The header includes the artist’s main photo of herself and two more photos of the two categories she creates art in: gourds and leather.

I built out the three main pages for the meeting: the Home page, a Product-grid page, and an Item page which includes the description of the piece and a PayPal button to purchase.

One of the more difficult parts in building the 3 pages for the meeting was working in someone else’s css. This free template included a layered Photoshop file which made it easier to figure out what was going on with the pieces.

The final, critical element was working the SEO into the content. I had a list of keywords that WESST had developed for my client and I went back and forth between the old content and the keyword list, working in what I could.

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Epilogue: The meeting with the client went well, and only one part of the design was changed: the client requested the thumbnails in the product-grid page not be cropped. I really liked the dramatic cropping of the photos, and explained that the they were “details” of the art. The client acquiesced, but in the end I used what she was more comfortable with. She’s going to have to live with the site for longer than I am, after all!

Content was tweaked, photos discussed, and I went home thinking I was going to fall into bed and catch up on a night of only 5 hours of sleep. But what’s funny is that I didn’t feel tired at all when I got home and instead caught up on some reading and social networking.

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I hope you liked this series on creating a website design in one night. You can visit artist Amï Diallo’s ongoing website design here: www.amidiallo.com. Please note that not all of her links work, i.e. the PayPal buttons are just placeholders for now.

Have you had the experience of having to create a design in one night? What shortcuts do you use? Please leave a comment and let us know how you did it!

There’s still more to do before the fun part of the design comes in. I start by pulling and unformatting the copy from the client’s old site, from one main page, deleting all the hard returns and soft returns, the italics and the bolds. I use TextEdit on the mac.

Next I’ve got to do some math to think about creating a table for the grid template. I know that the CSS, the font styling part of CSS anyway, can be done inline on the page for a mockup; later I can export it as a style sheet.

The outer box is a container that will hold the header, the footer and the main content. main content is divided into 2 columns: left column (mostly text) is 200 pixels, right column is 560, each picture 160. I’ll but a table inside the right column to hold the products on the grid page and a large photo with thumbnails on the item page.

Now that I know what I want, I need to start building. I look at my recent projects and none of them are carrying exactly this configuration of CSS and tables. I start the CSS code and am too tired to make it work properly, my momentary lapsing into Zs makes me forget crucial keystrokes like ; and /.

I mess with a pre-made Dreamweaver template, but they are only using CSS for the font styling and a long column on the left with a 4-row, 3-column table never works right, the width of the columns changing with new text. (I’m using an old version of DW; certainly they have updated it by now?)

Finally, around 1:45 am, I begin searching the Web for CSS templates. I figure that if I don’t find anything, I can always do the design in Photoshop, save the pages as jpegs and use image map to overlay the navigation. In fact, this is what I usually give a client as an intermediary step. But I find a template that has a structure I can strip and rebuild rather quickly. It is all CSS and although the main content will expand its shape, it still feels more like a website than a blog.

Next step: tinkering, adding content.

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Find some great free css templates at Free-css.com.

So–I am not going to even go into Photoshop — not yet, anyway. I’ll have to go right to code for the layout. As an intermediary, I think I’ll use Excel to set up a table-like structure. I’ll set up a grid and an item template, T2 and T3, respectively.

FYI, the way I get these images is to save the Excel worksheet as a PDF (> Print > Save as PDF) then open it in Photoshop which rasterizes it.

Grid Template

Item Template

You can see that these two templates will work nicely together if you create each on a separate worksheet in Excel and flip back and forth between them; the flow will look natural.

So how many template mockups do I need to show tomorrow? At least these two and the home template, which I should do next. Yawn! I need to start thinking where/if  can cannibalize this HTML/CSS structure from one of my existing sites or just start from scratch.

This post will be about breaking down the content into templates.

First is a Home Page template that will be inviting, have keyword-rich text and some big, beautiful main photos on it. I will save the design of this template last because it will depend on what I do with the other templates.

How many other templates do I need? For the Gourd Art page, these are the higher-end, one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Once they are sold, I won’t take down the photo unless Ami has a new piece there to showcase. In her original site, there were thumbnails and larger pop-up images, but I’m thinking to have as large a photo as possible on the first Gourd Art page.

The first piece is 450 x 562px. There are 10 pieces in this category. If I had endless hours I to bill, I would definitely give each piece its own page, but there’s a limit, so…

I also know that even though these pricey items are hard to sell online, I still want to include the Buy Now button with each item when it is first seen to improve the conversion chances. I check out the New Mexico Museum Shops site and indeed, they have a grid of items in a category and a separate page for each. I also check out Etsy.com. Such a clean, pretty site! And the same style: a grid of items with their names and a price, here with a larger per-item page with a Buy Now button. (The photos on Etsy are so beautiful!)

So I’ve decided to create a grid-landing page for Gourd Art and either 10 separate pages, one for each item, or a single page with anchor links.

Template 1: Home
Template 2: Grid
Template 3: Per Item

Now it’s time to look back at our sitemap and apply the templates to each page. I know the high-end leather art will work like the Gourd Art pages, so they will follow Template 1 and 2 (T1, T2).

I also think the Crafts pages will look great with this same setup. But if I make a new page for each of these products, it’s going to be a 50-page site!~!* Definitely not in the client’s budget. So, hmm. I’ll have to think about that. (Each page, after the template is built takes about an hour to resize 1-3 photos, write that keyword-rich text, create an individualized PayPal Buy Now button. But it would look so professional and sweet.)

I’m going to say the “About the Artist” page is a completely different template because Ami, who lived in Africa and Jamaica has great photos of her travels and stories to tell.

Template 4: Narrative

In the keyword research, Clare let us know that there are a lot of searches of people looking of “How To” information about gourds, decorating gourds, leather art, etc. Lots of things Ami knows a lot about. So I have created a “Resources” page where she can review books, give advice, suggest wholesale stores and discuss tools and techniques. This page will be chunky and informative. A different template, maybe magazine-like.

Template 5: Chunky Info

The contact page will probably follow the home page design. So no new template there.

I’m feeling good about this hour’s work. Some serious questions raised: always the pull between doing a good job or getting paid properly that seems to come up every time, but all in all, I’m clear about what to do next: Layout the templates.

The corned beef is done and there’s salad and baked potatoes. I’ll take a dinner break and be back at 11!

For instance, the keyword phrase “gourd art” was searched almost 500 times in 12 months and occurred on 63k sites. According to our keyword researcher, Clare at WESST, it has a very high ranking, so I’m using that exact phrase for the second navigation button because it matches exactly what Ami does.

I’m using Excel to create this sitemap because it is simple and boxy. The yellow background in the boxes indicate exact keyword matches.

Under each main nav button, I have listed the contents on that page. I went  to Ami’s current site and made sure I had included everything (except for the section she doesn’t want to carry over to the new design.)

Now that I have all the products accounted for and organized in their newly-keworded sections, the next step is to figure out how many different templates I will need to build. Which pages should have new sub-pages and which can I get away with just having same-page anchor tags? Stay tuned!

If you’re up and listening, chime in with a comment!

PREVIOUS POSTS

One-Night Website Part 1: The Plan
One-Night Website Part 2: Procrastinating

8:00pm MST: So I spent the last hour writing the previous post, tweetng, fb-ing and alerting my blogging friends, tweaking my blog theme, getting a refreshment and now it is 8pm. How time flies. I also checked my laundry in the dryer, fixed an excerpts problem on a client’s Wordpress theme, and smelled the corned beef the hub is simmering. It won’t be ready ’til 9pm. There’s no other distraction so I may as well get down to work.

Oh, one more thing: fire up some tunes. Tonight, ambient hydrology for early spring from Hearts of Space . NOW I’m ready.

7:00pm MST: I’d rather be watching “2012″ with my son, but I have a meeting with my client tomorrow afternoon and must deliver a working mockup.

So I thought I’d help myself focus and give you some play-by-play tips as the night unfolds. The goal? Not to be up until 4am! (Since I have 2 other meetings prior to this client’s.)

The client: Ami Diallo is a wonderful gourd and leather artist. I was hired to create more traffic for her through marketing SEO and a new design so she can sell both one-of-a-kind pieces and craft items. Why the time crunch? The contract for services ends March 31, in 7 days.

What’s been done: Ami and I have met several times so I know her and her work. We hired Clare Zurawski from WESST to do a keyword analysis. I created an initial design idea before the analysis in Photoshop which I may or may not use. I also have the beginnings of the site map in Excel based on the keyword data.

Review of initial site: The site has wonderful photos, a distinctive logo and is “clean.” But it is not structured as well as it could be: photos are different sizes on different pages, expensive art pieces share the same page with craft items and the navigation is on the bottom of long tables of pics and text.

Action Plan: Can I just add the keyword-rich copy to the tags, content and page titles? Spruce up the design by adding color/texture? Move the nav to the top? After looking at the code, I decide, no. It will have to be a full redesign of the structure. CSS for text-styling and main divs; tables for storing the photos and copy. Plus adding Buy Now PayPal buttons to each piece.

But for tonight, I just need the navigation plan and the main template pages to show. I’ll report back when I have the full navigation done. Wish me luck!

What are the essential elements of story and how do you learn them? One of my favorite ways of discovering story is to “beat out” a movie; find the important moments in a film and see how they build on each other. Here’s how I do it:

1. Study Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing so you can type without looking at your hands.
2. You’ll need to type and watch the movie at the same time so get a laptop or position your computer so you can type and see the movie on the big screen. Or do both by minimizing the movie screen on your computer.
3. Get a stopwatch or watch the time code on your screen.
4. Copy this list and have it handy on your screen as you write:

Major Plot Points
1. NORMAL WORLD the first 10 pages or so
2. INCITING INCIDENT around page 10
3. BREAK INTO ACT TWO around page 25
4. MIDPOINT around page 50
5. BREAK INTO ACT THREE around page 75
6. CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION between pages 85-95

Note that one script page roughly equals one minute of screen time, and that today’s movies run shorter than movies from the past, so the plot points might be at slightly different times if you’re watching an older movie.

5. You’re all set up. Start the movie and the stopwatch at the same time.
6. Type each major action of each scene in as few words as possible. When the action shifts, start a new line. Include all the time codes until you get the hang of it, then just write down key times. Include important moments of dialogue especially when they relate to the plot points.

Using this system, the beginning of “You’ve Got Mail” looks like this:
. . . . . . . . . .

NORMAL WORLD
NYC, westside. Meg Ryan’s apt, cam moves from outside, thru window, we see books, desk, computer, Meg in bed
- Greg reading from today’s paper: “solitaire removed from computers/ end of civilization.” Set up relationship
- Meg makes sure G is gone, sits at her computer, dial up sound, “You’ve got mail”
- 2:43 VO Tom writes about his dog Brinkley in an email to Meg, NY in the fall
- T’s apartment, his relationship w/ Patricia. HE sneaks around to make sure P’s gone, fires up computer/matching shots
- On computer screen: M writes to T, “oldest and dearest friends”
- 5:00 “three little words” matching shots as they walk to work missing ea other
- The neighborhood, shops opening
- T goes to new building, meets with manager. He repeats M’s words. Talks about his relationship: “Patricia makes coffee nervous.” Mgr: “They’re gonna hate us.” T “We’re going to seduce them”, “Fox Superstore, the end of civilization as we know it.”
-8:15 Meg opens HER store, employee: “you’re in love”, M: “no, yes!” Meg tells her  about T’s story about meeting him online in a chat room, her plan to stop. Cybersex. “He cld be the next person who comes thru the door.” Time to open up!
11:38 Corporate meet with T’s dad and grandad. “Aw, another independent bites the dust.” Competition, T mentions the Shop around the Corner, “grandpa, you wrote her letters?” “Mail, it was called mail.” T: “You know, I’ve heard of it.”

12:00 INCITING INCIDENT
Tom’s Fox Books is going to threaten Meg’s Shop around the Corner’s survival!

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And so on. I clean up each section right after the movie is done while it’s fresh in my mind so I can make sense of my notes later.

Around 10, 25, 50, and 75 minutes look for the major beat. It’s like a treasure hunt. Movies I’ve seen a million times suddenly are “broken” and their secret is revealed once I’ve discovered their major beats.

How does this help you with story? After you’ve done even a few of these, you’ll start to see how a complicated story is crafted. You’ll see the Plot (the external story), and the Subplot ( the internal story) wind around and play off each other. You’ll discover the theme (the writer’s personal POV) and feel the tone that is so important to expressing that theme.

What I love to watch is the struggle each major character has, and how they use what they have inside themselves to solve their individual problems on screen.

What story do you need to tell? Are you writing an “About” page for your website? Instead of the basic job list, tell us a story, how you started in one profession, changed your entire world because of your passion, yet carried your first skills with you to solve problems for you clients.

Give it a try and tell me what you use story for.

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Visit a great blog all about screenwrititng: Screenwriter-to-Screenwriter.com.

I just finished updating www.Screenwriter-to-Screenwriter.com and had a lot of fun creating a home for Monica Partridge’s excellent discussions on writing for film.

• Theme: I searched out an easy-to-use theme Atahualpa, the same theme I use for mini-branding. This is a clean, malleable Wordpress theme that has a wonderfully easy user interface for changing header images, column layout, size and style of text, favicon, everything.

The Final Blog Design - click for full view.

Comments on the Design - click for full view.

• Header: Monica charged me with creating a collage of dialogue snippets for her header in Courier, the font screenplays are most often written in. She loved the final header, even though I think it’s a little busy.

• Readability: The line-height and font size were increased for maximum viewing, especially on a site where one can spend hours reading and learning.

• Email Capture: In order to capture your audience and create products for them in the future, use an email service program like Constant Contact, AWeber or iContact. Once you join, you can create an email signup box and enter the code in a side widget.

• Top Nav Drop-Down: Look for a theme with a drop-down nav at the top that is generated by pages. This leaves the right and left side of your blog available for more content and is the usual place people go to look for standard items such as “About Me” and “Contact” info.

• Social Network Widgets: Add your social networking widgets if you want to give your blog a timely, in-the-moment feel. These are created in each platform, and the HTML code is copied into a text box in your WP Widgets panel.

• Don’t Forget Categories: When you write, give your post categories for quick searches and also to give a new visitor an idea of your topics. In Monica’s blog, I love being able to look at all her posts just on Beat Sheets, for instance.

• Use Permalinks: These are an option in your WP settings that change page IDs to real-world words for each post and page URL.

In general, think about your market when you start adding design elements to your blog. Is your audience older, needing more white space between headers and copy? What are they looking for first when they come to your blog? What’s the easiest way to give them the info they are looking for while at the same time enticing new visitors to sign up and receive some extra goodies?

What are some design ideas you have tried with success on your or your clients’ blogs? Feel free to leave a comment and your URL below!

Use correct grammar, case and spelling in your page titles. If your keywords can be used, give them the opportunity. On the portfolio site of Whitespace Creative, each page is named for a different set of keywords, e.g. Art Direction, Web Design, Content Development, etc.

Watch out for length in page titles: IE accepts 95 characters, Google only accepts 66 characters before it crops. How’s this for a page title: “I Make Money Online By Telling People How I Make Money Online – John Chow dot Com.” (That’s 84 characters, including spaces.)

Use intelligent and descriptive title tags. How boring is “About Us”? Rather, try “Meet the Design Team”, or “Say Hello to the Worm Guy,” if “worm” or “design team” are your keywords. Don’t repeat words: Location Information and Statistical Information can both do without “Information.”

Put your keywords at or near the front of the page title. Make sure your keywords are indicative of what’s on your page, but don’t overdo it; you’re not a late night infomercial.

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More Reading:

SEO Logic