Design Specs
The design process has the following steps:
Brief - get the details of what the goals are for your new site.
Research - generate ideas for the design and discuss with your boss / parties concerned.
Design - put the above research into a layout and add in the aesthetics.
Amends - change the design as per the feedback from your boss.
Production - this is where AspireSoft comes in, so make sure everything prior to this is done and sealed. This is the equivalent of going to the presses - if you decide to change your mind after something has gone into production, the project can become costly very quickly.
Responsive Design
Keep in mind, that your website will be displayed on mobile devices also. So imagine how all the design objects would look on smaller screens after "jumping" below each other. If you plan to place some images that contain text, make sure that this text will be readable when images will be resized to smaller screen sizes on mobile phones.
If you don't have any specific requests about displaying your website on smaller screens then AspireSoft will do everything based on the default rules of responsive design.
Design Width
Generally, websites use a 1170px wide container, which is also the standard bootstrap size. The width of the design depends on the kind of user experience purpose of your website (e-commerce, news, blog website) you'd like your site's visitors to have. For example, if it is an e-commerce website, you can go Full HD (1920px wide) to show as many products on the screen without scrolling as you can, but if your website is mostly a blog, there is no reason to go wider than 1170px, as reading articles on a wide screen is not comfortable.
Typography
Be consistent when using typography. Choose fonts and colors carefully. Don't go overboard on either one.
If you want to use some fancy non-standard font, we suggest using free Google Fonts service. Their licence allows you to use the fonts on any website, whether it’s commercial or personal. Browser support is great. And it's also easy to use. Otherwise you will heave to solve licence, font conversion for browser support and deal with other issues that will cost you time and money.
We suggest sticking to a maximum of 3 types of fonts for the whole site. They can be different for headings, sub-headings, and content.
File Types
Please create your design using Adobe Photoshop.
Add layers to communicate the logic behind the elements on the page.
Additionally, make sure you take jpgs of the finalized version of the design so the developers understand how you'd like the design to look like.
A separate jpg will be needed for each page that you'd like converted a certain way. Generally though there should not be a need to create any more than 2 design pages - one for the homepage and the other for the subpages.
Note: To save you time and money, make sure your design is fully ready from your side and there is no scope for uncertainty on what is needed. Any time that is spent on understanding elements or getting clarifications should be minimized, so get everything approved internally by your boss, colleagues, or wife before you hand us the design files.
Sending Design Files
Zip the files and send them to your account manager using Dropbox or any other similar service. Make sure you share them in a way that does not compel one to create an account with the given service you choose. For instance, Dropbox files can be shared through a unique link that you can send to your account manager.
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