In my last post I discussed whether or not design/creativity is something that can be learned, and thus decided to test the theory on myself by going through the steps outlined in Elliot Jay Stocks’ new book, Sexy Web Design. My friend Steve has kindly allowed me to use his current portfolio for the experiment (lucky him!). So, let’s begin.

The first step to Sexy Web Design is Research – something I admittedly don’t spend much time on. The only research I tend to do involves asking the client which websites they like, although I was happy to find out that this is indeed an important element. However, one element I don’t spend much time thinking about is, “What exactly should the website DO?”

Fortunately, I was able to get quite a lot of information from Steve when finding out what he wanted to accomplish with his portfolio:

• Blog for posting ideas, projects, articles, thoughts
• About page with information on who Steve is and what he does
• Project page with links to all his current and past projects which will include screenshots and additional information
• Homepage to include callouts to recent projects, recent blog entries, etc

As well as a list of sites he liked and why:

• http://www.cssjockey.com/ – navigation
• http://css-tricks.com/ – footer, simple design
• http://marcgrabanski.com/ – page layout
• http://www.netdreams.co.uk/index.php/what-we-do/ – colors
• http://crushlovely.com/ – footer, colors, navigation
• http://www.45royale.com/ – page layout
• http://orderedlist.com/ – colors, page layout

With very little design experience, Steve did what he could to showcase his work in a professional and simple manner. Since then, Steve’s focus has changed from wanting to purely showcase his work to also wanting a place to include his thoughts and other ongoing projects, all with a much less formal look. In the end, I will not only be designing his website, but most likely also establishing other elements of his online identity. While Steve has given me almost complete creative freedom, he did have some other thoughts on what he would like to see with the design:

• Simple, less formal
• Incorporate skiing somehow – also highlight other elements of Steve’s personality
• Footer style containing random information (Twitter, copyright, etc)
• Look AWESOME (I’m glad he cleared this up)

My next step will involve Wireframing – another element of design I rarely take into account. Stay tuned!