425.356.7845 | iNFO@RDDSEATTLE.COM
not affiliated with Red Door Designs Portland
© 2006 rED dOOR dESIGNS sEATTLE | pHOTO bY jAKE hOWLETT
SERVICES
Our services include:
Custom site and graphic design
Every Red Door Design begins from scratch. We take your ideas and influences and create something very special, beginning with fonts and color palettes and extending through image selection, text, and layout, so that each design is unique and uniquely suited to you.
The Web operates on imagery; it is a unique medium that combines elements of print and video. Red Door Designs will ensure that your design incorporates not only the perfect images, but in ideal sizes, colors, and resolutions.
Database design and development
Dynamic content is the standard of the new Web, and dynamic content begins with database design. Red Door Designs offers database design, development, and programming services using the latest versions of MySQL and Microsoft Access.
E-Commerce installation and integration
Looking to establish your own Web outlet? Let Red Door Designs build your online store, from storefront to checkout. A variety of ecommerce systems, modules, and templates are available.
If you've already got a site, and just need routine updates or maintenance, Red Door Designs does that too. Contact us and tell us just what your needs are--there's no job too small.
In our former lives, we were crack editors. We just got caught up in the creativity that the Web offers, and we were hooked. Our pencils are still sharp, though, and our marketing skills top-notch. Whether you need technical or copywriting assistance, Red Door Designs is there to help.
Success begins with design and continues with a solid advertising program. From search engine optimization to affiliate programs to banner ads, Red Door Designs can help propel you to the front of the rankings.
Google? Yahoo? MSN? Red Door Designs will guide you through the search engine registration and optimization process. Research shows that users will only wade through so many search results. Let Red Door Designs take you to the front of the line.
Red Door Designs grew out of a certain fascination with art and technology and the convergence of the two. Veterans of several creative ventures in the publishing, environmental, and financial industries, the staff of Red Door Designs decided it was time to embrace our own creative impulses and skills. As so many business ventures before us, it actually came quite unexpectedly, but with overwhelming excitement and enthusiasm. We look forward to serving each and every client with the same attitude, and delight in the air of surprise that comes when a client sees themselves online for the first time.
Why Choose Red Door Designs?
Red Door Designs is about small business; we are just like you, after all. We enjoy getting to know our clients, and enjoy serving them. We take a thorough approach to each project that begins with a consultation--face time is our time to shine--and extends through installation, construction, and customization. We bring the best of both sides of our brains into your project to bring you the ultimate nexus of form and function, and the experience necessary to get it done on time and on budget. From small, static HTML sites to large data-driven portals to Flash-based sites that relect the cutting edge of technology, Red Door Designs is your portal to success on the Web.
Step 1: Contact
Already sold? Fill out our introductory questionnaire and let us know what your needs and ideas are. Tell us what sites you like (and *don't* like). Have any colors in mind? Tell us a little bit about your business--don't be shy, we're proud of our business, and we know you're proud of yours. Tell us what you'd like to see in your site (don't worry, you can always--and probably will--change your mind at some point). And, of course, tell us the best time and place to contact you, and we'll get right on it.
Step 2: Consultation
This is where the magic really begins. Red Door Designs will come to you--anywhere in the Seattle area--and meet with you to give you a chance to get to know us, and vice versa. We'll nail down your custom design plan, and come armed with several ideas to support it. We'll narrow down your choices of images, fonts, colors, and architecture. We'll define the scope of content. And we'll reinforce the channel of communication that we established at first contact.
Step 3: Concurrence
Once you are ready to proceed, Red Door Designs will write up a simple agreement oulining the project, to include:
Step 4: Commencement
Have a URL already? Have Web hosting? Great. Red Door Designs will get right to work. Need hosting set up? Email? Red Door Designs will help. We work with a number of hosting companies regularly, and can make recommendations. Some hosts have reliable, inexpensive plans for small sites. Some hosts are more expensive, but offer greater software and/or database support. Tell us what your needs are, and we'll point you in the right direction to make the best purchase and take full ownership of your site.
Step 5: Construction and Customization
This step sounds highly technical, but you will actually play a large part in it. Sure, there is a lot of code to assemble and tweak, but there's a lot of content to arrange, as well. Communication here is key. We'll let you know what we need at every stage of every page, and if you need help refining it, either through image manipulation or copywriting or editing, we'll help with that, too. It may be plain text, but the content you choose to post to the world will form the core of your site. The rest is window dressing.
Step 6: Countdown!
When you are satisfied with your site, and testing is complete, we will launch your site, and you will maintain control of it. Red Door Designs will make sure you have the tools to track your site and user statistics to maximize your position on the Web. We can also assist in online marketing, from search engine submission and optimization to text link and banner ads, to truly leverage your investment.
Step 7: Continuation
We hope you will continue to think of Red Door Designs as your design firm of choice, and to let others know, too. Relationships are the lifeblood of our business, and we'll do what it takes to maintain them. Need ongoing maintenance? Why not trust the experts that built your site? If we didn't build your site, give us a try and see the difference that our service makes. Expanding your business? Let us build a site for your new segment or venture that complements your established Web presence. Just looking for an update or redesign? Red Door Designs is happy to help.
We at Red Door Designs like to keep it simple. Our rate is $50 per hour. Shop around, and you'll find that this is lower than a lot of design shops and contractors. Our roots, however, are in small business, which often operate on small budgets. We are a small business, as well; we don't believe that you have to have a swanky loft in a downtown hi-rise or walls full of plasma screens and funky art to provide good service. Oh, we appreciate great art, as our designs will tell you...but we believe our products say everything there is to say about us.
What we will do is create a proposal for your custom site that outlines the entire process and estimates the hours required and total cost (minus expenses for software and various certifications and registrations) not to be exceeded. Other shops offer package or per-page prices, wherein you pay hundreds of dollars for a template site that took three hours to port, and then they tack on service charges for things like document scanning. Red Door Designs will charge you only for the time it takes to make your Web presence a success, and will even give you an account of our time spent--whether it's spent coding HTML, scripting popup menus, creating Flash interactions, or programming a database. It's the simplest way of doing business, and in this business, we believe it's the best.
New to the whole process? Not sure how much time it takes to build a site? That of course depends on the size of the site and its features. Below are some rough estimates to guide you.
Small site (2-5 pages): 6-16 hours ($300-$800), from setup to launch. Features typically include simple HTML navigation and links, simple design and graphics, 2-5 pages listing services, rates, etc. (like this site).
Large site (6-12+ pages): 20-40 hours ($1000-$2000). Features may include advanced scripting, database design and interaction, Flash design and programming, or streaming media.
Ecommerce site: 40-60+ hours ($2000-$3000 and up). Features include shopping cart installation and customization, SSL certificate installation, integration of shipping and merchant services, custom storefront, client training for product updates and maintenance.
New to the whole thing? Intimidated by the language? Wondering what is a .gif, really? Get up to speed here.
Web host: A company on whose servers your Web site resides. Hosting fees typically range from $5-$20 per month. Free hosting services also exist, but earn revenue by imposing random (and frequently unattractive) ads on your pages.
Domain name: the Web address (e.g., "www.google.com") at which your site resides; the location users enter into their address bars or click on to get to you. ".com" addresses are the most recognized, and therefore the most valuable (and expensive); ".net" may be a good alternative.
Bandwidth: the volume of data transmitted between your site and your users. Hosting companies charge more for high-bandwidth sites because they demand more resources to transmit high volumes of data.
Get a sample of our work here:
Design, development, and configuration of a new ecommerce portal for Washington Wine and Beverage Co. Features a custom contest entry and photo upload form, photo gallery, email tools and interfaces, Google Maps, and shopping cart integration and interaction.
The Peapod Book and Birth Store
Complete implementation of an upscale online baby gift store, from design to installation, customization, programming, setup of merchant and shipping services, product entry, and search engine optimization.
Design and layout of psychotherapynw.net, home of Jennifer Stoakes, MA.
Site design and development for online music site. Features a simple but extensive MySQL database combined with PHP interaction.
Site design for Brown and Caldwell Engineers regional intranet portal. Features Flash animation and a JavaScript random background feature on refresh.
Print brochure for the Seattle Cascades Drum & Bugle Corps, a nonprofit youth music activity.