For any designer, especially freelance designers, self-branding should be one of our specialties. However, a redesign of your own site may still feel like a Sisyphean undertaking. But with the speed of technology now a days the old say “if it's not broke, don't fix it” is out of the equation.
Design For Your Worst Client
Lets face it, our worst client that we hate to design for is ourselves. Think about it, the never ending feeling of “something is missing” the javascript effects never being exactly what you had envisioned, the typography not being shown at the right size as it does in Photoshop. Redesigning a freelance website is an exercise in masochism. There are no colleagues or an umbrella corporation to share the pain: It’s just you (assuming that you are a one man/women show). One thing we keep in the back of our head is that people are bound to scrutinize any update to the site, afterall we can't please everyone.
When designing for a client, things such as scope, timelines, budgets, and certain constraints are the first to be discussed. Brand, content, and user experience are next to get the majority of the attention. However, many freelancers fall into one common mistake; just settling for a date to go live.
Starting the Redesign Process
Following the timeline-only method, you may open Photoshop and simply freeze. We're not talking about computer software or hardware problems but it's us who's eyes stare blankly at a 1024 × 768 canvas. We have to rethink our approach.
To get the redesign process on track, the initial starting place should be the same as if it were a client, to the tie that binds every element of a business and a website: the brand.
Starting with the Brand
The first question we must ask ourselves is how we want to be portrayed are we witty, smart, flashy passionate? Whatever the character trait your brand represents is the starting point in redesigning a website. Consistency is the most important aspect of brand expression, so this perception needs to be reinforced throughout the site. That means that should be some balance and similarity from one page to the next, however, if your ambitious and have more time on your hands, creating individual content pages with different styles may be the option you want to pursue.
Along the way it is important to get valuable feedback from trusted individuals and not from people that have a tendency to tell you what you want to hear. To streamline the process, try speaking to about two other people, if they don't know each other the better, and urged them to put personal taste aside for an objective design analysis.
What it all means
Having a site redesign is a great opportunity to contact your existing customers, potential customers and the press. It gives you an excuse to contact them and let them know what you're doing, what's new and that you're keeping things up-to-date. But also remember that a website redesign is a project and should be managed as such with a defined scope, budget (time for personal redesigns is more of your main concern), and a defined set of resources. Set up a realistic schedule and manage expectations. Aggressive timelines will force you to cut corners or bypass necessary consultation.
