The Stadia Studio Design Process

Traditionally, a.k.a. ten years ago, if a business wanted a new website, the first step in the process would be to have a graphic designer design a new layout. The web designer would draft the design based on what they thought the new site should include, and would have to imagine how certain aspects would work or what they might say. This is because every page of the site was a unique HTML document, so the design had to be created first in order to be replicated over and over for each new page. This method also often resulted in aspects of the website being indicated in the design that were incorrect or not possible from a programming perspective and needed to be changed later in the development process.

In today's world of database-driven websites, that's no longer necessary. At Stadia Studio, we generally start by building your back-end database first. Once the initial functionality and content is set up, the web design can more naturally flow from that. Our web designers no longer have to guess what buttons you're going to need or what features your site's going to have - they can see them in a working environment.

Of course, prior to starting any design work, we have conversations with you regarding your own ideas or requirements. If you have existing branding or preferences, we want to make sure we take them into account. And, because we've already started your back-end system, we should have an actual functioning wireframe to look at to determine menu requirements and so on.

The web designer will then present you with a draft design in one or more PDF files for you to look at and review and provide feedback. At Stadia Studio, we do not limit revisions and changes. We will continue to work on the design draft and provide you with new drafts until you are completely happy with the design. That does sometimes lengthen the design process, certainly, but the end result is a site design that clients are 100% happy with, not just something they settled on.

Once the web design is approved, our programmers take that design and convert it into a working design engine for the CMS. That involves creating individual graphics from the overall design, creating PHP code for the CMS so that the database understands what to display and when, and writing custom CSS so that every element of the site is positioned and sized correctly.

Every new design, once it has been coded, is tested on multiple web browser platforms and computer systems, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Windows, Mac and iOS. Clients are encouraged to look through every aspect of their new site and any change requests are taken care of accordingly.

The result is a website that the client is proud of and a web design that remained true to the original intent of the designer.