Web Design

I build sites that are fast, minimal, and accessible, with unique goals, rather than churning out slow websites Powered by Squarespace™.

Clients

Fort Vancouver Trading, the site you're reading right now. I built my site from scratch, by hand, over the course of several years, learning about web design in the process. I refactored my CSS and wrote a little bit about the logic if you're curious.
Henderson House, a McMinnville non-profit for victims of domestic or sexual violence. I did some consulting for their web design team, helping them decide which platform to use, and how to manage their site with GoDaddy's Website Builder.
The Linfield Free Press, a student-newspaper and web-hosting resource for Linfield College. Version control with Gitlab, hosting with NFSN Inc, and automatic SSL certificate provisioning.
The Barberry, a restaurant in McMinnville. Wordpress template, some changes made. Improved mobile accessibility by changing phone numbers, allowing them to be clicked. Also did some experimental work on a lightweight version, which made menu pages 180 times smaller, and 3-5 times faster.

Website Improvement

I'll explore your site and determine if information is accessible and easily located. For example, phone numbers should be clickable, and content should be easy to read, especially on a mobile device. I'll optimize Javascript or CSS code, correct any broken links or other errors, and enhance the overall experience of viewing your site. If your homepage takes more than three seconds to load, or makes over 10 network requests, it probably could be enhanced within its current framework. Next, you can evaluate if further work is needed, perhaps in rebuilding certain pages.

Focused Revision

We'll prioritize the most important pages, making sure people find what they're looking for, especially on your homepage. Restaurants using PDF menus on their site should offer responsive webpages. PDFs are suited for big screens or printed paper, not a smartphone's tiny display. After solving the top issues, we can determine if further work is necessary.

New Sites

Sometimes it's best to start a new site and reduce technical debt and old code. My personal site is written by hand and will always beat a generic, templated website from platforms like Squarespace, Wix, or Weebly. There are some excellent Wordpress templates, and it's possible to make a fast website from a template. However, it requires thoughtful planning. I can help you choose a better template or make a new site, avoiding useless bundles of Javascript or CSS. I'll optimize your files, making them as small and fast as practical.

Environmental Impact

When thousands of people view a page, it can exhaust significant bandwidth and energy. From the examples above, consider that 180 people could view the optimized dinner menu for the Barberry in the same amount of space for one person to view their current menu. Transmitting extra data consumes more energy, and visitors' devices also expend energy to display complex, inefficient webpages. If we claim to care for the earth, we should reduce energy consumption wherever possible, and minimalist websites reflect these goals. Lightweight sites benefit viewers by saving data, battery life, and storage space. This is good for the planet, too.

Slow websites also deter viewers, who may leave before the page finishes loading. A fast site is unusual today, and if it's a first impression, it will be noticed and appreciated. Contact me to get started.

Fort Vancouver Trading email@fortvancouver.trading