It Takes Two To Make A Theme Go Right

Our team is very small. We like it that way, it allows us to have personal connections with our clients and ourselves. Antonio and myself have been developing together for about 4 years now and I've learned a lot from it. Before we met I was mostly a designer for bands and shirt companies. My web experience was only based in some small businesses. Then as I progressed into web and more advanced theming I learned a really important lesson, don't just make the design nice but make it useful and well thought out. Usability is sometimes much more important than a pretty design, but ofcourse the golden egg is having both. The client has a responsibility to provide all functionality and content before a designer even starts a draft to assure a well thought execution of his ideas. Here are some examples of usability and breath-taking design working hand in hand....

http://www.Giraffe.net/

This site is phenomenal, this is a great example of all the functionality being preserved (menus, twitter updates, photo gallery) and still executing a design that would blow people away. Not one link seems out of place or forced and believe me that is a skill in it's own right. You immediately know what this site is about upon one glance. Nothing is confusing about the design, it's well thought out and well executed.

Grooveshark.com

This site allows even the newest users feel like a pro. Every tool is not only easily accessible but almost intuitive. It's flash interface also provides a slick presentation while operation almost like a piece of software rather than a website. You find yourself set up in seconds and that's what can determine if a client/listener will ever return. This site could not ever look this good without the programmers and designers working hand in hand.

Both sites are extremely well thought out and not just from a designers point of view but both a designer and programmer. This brings me to the main point. Always have your content or programming functionality (every button, every slider, every function) in hand before developing, it's very difficult to build or theme something when you have no idea what content is going in or what functions are being provided. If you don't know the purpose or items of importance your design will surely suffer. Designers and programmers and clients need to bring everything to the table before development starts, it is the only proper way. This seems like it would be a duh situation but most clients start development before they even start thinking about content and a developer has no choice but to run with it. Elitist designer attitudes and hands off clients cannot create well done web work. It takes two to make it out of sight.

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