Design - Rylands Internet Solutions

home : design

intro | accessibility | navigation | logos

our philosophy......

Design and functionality must work together.

Accessibility is important - we work on it.

Only by understanding a whole system can we use it effectively.

If we do not know how to do something then now is a good time to learn.

By using all these skills we make sites that work.

common mistakes...

Good design takes into account a wide range of factors including:

there are a large number of different browsers on the internet (some designers think there is only Internet Explorer™)
there are a range of different operating systems with browsers (some designers think there is only Windows®)
different computer monitors have different screen resolutions
(some designers think everyone has the same sort of monitor as themselves)
the only "things" that access web sites are browsers
(some designers have never heard of spiders, crawlers, WebTV or robots)

In short there is more to designing a site that works in every sense of the word than just creating a pretty design.

getting started...

Getting the best out of any design process is very much a combination of science and art.

The science comes from being very specific about the role of a website within the framework of an organisation and understanding what can be delivered in both the short and long term.
The art is in achieving these in an aesthetically pleasing manner that satisfies the objectives.

preparation ...

If you already have a site then it will help if you take a look around it and note down what you like and dislike about it.
If you do not have a site then it is worth spending a little time thinking about what you want to provide, and what visitors to the site might want to find.
The purpose of the site is a fundamental that needs to be understood before anything else can be done.