One of the things that always used to intimidate me when starting a website build was just plain where to start! I am nearing the end of the website build that I’ve dubbed the behemoth (can’t wait to share!) because it will be my masterpiece this year … it’s a doozy! But while that one is ticking along at a decent pace, I have to start building another one. The second one isn’t as big as the behemoth, but it needs to get done in a timely manner too. Of course, with a big, almost finished site on deck and another one to start, just starting was a challenge. So I went to my old standby: My art school newsprint pad.
This afternoon, while it poured rain outside (hello Vancouver winter!) I plotted my attack. Both sites I’m working on were designed by the super-talented Natasha Lakos, so with her design in hand, I started to work out how to develop the site. Now that I’ve mapped it all out (for any other nerds reading this, that means figuring out how many sidebars, custom post types, custom pages, headers and navigations I was going to be building), it seems so much less intimidating! I also plotted out the preliminary typographic styles I’ll need. I love doing that part of the code first, not just because I’m a typophile, but because that way there is instant style while I’m building the site.
If you’re about to jump into a big website build I highly recommend this approach. Giant pieces of paper and Sharpies are just so fun! And drawing yourself a map ensures that your site gets built as efficiently as possible. This approach is great for me, because it gets me away from the computer and then also allows me to schedule in the website sections for the next few weeks. My clients also love hearing in their weekly update that I’m on track. I don’t think that I’d be able to give comprehensive updates without my map in hand. But I’m curious, do you all already do this? Do you have another way to plan your site?
Kate Moore Hermes 