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Web design

February 11, 2003 › Sandy McMurray | comment

This site has been quiet for several weeks thanks to another project that has taken a lot of my time. Eric Wright, an author friend of mine, hired me to patch up his Web site. He has a new book, you see, and he wants to promote it using his site.

Eric wanted to pay me, but I had no idea how much time and effort the project would take. I had no experience with quoting on a Web project. Although I've designed and built several simple Web sites in the past, most of them were personal projects, done over time with no deadline and no boss or client other than myself.

In the end, Eric and I agreed on a flat rate, understanding that the work would cost much more if he went to a professional. (It was also understood that he might get better results from a pro, but that was his part of the bargain.)

The idea, for me, was to use the project to learn as much as possible about modern Web design, layout, accessibility, etc. Whatever happened, I would come out of the project with some good experience and at least one good reusable "template" for sites I build in the future.

What Eric wanted was pretty straightforward, but it wasn't possible to simply patch up his old site. The whole thing had to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.

I experimented with several layouts and colour schemes, and read several books' worth of information about HTML (the language of the Web) and the nightmare that is cascading style sheets (CSS).

Yesterday, the new site was finally launched. CountryWindow.ca is Eric's home on the Web -- the place where he sells his books and his professional writing services.

Today, after weeks of learning and upgrading my skills, I consider myself to be a professional Web designer. Not the best one, to be sure, but good enough to consider adding this to my list of professional services.

So that's what I'm going to do. Starting today, if you'd like to have a simple Web site built, you can get a quote from TechStuff.ca Web Design. (Click on the link to send an e-mail message.)

This being TechStuff.ca, I also have free tips for those who want to build their own sites. See the next entry for what I learned while making Eric's site.

February 11, 2003 › Sandy McMurray | comment on this item