Frequently Asked Questions

Graphic Design Choose a question from the list below by clicking on it - or scroll down the page to read all of the frequently asked questions and their answers.

If your question is not answered here, you may also find out more about Second Wave Studio on the about page, or please feel free to contact me.

What design tools and programs do you use?

Do you work on a contract basis?

Do you charge by the hour or a flat fee?

Have you ever done a (Insert your product of service here) website?

Is there any kind of website that you will not do?

Why don't you design Flash websites?

Do you use templates to develop websites?

What design tools and programs do you use?

I use only the best tools available to my industry from companies like Adobe including Macromedia including Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Illustrator among others.

Do you work on a contract basis?

Yes. I use an industry standard contract that spells everything out in as plain of English as possible so that everything is understood and there are no surprises.

Do you charge by the hour or a flat fee?

I charge on a flat fee basis based on the scope of your project. I do this so that there is no surprise in what your final investment in your website will be.

I do charge by the hour for some services including some graphic design project, or updates needed after a website has been launched.

Everything will be spelled out in a contract before work begins.

Have you ever done a (Insert your company product of service here) website?

This is a common question. People who own a restaurant want to know if I have ever done a restaurant website. People who own a realty office want to know if I have ever done a real estate website. After 15 years of designing websites, the answer is most likely yes, however - if it isn't - I can assure you that I will do a great job no matter what your product or service. I put a lot of time into researching your product and/or service and look at your competition so that your website will be successful - no matter what business you are in.

Is there any kind of website that you will not do?

I will always be honest in telling you if I cannot do a website for any reason. If there is a technology that I am not comfortable with that you would like to implement into your website, I will be honest with you and not take the job. Some companies will take these jobs then farm out the work to other sources, however, I find this practice deceiving. You should always know who is doing your work and decide for yourself who will actually be working on your project.

I also will not design websites that involve anything illegal, adult oriented, slanderous, etc. Please don't even ask.

Why don't you design Flash websites?

Flash is a great technology. It is downright dazzling when done right, and I personally like it, however there are a couple of reasons that I have chosen not to offer this type of design at this time. The biggest reason involves Search Engine Optimization. Some large search engines now have some Flash indexing capabilities, but it is still very limited and you would have a very hard time achieving high rankings with a Flash site. This can be remedied by having a second search engine friendly HTML version of your site, however this would really be an unnecessary expense since the HTML version alone can get the job done.

This is not to say that I will not offer Flash design somewhere in the future, but for now I am spending the time I set aside for studying to develop my skills with other more practical technologies such as PHP and Database functioning.

Do you use templates to develop websites?

No. All of my websites are custom designed for each specific client. I discourage the use of templates for many reasons, one being that it's pretty easy to spot websites that are templates, and also some of them - for example those that are database driven - lead to very poor results in the Search Engines.

Your website should be unique to your company and specifically designed with your needs in mind.