Business Site - Final Project

Business Website Project

You are a veteran Web Design Specialist employed at Sheets Designs, Inc. Some of our biggest clients have come to us with a specific job in mind—design a website that is superior to its competitors and will increase their business!

You will be working with a design team specially assembled to accomplish this goal. You and your team will be comparing and critiquing the websites of your client’s competitors using your knowledge of desktop publishing and web design. You will compare these sites in order to find the best and/or worst design features that you will consider when your team designs your client’s web site.

Here is your client list for Sheets Design, Inc.

Client	Competitors
Davidson’s Fashions	The Buckle	The Gap	Gordmans
Bill’s Smokehouse	Famous Dave’s	Dickey's Barbecue Pit	Hickory River
Travel Club Travel Agency	Alexander Travel	Leisure Tyme Travel	Suzy Davis Travel
Independence Federal Savings and Loan	Veridian Credit Union	BankIowa	CEFCU
Jeff’s Steakhouse and Grill	Alexander’s Steakhouse	Jim's Steakhouse	Texas Roadhouse
Finks Jewelers	Kays Jewelers	Jones Brothers Jewelers	Bremer Jeweler
Oakwood Furniture	Ethan Allen	La-z-boy Galleries	Sherman’s
Tri-County Hardware	Menards	Ace Hardware	True Value
Eastside Pharmacy	Walgreens	CVS
Callahan Real Estate	Jim Maloof	Remax	Caldwell Banker
Greg’s Groceries	Kroger	Schnucks	Publix
Pete’s Pet Supplies	Petsmart	Petco	My Dogs Bakery
Thrive
Mustachios
Dynamic Fitness
Whistle Stop
Salon Trends

Once your team has chosen a client, your task is to analyze your client’s top two competitor’s web sites for design and validity. Your team will be using a Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizer to record your thinking. Within your team, each of you will take on one of the following roles while evaluating your competitor’s web site—The Text Patrol, The Graphic’s Guru, The Link’ster, or The Meaning Mob.

What kind of information is on web sites? For example, if you choose Pete’s Pet Supplies, you may want to look at Pet Smart or other pet stores that already have established web sites.

Now within your team, each of you will take on one of the following roles and responsibilities:

The Text Patrol	The Graphic’s Guru
Your job will be to look at the text on the web site. Look to see that there are no spelling or grammatical errors; the font style is consistent and appropriate for the content of the site; there is breathing room around the text; appropriate paragraph and line length have been applied; san serif fonts have been used for the majority of the text rather than serif font styles; text is readable.	Your job will be to look to make sure that the graphical content is pertinent to the theme of the site; graphics are not excessive; there is sufficient space around the graphics; the background is light; no borders around images; graphics and text are side by side; the page is appealing and can hold the reader’s attention?
The Link‘ster	The Meaning Mob
Your job will be to look at the links on the site—are all links accessible, functional, and meaningful; does the web site load quickly; has the site been updated recently; does each page have a link back to the homepage; are there links missing that should have been provided; sources listed where necessary; underlining avoided except for links.	Your job is to look at the overall theme—is there a meaningful title; is the design appropriate for intended audience; can the author of the page be found easily; does the author have an e-mail address; is the site easy to navigate; who wrote the web site; who is publishing it; is there an opinion presented; communication of ideas clear—purpose of site evident; easy to read and comprehend.

Then you will get together with the rest of your team to begin comparing notes on what you have found that will help your team when designing your client’s web site. Use the table feature in Word to create a list of features you found under each role that you want to be sure to include when your team designs your web site. Print a copy for each team member when you finish so you have something to work from when you begin your design stage.

The Text Patrol	The Graphic’s Guru	The Link’ster	The Meaning Mob

One member of your design team should create and type the team’s guide sheet.

Finally, your task will be to design and create a website for your client using Adobe Dreamweaver, CSS, and HTML.

Create a folder on the server named after your business
Create a logo for your business in Adobe PhotoShop.
Create a site that has at least FIVE pages completely created from scratch. Pages should include the following:

A page should be a 10 image photo gallery of your facilities, products, or other images.
Use google form to create a page that contains a feedback form with at least 4 text boxes, 1 text area for comments, one set of radio buttons, one set of checkboxes, and one drop down/up menu. You decide the content of the form so that it is appropriate for your business.
A page should be an “About Us” page that includes a list of locations, hours of operation, and contact information, and a brief history of your company.
A page should have a list of products offered or a menu. There need to be at least 10 items listed and described.

All pages need to be linked together using rollover buttons. The button should incorporate the logo and/or color scheme. The buttons can have the same rollover option if you choose.
There must be a non-repeating, centered background on the main page. (You must use a CSS rule to do this!) The other 4 pages can have either a non-repeating or a tiled background.
Make the site look as professional as possible.
Pictures should not have white backgrounds; fix that in Adobe PhotoShop.
Set the body text to a font other than Times New Roman.
Use CSS rules to add color to your form.

Assessment Rubric - Teacher

Assessment Rubric - Student

Peer Evaluation