Friday 11 March 2011

TCRM and Web Design Goals

The TCRM website has been in need of a design refresh for a while. It’s a bit of an irony that web design companies rarely have the time to update their own sites. Those of you who have visited our site will know that at the moment it is a ummm, a little cluttered. Despite being busy we decided enough was enough and Thursday in the kitchen, I mean the TCRM boardroom, was the venue on a design meeting to discuss the new look of our site. Coffee flowed and tempers became heated as two opposing camps formed and the battle lines were drawn…

The TCRM site is a little different from most sites as it needs to serve two functions. One, it needs to show off the technical possibilities of the web sites we produce and two, needs to look good to show off the look we can achieve in design. If someone is looking to build an online database, the customer needs to be aware that we have the expertise in buckets. On the other hand if a potential customer needs to put together a brochure site for their art gallery, our design skills need to shine through.

As I’ve said before, for other sites it is important to have a set goal. A primary aim that guides all your choices regarding the site. If you are putting together a brochure site for your accounting firm then you want a uncluttered business style site. If you are putting together a social networking site for plasticine users then it will be feature rich, but fun looking. Nothing says fun like plasticine.

So as you can see, the TCRM site is different, with its two roles. Lately it’s been leaning a more towards being a technology demonstrator rather than a brochure site. This revamp will look at these issues and we will come a good compromise of form over function, however the first boardroom battle has been fought but the war has some way to go.

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