It might be strange to think of web sites as having or exhibiting philosophy, but the fact that they are products of human endeavor means that they must be reflections of their authors. Web sites reflect the thought processes, values, skills and energy of those who own, develop and implement them. This website contains the essentials of our philosophy of web site design, form and function.
Web sites must be designed around content.
Period.
Web sites exist in order to say something, to sell something, to communicate via the Internet with the known universe. If there is nothing to say, there is no reason for the site to exist. It is very easy to lose your message in cool features and lots of pretty graphics, and the slow downloads and navigational frustrations that result.
If you are contemplating developing a web site, or considering revamping an existing web site, begin by asking yourself these questions:
As a corollary to designing your site around your content, please understand that you will have to supply all of the content for your site to your developers and programmers. Ideas, text, graphics, links - all of these essential elements must come from you. You do not want your developers making this stuff up for you, for if you let someone else take control of the design and content of your site, it will not reflect you, your mission nor your vision.
After considering these questions, and have written down the answers, pull out a clean sheet of paper and try to map out your site.
The general field we are dealing with here is called "information architecture," which combines the efficient storage and retrieval techniques of library science with the technology of hyper-linked content. It is fascinating stuff... and essential to those contemplating any complex or large web site. See the references in Learn More for far more detail.