FAQ
Web sites, Web site design and development, graphic design and more
“Rock Stars of Web Design Magazine ”
presents:
An EXCLUSIVE
interview with Clueless Designs
RS: So, I have to ask, why Clueless Designs?
CD: Well when we started the company we were clueless what we should name it….. so that’s exactly what we did!
RS: Cool, so what exactly is it you do now?
CD: We design great websites. We make people happy. Those are our two primary things really, but we don’t stop there; we are your 1 stop design shop! We design cool posters and brochures, host web sites, help solve computer problems, and other sorts of computer stuff.
RS: Yeah, I’ve heard about these great web sites of yours. What separates you from the crowd?
CD: It’s intentional, we have a specific vibe on what we think makes a site fantastic…. Our design philosophy is what we call it, then we take that philosophy and create a one of a kind unique site around a particular person or company. We build sites from the ground up exactly and precisely to match it’s owner! No fly by night template stuff, ya know? It’s got to taste good to the eyes, be usable and easy to navigate, and it’s got to have solid content divided up into small scannable chunks.
RS: I’ve seen plenty of cookie cutter sites out there, so we can appreciate your angle. Word on the street is that you guys also work off of another philosophy…. Tell us about that.
CD: You mean our Service Philosophy?
RS: Yeah, what’s that about?
CD: We noticed a lot of people are in this business to pump out a web site, cash the check and bail. That’s not a wise play for us personally. It seems the whole affair ought to be looked at as a partnership. A little commitment on a longer term basis makes us both grow stronger which is a win / win….. much better road to travel if you ask us. The other big part of it for us is kindness. Kindness matters, and the world could use more of it, so we figured it seemed a good thing to bring into our business strategy.
RS: Speaking of business strategy, it is a business right? So how do you set your prices?
CD: (smiles) Ah….. show me the money! Look, we have no desire to drive a Lexus or own a villa by the sea or anything….. just looking to provide for the family. Looking at it from the other side of the coin though, something about not knowing a price up front always bothered me. Like a car repair. “We estimate it will cost $200 to replace the muffler”. Yet there’s no guarantee they won’t “find” other problems or run into “unexpected challenges”. We never liked that much. So we will give you an up front Estimate Range that we think the actual cost will fall into. If we have “unexpected challenges” that go above and beyond that, we eat it. If we stumble on a time saver, then we’ll pass that on to you. Print this next part in bold, will you? You will never pay more than the top end of our estimate range, ever!
RS: Ok, but I know your sites run into the thousands of dollars, I’ve seen custom sites on the web for $400, turned around in 3 days.
CD: (Laughs) Custom sites, oh man, that’s funny! Those guys don’t spend any time actually learning about you. They pay 75 bucks to download a template, and then swap out a few pictures you send them and plop in the text you send them, and take your $400 and disappear. And you end up with a site not really that much different from hundreds if not thousands of others. Is that really what you want?
RS: I guess not. But I’ve heard of some places that charge by the page, so I could still get a good site, but pay less, right?
CD: Yea, but then you cut corners. “Can’t we just fit all this info on one page?” Before you know it you have a 2 or 3 page site with each page a mile long, completely negating the best part of having a web site, hyper links and easily divided and digestible chunks of info! People scan the internet, they’re not there to actually read. Save you self some money, buy a good brochure and hand it out. Guaranteed those “bargains” aren’t going to pay off in the long haul. A web site is an investment, make it wisely.
RS: So how does someone get started?
CD: Let us know you’re interested, we’ll spend a little time figuring out what we might be getting into, then get you an estimate range. If it works from both ends, we pull the trigger and get to work! From there, it's a step by step process to the finish.
RS: Great. So do you want to talk about some of your other projects?
CD: Sure! It’s like this, there aren’t any dumb questions except the ones you don’t ask. So if you’re having any kind of computer problems, PC running slow, networked computers at the office not playing together nicely, your favorite game won’t load, you want to start a brand new web site, revamp an old one, create a better way to do something on your computer, or put together an cool invitation or brochure or poster for an upcoming gig,whatever...give us a shout, we just might be able to help! (Smiles) Do we have time to tell you about this very simple little design project we just finished?
RS: Sure.
CD: Graphic design work is a lot of fun. You can do all sorts of stuff with pictures these days. We recently had a client wanting to add a particular picture on their site, but one of the elements in the picture had a symbol that didn’t match the company values, and asked if we could do anything about it. So we reworked the photograph removing the symbol and replacing it with the company logo. It looked great, completely natural, like that’s how the picture was supposed to be all along, and the client just raved! Sometimes it’s just the simple things.
RS: Listen, our time is almost up, anything else you want to share with our readers? CD: Go check out our website, CluelessDesigns.com it will give you all the 411 you need. Think of it like scoping out the hairdresser’s style before you sit down to get your hair done. If her hair looks good, and you like it, you’ll probably love what she does with yours!
RS: Well thanks for stopping by to chat, I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming tour.
CD: Thanks Rock Star, it’s been a pleasure being here.