Wireframes to mockups with Fireworks
Wireframes are a simple and effective technique for exploring your layout options and demonstrating your concepts to clients
12 Add notes
Annotate your wireframe, so that it’s easily understandable. Number the items on the wireframe by adding a label and write your description for each at the bottom of the page. Remember to add where links are going to, and include a clear description of behaviour. Full size versions of these examples are found within the project files.
13 Start designing
Now it’s time to start designing how the page will actually look. Start by adding the elements from the wireframe that we created in step 12. Then apply the branding, colour, background images and fonts using your annotated wireframe as a guide. Experiment with these until you’re happy with the result.
14 Tweak until done
Now you’re free to play around with the exact positioning of things. The sizes and proportions can also be tweaked. Your wireframes shouldn’t restrict your creative process, just ensure that the page has everything that needs to be there. Your notes should help you decide if something was put in an exact place for a reason and track why decisions were made.
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Great topic!
Very useful and well explained.
Very useful topic.
The concept is sound (we use this process all the time) but the tool is not really one that I would go with. We use Visio and Axure for our wireframes and prototypes. Visio is great for static screens and Axure is like Visio on steroids in that it allows interactivity with a semi-functional html option.
Discussing the needs of the site and mixing it in with the needs of the users is critical and no designing should be done before there is a good grasp of what both sides want and need from the site.
Thanks Mark. Nice effort here.
I concur with Ken – understanding and agreement, and then design.
That said, what’s unfortunate is the majority of low-budget outfits skip this step. Which in turn leads to clients who believe that all there is to an effective website is a design. Design is just one sliver of the battle, eh?
On the other hand, there are higher end outfits that do this step but lack the biz knowhow necessary to differentiate wants from needs. Needless to say, there are plenty of not-so-useful sites that in fact meet client wants. Unfortunately, it’s biz needs that are the most important.
It’s very nice topic. I’ve found it usefull for me, thx!!!!
Really very useful topic for designers! Thanks…
Very nice topic for a designer like me… Thanks.
Insightful information for a budding designer
Nice and most timely for us.
We are in the process of putting together a mock-up site with Adobe Fireworks.
Thanks
I came across your article via a Twitter tweet and I think it is excellent. A lot of designers wan to immediately jump into creating “pretty pictures” and don’t want to the initial homework upfront. Planning is everything. Without a clear plan and effective layout, all the pretty images in the world won’t help your web design. Thank you for this article.