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Creating a New Website is Much Like Molding Clay

  • February 11, 2021
  • Bradley Taylor

Creating a custom website from scratch

We all remember art class in elementary school when it was time to create something out of clay.  The teacher would hand everyone a block of clay. She (or he) then gave you step by step instructions on what to do next.

I think about website building much like molding something out of clay. We start with an idea. The client may even send me some examples of sites they like. This is the clay block phase.

Once we have decided on color scheme and basic layout, I can then create a “design concept”. This is much like the part of clay-making where you decide what you are going to create. In the 1980’s 4 out of 5 of us created an ashtray. LOL

Next, the client tells me what they like about the design concept and what they don’t like. I can start molding the site to their liking. This would be the part where you actually go hands on with the clay and begin twisting and shaping it.

Sometimes they may not like the concept at all and we start fresh with a completely different design concept. This would be akin to throwing out the deformed block of clay you had, getting a brand new one and starting over.

Once the site’s general appearance is close to what the client likes, we then start the process of turning a concept image into an actual site. This process involves slicing the images and converting it to html and php. This is like painting and glazing part of the clay project.

We then upload the new design into WordPress, our choice in CMS (Content Management System). This part is much like firing the clay in the kiln.

We now add content and pictures to the site. We add a shopping cart if so desired. And we optimize the site for search engines. For the purpose of the clay-making analogy, this would be like adorning the clay-piece with paint or other decor, getting it ready to be delivered.

A website exceeds the clay-making analogy in the fact that it can be added to and upgraded all the time. I liken a website to a document like the Constitution in that it is “living”. It can be changed and upgraded at will.

What starts as uncertainty and a basic idea, turns into a beautiful, fully functioning website. And if the client has a great idea of what they want and need, this process can take as little as a week to complete.

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