About Your Designer

Sharon Julien, Web Designer, Gainesville FL

+ Over 15+ Years Web Design Experience
+ Designing Websites Since 1995
+ Specializing in Graphic Design for the Web, Usability, DIY Updates

About Me

I’m Sharon Julien, and I’ve been a web designer for more than a decade.  Over the last 15+ years, I’ve designed dozens of websites that are beautiful, functional and friendly.  Gainesville, Florida, is my home sweet home—a refuge of big oak trees, nearby lakes and rivers, and of course, the University of Florida Gators.

Things I Love

Among my interests are gardening, Zumba, outdoor adventures, travel, costume parties, and spirituality.  I’m also a member, event leader and webmaster for the Adventure Club of Gainesville, where I get to constantly do fun things and meet new friends.

Helping Me Help Others

I’m a supporter of the Humane Society, Ronald McDonald House, March of Dimes, and our local Food Bank.  Each year, I donate my time, resources, and a portion of the proceeds I make from my web design work to these worthy causes.  Thank you for helping me make someone else’s life a little better.

How I Design

Simple Is Beautiful

As a web designer, every decision I make in a web design has a purpose.  I believe that sites should be simple, elegant, functional and easy to use.  I place elements on a site according to usability standards set forth by experts like Jakob Nielsen.  His studies are based on how people browse websites and how they expect things to work.

For instance, most website visitors expect the logo to be at the top of a page, usually to the left, and the menu buttons to be either across the top or down the side of the page.  They like similar things to be grouped together.  And to avoid confusion, it’s best to give a visitor a maximum of 4 main tasks per page, instead of lots of ads and endless links.  These standards are ones I try to implement in every web design I do.

The result is that people tell me all the time how easy it is to navigate my sites and find what they are looking for.  The menus are intuitive, and basic elements are consistent on every page.

Wow With Good Design

I love color!  I put a lot of thought into the color palette for a site, using hues that are friendly on the eyes and make sense for the website design.  I make sure there’s plenty of contrast, so people can easily read the content.  I think about proportion and fonts and how the elements relate to each other.

Also, I like to create metaphors and motifs for my web designs.  A metaphor would be an overall visual theme that reflects what the site is about.  For instance, if the website was for a pool cleaning service, I might use waves, water drops, and shades of blue.  A motif is an element that repeats.  Often, it’s taken from the general design.  It could be something simple like using rounded corners throughout the site for boxes and photos.  Or it could be using a shape taken from the logo—like an arrow—for bullets and buttons.

I believe that a great web designer has all these things working together to give your site that wow factor.  Be sure to check out my portfolio, and see if you agree.

What to Expect

Requesting a Free Quote

When you ask me for a Free Quote, I will contact you to find out about your specific needs.  Then, I email you a full proposal for your website design with details and pricing.

Getting Started

All you need to do to get started is email back saying that you wish to go ahead, then mail me your down payment of half the design cost.  The balance is due upon delivery of your new website.

The Design Process

Once I get your payment, I start working on your web design concept.  Typically, it can take a week or two—sometimes longer—for this process, because I work in stages, doing research, outlines, and sketches.  Then, I gather images, and create your site framework using Photoshop and a WordPress editor for the programming.  Often, I tweak the code directly, adding advanced functionality for your site.

Giving Your Feedback

I will email you a large image of your design.  At this point, it’s just a mock-up to show you what the finished site will look like.  Once you make any changes and give your approval, I complete the programming and install your site on my web hosting server.  Then, we’re ready to put in your content.

Time to Completion

From start to finish, it generally takes 4 to 6 weeks to create a website, allowing for time to create the design, make adjustments, get approvals, complete the programming and add content to the web design.  Sometimes, we can go live more quickly, depending on how fast you respond and what your schedule is.  Remember that every web design I do is a custom design, and it’s worth the time to do it right!

Get Started Now

Ready to get going on your new website design?

Get a Free Quote for your website design now:

---

Member of freelancedesigners.com
Featured web designer in the National Website Design Directory
Top Florida Web Designer listed in Gainesville, FL Design Firms

---