The Last Laugh Creative Process
The formula is simple: discovery … design … repeat
A Process of Discovery
Working together or Creative Collaboration usually means unraveling an approach that is not immediately apparent when we start.
Through questioning and experimenting (you remember Trial and Error…) we should come to a solution that is simple, logical and, in a sense, inevitable – but not obvious.
We start with you and your clients – why are they looking for you in the first place? What problems do you help them solve? What value do you bring to them? Why should they choose you?
Generally, the answers to these questions constitute our hook; a point of emphasis on the Homepage that will let site visitors know they are in the right place. They can relax a bit and explore the site.
Our point of emphasis usually consist of our keywords – search terms for which we want to rank well. It’s a good idea to take those keywords for a test drive – who are the competitors? What are some logical longtail keywords (phrases) that might be wise to emphasize?
Let’s make a mess and see what we come up with!
The Design Phase
Once we have our point of emphasis we need to expand on that through the site’s design; layout, color, site architecture etc. This is accomplished through mockups and, ultimately, a demo site.
We’re still experimenting, getting our hands dirty…
How do we know if we don’t try?
Next we add content – text and images – that flesh out our message and are consistent with the keywords or phrases that we’ve deemed important.
The Never-ending Phase
Because nothing ever stays the same – and on the Internet change seems to move exponentially faster – the day will never come when we can rub our hands with satisfaction and sigh, “Done!”
This doesn’t mean, of course, that we have to obsess over every little detail and make wholesale changes every Tuesday. What we do have to do is monitor our results and tweak, refine and monitor, then tweak, refine … you get the idea.
And this is what makes it fun…
