WEBSITES The Internet’s main function: communication. Whether it be a means of research for the consumer, advertising for the producer, or just news for the average Joe, the internet provides an indispensable amount of information to communicate to all those willing and able to receive it. The graphic designer’s main function: provide a website that allows his client to communicate desired information easily and effectively – all while looking good. For many companies and individuals as well, their website has become their face. Thus creating and maintaining a conceptually solid and uniquely innovative website increases in importance. The importance of maintaining a conceptually solid image however, goes beyond the basics of web design, and beyond even the website itself. Linking together with the client’s print media and overall core conceptual design, the website must effectively communicate, though subtly, the goals of the client. The process by which a successful website is achieved begins with a definition of goals. By first establishing the client’s criteria as a backbone for which the website will be designed, the graphic designer then follows up with research. Studying competitors in the same industry can help acknowledge current themes while also capitalizing on possible room for improvement as it emerges. These processes are but of few of the tools Racelis uses when creating and establishing a client’s website. Most important however is the solid conceptual design the runs through the website and other media forms.