How Redesigning Our Website Has Taught Us About Web Design and What We Do for Our Clients

March 4, 2022

Here at IH Concepts, we have been redesigning a new website to fit the needs of everybody using it. We have made many new improvements to the website, during which time, it taught us much more about web design and how we can better the client experience. We wanted to do something that exhibits our skills in the best way possible, and that is, design. As a cause to our new website, we wanted to reflect that we are evolving. We decided to modernize while also reflecting on our own brand and identity. We really wanted to take our company up a notch. At IHC, we have been designing and creating websites for our clients for over fourteen years now, so we have some excellent experience. Over the last four years, we wanted to change the direction our company was going so we decided to make some improvements. This was a very holistic process, but we had all learned so much throughout. During the designing process, it was a very big eye-opener when it comes to thinking about what to put on the website. With that being said, we would like to introduce our new website, coming this March!

The Approach and Planning

We started from the beginning. We evaluated our original website as a whole and thought, “What works? What does not work?” It was difficult to think about, but we came up with a game plan. We also looked at common graphic design trends so we could modernize our new website. We found that our blog is one of the most attentive items, so we have decided to continue it every month! With our new website, we thought it would be best for it to tell a story with authentic photos, so we brought in a professional photographer to showcase our working environment.

Branding

When we were redesigning our website, we decided to reflect on the essence of our brand while also staying true to our identity, and we did just that. It’s extremely important to tell a story about a company through the website. We examined the way we present and display our photographs. We also established the visual essence of our photos. It is more interactive with the client, to see what we are doing behind the scenes to get a better sense of who we are. One of the biggest changes coming, is a page that introduces our team. Here at IHC, we thought it was important for perspective clients to see the faces of our company, and in turn, getting a better sense of who and what we represent. We found that photographing each of our employees, the background displays our work environment, interacting with clients, and so on, is the best way to represent our company and focus specifically on the client.

Investments and Overcoming Challenges

There were quite a few times when we had to overcome a challenge. The first thing, our photography. Looking back on our photographs, most of them are generic headshots, like many other employee pictures at other companies. We wanted to make more of a unique approach to our photographs. We took the time to explore different approaches that would account for the nature of our company and showcase in the most behind the scenes way that we put our customers first. It took many test shots to find the message we specifically wanted to send. During the designing process, we learned how important and worthwhile investment is. As a business owner, they need to have the mindset of investment, time investment over cost. This will give the most admirable result in the long run. Benjamin Franklin once said, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” We invested the time to make sure we put out the right photos and videos and explored every angle. There were some instances where we had to reshoots, but we wanted to put our best foot forward. While this was challenging from a budgetary standpoint, we knew that our investment would pay off in the long run.

The Learning Process

Our team had learned so much during the process of developing our new website. We learned about how our photoshoots can affect our clientele and see what we are doing at IHC. We improved the way we photograph, making them very eye-catching. During our website developing process, we also learned about video shooting. We learned the ins and outs of taking videos and the fun atmosphere it creates. We’ve had an outstanding time creating the videos we have done so far, and we were very happy to see how much attention we got from our audience. During the process, we found how important it is to be informed and know what to do throughout the entire process. There were times we had to pause for a second and readjust our process.

How Websites Have Adjusted to Change

Many years have gone by since we have last changed the style of our own website but how we view websites now has drastically changed since then. I am sure many people remember that back in the 1990’s, websites would be far too big to fit the screen. A person would have to scroll all around the page just to see everything. It was hard finding and even managing hyperlinks; they just had come around and everyone was still learning. In the early 2000’s and 2010’s, the problem had disappeared, and monitors became just the right size for websites. Today, the problem came back but now we have the opposite issue. Websites are becoming much smaller, or better yet, monitors are getting too big. Due to revolution of streaming, video production, websites are not becoming smaller, screens getting larger. Now, there are monitors in HD, 4K, 5K, flat screen, touch screen, some people still have their older computers, so we need to adjust to all monitor types.

Final Thoughts

Since the release of our first website, not much has changed. We have made improvements, here and there, to keep up to date with evolving technology and trends, but our style has remained the same. Hopefully, by cruising our new website, everyone will be able to notice how we managed to keep the essence of our brand alive. We found it particularly difficult to stay true to our brand in the process, but we overcame our challenges and made it work. We found a design pattern that accommodates to all monitor types, and we are excited to introduce our new website to our clients! In next month’s blog, we will be discussing design trends of 2022 and how to modernize your own website!