I always start by understanding the business the website owner is in and what he is trying to do.

Usually there are a number of prototype stages to agree the best look and feel, including layout, colours, navigation etc.

Usually clients have photographs or previous artwork to use, but I do graphic design and even digital photography.

I don't tend to work from templates, each website built from scratch to fit in with the requirements that have been decided.

In spite of this it is still possible to launch websites very speedily.

I also encourage an evolutionary approach - it can be best to get started then review the feedback and continue to respond to that feedback.

Together with Francis Bauer I can design and build sites in a variety of technologies. Our usual preference is for straightforward HTML/JavaScript with PHP/MySQL for interactive functionality.