A self-taught web designer, I have designed

Why a Web-site

Web-sites hold almost unlimited possibilities.

Apart from making your business look professional, they can increase the number of customers you can attract to your business, increase sales if you have an online shop, save yourself time as the site can contain easily-accessible information about your business, save money by making it easier to send and receive e-mail, or much more.

How often have you looked somewhere up, and simply wanted quick, easy information about the place, without wanting the hassle of having to make several time-consuming phone calls? How often have you wanted to know more about a place, haven't had the time find out, and have picked up a card in order that you can look it up at your leisure? A web site is a great way of providing people with information that they can browse at their pace, and will also save you time and money.

The trouble with having a web-site designed is that it is usually pretty expensive. This is also where I may be able to help.

If you have already read the "About Me" page, you will already know the reason that I am looking to develop web-sites, and why my rates are not at all expensive. I am currently studying at university, and would like to leave with as litte debt as possible. This is why I am designing web-sites.

So What's Involved?

It's important to have a site that suits the purpose it was set up for. There are many times that people come accross sites on the 'net where it clearly not well thought out; it either doesn't look professional enough, or it's crowded and impossible to find out the information you need. During an initial discussion, I would talk through various things with you, to try to determine:

• What purpose you want your site to serve
• How you want it to look
• What my opinions on these are, how I feel they could be improved if necessary, and any other suggestions I may have
• The above will include questions about some of the following:
  • Colour scheme: do you want a dark background or a light one? Do you want it to match the colours of your company logo/headed paper, etc.?
  • Navigation: Horizontal (like this site) or vertical? How many pages do you want? Will they be divided into sub-categories?
  • Font scheme: This is surprisingly important - formal or informal? or perhaps somewhere in the middle?
  • Images: How many? What size? Where on the page? Any special effects?
  • Page layout: What goes where? Do you want a simple layout or a more complex one?
  • Contact information: Do you want a web-form? Would you like an interactive map? Would it be useful to have a public transport journey planner for people to visit?

This would be followed by a detailed estimate, a few design options if appropriate, and then a final discussion before I begin work. Payment is usually made in two parts, although this is of course discussed.

Naturally, as it is your web-site, I like to keep you actively involved as much as you like, and I will upload a copy of your site onto a hidden part of my site whilst it is under development, so that you can see the site literally being built and make any comments or changes easily.

I use the highly-rated Adobe Suite for the site design, including Dreamweaver (used for the layout of each page), Fireworks (for image and graphic editing) and Flash (for moving elements on the page).

The Finished Article...

Once your web-site is complete, I can take care of your web address, hosting package, e-mail addresses and also the regular upkeep of the site, whether it be changing content, adding in new pages or just the general updates to the site.

My Previous Designs...

Other than this site, my previous designs include:

			Moto World (UK) Ltd www.motoworlduk.co.uk Whilst working for the UK importers of AGIP Oil, one of Europe's leading oil suppliers, I was asked to design a web-site to increase awareness of AGIP's new availability in the UK, and that also features an online shop. I am currently in the process of re-designing this site to bring it up-to-date, increase the availible product range, change the shopping format and make the site more accessile.
			St. Peter's Church, Grange Park www.stpetersgrangepark.org.uk I have attended this church since I was eight and I recently decided to design a web-site to raise awareness, to show pictures of recent events, to make a site for the younger members of the congregation and to present notices in an easily accessible place. The St. Peter's site has recently had a face-lift to improve both the layout and accessibility. I am sure you will agree that the site is both easy to use, full of information and looks great!
			MCO Prestige www.mcoprestige.co.uk MCO Prestige are a high quality prestige car self drive and chauffeur company run by my uncle. Although he has a good reputation by word of mouth, he needed a web-site to give people something they could look to to find out more information about the company and their services without picking up the phone. The benefits to the customer: information about the company, their fleet of prestige vehicles, their terms and conditions and their security policies. The benefits to the company: A visible presence on the web; Less time on the phone as much of the information is available on the web; an online contact and booking form; and lastly, a professional web-site!
			MCO Accident Claims www.mcoaccdentclaims.co.uk A new direction for the MCO group meant that they wanted a website specifically designed site for solving vatious accident claims. The site was to provide further information to follow-up distributed leaflets, and to provide further information on their services.
			Herts Drainage www.hertsdrainage.co.uk A local plumber wanted a website to give his potential customers a way to read up on his services, and to enhance his current advertising.
			Renouf8 / Renouf Carpentry & Joinery www.renouf8.co.uk Michael Renouf is an experienced carpenter, who wanted to attract potential customers to his private Carpentry and Joinery company via the web. Having had a large amount of trouble with another large web-design company called UFindUs, Michael decided that it would be safer for him to deal with a designer personally, and the result is a far more informative website which is much easier to navigate. It now features photos of his previous jobs, and he is looking forward to being able to continue to upload more information on his services and more photos to accompany it.
			Ketcher and Moore www.ketcherandmoore.co.uk Jeannie Ketcher and Sarnia Spencer-Moore are two excellent interior decorators who wanted to have a presence on the web. They wanted this because they felt that it was necessary for their business to move forward. They also wanted to be able to give clear examples of their work, so that they could direct potential customers to the site so that they would be able to browse at their leisure. The site has made the business more practical, as they no longer need to carry a large portfolio wherever they go, and it now only comes out when needed.
Early Designs
			The London School of Painting and Drawing www.mattgorman.co.uk/webdesign/sites/lspd The London School of Painting and Drawing felt that their present web-site was out of date. They wanted a fresh approach to modernise the look of the site and make theim more presentable to potential students. I first had to update some information on the site, before redesigning the layout and colour schemes. It now features examples of student's work, pricing information, an interactive map, as well as being a far more professional site to attract students. Since then, they have decided to use the talents of a close friend for the updates on their site, although the original can still be found here.
			ParGas Ltd www.mattgorman.co.uk/webdesign/sites/pargas Before they were taken over by a larger energy firm with their own site, the team at ParGas Ltd wanted a web-site that would give information about the company and detailed information about the services they offer.
			AGIP Oil Distribution Ltd / AOD (UK) Ltd www.mattgorman.co.uk/webdesign/sites/aod Formally UK importer for Agip Oil, and the main supplier to Moto World (see above), I was asked to design a web-site to improve the company's appearance as a professional competitor in the oil market. Their old site was out of date, and it looked it! The site was also aimed to provide easily-accessible technical information about AGIP products, which its predecessor did not. Since AOD Ltd. were in effect taken over by Moto World UK, the site is no longer needed.
			MattGorman.co.uk www.mattgorman.co.uk/webdesign/sites/mattgorman1 The original MattGornan.co.uk...