I was approached by a client wanting a new web site, nothing crazy just a few simple pages, new design, etc. I saw what they had already, it was old, non-SEO friendly, didn’t work on all browsers/ operating systems, used images with roll-overs as the only method of navigation, and most of the copy was in the actual images, pretty much as bad as you could get.

We started talking about what they wanted, what they liked vs. didn’t like, fonts, colors, font sizing, layout, size, target audience, and so on… we got pretty far along when it came time to discuss copy to populate the site, they said to take it from their new brochure…

Sure enough they had a nice, new, professionally designed and printed tri-fold brochure with supporting printouts inside, business card, etc.

To cut to the chase; I advised them to build their website such that it supports their brochure, using same colors, fonts, photos, copy, and so on.

Now I’m skipping a lot of details, but the moral of the story is that if you have current and usable print media and you are about to (re)design your corporate web site - please make sure that the two are aligned with each other. Make sure you give your web design team your brochure up front, and have the digital media/ assets from the brochure ready to hand over to the design team.

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