Using Your Own Graphic Designer If you have your own graphic designer, you might prefer to continue using them for your Web site design. That's fine, and we do have a number of clients who work that way. In this case, you take all responsibility for the design and for working with the designer. We will help you by providing detailed instructions to your designer on how to create and install a design that integrates smoothly with our system. We recommend that you give these instructions to them before starting the design, and ask them to confirm that they can create an appropriate design. It's extremely important to ensure that your designer does have experience with graphic design for the Web, not just for print. The technical requirements are quite different, especially for creating designs that work on both PC and Mac, for home users and corporate users, for wide screens and narrow screens, for slow connections and fast connections, and so on. If you'd rather not use this option, learn more about the other options available. Technical Specifications Download the technical specifications here and pass them on to your graphic designer. This document is reasonably comprehensive. However, if your designer has any questions about it, they are welcome to ask us about them. Procedure The procedure is fairly straightforward for an experienced Web graphic designer. However, some designers do not know how to do the complete job. So it's best to send this to your designer before you sign an agreement with them, and ask them to confirm that they can in fact do the entire job. It's up to you to work with your designer to create the look and feel you desire. Different designers have different ways of working, so each will have their own process. We recommend that you ask them to produce 2 or 3 initial drafts for you to choose from; then choose one and refine it; then ask them to create the templates. Installation If you're doing this for the first time on a new site, we assist your graphic designer in installing their design on the site. Instructions are included in the technical specifications document above. On the other hand, if they are updating an existing design, they will typically do it themselves. Download the instructions here for them. Responsibility Please note that by working with your own designer, you take full responsibility for the design. We will assist your designer by answering any queries they have about the technical specifications, but we don't inspect, assess or review their design in any way. The technical specifications document does have a detailed checklist, which our own designers follow. Some external designers complain that this checklist is too restrictive. However, we have found that it ensures a high-quality design that works on a range of computers and Web browsers. We highly recommend you ask your designer to comply with this checklist - preferably in writing and at two places: As part of your agreement with them, ask them to confirm they will comply with the checklist. When they complete the design, ask them to confirm they have checked off their design against the checklist. If this sounds serious and formal, it's not because we're trying to scare you off. However, we have worked with some external designers in the past who have not complied with the checklist, and this has caused our clients (i.e. you!) major problems. Remember also that you're giving them full access to your Web site when installing or updating the design. This means you have to trust them, not only to get the design right, but also to ensure they have sufficient technical knowledge to install it and not mess around with the rest of the site.