use the client's previous site as a template (free of charge);
When developing a brand identity from scratch, we carry out the following work:
- target audience and competitive landscape analysis;
- analysis of solutions from abroad;
- finding a direction for our own solution;
- logo development (including typography, graphic mark, and color scheme);
- developing other identity elements per the technical spec;
- developing a brand book (a guide to using the brand identity).
Some of the items above may not be required. Once the client approves a sketch (one of three options), we create sketches for the site's standard page types. The number of pages and design options are agreed on separately.
During development of a site from a ready-made template, the client may request the following changes, if desired:
- a new logo;
- a new color scheme;
- other changes depending on the budget allocated for web design.
Once the sketches are approved, within a timeframe of a week (when working from a ready-made template) to a month (when developing an original design), a finished site prototype will be presented (without functionality). The list of work "Creative Bureau 77" can do is enormous and covers every aspect of graphic and web design. The principles of the work are outlined below:
Development per the technical spec proceeds through the following stages:
- choosing a concept;
- planning (gathering and analyzing requirements, developing the technical spec, mocking up interfaces);
- developing functional tools;
- integration into the content management system (control panel);
- placing site materials on a test server;
- testing and making adjustments on the test server;
- publishing on hosting.
The key stage for the client is creating the Technical Spec.
The project manager puts together the technical spec together with the client's representative. Work begins by filling out a brief (a short description of the site concept), which specifies:
- preferences regarding the site's structure;
- flaws in the old version of the site;
- examples of competitors' sites;
- other notes.
Based on the brief, the manager works with the client to draw up the Technical Spec, which specifies:
- the site's goals and purpose;
- the site's audience;
- technical specifications;
- the site's content (site structure with a detailed description of the elements and functions of every page);
- interactive elements and services (contact forms, on-site search, a site forum);
- forms (sending a message to/from the site's mail server, newsletter sign-up, other contact forms);
- the content management system;
- requirements for materials the client needs to provide;
- design of the main and standard pages of the site.
Once the client approves the Technical Spec, site development begins.